These are a few of my favorite things. . .

1. Screened in porches
2. Porches with swings (for the sake of therarpy!)
3. Hard wood floors
4. Wood burning fire-places
5. The smell of vanilla or lavender
6. A great cup of coffee
7. A book that feels like a friend
8. A good friend and a glass of wine
9. Modern day pen pals ;)
10. Laughter
11. Tyson Schoch
12. Family
13. Avonlea
14. Elizabeth Bennett
15. Hadassah

In the process of buying a house and thinking of my "must haves" some of these fit the bill and some are just because I need them so much in my life. I trust you, reader, to distinguish!

not a resolution exactly. . .

More a Realization than a Resolution

So it is January. Christmas has passed and New Years also and I find myself thinking about what I have to look forward to now that the holidays have gone by.

I was sitting in church this morning, preparing myself to take communion when it hit me that the past really is past and not only is it a new year but it also the beginning (or a continuation really) of the work God is doing in me and in my life. This sounds so elementary but it still astounds me. How much time I spend dwelling on past mistakes instead of looking to the present and the amazing things going on in my life and in my family. The blessings He continually pours out for us.

Communion seems to be a big theme in my life right now (note previous blog post) and as I was holding onto the elements this morning and really just talking to God, I focused on the truth of the bread being broken as His body was so that mine would not have to be. And the juice being poured out as His blood was so that mine could be made pure. I kept thinking of how when I take communion I bring Him into me again so that I can release my sin because of what He has done for me. This idea of taking Him in and letting Him wash sin out and of being renewed in Him was really on my mind/heart as I walked out of church today.

So, in short, that is what I look forward to this year. Growing in Him and leaning on Him and knowing Him more. Continuing to become the child He sees me as. The wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, co-worker, employee He wants me to be. There is more hope and joy and love in me for those parts of who I am in Him than I believed possible.

Truly. . .”I have been blessed, and I feel like I’ve found my way. To be here with the ones who love me, to love them so much it hurts. . .I am so blessed”