My Babies/My Resolutions

We arrived safely home from Michigan last night.... and we were all happy to get home.  The kids mostly because they hadn't yet had their "Christmas" with me... so they had presents waiting.  The only present I had waiting was a bath and my bed- which was more than enough.  :-)

One of the highlights of the trip was having my cousin Rhonda photograph the kids (and me).  It was alot of fun and she did a great job.  The pic above made us laugh....  and laughter is the best medicine.  Okay, so I just thought I'd throw in a tired little cliche there.  But frankly... it would be be hard to argue that it isn't true.

Though the last few years have been decidedly difficult in many ways... some how through all of it... I emerged again.... me.... Brenda.  The girl I have missed SO much.  I thought she was dead, to be honest.  But she's very much alive!  She laughs so hard she pees her pants (okay, that is a new development.... last time I saw her, she hadn't birthed three babies- ha ha).  That's the part I like the most about her- she laughs alot.   

What's awesome- and can only be the working of the Divine... is that she has actually emerged in a more beautiful form... like a butterfly (she loves tired cliches, too).  :-)  She is stronger, more hopeful, more sure of who she is.  It's nice.

[I will now stop talking in third person]

So it's that time of the year when we kind-of look back and see where we've been and we look forward to a clean slate - this year we call it 2012- and we dream about where we will go.  Here's some of my thoughts on this subject.

My New Years Resolutions:

-Have fun with my kids, laugh with them, turn their frowns upside down
-Use more cliches
-Seek ways to serve- anticipate an incredible opportunity from God this year
-Listen for God's voice EVERY day and go with Him wherever He goes
-Finally finish up my second journey through the bible
-Figure out a way to "off" the dog and make it look like an accident
-LOSE WEIGHT, EAT LESS, EXERCISE MORE (this is a mandatory resolution, but I really, really, really, really would like to end 2012 about 50 pounds lighter).  If Brenda is back, she should have her old body back, as well.  Just sayin'.
-Depend on God's amazing power (grace) to accomplish things I never thought possible
-Get out more (say "yes" to invites more often than I say "no")
-Make that pile of clothes at The Saving Way disappear... turn it into the cash it is waiting to be... to help a cause I believe in strongly.

I love God.... I just went to Biblegateway to find a verse to end on and their "verse of the day" is the verse God has been using to speak to me many, many times over the past 3-4 years. I could not accept it when he first spoke it to me... I did not want to forget the "former things", nor did I feel excited about anything new God might be doing. I wanted Egypt, frankly. And  I actually thought it a little harsh for him to hit me with this when I had not yet had time to come to terms with what I had lost, much less grieve for it... so I wrote the verse down, added my commentary, which was "No, I do not perceive it!" and tucked it away, knowing God's voice when I hear it and figuring it would mean more to me later.  Does it!!!!  It means everything.

“This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:16-19


Happy New Year!!