1/07/2009

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS


…. BEWARE, very long post, some boredom may occur.

So, who doesn’t do New Year resolutions and in the beginning of the year look back and realized that sometime in the middle of January they started to neglect doing those things they were so excited about doing just 2 weeks earlier…. If there is one of those out there that has met all of their commitments from last year….. don’t share it with me or I will feel guilty… keep it for your own.
The truth is that every year I make New Year resolutions, in fact most of them would be repetitions of the year before, those that I didn’t meet. This year of course, it is not different. I have many things that I want to do as an individual as also implement in my girls. But this year, I am going to do my very best to meet them. And to be accountable to someone I am going to share them with you. Now, I am going to need you to help me stay committed… so, there they go… some of them anyway
1.- Bible memorization—I am one of those people that know my Bible and what it says, now where……. ????? that… I am not so good at. So I am going to start memorizing more in hope to help me be more faithful to God and more of a blessing to those around me.
2.- More prayer and Bible reading. Every year I have the plan to read the whole Bible in a year, which is an excellent plan, but this year (as I started doing somewhere in the middle of last year) I am going to try to do something different. Instead of reading the Bible in a year I am just going to read and do more Bible studies. I keep a notebook to write notes about the things I feel God is talking to me about, or truths that pop out as I read. I found that many times I read something that God is using to touch my heart, but if I don’t dwell on it for a while, it goes on and I don’t make any permanent decisions about it. So write them down makes me think about it and makes me apply it in a more personal way. You may have to bear with me as I may share some of my ramblings with you….
3.- Exercise—Well, there are not all just spiritual resolutions. I really want to lose about 20 lbs. I understand some of you are nice enough to tell me that I don’t need to lose weight…. Well if you are one of those people, keep it for yourself; I need other kind of encouragementJ. I thought that once I came to Spain I would lose the weight that I had accumulated from pregnancies and deputation. But then the truth came, and instead of losing weight I put on another 10 lbs…… I always been small and I like it that way to tell you the truth so…. Here is the plan. I think my problems are dinners. Here we eat dinner late and I do it extra late because I like to put the girls in bed and get in my pjs before I do. I eat mostly sandwiches and chips…. Not healthy… so I am going to eat salads or something light. My other side is that Matthew bought me an elliptical machine, that my neighbor next door was selling when she moved, and I know those machines are great for exercising so…. Let’s see what happens. If that doesn’t work, then maybe some serious diet may have to be done but….. that may be the key of me failing this resolution because I am not sure I can do that…. Anyway…
4.- More blogging—Loneliness is one of the hardest things a missionary can face. I am a very outgoing person that loves to socialize, but since we move to Granada I haven’t been able to do much of that. The growth of the churches here are slow, and with me being a stay home mom (which I love, no regrets here) I don’t have many opportunities of getting out and meeting new people… I understand that, and I am okay with it, but let’s face it, everyone needs people to communicate with, and even if no one reads this blog J it feels good to let those things out.
5.- More time with my girls- Yep, more quality time. Because I am with them all the time, I don’t think so much about spending time with them. So I want to sit down more and read to them, color with them, do crafts with them….. After all, they are only this age for a short time. It hit me the other day, Kayla, my oldest; she is going to be 7 in may. 7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is not a little girl any more, 7, you are a girl when you are 7…. My baby is going to be 7. She tells me that she will always be my baby. She says that even when she is a teenager she is going to let me hold her and kiss her and call her my little baby…. Should I ask her to sign something on that??? Jhhehehe
6.- Family night- From now on, Monday nights are family nights. Matthew and me and the girls….. having fun!!!
7.- Devotionals with the girls- We always had family devotionals, but it is something that is easily put aside and substitute by a fast Bible story before bed if there are lots of things to do or have people over. From this day on, it is a priority. The family that prays together…..
8.- Scrapbooking--- I am soooo behind it is silly!!! Today I got a special treat from my husband and something that I have been wanting for a long time….. a scrapbooking spot. My scrapbooking things have always been store somewhere and then pulled out when I felt like doing some, but usually it takes me longer to get things out and later picked up that the time that I actually get to spend scrapbooking. This summer I got some done because I brought things down to the playroom area (most known as the garage, the coolest part of the house in summer), but of course if it is now 80 degrees or higher out there, that part of the house doesn’t get many visits. For that matter, I don’t scrapbook. So after a while of having people use our office as a guest bedroom (which I am thankful for all the visits, that was not a complain) we got our office back. We moved the girls desk there because we needed the room for a big girl bed for Noelia (my baby is in a big girl bed now!!!!! L ). So now I am using it as my desk and Matthew bought me some shelves for storage. I will post photos soon. Anyway, I need to get up to date with at least the girls scrapbooks. I enjoy scrapbooking very much so I should be able to do that right…..
9.- Stop and praise God more—We get discourage way to easy…. I get discourage way too easy if I stay too long looking at the trials, and difficulties of life. I need to look at God’s blessing and praise Him for His goodness. There is certainly so much to be thankful for, and I spend way to long doing the complete opposite. We are also doing that as a family. We are starting a Praise journal which everyone in the family is going to get to take a part of. I am actually very excited about it. Praise God!!!!

Well, so far that is it. There are other things that I want to do but, this post is way long already. I know that having it in the blog is going to help me remember them. I am also keeping a copy of it and leaving it in the “desktop” of my computer. And of course, I have you to remind me right????


4 comments:

Deborah said...

No new years resolutions for me...although I could put down all that you listed...I wrote about New Day resolutions on my blog...works better for me.
By the way, I'm looking forward to reading your posts on the KJV Blog Directory!

Nate and Arancha Photography said...

Great resolutions!
5. Yes, make her sign it, lol
I didn't do new year resolutions either! I think I do them just whenever and start working on them asap (not very good at that, but I'm getting better!)
Point number 1 is great! It's something I want to do! I also know my Bible, but not good at finding where (despite the huge list of verses and reasons why I love them on the note page at the end of my Bible!)
I'll try to encourage you about exercising! Nate and I are working on that too, hehe
Hey, what about photography? no resolutions for that?

Nina in Portugal said...

I missed you while you were away. i love the pictures and updates. You have great resolutions! Mine is the same ol' same ol'...loose weight...yeah right!!

Have a great week!

Unknown said...

You go girl! With God´s help you can keep it up. Mine were similar. I have 30lbs in a year. This year is our year Pilar!!! I am charting my progress. wanna keep tabs? jeje
un besin