My Resolution

Every year we announce our overly ready goodbyes to the year that has just ended and eagerly welcome in the new one. People make silly lists of things they vow to do or not do this year, which usually end up being things they couldn't pull off the previous year. They swear to eat better, work out more, and blah blah blah. And so it goes every year. I will admit that I am ready to make changes that I wish I had made in 2012. I am glad for this strange feeling of a "fresh start." But recent conversations with friends have made me rethink the type of change I want for this new year. I recently had a lunch date with some old friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. We talked about the new things going on in our lives, the good and bad. We talked about how things used to be "way back when" and how life has changed for all of us. One thing that was talked about that has really stuck with me was the way my family lived while I was growing up. Even though I have always been aware of the constant flow of strangers into my parent’s home and the way that my mother always seemed to be cooking for the neighborhood, I realized that the way I grew up is not too much different than how I want my house to be now that I am the mother.

For this new year, I want to move in that direction the best way I know how. I want to be in service with my family. I want my kids to grow up with the heart like I had growing up. I don’t care what we do or how we do it. Whether we are making tacos for the homeless, picking up garbage, or doing hurricane relief, I want to be in service to any one who needs it with my family by my side. Most of all I want the people we meet to know we are different by the way we act, by the way we serve. I want them to see Christ through our smiles and our actions and our words, just the way my family did when I was growing up.

2013, you're here. And I am ready for ya!