My Journey Toward A Trusting Heart

Happy New Year!

Hard to believe we're watching 2006 draw to a close...wow. Where did it go? If you got our Christmas letter (did I post it here? Yes, I think I did...) you'll see we had a busy year.   I told Kate the other day, while she was waiting for something to cook in the microwave, that she was getting older by the second! Sobering thought, isn't it?

I'm looking foward to a new year, doing more of the things I really love. We are setting our sights on moving the boys to kate's vacated room (she took over Krissi's last year), and then we're going to set up the boys' old room as a schoolroom and craftroom FOR ME! I can hardly wait to see it come together. I hope to maximize the area w/ some better organization of my craft/scrapping supplies, and esp a work area.

Plus, we are looking forward to getting our school area set up, so we can have a little more flow to our efforts. I know many HS'ers just use the dining room table -- and we've been doing that, but it'll be almost heaven to have a nice area where we can expand our supplies -- posters, blackboard, etc..and make it more "classroom'y"...but I'm looking forward to enjoying my own creativity come back to life in getting work done on the kids' scrapbooks and making some cards that are long-past needing to be sent.

So, the new year holds lots of promise...plus, I've got my heart set on spending more time in worship. I've let that slide because I've been consumed with other things -- things I've allowed to crowd out my time with God, including my laziness and lack of drive...but I've been convicted about that and am ready to make every effort to spend time with the Lord.

I've just read Max Lucado's "Cure for the Common Life" -- and he says this (Chapter 8): "Worship...turns a face toward the Father and away from frailty...Worship adjusts us, lowering the chin of the haughty, straightening the back of the burdened.   Breaking the bread, partaking of the cup.   Bowing the knees, lifting the hands.   This is worship.  In the solitude of a corporate cubicle or the community of a church. ...

"Worship God. Applaud him loud and often. For your sake, you need it.    And for heaven's sake, he deserves it."

That really helped me, and convicted me that I need to focus more on worship than on the stuff of my life. Doesn't Matt. 6:33 tell us to "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything else will be added to you..."? Pretty simple...too bad we make it so hard.

God deserves our worship even when we don't feel like it. And I'm going to do better about that. Even when I don't feel like it...which is more often than when I do. Too bad. Do it any way.

Thanks to all of you who are interested enough in my life to keep tabs on me! Like many of you, I've had some dark days, but thanks be to God -- He is always ready to pull me out if I'll just reach up!

Reach up, and find that you are seeing things from a whole new view in 2007!