Happy New Year....Moving Forward

 December 31st 2011- another year has come and gone. I have struggled to find the words as to how I would like to embrace the new year, to make it different or more productive than the last. Resolution is a word that seems so shallow....resolve what? What problems did I encounter last year that I need to resolve in this new year? Well, yes, I need to shed some weight, be more active.....really need this, my metabolism has vanished....organize and de-clutter......stick to a budget....all the obvious things we let get out of control.
But, all these things just don't appeal to me as I think about writing on the pages of my book of 2012. 

As I reflect on these things and on the past 12 months, I am drawn to reflect on Philippians 3:12-14

"I don't mean to say I am perfect. I haven't learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us." (The Living Bible)

So, what do I want for 2012? Where do I want to direct my energies and embrace what lies ahead?.......I want to Fall in Love!
Now before everyone gets the wrong idea and rumors start flying.......I want to fall in love with life, with everything God has put in my life and with everything God has planned for me.  Do you remember falling in love?....how everything was new and exciting, when you woke up in the morning there was a "Joy" and "Excitement" in your heart that carried you through your day and "Enthusiasm" bubbled from every thing making it hard to go to sleep at night because you didn't want to miss anything? I want to feel that "Joy, Excitement and Enthusiasm" each day of 2012!
I have a decorative plate that has a quote, "Don't let the Weeds grow up in your Garden of Dreams". Now, I know that to dream is to hope. Faith, Hope and Love go hand in hand and without these three, God's promises are being denied. This past year has had some challenges and somewhere along the way, I have allowed the joy that motivates the passion in my Garden of Dreams to be choked out by the negative weeds of life.

"I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.  I want to "fall in love" with spending time with my Father in Heaven to gather the strength I need each day to keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be.......... I want to "fall in love"with spending time with my precious family because time is really all that matters when it comes to family......I want to "fall in love"with my church and extending my time to others in need..........I want to "fall in love" with rekindling friendships that I have neglected, losing that connection of those who  have touched my life along the way,  I want to " fall in love"with the job that God graciously put me in and gave me the passion to continue in it  for 35 years and I want to fall in love with the "business of my dreams" that will allow me to reach out and bless others and will replace my job in the near future. 
"I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us." 
"All my days were written in Your Book and planned before a single one of them began (Psalm 139:16)

My New Years Resolution is to follow the plan He has for me......and to cultivate my Garden of Dreams to His Glory ...........

------That Being Said-----

2011 brought with it many blessings, the announcement of a new addition to our family, a grandson from Ethiopia, Isaiah James Griffith, who hopefully will join his forever family this year.Wish I had a picture to share but that will come............




The birth of another grandson, Charlie Braydon Reid, joining his now 4 year old brother, Jaylon.

We also watched our son, Alex and granddaughter, Caitlin,
turn 18 years old, graduate from high school and enter college.

We were proud to see our grandson, TJ,
enter the armed forces,

We were there to see our granddaughter
Tracie Lee in her first Miss Teen Pageant

and saw granddaughter Lauren turn "sweet sixteen".

 

We also witnessed the transformation of our granddaughters, Emily and McKayla, into teenagers, all of which have grown up way too fast!

 These blessings would not have been possible without the Heavenly gifts of our beautiful children who have truly blessed our lives. We are thankful to God for the wonderful adults and parents they have become.

With God's grace and guidance..........we will continue to adjust to the peace and quiet of an empty nest, watch our baby boy change directions and enter the armed forces, track the path of our grandson as he makes choices for his life, love on our grand babies every chance we get, stand in awe as our beautiful granddaughters continue to grow into beautiful young women, wait patiently for our sweet Ethiopian grandson to come home and spend more time with our precious children, making memories.......

Update: The dream of our Ethiopian grandson was never realized, because God had another plan...in the form of a 4 year old little boy right here in the USA. Our Grandson Henry is such a sweet addition to the family and we are so thankful God had a plan for him and for his forever family.

"I don't mean to say I am perfect. I haven't learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us." (The Living Bible) Philippians 3:12-14 

 2012......God, Family, then everything else
 

I opened my One Year Devotional Prayer Book to start the new year and found the perfect New Years Resolution......."My dear heavenly Father, it is my desire to be a women of integrity. Realizing that I am what I am by the grace of God, please so work in my heart this day that the tongue in my mouth and the tongue in my shoe are going in the same direction. I realize that if I am to effect others for your cause, You will have to do it through me. I surrender to Your control now and ask You to be in me, no longer me but You."