1/12 of 2012 Gone?
Hard to believe!? It's past February 1st already.
I'm not one to make New Year resolutions. Maybe I've become cynical in my old age (te he) and secretly believe that it will all come to naught in a month or two (well, I guess the secret is out).
But, I find it amazing how God is impressing new direction in my life in spite of my reluctance to make official goals. In a way, He is resolving His ways into my thinking and I can only give the Holy Spirit credit.
Spend less. Give more. We recently purchased a new vehicle. The acquisition was costly for us, but my husband and I believed it was wise to invest in quality over quantity (i.e. one good reliable vehicle instead of two mediocre ones). Ironically, spending more on a vehicle was the impetus to re-evaluate our budget and trim extra expenditures. I've been trying hard to watch the sales and purchase items at a lesser value. I'm attempting to eliminate wants and focus on needs, which is much more difficult than I envisioned. For instance, I only need one black dress pant for special occasions. I am not professionally teaching at this stage of my life. Why do I need more "dressy clothes"? (And one could argue, I don't even need a dress pant!). Furthermore, we are trying to give more money away than we usually do by intentionally budgeting such at the beginning of the month. Again, another difficult action for me since I rather save extra cash for a rainy day or a future renovation than give more than my expected 10% to charity. Even after all of these good changes, I still struggled with how hypocritical my existence is. I have so much, SO MUCH! How can I truly escape the voices of North American society and live free of all material demands? Challenging thoughts.
Risk even if it means failure. I wrote a piece of "creative non-fiction" in a matter of a month and entered it into a national writing contest. To be honest, my writing isn't Pulitzer Prize worthy at all. When I asked my husband, "Do you think I have a chance at winning?" He hesitated, shrugged, and didn't really say much, which meant, "Honey, probably not." My reaction: I shed a few tears of frustration and exclaimed, "I better not send this in because it will not win and people will probably laugh at my work and think it is stupid!" What did I do in the end? I took a risk. I listened to my husband's encouragement to participate in the contest regardless of the quality of my writing. And I submitted my 1495 words, along with the twenty-five dollar administrative fee, the day before the official deadline. Oh well, the money was a donation, so I tell myself!
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. This one is tough. God convicts me of this command over and over again. For example, am I writing this blog post to make myself look pious? Do I share my ideas with others hoping, one day, I'll bask in the limelight of my own cognitive brilliance? Is my insecurity so deep that I subconsciously beg people to boost my ego with their kudos? Sadly, there are many times I have to say "yes" to all three questions.
God is not through with me yet, thankfully. May He continue to work in me during the next 11/12 of 2012.
I'm not one to make New Year resolutions. Maybe I've become cynical in my old age (te he) and secretly believe that it will all come to naught in a month or two (well, I guess the secret is out).
But, I find it amazing how God is impressing new direction in my life in spite of my reluctance to make official goals. In a way, He is resolving His ways into my thinking and I can only give the Holy Spirit credit.
Spend less. Give more. We recently purchased a new vehicle. The acquisition was costly for us, but my husband and I believed it was wise to invest in quality over quantity (i.e. one good reliable vehicle instead of two mediocre ones). Ironically, spending more on a vehicle was the impetus to re-evaluate our budget and trim extra expenditures. I've been trying hard to watch the sales and purchase items at a lesser value. I'm attempting to eliminate wants and focus on needs, which is much more difficult than I envisioned. For instance, I only need one black dress pant for special occasions. I am not professionally teaching at this stage of my life. Why do I need more "dressy clothes"? (And one could argue, I don't even need a dress pant!). Furthermore, we are trying to give more money away than we usually do by intentionally budgeting such at the beginning of the month. Again, another difficult action for me since I rather save extra cash for a rainy day or a future renovation than give more than my expected 10% to charity. Even after all of these good changes, I still struggled with how hypocritical my existence is. I have so much, SO MUCH! How can I truly escape the voices of North American society and live free of all material demands? Challenging thoughts.
Risk even if it means failure. I wrote a piece of "creative non-fiction" in a matter of a month and entered it into a national writing contest. To be honest, my writing isn't Pulitzer Prize worthy at all. When I asked my husband, "Do you think I have a chance at winning?" He hesitated, shrugged, and didn't really say much, which meant, "Honey, probably not." My reaction: I shed a few tears of frustration and exclaimed, "I better not send this in because it will not win and people will probably laugh at my work and think it is stupid!" What did I do in the end? I took a risk. I listened to my husband's encouragement to participate in the contest regardless of the quality of my writing. And I submitted my 1495 words, along with the twenty-five dollar administrative fee, the day before the official deadline. Oh well, the money was a donation, so I tell myself!
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. This one is tough. God convicts me of this command over and over again. For example, am I writing this blog post to make myself look pious? Do I share my ideas with others hoping, one day, I'll bask in the limelight of my own cognitive brilliance? Is my insecurity so deep that I subconsciously beg people to boost my ego with their kudos? Sadly, there are many times I have to say "yes" to all three questions.
God is not through with me yet, thankfully. May He continue to work in me during the next 11/12 of 2012.