a fresh start

A quick Google search this morning led me to a couple of lists of superstitions associated with New Year's Day.  Some of these I had heard before, some I hadn't.  Most seemed silly on the surface, but when I thought about them I realized that they would be difficult to carry out and the underlying fear (for those that believe in that kind of stuff) is actually quite sad.

Let me just say that I am not even almost superstitious.  Faith and superstition have no place in the same heart, so I choose faith.  Besides, I find it much easier to trust that my Father is in control than to believe that it is bad luck to wash dishes on New Year's Day.  Or here's an even better one ... did you know that some people believe that the first person to enter your home in the new year should be a tall, dark-haired, handsome man and that he should come bearing gifts?  But don't let a blonde or red-haired man, or a woman (with any color hair) be the first one to come in your house ... even if you have to keep them out at gun-point!  Oh, and for the good luck to work, the dark-haired man must enter your house before anyone already inside leaves the house. Really?!?

With all that said, there is one thing about the New Year's Day superstitions that I like and I think I will use that idea to decide what to do with the rest of my day.  It seems that the idea behind all of these silly superstitions is that what you do on New Year's Day will have an effect on how you spend the rest of the year.  So, with that in mind, here are my plans for today.

There is no question that the first thing on my list (I should have already done, but haven't yet) is to spend time with my heavenly Father, reading His Word and praying.  If I made no changes in 2013, except to increase my time with my Father, it would be a good year.

Today, I also plan to spend time with my family.  Since we are all stuck inside, (due to the fact that the kids are all still nursing coughs and it is raining and yucky out so we would rather keep them inside) I want our time together to be pleasant.  Of course, keeping three cooped up kids from bickering is next to impossible, so my goal will just be to handle it well when they do.

I am going to cook a good, healthy meal for my family today.  It will consist of the traditional black-eyed peas and cabbage ... not because I believe they bring good luck, but because my hubby really likes them and I like fixing things that he likes.  Over the years of cooking the cabbage, I have discovered that I don't hate it as much as I thought I did.  I still don't like black-eyed peas too much, but I'll eat them today, just to make him happy!  Added to that we will have pork loin and corn-bread and probably some English peas (since the kids don't like the cabbage!).

Finally, I am going to put my house in order.  Not the whole house, just the living room - which has doubled as the sick-room lately - and the kitchen.  Neither are in terrible shape, but they do need a little attention and what better pattern to set for the new year than to take care of a small problem before it gets out of hand?

Life is full of changes and we have seen quite a few over the last year.  In 2012, lots of good things happened ... Ronnie officially became the manager of his department and has proven himself quite capable of handling the job ... LB became a teenager and, for the most part, hasn't turned into some horrible monster that none of us can live with ;o) ... we began another school year and have experienced the usual ups and downs that are a natural part of each new challenge we face in school.  

2012 also brought some changes in our church family ... new members that have quickly become new friends ... church family members that have gone home to be with the Lord (sad for us, not for them) ... Ronnie was privileged to perform the wedding of our good friends Brooks and Leigh Anne.  There are other things, of course, but these are the ones that stand out the most.

Of course, there were some changes that we wish hadn't come ... most of all, the decision of our oldest and dearest couple friends, Brad and Amy, to move their family to Starkville so that Brad could take a new job.  ~Okay, sideline here to say that I have no idea how to describe our friendship with Brad and Amy ... Ronnie and I have been married for 15 years and we have been friends with them for 12 of those years ... our children have literally grown up together and they've been much more than just "friends at church" but to try and put all of that into words would take days and be way more than anyone is really interested in knowing.~  I'll just say this about their moving, we pray that they will be firmly in the will of God in whatever they do and that they won't forget how to find their way home!

It is impossible for me to sit here, with a brand new year ahead and not look forward to the things that it will bring.  There are many changes that I want to make in this new year ... some that I have been working on for years and some that are new challenges ... my prayer is that God will show me which things that HE wants me to focus on and which things I should simply leave in the past.  My desire is that when 2013 draws to a close, I will be able to say that the most important change in this year has been that I have drawn closer to God, because I know that in doing so, He will draw closer to me.  What more can we ask from a shiny new year?