Winter Wonderland

A few weeks ago everything outside froze over...and then it snowed! It was beautiful! 

Never have I enjoyed the beauty of winter as much as this year~

A few days before Christmas Grandma, Grandpa, Kristi, Kayla, Kourtney, and Kolton came to our house. The power went out while they were here, but we had a great time together despite the inconvenience.

We went sledding down the driveway, played games, watched football, built gingerbread houses and went shopping!

Christmas Eve was spent with my mom's side of the family and Christmas day with the five of us.

The past two years I was in Haiti for Christmas, celebrating with friends and family there. 

It was nice to be here this year with my family and friends. I couldn't have asked for a better holiday season!  

Being Intentional

Among my New Year's resolutions of blogging more and reading more books, I wrote down 'spend less time on my phone and more time with God.' 

This resolution came from becoming more connected to friends, facebook, emails, and Pinterest over the past few months than God. It is easy for me to see my relationship with God backsliding...but very hard for me to make a conscious choice to fix it. It takes much less effort to check facebook for the umpteenth time, browse the new pins on Pinterest and text friends about plans for the coming days than it does to sit down, be still, and open up my Bible or spend quiet time listening to God speak.

It's easy to waste time on menial tasks. It takes discipline to develop a daily routine of spending time with my Father. It's hard. So very hard. God warns us that it will be no easy task.

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11-12

Discipline is painful. Did you catch that? Painful. It's not supposed to be easy. It's not effortless.

Isaiah 32:17 goes on to say, "The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever."

The fruits of discipline are peace, quietness and confidence. 

I've had two different conversations recently about the fruits of spending time with God. The remarks went something like this, "On the days when I make time for God my days just go so much better. My life is better when I'm closer to God. Then the world sucks me in and I get caught up in it. I let my quiet time with God slip away. I worry more and stress about the little things... I need to get back to that place of closeness with Him." I hear it often. I'm guilty of it. 

Jamie, the Very Worst Missionary, recently blogged about using the excuse "things will get better when..." She reflected on all the reasons we come up with to put off doing what we want to be doing, choosing to let time slip away. She writes, "If I can blame all of my problems on things that will happily fix themselves over time, then I never have to actually DO anything. I am a lazy genius." Her conclusion is nothing will get better unless we put the work into it now. (Read her complete article here)

I'm resolving to change; to make time for my heavenly Father now. John Piper spoke on resolutions, stating that the most important thing to remember is resolutions are sustained through Christ. Resolve to do what you should be doing; resolve to not continue doing what you shouldn't be doing. 

What are you waiting for? What's your excuse? Let's stop living in the "it'll be better when..." and get to it, because NOW IS WORK. Whatever your resolutions may be this year above all "set your mind and heart to seek the Lord." 1 Chronicles 22:19