Hey 2011, I've Got Your Resolutions Right Here Baby!

 Committing to a New Year’s Resolution will not necessarily bring profound lasting life change. Committing your heart to God…studying, learning, and praying His Word…that is what will bring eternal, lasting life transformation.
I invite you to join me this year in writing a New Year’s Prayer. To begin, examine your New Year’s Resolution and prayerfully ask the Lord to reveal the heart issue behind it. Ask Him to lead you through His Word to verses that directly address what you hear.

When I read the previous words from my "Encouragement for Today" email, I knew that they'd find their way onto a blog post. Why? Thanks for asking. Well, they point directly to my New Year's Resolution history. I make these promises to myself, whether they be goals, ambitions, desires, daydreams, self-improvements, whatever, and somehow by February they are lost again on the pages of a journal instead of weaving throughout my life.

But I believe these desires in our hearts are not just our own, but are placed there by a God who loves us more than we can even dream, and this is why with a prayerful heart, I am seeking 11 in '11 this year. Eleven resolutions. Eleven promises to myself. Why so many? Well, I think I'm worth it. Some are more tangible, and I'll find easy to achieve. Others will take time and prayer, and they will only be found through time and prayer.

Here we go:
1. Read the top ten fiction books of 2010. I need to catch up from last year before moving on to 2011. To this list I will also add my kindred spirit's top three must-reads (to be discovered as soon as she emails me back). So this will include:

• Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan 
• Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
• The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
• Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon
• Wilson by Daniel Clowes
• Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
• How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
• The Passage by Justin Cronin
• Faithful Place by Tana French

2. Learn the NFL divisions.
3. Cook from a real cookbook once a week. We have several, but I'm an Internet chef. It's time to break the binding and flour up some pages.
4. Seek peace and worry less.
5. Be more patient with my family and myself.
6. Run a half marathon. I doubt that I'll ever do a full one. These two knees just aren't young enough, but I think the three of us could manage a half.
7. Find my creativity again. Let's get crafty, y'all!
8. Pray more often. Pray more deeply.
9. Be more intentional in my relationships. This means keeping up with old friends, loving my husband and child with all that I can, and seeking new friendships wherever they may be.
10. Giving myself permission--permission to love, to succeed, to fail, to jump, to stand still, to laugh, to cry, to do more, to do less. With permission, I will find true contentment in being who I was made to be.
11. Learn something new about technology! I don't know--maybe something new with photography or blogging or shortcuts. (This means I will need your help, Cowboy!)

And now if you'll excuse me, it's time to write my New Year's prayer. In the meantime, may God bless you and yours this new year with His peace, love, and joy.