More or Less

This time of year is filled with renewal.  I love the idea of resolving to do differently in the coming days what you failed to do in the previous ones.  I love the clean slate idea.  I love being able to start fresh.  But I have struggled over the years to make it out of January with my "resolutions" intact.  This year, I resolve to do differently.  I resolve to be the same me I've always been.  Nope, not changing one little thing about myself.

Instead, I'm changing everything.

I adopted a new motto for myself in 2013:

Love more.  Live more.  Give more.  Stress less.

Easy.  Here's how it works:

Love.

Jesus said that the world would know we are his followers by our love (John 13:35).  This can be difficult to do in a world that tells us to be so careful, to be so confined to our safe place.  In order to love, and love fully, I know I have to be out in the world.  I have to be where people who need love are.  And that can be tricky.  But I also know that I don't have to look too far to find people who need love, either.  Start at home.  I need to show the people I share DNA with, people I share a home with, and people I share a name with the kind of love I would want them to show me.  I need to love them when they're imperfect, when they're difficult to love, when they really don't deserve it.  And then I need to step outside and love my neighbors.  And love my community.  And love my state.  And love my country.  And love the beautiful world God placed me on.  It seems like a lot to ask, but it's easy to love when you break it down one sweet, wonderfully made heart at a time.  Love God, love people.

Ultimately, I want to look back on December 31, 2013 and feel my heart so full of love that it just might bust.  I want to remember the faces of people who needed me, and weren't let down.  I want to find as many opportunities to give love as I can.  I want to forgive those who've trespassed against me, and be forgiven by those I've trespassed against.  I want to show others the love of Jesus Christ by my thought, word, and deed.  I want to hug more.  I want to hold hands more.  I want to love more.

Live.

Anyone who knows me well know that I am far from adventurous.  I don't like risk.  At all.  In fact, I consider public restrooms about as much risk as I am willing to take, and even that is debatable.  I don't like germs, crowds, confined spaces, too much noise, snakes, weird food textures, heights, and any situation that would cause me to be dirty or grimy for extended periods of time.  It's honestly a miracle I'm not a recluse.  And I've often thought that I may be missing out on some wonderful experiences because of all of these things I "don't do."  I've closed myself off from things that would otherwise be fun or valuable because they were too dirty, too noisy, or involved too many people.  And one summer I took a chance and went to Guatemala, where I stood in a soupy, muddy hole, shoulder-to-shoulder with a crowd of dirty Guatemalan strangers, ate "mystery meat", and slept with geckos.  And you know what?  I loved every minute of it.  I was definitely out of my element, and that is exactly where God chose for me to grow.  How could I have missed it?

This year, I want for my knee-jerk reaction to not be an automatic no.  I want to wait and respond to God in a way that is open to His blessing.  I want to think hard about an opportunity, and if I should say no, I want to have a better reason than "I don't want to."  I want to be open and available for experiences that will grow my faith, expand my knowledge, and give me a balanced outlook on God and His creation.  I want to live each day to it's fullest potential - seeing the possibility in every moment to praise God, to Love His children, and to grow my own spirit.

Give.

I think people who are close to me know that I enjoy giving.  I've never really struggled with generosity.  But this year, I want to give beyond what I did before.  In fact, every year I want to give more than I did the year before.  I want to give more money to more things that mean more.  I want to give more of my time.  I want to give more of my effort, my talents, my heart.  I want to invest in the things that bring glory to god, and peace to men.  I want to serve my butt off!  If an opportunity to serve people arises, I want to be the first one in line to roll up my sleeves and get to work.  

My husband and I have been actively giving both of our time and money to an organization that I have referenced many times before - Living Water International (visit them at www.water.cc).  I would love to be more involved with them this year, and be able to share in the amazing life change that takes place when a community is transformed from hopeless to hopeful.  I want to have my thumbprint on a community that moves from desperation, to now having a foundation to be lifted from poverty.  But this year I want to make my mark in communities all over the globe - from Guatemala to Russia, from Richmond to Houston - just loving and serving.

In school I was voted "most likely to save the world."  I remember laughing about it then, but perhaps my classmates saw something in me than that I need to tap into now.  I'm praying that God will renew my giving spirit and maybe I can save the world, one small community and one small effort at a time.

Stress.

I think I was meant to be a diamond.  High pressure is kind of my "normal."  And it's 90% self-imposed.  Everything stresses me out, which makes me worry, which makes me tense, which makes me forget that this life and all of it's troubles are very, very temporary.  I can store up wealth to ease my financial stress right now, but it does little to prepare me for the eternity I am facing.  While I am busy loving, living, and giving, I am storing up riches in heaven.

I want to live this year in a way that shows I am fully and completely confident that these temporary trappings have no hold over me.  I have a card in my journal that I read quite often that says:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. -Matthew 6:25-34

This is God's way of saying, "I got this."  I need to just let Him have it.  Why should I worry?  Why should I stress?  

I hope that all of you who read this will join me on this journey.  It's gonna be a crazy ride.  Some tears, some laughter, and a whole lotta memories I will treasure.  God is gonna do some amazing things this year, and I want to be a part of it...