Where to Put the New Stuff

After Christmas each year, it's a process to find places for the gifts that I've received. Sometimes it takes a while because I need to get rid of some stuff in order to make room for the new things.

That same process applies to my calendar as well. With the start of the new year, I wanted to be open to trying some new things, like working out at the gym, starting a new Bible study, volunteering in the church nursery, and other various activities. I thought I had done a pretty good job of "cleaning" out my calendar to make room for these new things, but it seems that I didn't clear off quite enough time. In my calendar's defense, I've also said "yes" to a lot of last-minute, one-time events like movies and shopping with friends. The effect of all that has been a blog that has remained empty of new posts for most of the month.

As I get used to the new schedule, I'm hoping to get back to blogging more regularly. I've pondered a lot of things this month and hope that I can process them more through writing about them in the future. In the meantime, please know that I haven't forgotten about blogging; I'm just trying to carve out a block of time for it.

Welcome 2010!

It's the beginning of a new decade! I somehow missed that piece of info because no major attention, like that in 2000 with Y2K, was given to it. And yet, I'm not sure that will affect how I approach this year.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately and have lots of ideas in mind for my new one-word resolution, but I've had a hard time trying to narrow it down. Here are some of the things that have caught my attention:

--to live and love and blog boldly (courtesy of MckMama)

--to live free of the world's expectations (courtesy of Ted)

--to pray new prayers (courtesy of Ann Voskamp) & ask for His perspective

--to give increasing attentiveness to His presence (courtesy of Krista)

--to simply enjoy the moment(s)

So, I'm just going to ponder this a bit more.

In the meantime, I'm really enjoying the devotional I've selected for this year: Streams in the Desert. So far, the messages have been perfectly timed - exactly what I've needed to hear each day.

So what are you planning to read this year?