2014: Perspective

Over six weeks of the new year have flown by, and I have not managed to type a single blog post.  Today's holiday will hopefully enable me to change that, even if it's just to recap quickly in list format. 

--Christmas at home was a sweet time as always.  Mom was sick for the first couple of days, but we managed to get in a trip to eat Chinese food and to watch Saving Mr. Banks (which was not the happy movie that was portrayed in the commercials, but I'm glad I saw it).   My sister and her husband arrived after Christmas, and the time flew by.  We enjoyed putting together puzzles, cooking a few meals, and attending church as a family.

--There's nothing quite like getting back from a trip and realizing that (1) your key ring does not possess a key to your front door because you never come in that way, and (2) the faucet you had turned off under the sink has been dripping for 8 days.  But there's also nothing like a friend who will drive over 20 miles round trip to bring you a key, and a plumber who comes and solves the problem quickly.

--Two days later when your 13-year-old hand-me-down washer does its last load, you will sing its praises for its long-suffering service and be grateful for a $6.95 monthly subscription to Consumer Reports and for Lowe's Sunday delivery.

--When choosing a word for this year, I found that the word chose me.  I read The Noticer and The Noticer Returns, both are fantastic books by Andy Andrews, and kept seeing the word "perspective."  It came up again in Priscilla Shirer's book God Is Able.  So "perspective" is something I will be concentrating on this year.

--I'm learning that "perspective" is imparted through God's Word and through the Holy Spirit.  It's the latter that I am becoming reacquainted with.  As I've been going through Jennie Allen's study Chase with my mentee, I'm seeing just how much the Holy Spirit equipped David and gave him the courage and perspective he needed to face the trials in his life.  Learning lots here.

--I love that the first-ever IF Gathering in Austin provided a livestream so that I could watch in the comfort of my home!  Incredible teaching on repenting, walking in freedom, and following one's calling.  And now they are equipping women with a daily email that has half a chapter from John, three questions to answer, and a 2-3 minute video featuring those same incredible teachers talking through the day's Bible reading.  Good stuff.

--Without college football on Saturdays, I've been devouring my reading stack.  (See the margin for recently read books from the past several weeks through the beginning of last year.)  I'm currently reading a meaty book called Respectable Sins that is also calling me to press into the Holy Spirit. 

I hope that your 2014 is off to a great start and that the Holy Spirit is teaching you how to walk through each day.

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." - John 14:26