Texas is Orange

We’re a little more than two weeks into 2017 and it’s been a whirlwind.

• I’ve said goodbye to my thirties-YIKES!
• Celebrated with a good friend who took his nuptials in Minnesota #naomiandjeff
• Walked 9.2 miles around the block
• Learned the colors of states from Bobby (Texas is orange, Michigan is green and Florida is yellow & blue).
• I finished 2 of the ten books that were hanging out (The Zero Game by Brad Metzer, Fatal Error: A Novel (Ali Reynolds Series) by J.A. Jance) I’d be happy to pass either on.
• Unburdened myself with 121 things on my way to 496 participating in the #minsgame you can see stuff I’ve dumped on Instagram
• Enjoyed some more deep dive counseling with Kelly & Dr. John at PCS Counseling 
• Kate encouraged me to use proper punctuation &  capitalization…guess it’s time to grow up.

Every step has been one forward. It takes Motivation, meaning,  and purpose.

Each young day of 2017 has been done with intention.

I’m going forward, are you?

celebrate somebody else

resolutions are somewhat maligned in the circles i travel. does anyone else hear that stuff?

i hear things like:

you should always be the person you want to be

jesus makes it possible for us to overcome things everyday we don’t need special times

there’s nothing special about the new year ‘his mercies are new every morning’

while i don’t disagree with those statements, i do wonder why we don’t celebrate the desire of those around us to grow or mature as the calendar turns to the next year.

if we follow, serve, believe in a god with the power to transform our lives. would it make sense that we rejoice when that same god inspires some one to transform-even as the calendar turns?

i’m making a change. something’s stirring in me to do something different this year. i resolve to live the truths buried in me by the god of the universe and illuminated by scripture. it’s as of yet uncertain how this will play out. I’m confident that this passage has  a lot to say to me a resolver.

Romans 8:9-14 (ESV) You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

and if i don’t make some changes. i’m in trouble. i’m missing it.

there are a lot of things i’d love to do this year, some of them are silly some of them are loooooooofty and some of them are just like drop dead serious and if i don’t do them, i could be in a world of hurt. so here goes here’s my list of resolutions. in no particular order (except maybe the last one.

• blog (and really it’s just journaling, cuz i almost hope no-one reads it) regularly
• define what regularly means
• pursue health (physical, spiritual, mental, relational)
• read daily (like i make my kids)
• check in on this list and give some status reports

fairly routine.

routine is a fun word to say, try it.

roo teen.

isn’t that nice?

roo teen.

sort of funny, that a simple word that rolls off the tongue so easily can be anything but. the idea, the practice of routine is much grander and more rich than the hum drum feel and thoughts that come to mind when we first say routine…

commute.
bedtime.
work.
workout.

not all routines are menial…

breathing.
dating.
heartbeats.

some things that we do over and over are powerful forces for good in our lives.

several years ago i read a book called Axiom. an axiom is a statement or proposition that is regarded as being established, accepted, or self-evidently true.

Yogi Berra is famous for them-

Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical.

The game isn’t over ’til it’s over.

You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.

one of my favorites is this, and forgive me if it’s stolen,

structure breeds creativity.

my thought here, is that it’s time to add some to my roo teens. try some new structure to see some creativity flow.  yup, i need some structure in my life, so blogging will act as that structure. buckle up, it’s likely to be a meandering, slow, Sunday drive kinda ride.