Resolutions

It's the beginning of a brand new year and many people are making resolutions. Most will have to do with losing weight or eating healthier. Some may try to be more positive or manage their spending better but did you ever think about what really matters most of all..........maybe your relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ? Too many times I've missed church because of a ballgame the kids had or a birthday party or I just plain stayed up too late watching a movie. Sometimes I have gotten up Sunday and there has been snow on the roads and say, "Well, I guess no church today," and climbed back in my warm bed only to risk the weather conditions come Monday morning, making sure I could collect that almighty 40 hour pay check on Friday. I've had lots of excuses but none of them relevant.

Another thing I like to do is read.......everything but my Bible. Well, that's not entirely true, I do read my Bible at night before bed but I always keep a good book on me in case I get stuck in traffic or have a long wait at the Doctors office. It's usually the latest novel or some self-help book but not my Bible. My Bible sits on my nightstand everyday or until Sunday morning when it gets to venture out to church. Shouldn't it get first dibs for my attention instead the latest addition of Better Homes and Garden? It should but that's not always the case. I have definitely been guilty of letting everything and everyone get in my way of having a better relationship with God and studying His word.

I remember the day I got saved. I was coming back from Lexington one evening and because I didn't go to church that morning, I thought I'd go to the evening service to make up for it. It didn't really make up for it but I told myself that to make myself feel better since I was too lazy to get out of bed that morning. Anyway, I was alone......kids were gone, boyfriend gone. It was just me. I suppose there was a reason I stopped that night because I never went to the evening services.......never! My pastor preached a sermon that night that was especially for me, I think. It was Matthew 15:26-28 The Faith of the Canaanite Woman. I had had some problems with one of my daughters so this particular sermon hit me at my core. I cried through the whole thing. Now, this was a new church that I had just started attending so not many people knew me. I'm sure there were a few who wondering why this lady was sobbing in a pew all alone. Well, something about those words let me know that I was not alone with my problems and if I would just let him, Jesus would help me and everything would be alright but I had to let Him help. I am a control freak by nature. I want things a certain way. I want my socks to match, I want my towels folded just so, I don't like it when my food touches on my plate and I always have to drive. So, the concept of turning my life's problems over to someone else simply crippled me in the past. But that day I didn't care. I didn't care who was watching or the fact that I looked like a raccoon with mascara smears all over my face. I asked my Lord and Savior to come into my heart and change me and ......He did. When I left the parking lot of the church that night I felt better than I had in years. I felt......happy. I felt genuine happiness and a high that no nerve pill  (that my doctor had me on) could ever produce. I had such good news to tell my family and no one was home. My boyfriend was at work, my youngest was at her dad's and my two oldest were out of town. Could I have waited until my family was with me to make my commitment to God? Probably, but I believe that day, at that moment He was speaking to me. And although I was alone.... in a new church.... surrounded by strangers, I was with family.

Now, it hasn't been easy trying to change my "evil" ways. I still curse more often than I should. I judge people too harshly when I know it's not my place and I haven't exactly been beating the bushes to spread the good news about Jesus Christ but one of my daughters did get saved and baptized. My boyfriend Zach, who is now my husband, also got saved and then baptized on the same day as me. Apparently I have inspired at least 2 people and isn't that what it's all about? Bringing people closer to God one soul at a time.

So, for my New Year's resolution instead of promising myself to get in shape and eating healthier, I think I'll feed my soul and try to be a better Christian. I believe that's a resolution I can keep.~ Happy New Year!!