This is my favorite time of year. If you follow this blog for long, you'll probably hear me say that again about another season. But it's one of them! I love setting goals, de-junking my house, getting started with school again after a break, and that fun, fresh feeling of a new year.
I am not sure if it is a fast or a diet, but I am doing the biggest whatever-it-is of my life. Not a total fast, but a fast from all real food for 21 days. I am doing liquids (yes, coffee, too), Standard Process protein bars, Arbonne protein shakes, fiber supplement, energy drinks and weight loss chews. So it's not total torture, but still a very limited diet. To help me stay out of tempting situations, my kids are doing all the cooking. What an amazing amount of time I am saving! Not eating, and especially not cooking. I am just about done with day four.
Another new years goal is to have my kids memorize a new Bible verse every other day or so (one that I choose, in addition to AWANA or whatever else they are doing at church). In the past I have had loftier goals, like memorizing entire books of the Bible, and while we'd get a chapter done, which is great, we'd burn out before the whole book was memorized. I'm enjoying making notes of verses I come across that I'd like to do next, and everyone has been very enthusiastic about our three verses so far. Tonight I bought a cute little journal at the Container Store to keep them in for easy review. January is never complete without at least one trip to the Container Store!
I have been especially meditating on one of our verses, Luke 3:10-11. When told of their need to repent, God's people ask John the Baptist, what they should do next. His response is "Who ever has two tunics, let him give to him who has none, and he who has food, do likewise." I sure have a lot more than one tunic, and I'm not quite sure what do about that.
P.S. Abby doesn't yet follow my blog, so hopefully she won't notice that I didn't post on her birthday. But Happy Seventh Birthday, my dear spunky girl! What a delight you are to all of us.
