I just finished reading the 70 Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards, written in 1723. All I can say is, WOW. They put all other resolutions to shame. You can read them here, if you want to be inspired.
I've always looked at the seasons of my life as a marathon race. There are easy stretches with the wind at my back where I feel refreshed. There are uphill climbs that burn my thighs and cause me to gasp for air, downhill coasts that allow me to catch my breath, and the occasional long, flat, boring lengths when the scenery never changes and my mind begins to wander.
This year, I feel like I tripped on my shoe lace, got hit by a truck, and rolled into the ditch in the middle of the race. It took me a while to get back up on my feet again. I've got some road rash, some band-aids, and I've shed a few tears, but I'm limping on towards the goal.
Today, my resolutions are more about getting back into the race. I know what I've got to do, and I know that I can't do it on my own. As Jonathan Edwards so eloquently put it, I've got to "humbly entreat him [God] by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions". Without the Lord's help, they're all just little wishes on a piece of paper.
Some of my resolutions are BIG! I think it's healthy to make long-term goals that take more than a year to accomplish, but I always break them down into small, bite sized pieces that I can chip away at... one year at a time, one day at a time, one step at a time.
My ultimate resolution is to glorify God in everything that I think, say, and do. Whether my goal is to study my Bible more, take better care of my body, reach out to others, or save more money, it should be to the glory of God. Otherwise, it's all for nothing.
I'm looking forward to the race in front of me. I'm excited to pursue things that matter to God! I'm challenged to live each day to the fullest!
Lacing up my running shoes,
Nell
Hope all is ok with you and your family. Missing your posts. Hopefully the long absence is just because you're so busy on the ranch.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristina!
DeleteI'm still blogging away, and I have a sneaking suspicion that you somehow saved a specific post to your browser so it's not letting you see all of my updates. I'm not sure. Maybe you could try hand typing www.wranglersandribbons.blogspot.com in your url and see if it takes you to the newest blog instead of being stuck at this post. If you look to the right and look at the blog archive, just click on the 2012 posts to get caught up. I hope this helps some. I'm not sure what has happened, but my guess is that it's taking you to the same post every time you click on my blog. I hope you read this!!!Let me know if it works!
Finally!! :D
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what happened. Since I started following your blog, I saved the link and was just using that and it worked great...until this post. For some reason this is the last post I saw, glad everything is okay there for you. I was starting to get concerned. I'm currently trying to catch up on all that I missed. Thanks again :)