Every Moment

Yep, it is that time again.  The time of year when you look back and reflect upon all of the craziness of the past year.  A whole year!  How can you fit that into a 140 character tweet or a Facebook status or even a blog post?

Every day things change.  Every moment brings a choice, big or small, and those choices change the course of history.  This past year for Hubby and I has been overwhelmingly joyous and difficult.  Some changes brought laughter and fond memories.  Other changes brought pain and tears.  But through it all I am amazingly thankful for a few things:

1. That God has been with us through it all.

I can honestly say that without this assurance, without the complete knowledge of His presence and love I would have not gotten through the past year the past couple of months without Him.  Regrettably, because of some changes and poor choices on my part, my time with Him has been lax and less than ideal.  And I miss that.  I have grown so much but I know that if I had daily been in His word, daily setting aside time to be with just Him that I would have grown so much more. Thankfully, He loves me anyways.  How amazing is that!?!

2. Our marriage is stronger.

Between the good and the bad, I can definitely say that Hubby and I are better because of it.  We have made some major life changes and decisions this past year - from uprooting our lives, jobs and all, to starting the process of buying our first home, things have been stressful to say the least.  But I feel like we are closer than ever.  In the past few months we have actually attended two separate couples classes.  While I can't give you bullet points of what we have learned (without looking at my notes anyways), I can tell you that we fight better (and less) and we are both a little less selfish.  

3. Friends and family.

I don't know how people survive with only surface relationships.  I cannot imagine going through life without true connections.  God has given us a wealth of amazing people in our lives.  We wouldn't be here today without their love and support.  We have been given laughter, shoulders to cry on, and free labor!  ;)  And so very much more.

I am so, so excited for the year to come!  We have hopes and plans but I know God's probably got different ones.  ;)  But regardless of what the future holds, I can continually strive to make every moment better.

So as of today, I commit to:

• Laugh more.  Essentially that means more intentional time with friends and family.  Because let's face it, the laughter they bring me is much more authentic than anything TV or Facebook has to offer...
• Do more.  Staying with the idea of less TV and Facebook I want to get outdoors and away from screens.  Being healthier means being active.
• Breath more.  Worry less.  I need to remember, in the heat of the moment, just exactly Who holds me and my future.
• Write more.  God has given me a passion and, dare I say, a talent, to write.  I need to use it more than every once in awhile.  I need to use it often.  He has given me talents for reasons I may not even know.  How can He use my talents if I never do?  Going to give it my best!

 .........

What about you?  What are you thankful for in the past year?  And how are you going to better yourself in the coming year?