Hi friends!
Can you believe it’s the end of another year already? How did your’s go? Have you taken time to reflect on what transpired over the course of the last 365 days? What went well, and what didn’t?
Now take a deep breath.
At the beginning of 2015 I decided to nix resolutions. I confess I am one to fall among the masses when it comes to keeping them which always left me feeling like a failure. I then began to set goals that I wanted to accomplish, but unfortunately they too went unmet. I like a recent post from Dave Ramsey that said, “The best goals are written down, specific, personal, and measurable. You can’t succeed without a detailed plan.” There lies my problem with goals. I never write them down, they stay in my head and get pushed further back when other immediate thoughts and necessary actions cloud in…usually 2.5 minutes after I make said new goal.
That being said I decided to focus on a word for 2015. Just one word. An action word. A word that help me to reign in all the craziness and stay focused on what really matters. For 2015 my word was surrender. Surrender to the Lord’s plan, and give up my own. And boy did I.
Image by Sarah McKenzie Photography
If you been following me on Instagram for a bit you know just how much surrendering I had to do with the birth of our sweet baby girl, Kerrington. I also had to surrender to transitioning from being a couple to a family, in terms of adjusting how and when we could maximize our alone time for the benefit of our marriage. I had to surrender to new mama hood. I also had to surrender the business as well. So when I decided on “surrender” at the beginning of the year, I never knew just how much I would end up doing, but I can say that I am stronger, more faithful, still learning to be more patient, and more present.
For 2016, I have been praying and thinking about my new action word and have gone back and forth between love and serve. I’ve ultimately landed on serve because well it’s quite hard to serve those you don’t love. So serve it is.
I’m looking towards Jesus to teach me how to do this. I’m admittedly selfish, and in order to serve I have to first learn how, and what better teacher than The Teacher!
“For even the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many” – Mark 10:45
Image by BreeElle Photography
I want to serve the Lord by serving those He has blessed me by placing in my life. I want to serve Kason better in every aspect of our marriage and friendship. I want to serve Kerrington better by turning to God for strength when I’m so close to losing my mind when being a mama is just plain hard sometimes. I want to serve our families by staying in touch better and making time to just be present. I want to serve our community and church by doing a service project at least once a month and helping out in the nursery during church. I want to serve our friends by making myself more available and approachable to love them wholeheartedly. I want to serve our clients by encouraging their upcoming marriages in much more tangible ways. And lastly I want to serve myself better by paying better attention to my needs whether that’s mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. (Hopefully I can continue to keep up physical needs of exercising and eating better!)
So there ya have it, my action word turned into action plan and prayer for 2016.
To serve.
Do you make resolutions, set goals, or just live each day as it comes? I’d love to know!
Blessings, xoxo, Tamara