New Beginning

Wow, it's been awhile.


At the end of every year, I end up feeling as if that year was a bust! With the new year comes a new beginning, a new chance to "get it right." At the beginning of 2008 I made so many resolutions. I was going to be a better wife, better mother, better follower of Christ. I was going to exercise and eat healthy. Make and stick to a budget. The list could go on.


Well, I did not exercise and eat healthy last year. I did not make and stick to a budget, in fact 2008 was one of the worst financial years we've had in a while. It seemed as though we were always playing catch-up with our bills, and we're still playing.


I always have so many ideas for ways to improve myself, and I find I'm always thinking and hoping that when I accomplish "_________", things will be better. If I was thinner, neater, more organized, if I was kinder to my husband, if I yelled at my kids less, if our house was larger, if there was more money in the bank, then I would be happy, then I would be content. The truth is that if I cannot find contentment in my life now, changing my circumstances will not help!


So how do I become content? Is it a gift? Does it come naturally? No, it is learned! "...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4: 11-13. Jesus gives us strength to be content no matter what. What we have to do is pray and ask for that strength.


So this year I've resolved not to make any resolutions. I don't want to come to the end of this year feeling like a failure. However, I am going to continue to work on the goals I want to achieve. Every year brings me closer to being the person I want to be, the person that God wants me to be. Every day gives me a new chance to be a better wife and mother, to make healthier eating choices, to exercise, to spend my money wisely, to learn to be content in my 3 bedroom single-wide trailer. Every day is a new beginning!

"No dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, I am focusing all my energies on this one thing. Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead." Philippians 3:13

~Linda