Happy New Year!

I am not always great at resolutions. Occasionally I have had one that I actually followed through with, and it makes me feel great! Back in middle school, I gave up soft drinks for New Years. That has been, what, 8 years ago?? And to this day, I don't drink them. What an accomplishment! (If I do say so myself!)  I never expected to keep it going this long, but I felt better physically and I felt so determined to show myself and everyone else that I could do it. Today, I occasionally will have some Sprite if I have an upset stomach or something, but as for Coke or anything similar, I have had none. 

This year, though, as far as following through with resolutions, has been a completely different story.

Last year, New Years Eve was a tough one for my family because of my cousin's accident the night before. So Wes and I stayed home and enjoyed our time together thinking about the new year and what all it meant for us. We didn't go to a party or anything, just simply kept each other company as we watched the ball drop and prayed for better things to come. Afterwards, I contemplated all of the things 2013 would bring and I wrote down 13 resolutions/goals that I wanted to complete. I tucked them in the envelope (Mistake #1 - I should have left them out so I could look at them and be reminded of my goals every day!) and went about my year. And can you believe it? 2013 is already over! And do you want to just take a guess at how many resolutions I actually went through with? I'll tell you. 

Four.

Four out of thirteen.

I am ashamed to even say that!! I haven't looked at the card since this time last year, which I'm sure definitely contributed to my lack of success, and last night I pulled it out and read over everything I wanted to accomplish in 2013. I was disappointed in myself to be honest. I got too busy to slow down and do life right. This year will be different. 

At one point I considered not even doing resolutions. Let's be real, my OCD list-making personality was against that idea. But, the thought of seeing things written down next year that I didn't accomplish made me reconsider. I read this post from Creative Savings blog this morning and it got me thinking about goals. I decided that I will write some. Probably as soon as I get finished writing this blog post. 

But the key ingredient in my success that I struggled with in 2013 is defined so clearly in Kayse Pratt's blog post this morning. It's like she could have written about me y'all. Seriously. Well minus the having a baby and almost dying from blood clots. But the feeling of independence instead of dependence on God? Absolutely that was me. An excerpt that stuck out to me was:

I’m grateful for each day I’ve been given now. I don’t want to live independently anymore, in fact, I can’t live that way. Not now, when I know the truth that my own strength is worth so little. He is everything. Everything.

This is something I have to remember as I try to accomplish many things this year. If I don't have God backing me up, I will fail. And even if I succeeded in, let's say, four resolutions, without God being my central focus, it means nothing.

SO. I am going to go write some resolutions and goals for 2014. And I am going to tape them into my planner where I will see them every day so I can be reminded of my goals for this year. But most of all, I will be putting God in the center and trying to give up my independence. I know it will definitely not be easy. I hope you will join with me in making a change in 2014. (WOW could that have sounded cheesier? That's okay. It's legit.) I mean it though. Make a change and pray that God takes the control of your life and mine that we so desperately want to hold onto. The truth is.... "our own strength is worth so little. He is everything. Everything."

Happy 2014 friends.