2009 HOPES ~ DREAMS ~ DESIRES

Join me for one of the first giveaway's for 2009 hosted by Laurel

It sounds real easy and the prize is a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com

All you have to do is post about your hopes, dreams, and goals for next year. It can be as general or as personal as you want it to be, AND you have to sign up with Mr. Linky at her place to get your name in for a chance to win.

Have you ever wondered what life was like for Jesus before he entered the public eye? We only know a few things about him up until this point:

• Jesus' mother was a virgin
• He was born in Bethlehem in a stable because there was no room for him in the inn
• Angels announced his birth to Shepherds in a field
• He was circumcised on the 8th day of his life in the temple
• Wise men from the east visited him bearing gifts
• His parents lost him at the age of 12 while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Passover

After that . . . nothing . . . not one word for at least 18 years. Luke tells us that "Jesus himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age." That amounts to 29 years of Jesus' life that we know almost nothing about. I've never thought much about these years of his life until I picked up this book and began to read:

anonymous

Jesus' hidden years and yours

by: Alicia Britt Chloe

I've had this book for a while and just haven't gotten around to picking it up. Now, I know why. There is a time and a purpose for everything, and now is the time for this book in my life. God knew right where to put it. I've been struggling for a while with the blues like nobody's business, and I just could not put my finger on what was causing it. Then I read chapter 6 and discovered part of my problem if not all of it. Please indulge me while I share from this book:

Some struggle with living in the past, others with living for the moment. Personally, my struggle has more often been in living for the future. As an adult, my gaze was always set toward the next step or season or degree or plan or place or . . .

Distracted with daydreams of tomorrow's potential, I often found today's reality pale and tasteless in comparison . . .

Back home in Texas, normally the first "course" at a restaurant was a bright bowl of chips and salsa. The chips and salsa were just fillers ~ something to get past, to get through, to get on with the main course that was not there yet (but was coming!).

. . . I, and perhaps we, have a tendency to think that "main" is out there, not right here. Main is on hold, waiting to appear until after . . . we finish our education or get married or find that dream job or start a family or resolve that conflict or complete that task or get out of debt or retire or slow down or . . .

In moments when I am tempted to treat this gift called time as though it were some unfortunate filler, I hear a gentle whisper from God in my soul: "Child, I am the God who wastes no man's time. To me, every course in your life is main."

Well that was an Ah-Ha moment for me. I think that is really how I have lived the majority of my life. Always striving for the next thing "just around the corner." Like a little kid on the way to vacation in the back seat asking the Father "Are we there yet? Are we? Are we?" Sometimes I have arrived at the very destination that I headed out for only to head out for somewhere else. Or I have arrived only to find out that there is not where I really wanted to be. At times I have gotten so far off of the road that I think I will never find my way back, and I have even forgotten where I was going in the first place.

All of this to say that one of my HOPES, DREAMS, and DESIRES for 2009 is that I will discover how to view every day the same way I think that God views them.

To our God, this course ~ call it transition, further studies, unexpected illness, financial crisis, grief, or a desert ~ is as full of potential as any course ever has been and any course ever will be.

Every course ~ and certainly every day ~ is a gift from God. (Enjoy it while it's hot.)

Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life." I'm tired of being heart sick. You know what I mean? And I know that part of the cure is making sure that my desire is in step with His. He doesn't have a far off dream for me, He has one for right now in this moment. And that is what I want. Another one of my HOPES, DREAMS, and DESIRES for 2009 is that my family will grow in our walk with our Lord, enjoy this time in our life, and invest in eternal things.

Also I HOPE, DREAM and DESIRE that my best friends (Lynn, Teri, Mary, Beverly, Leigh, Pamela, and Jennifer) along with myself, will have life changing encounters with our Savior as we begin "Jesus The One and Only" in our Tuesday night study. I pray that these encounters will change our families from the inside out for God's Glory.

In 2009 I have also signed up with 2000+ SIESTAS to memorize (or seriously meditate on) 2 Scriptures a month. I have felt for sometime that this area of my walk has been lacking. I have my quiet time and bible study. But this year I really want to commit to washing my mind with God's word. If you think you'd like to join in too, just click the Siestas link above and read all about it.

Well, no matter what you decide to do about the give away or the scripture memory, I pray that you will spend some time thinking about your HOPES, DREAMS, and DESIRES for 2009. Make sure that they are in step with what God desires for you. And God Bless! Happy New Year!