Fresh Paint

Well, it's official.

The new year, the new blog, the determination to change for the better. It's almost exhilarating at first- like an exotic vacation. I imagine in my mind how it's going to be. But I'm scoping it out from the starting line...and I have to remember that there are mountains and valleys and huge, giant pits of failure and temptation. As well as glowing days of pure promise and hilltops of happiness. Yet, they all have to be approached with a positive attitude and faith.

I look upon the year as a new book I'm writing. Or a new painting I'm creating. I'm excited, yet lost about how to begin. I know I'll make mistakes, things won't go smoothly...and  I'll certainly have to edit and rewrite. I'll become weary with the effort. I'll get lazy. I'll get complacent and disillusioned.

But this time, I will not stop. I'm going to do everything I can so that my story will have a happy ending. Or my painting will be a masterpiece.

 I don't like to talk about diets, but here we go. I'm going to put it out there today- and then not speak of it again. My son is getting married in September and I need to lose about 40 pounds. That's the size of an aardvark. Or a newborn Jersey calf. (Man, I'm screwed!)

But, I am determined that I will reach my goal in nine months. It's part of my story.

I'm also renewing my yearly resolution about being more creative. I'm taking time out during the week to paint or write or craft or build or decorate. If the laundry doesn't get folded or the TV dusted on those days, then it's okay. It will wait.

I'm featuring a Goodwill Wednesday here on my blog. I love scouting secondhand stores and yard sales and, of course, the local Goodwill. I try to find a pre-loved object and tweak it to something I can use in my home. Stay tuned.

I'm striving to be a neater person, too. I've never really gotten the hang of folding fitted sheets, organizing a working budget, or ridding my house of dust before you can actually write your name in it. I'm not a total slob, but my closets beg for mercy and my kitchen cabinets reek of spices from Y2K. And don't ask me why I have fifteen slivers of multi-colored soap under the sink. I've got a lot of work to do on these chapters of my life.

Finally, none of this will be possible without my faith to guide me. God has been so good to me and has blessed me with a beautiful, healthy family and a wonderful home. Each step I take this year, I want to take it with purpose and with the ultimate goal of securing my place in heaven. Someday my stories will all end on earth. But I believe there is a glory beyond our mortality.

So...there it is in a nut shell.

By the time the winter rolls around again, my house will be neater, I'll be surrounded by artful objects, I'll have studied the Bible, and I will have lost that giant aardvark in my pants.
At my son's wedding, I will be healthier and thinner.

And I will dance...