New Year

I spent some time last night reflecting on 2009... I'm a big fan of Simple Moms blog - and used these questions to walk through the process...

As I answered the questions, I was fascinated to see how God continues to work...

2009 was a great year.

2008 was a year of incredible growth and opportunity as I walked through the privilege and challenge of caring for Tejan and going to Sierra Leone. I felt as though I was stretched to within an inch of my life as God pulled my heart all the way around the world.

I don't think I walked into 2009 expecting much... I just needed to rest.

And I did.

While I started 2009 with a crazy busy schedule, which really peaked in April and May when I was working at Apropos and Weight Watchers, blogging for Memory Box and trying to manage our home, I ended it with complete peace and serenity...

I now work only for Weight Watchers. I LOVE my job there and am so honored to walk with people on their journey to good health. (I resigned from the Memory Box design team at the end of November.)

I am currently completely free of obligation where my creative energy is concerned... which is HUGE for me after almost six years of having to create on demand as a job. While I loved every minute of teaching at Apropos, it was a challenge to stay inspired and I always missed the freedom of being able to create things just for me. I now have that luxury. I cannot describe to you the happy dance in my heart at that reality. It's amazing.

I accomplished my goal of walking every single day. My last walk was the best walk of the year... Asia and I loaded Gracie into the car and went downtown to the river and walked through the falling snow. It was peaceful and quiet and wonderful. I am so pleased to have established a habit of daily exercise. I logged every walk in a journal/date book - which is now a treasure to me. It is Volume One of what I hope to be a lifetime habit. I will continue to make activity a priority in 2010. I have already started Volume Two with my workout yesterday. I'm not limiting myself to walks alone (and am so excited to be able to integrate other types of activity into my arsenal) but still plan to make it a daily habit. Good for me. It was an honor to share my success with my Weight Watchers members and inspire them to aim high...

The internship at church continues to challenge and push me. We just finished reading The Hole in Our Gospel. Ouch. It's a REALLY thought provoking book that I continue to ruminate in my heart. Asia and I are both praying about our giving and trusting God to lead us toward a clear vision for how we can sacrificially give of our resources to make a difference in the world... I recommend the book wholeheartedly.

With that in mind, I've taken on another goal for 2010... I plan to go the entire year without buying new clothes. I LOVE clothes shopping. And I LOVE getting new clothes. And I LOVE wearing new clothes. Already, yesterday I was challenged to not buy anything when Asia decided to stop by our Eddie Bauer outlet... it was so hard to not go peek through the clearance racks... I wandered over to the hats and gloves, thinking it would be okay to get some new gloves, but Asia reminded me "it's still apparel..." And so it begins... I expect this to be especially hard for me because it is something I really enjoy. But the fact of the matter is, I really don't need any new clothes. And I spend a LOT of money on clothes. Money I can take and give away. Money I can save for our family trip to Sierra Leone. Money I don't need to spend on clothes. I'll keep you posted on my progress... it helps me to put it out there and tell you about it so I'm accountable.

So that's a little update on my transition from '09 to '10.

I hope to be posting more regularly now... hope you'll keep visiting!

Happy New Year!