Happy New Year!

It's been a week since my last (and first) blog post, so I'm doing another! I think it's funny that my first two posts have both been on Wednesdays! OH! And I just realized that the first two posts have first been on some holiday eve! How sweet it that?? :)

Today is new years eve, which means goodbye 2008, and hello 2009! I usually like to sit down on new years eve and really think about what I'd like to accomplish over the next 365 days, but so far, I've only come up with two resolutions for myself:

1) Keep my room clean - It's crazy that I can help clean the living room, the kitchen, etc. etc. but my room is constantly a disaster area!

2) Quit drinking soda - I don't drink a lot of soda (or pop, depending on which term you prefer) but I've wanted to quit drinking it for a long time. That was actually a resolution of mine last year, and I went almost 7 months without even a sip! But sadly, that streak came to an abrupt end while I was volunteering at a conference. It was really hot, I was thirsty, and soda was the only thing to drink. So I drank it, kept drinking it, and have been drinking it regularly ever since then. But hey, it could be a lot worse!

I've always thought of doing some God resolution, and I've even tried one, and that was to read the entire Bible in a year. I tried in 06, I tried in 07, I tried in 08, and I failed miserably every time. I thought about doing it again, but then something else came to mind: Is it spiritually unhealthy to make up resolutions that involve God?

Every time I tried to read the Bible in a year, I would start out strong, but I wouldn't get anything out of what I was reading because I was doing it just to do it. I was reading the Bible just so that I could feel accomplished and say that I read it in a year, which is a really bad mindset to be in.

Imagine a kid for a moment. If the kid likes piano, but is forced to take lessons and ends up losing the will to play the instrument because it's something she has to do, where does that leave her? But if she learns to play on her own, driven simply by love for the instrument, will that help her become a better pianist in the long run?

Of course, a lot of kids take lessons and love the instrument, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. I think if we force ourselves to do some spiritual things, we forget the entire purpose, which is supposed to be to get closer to the Lord, and grow in our relationship with Him. But if we pray, or fast, or read the Bible, or worship, or sit alone quietly with the Lord because we love Him and because we have a pure desire to be closer with Him, I think the end result would be much better.

What are your thoughts on this?


So yeah, I'm super excited for the new year! I've been sneaking around trying to break into the sparkling grape juice, but my attempts have been in vain ... Either Mom is good at hiding things or I'm terrible at looking. Would it be against my resolution to drink sparkling juice?

Comment and tell me about your resolutions!

Thanks for reading! Until next time ...
See you next year!
(Okay, I'm finished with the lame new year puns)