Happy New Year ✽ First Post is Random

Me: "Joey-gator! Hey, come here."
Daddy, from two rooms away, ready to head out the door: "...WHAT did you call him?"
"What?"
"Did you just say Joey-gator???"
"Is there something wrong with that?..."
Mama: "Oh, that really is what she said."
Daddy: "How many nicknames do you have for him, anyway?!"
Quite honestly, I've lost count...

These pictures have nothing to do with the post, and they are

a few weeks old anyway, but this is kind of hodge podged to-

gether  on a whim anyway, and he's cute, so here you go ;).   

I spent the day working on setting up a coupon code and sharing it through all my listings on Etsy (20% off until Friday ;)!), backing up my blog, because blogger's update has literally scared me so bad (I still can't get to my main blog page, y'all! But you seem to be reading it fine, so I guess it's just something on my end?), and formatting coming blog posts... which led me to writing this one for no reason, and do you all realize how distractable I am? Lol :). 

I'm looking forward to this coming year. I'm hoping and praying that the Lord would use it in my life and that I will serve him through the time he has given. There are things I'm looking forward to, and things that scare me to an extent even if I want to reach it as well (driving alone, hello?), but I also think I'm ready to take the plunge. I think, this year, I just want to move forward... that's kind of my goal for this year. Most years I make New Year's resolutions to finish this or that or the other. It's always disheartening to see what I've not done, and this year, I decided I wasn't going to put the big things that I want to get done but that take months to work through and drag on me the whole time. Instead, this year, I sat down, and I thought of the little changes that would make more time that would help me reach those bigger goals. I want to invest in relationships and manage my time well. I don't want to give up anything that I do now; but I also want to do more. I want to read more books, and study the bible more consistently -not jut read, but really study. I want to embrace the new opportunities that I run into with joy, rather than fear. 

 

I know none of this is something that will just happen. It's going to take faith, trust in a God that knows better than I do, and more intentionality than I have lived with for some time. There is nothing special about the day January 1st. It can't do a thing for us. The only newness that is added to our lives comes from the Lord Jesus' forming us always into a new creation, an image of his perfect spirit, and giving us his righteous robes. But I do think that any reminder we have to live our lives more fully for him and what truly matters is a blessing. And I'm thankful for the most recent one, the beginning of 2017. Happy New Year :)!