I've been challenged lately to do something different. I've had a stirring in my heart for a little over a year now for "more". And the more I tried to figure out what the "more" was, the fatter I became. Not just physically, but spiritually, financially and emotionally. Monday marked the year anniversary of my cousin's death after reaching the summit on Mt. Fuji. He'd fallen on the way down the mountain and his body was covered from a snow storm that moved in shortly after. And although his body went missing, he never was. We knew where Matt was the moment his spirit left his body, and although indescribably tragic, the experience brought several thousand people to witness what real faith and a real relationship with Jesus looks like. When gathering his things from his hotel room, they noticed that Matt's Bible was lying open. I've asked myself countless times since then, "would they find my Bible open, if I went home to be with Jesus right now?" And the answer, sadly, has been no.
It's time for a change, it's time to be vigilant. It's time to take action. My cousin was 33 years old when he passed away. I am 30. We're not guaranteed tomorrow. We're not guaranteed a safe drive home from picking the kids up from school. But we are guaranteed everlasting life with Jesus when we die, if we have a real relationship with him. I want that relationship to be the "more". And I want it to shine brightly, so that there is no question in anyone's mind what I'm living for, and therein lies Ryan and my's attempt at two-week resolutions in 2013. We have become fat. We want to become lean, and become true temples of the living God. And we're going to do it. We're not perfect, we never will be, but we can become increasingly transformed into the people the God made us to be, and that's what we're going to do.
Why two weeks? Truthfully, because I fail a whole lot. If I were to make a year's worth of a resolution and then fall off track two days later, I'd become discouraged, grab a bag of oreos and be done for the year, carrying with me the guilt of not having accomplished my goals. A year, for me, leads to self-loathing and destruction. Two weeks, now that's doable. Ryan and I can do anything for two weeks, and if we don't? Then we can just endeavor to try again the next two weeks. After having a long, introspective conversation together, we've realized that if God called us home right now, we would NOT be the people that we've been called to be. And that is sad, but encouraging to us. We've got more to do. We have time left to start trimming the fat. God isn't done with us yet, and He's not done with you either. We still have air in our lungs, and so do you. But we're not guaranteed tomorrow, so let's start trimming the fat today.
Ryan and I developed our four "lys", or four areas for us to focus on this year: Spiritually, Physically, Family, Financially. Every Sunday night at dinner, or plans are to go over how we're doing on our four "lys", or review how we've done on our two week goals, and make goals for the next two weeks. Our first two weeks of January were spent "thinking" about what the next two weeks worth of goals were. That's EASY! Anyone can do that! You can even show up to dinner and develop your goals for the next two weeks and BAM! You've accomplished your first two weeks of goals, AND you're working toward trimming the fat. These two weeks we've developed spiritual goals, both for ourselves and Melodie added hers in too.
SPIRITUALLY:
Ryan's were: Read my Bible everyday.
Spend time in prayer everyday, and
fast junk food and soda one day a week.
Mine were: Read Ephesians everyday,
spend 15 minutes praying in tongues everyday,
fast one day a week.
Melodie's were: Love God,
do church at home if we miss Sunday morning (I work nights, so sometime it's hard to get to service Sunday morning),
no bad attitudes,
Pray for Lucy and Christian (classmates who have been sick)
Family: Talk about Ephesians
Have one family prayer meeting
PHYSICALLY:
RYAN: Lose 10 pounds
Work out 12 of 14 days
BECKY: Lose 5 pounds
Walk 45minutes to 1 hour a day 12 of 14 days until my wrist heals
FAMILY:
Try 1 new recipe from Vegan Italiano
FOOD:
Eat Vegan 5 days a week
Cut back on junk food and desserts
FAMILY:
Make dinner plans with our friends the Bluhms (YEAH! Plans are made and we're looking forward to it)
Pray for:
FAMILY (A family in our family): Gabe, Ana, Ari and Madeline
RELATIVE (extended): Jerry Johnson's family
FRIENDS: Bluhms
NEIGHBORS: Our neighbors to the right of us...yeah, we don't even know their last name!
FAMILY ACTIVITY:
Geocaching night - Time: TBD
HOUSE PROJECTS:
Ryan: clean and organize the office
Becky: clean and organize the storage room
NEXT FAMILY MEETING:
1/27/13 Sunday dinner
FINANCIALLY:
Ryan: Do not eat out at all these two weeks
Becky: Do not eat out while at work
Don't ask for flexes from work
Family: No hot lunch for Melo
Budget:
Develop the budget with goals that are measureable for the next two weeks and year.
There is our starting point, and I'm excited. Be encouraged friends. God's not done with you yet, there's time to start becoming, or become increasingly transformed into who He's made you to be. Anyone want to join us?
