For the last 24 hours I’ve done a lot of crying and been reading resolutions on Twitter, Facebook and even heard some on different talk shows.  Some of them amused me.  I think the people I admired the most were the people that said I don’t believe in resolutions because I know I won’t end up keeping them! How many of us are like that? You know, that diet you start at the beginning of the year? That is probably more than 50% of the people reading this post.  But it’s okay because it’s just a statement! No one is holding your feet to the fire if you break this resolution.  A lot of people have been choosing single words to represent their resolutions.  I think that is kind of cool.  So, thinking back over the last year, I decided to do that too.  But, there is a difference if you resolve to make a new commitment to the Lord.

I started a new daily reading plan on my phone called Talking With God in Prayer.  These are so easy for you to do.  The first day spoke to me so clearly about desire to walk closer with Him.  It said, “God is available to you at all times…God wants you to grow closer to Him, to be filled with His love and peace, because He longs for what is best for you.  Although God works on your behalf, He wants you to RESPOND to Him, showing a willingness to share your life with Him.  One way you can do that is by talking to Him daily.”

For some reason, even though another scripture was referenced, the first scripture that came to my mind was Jeremiah 29:11-13

“For I know the plans I have for you” – this is the Lord’s declaration – “plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  You will call to Me and come and pray to Me and I will listen to you.  You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

The verse given in the daily reading was Matthew 28:20

“teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.  And remember I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

After reading that scripture, it just brought to home Jeremiah 29:11 knowing that He is with me and has a plans for me AND my family.  That has been a question that many have asked over the last year.  How have we dealt with knowing what God has given us and knowing what might be ahead.  Honestly, I have thought of Jeremiah 29:11 many times.  We do not know what is in store for Collin.  He is being screened by St. Jude and is a St. Jude patient.  For that fact, none of us know what is in store for any of us.  But we do know that he promises to give us a future and a hope!

But there’s a catch.  He gives that future and hope to Christian believers.  What are WE going to do about that in 2014?  I have a few ideas.  I have worn Trey’s In Memory Of bracelet every day since July 7, 2012, with the exception of maybe three or four days.  Make NO mistake, I am NOT making a resolution to NOT wear his bracelet.  What I am trying to do is find out how I can get it turned into a silver bracelet or something like that.  But, wearing that bracelet, for me, is a reminder of how he shared his faith, lived it out, and was committed to His word.  I’m not ashamed that I have a son as a role model.  So I hope to be able to put his bracelet in a new jewelry box that Julianne gave me for Christmas that is glass and I can see it everyday when I come home.  It does not diminish his memory at all.  If anything, it will push me to live out my faith.

I hope to get with Collin and have him sit down and make a bucket list.  No limit bucket list.  We still start working on this bucket list.  What is the Disney song? “A dream is a wish your heart makes!”  Then, if they are reasonable and attainable, I want to teach him how to pray circles around those items.  Hopefully one might be a job!  “Can’t” has always been a big word in Collin’s vocab.   I am determined to work that word OUT!  Teach him the word DETERMINATION!  I am also praying for a special person that will invest in Collin like friends that invested in Trey.  This is a very, very impressionable age for Collin and he is being bombarded by things that teens should not be seeing.  Who is holding him accountable?  There comes a time that he will not listen to his parents, but will listen to peers.  Jay and I are earnestly praying through what our place is for Collin.  I charge you that if you see someone that YOU can invest in, make that YOUR commitment for 2014.  You can make a difference in a young person’s life for the kingdom of God.

I have been working on a book for about a year on and off.  Needless to say, I will finish it in 2014.  It might sit in my house, but I will finish it.

So, to those of you making resolutions, I pray the best for you! I hope you make it! For me, I’ve just chosen a word – commit.  Ps. 37:4-7

“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.  COMMIT your way to the Lord; TRUST in Him, and He will act, making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like the noonday.  Be SILENT before the Lord and WAIT expectantly for Him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the man who carries out evil plans.”

COMMIT to the LORD! Hakuna Matata! (Means no worries, for the rest of your days…it’s our problem free, philosophy, Hakuna Matata!) P.S. I don’t know why the date of my post says Jan 2. I’m trying to fix my dates!