Needful Things

I love making New Year's resolutions. Not too fond of keeping them. I am a starter. I have countless sewing and craft projects waiting patiently for me in nice little boxes. My head is full of farming practices that I want to fit into the second half of our school year. I always have a number of colorful, curling bookmarks peering out from books sitting on flat surfaces around my house. They call to me as I walk from room to room, "Just one page. Pick me up and feast your eyes on what I am holding inside."

So today, like all January ones, I am laying out the things I really need for a new year. I need God's Word to light my path. When I slow down to read it, I am drawn away from my scattered yet fun pursuits back to the one that matters most. My highlighter with it's ever-ready book marks. Because I will always read more than one book at a time and I will need to go back and reread inspiring discoveries. My personal journal. Someday a distant relative will discover there was an old lady in her past who shared her dreams to change the world. A small box to hold cards listing the names and needs of those I pray for. And lastly a book of memories for each child. Occasionally I pick up these books and jot down a memory too precious to let time push aside. I am discovering that many characteristics I noticed in my children as toddlers are proving to be foundational to the persons God is developing them to be. Keeping these books was wise advice given me from a wise friend.

So what do I want to do with this stack of stuff? I want to slow down to meditate and memorize the parts of scripture that arrest my heart. I want to write, write, write my love to my children. I want to read an hour a day, farming books mostly. I want to learn new things and try new things and start new projects that I don't have time to finish. I want to get every drop out of this precious life I have been given.