Happy New Year!

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."--Philippians 4:4-7

Today is New Year's Day, a day of resolutions, of reflecting on 2012 and thinking of ways to make 2013 even better.  I recently read a blog post about choosing a word for the year.  I've decided to make my word "PEACE."  A search on Bible Gateway yielded 249 verses including this word, so I think I have a lot of reading and meditating to do!  The above verse from Phillipians came immediately to mind, as does the reference to the fruit of the spirit:

Galatians 5:22-23:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. "

We have now moved to such a serene environment, there is peace surrounding us, and I want there to be peace IN us.  The Prince of Peace, as He is called in Isaiah 9:6, wants soooo much to give me His peace:

John 14:27:
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

My husband agrees with me that this would be a great "word" for 2013, although I think he is thinking more along the lines of, "A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict,  but the one who is patient calms a quarrel."--Proverbs 15:18.  I definitely need to work on that, too.  :)

So looking back on 2012, the highlights/lowlights were:

• hearing God's guidance to move back to North Carolina and planning for that big move
• my dad taking a job in China
• my mother in law retiring from her teaching ministry
• my dear cousins adopting sweet baby Reagan, a long-awaited blessing
• fellowship with the BEST CHURCH EVER, New Life Christian Fellowship
• moving to North Carolina
• leaving behind a great job and service but starting a new job that brings me so much joy and peace
• graduating from the National Health Service Corps, finally
• our son being diagnosed with sensory processing disorder, developmental delay, and autism-spectrum disorder
• buying our first house and moving in
• my sister getting pregnant, yay!

God has really walked beside me and my family this year, and although I have not been as faithful as I would have hoped to be, I know He still loves me and will help me to do better this year.  I cannot doubt His provisions and loving-kindness after this year.

Looking ahead to 2013, I hope to:

• get plugged into my new church, Chapel Hill Bible Church
• make some new girlfriends and "couple" friends and reconnect with some friends I haven't seen in a few years
• work out at least 3 times a week
• read my Bible every day, even if just a page from my devotional, "Jesus Calling"
• teach my children how to love the Word of God
• learn how better to help Jackson succeed in life
• date my husband more
• be an aunt!!
• learn how to keep up a home

Happy New Year!!