On being intentional

In 2011, my theme for the year was grace--extending grace to others, and giving grace to myself. I'm an admitted perfectionist, but perfection is a prison that can only be unlocked by grace. And God continues to convict and transform my life in that area.

The new year and new focus is intentionality. Instead of blindly walking through life, I want to grow in wisdom. I want to examine how I live and test it.

It may be broad, but every aspect of life should be intentional: time management, money, health, relationships, etc.

So for now, I want to focus on wasting less time and energy on unimportant things. (Here's looking at you, Facebook.)

I want to invest my time in things that actually develop fruit in my life.

I want to have resolve rather than than resolutions.

My only goal is to follow God's lead and finish what I start. I know that each tear and heartache in 2012 is just a seed that will produce an immeasurable harvest of joy in the future. I'm ready to see what this year holds.

Your move, 2012

So yesterday I typed out an entire post looking back on all the crazy things that happened in 2011, and the app I was using crashed. So that is why this cliche look back is a day late.

In 2011, I...
...started a new life in a new town.
...lived with Laura.
...attended Journey Church and loved it.
...survived the Snowpocalypse by playing A LOT of Scrabble.
...spent a lot of time with the Mitchell family.
...watched several OU basketball games.
...volunteered with Loveworks.
...got promoted at work.
...traveled all of the state of Oklahoma for my job.
...huddled in a jewel safe during a tornado.
...waded through a freak microburst downpour that flooded Norman.
...celebrated marriages of several wonderful friends.
...cruised to Mexico.
...lived completely by myself for the first time.
...made friends in Norman.
...worked at the fireworks stand during the Fourth of July.
...saw my coworkers move on to other job/life opportunities.
...experienced the hottest and driest summer of my life.
...joined a small group.
...applied for and got a fantastic new job.
...attended OC Homecoming for the first time as an alumna.
...organized (along with Karissa) the 4th Annual Friendsgiving.
...MADE A ROASTED TURKEY ALL BY MYSELF.
...had my parents in Norman for Thanksgiving.
...found out my best friend got a job in Broken Arrow.
...watched her graduate from college.
...celebrated Christmas with my family.
...hung out with my Giddens sisters.
...moved Karissa to BA.
...rang in the new year in OKC with Karissa, Aaron and Bekah.

2011, I couldn't have predicted any of the crazy twists and turns you placed in my path. Here's to another ridiculously challenging and fabulously rewarding year.

Signs of adulthood

1. Asking your mom to turn your room at home into a guest room.
2. Subscribing to a daily newspaper (paper copy, no less).
3. Requesting socks for Christmas--and actually wanting them.

In case you are wondering, all of those points passed through my mind today. I guess I am growing up. And I love it.

Check one thing off the list!

From L to R: Emily, Josh, Joel and me

This busy, busy weekend I got together with two people from my small group (Emily and Joel) and one of their friends (Josh) to ring bells for the Salvation Army at the Norman Walmart on I-35. As you can see from the picture, we also provided musical entertainment.

We had some great trombone solos, plus our group rendition of "Feliz Navidad" was a musical masterpiece. People would actually stop in the parking lot to listen to us. It was pretty cool to spread a little Christmas joy this weekend.

My Christmas bucket list

Sometimes the holiday season seems to rush by me, so this year I am trying to focus on things that will make it feel special and meaningful. I really don't care about getting gifts that much, but I do love buying thoughtful gifts for people and even more so, spending a lot of festive time with friends and family. So this year I am making a "bucket list" of things that are important for me to do this Christmas.

1. Buy local for Christmas. Did you know that if you shop local 70 percent of your dollars stay in the town where you shopped? With corporations, the number drops to around 40 percent. (statistic here) So this year I want to make sure my dollars are invested the wonderful community that I call home. 
2. Go to a Christmas Eve service. Last year it was at the Catholic church in Idabel, and I loved it. A new Christmas tradition for me.
3. Go ice skating.
4. Read A Christmas Carol. 
5. Make a Gingerbread house.
6. Volunteer as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army.
7. Pay for a stranger's meal without being noticed.
8. Watch all my favorite Christmas movies without multitasking or being online. Because I don't really get to enjoy it if I am distracted. 
9. Bake cookies and candy for presents.
10. Go caroling.
11. Hang mistletoe somewhere.
12. Choose one book to read every year at Christmas. It doesn't have to be Christmas themed, just something I will want to read every year. 

thankful, thankful, thankful

I can't believe that it is already Thanksgiving. In the spirit of the season, I've decided to list a few things that I am thankful for this year.

1. Jesus. Not to get all religious on you, but He's the reason for all of this list. He's not just in my life, He is my life.
2. My family, of course. I love my parents so much, and can't imagine what live would be like without them. So thankful!
3. My friends. How could I have better friends? I know I could count on them for anything. 
4. Coffee. It gets me through the day.
5. My new job. I love what I do and who I work with. It's teaching me that it is possible to love going to work every day.
6. The fact that Starbucks is open on Thanksgiving (see number three).
7. Living in Norman. I love the spirit of this place. Boomer Sooner!
8. My puppies Crosby and Hope.
9. Writing. It makes me so happy to do what I love, even if it's in the form of press releases. :)

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you have a lovely day filled with the people you love and of course, turkey. 

The answer is in the journey

In an effort to mend by divorce from reading fiction over the past few years, I recently picked up a copy of The Chronicles of Narnia and started reading this childhood classic. Somehow, I missed out on reading these when I was a kid. I guess I was too into Nancy Drew and solving mysteries, so C.S. Lewis and his vivid characters are very fresh for me. And even though these tales are aimed at children, the truths found in the tale are so powerful for where I am in life, in a season where nothing seems to make sense. Here is one concept that really jumped out to me from the first book.

In The Magician's Nephew, the main character Diggory asks Aslan to heal his mother, who was terminally ill. Instead of doing so, Aslan sends Diggory on a journey to retrieve fruit from the tree of life. Diggory obeys, of course, but does so thinking that his request to Aslan was just going to be ignored. He thinks that Aslan said, "no" to the most important and pressing question on his mind.

But he obeys anyway.

He obeys even though he anticipates that the most important person in his life would be lost--due, in part, to his obedience to Aslan.

While he is on the journey, Jadis (a.k.a. the White Witch) pounces on his doubts and reveals that the fruit he retrieved could, in fact, heal his mother. But (after some internal debate) Diggory still takes the fruit back to Aslan, and he is able to plant the tree that protects Narnia from Jadis for many years.

Now here is where the story gets interesting. The tree immediately takes root, sprouts and produces fruit. And Aslan tells Diggory that he can take some of the fruit to his mother to save her.

I think C.S. Lewis is making a powerful observation about how God answers prayers and how He works in lives. When I ask for something, God is far more likely to give us a mission to complete. Maybe it's large, or maybe it's small, but it is all for the Kingdom. It is out of that mission that I find the answer or the solution or the wisdom that I wanted all along.

The answers I need are rarely handed to me on a silver platter, and they wouldn't do any good even if they were. It's through the experiences of life that I learn the most, and in turn, can share my story with others. The answer is in the journey. And I am okay with that.