New Years Eve

Well it's 2007... so funny to think that 7yrs ago so many people stocked up on canned goods, worried about their computers, thought the world would end, etc. It's hard for me to believe that Mike and I have been together for 7yrs and it was fun last night to reminisce with our youth group about our first NYE together. It was full of fun moments... bag pipes, getting lost, car accident, first kiss. :)

I just love New Years but this year... well just didn't feel like New Year's. Not sure why but all of us thought that way. Mike and Hannah planned a youth lock-in so maybe (and if you know me at all... I was less than enthused) that was why I wasn't super excited for it. lol Horrible I know but it's not that I don't enjoy spending time with the students... I just NEED my sleep... I really don't do well without it and now that we've got Izzy... someone has to be happy to play with her and I was really nervous about how or even if she would sleep at a school.

But anyway... Hannah's mom has been visiting and offered to watch Isabella at home so I could go to the lock-in. I was so grateful that she was willing to watch her but I also decided that it was best if I still came home to get a good nights sleep. I wanted Mike to be able to rest without having to worry about Isabella. It was a good decision as I've never seen Mike sleep so much! LOL I knew he'd be tired and expected him to sleep but he's not really a good napper so I really didn't expect him to sleep so long. :) Alas...

The lock-in was great! Mike and Hannah did a fabulous job with all the preparations.. the games were fun, the devotions were great, the food was plentiful. We had a total of about 18 students attend. It was such a different type of lock-in compared to the states (no sports tournaments but lots of board games and movies) but it was really fun. We (well Becky and I) played X-box for like at least 1 1/2hr and then I joined in on a game of 'Settlers'. It is now my mission to find this game when I visit the states later this month!!! It was so much fun. We played some link tag and before we realized.. it was time to count down. We were a little late in counting because at about 7 we heard horns honking, fireworks going off, people yelling... but that was okay. We still counted and shouted the New Year in.

Afterwards Mike shared a devotional with us that was awesome!!! I really enjoyed hearing what he had to say. He was sharing out of Ecclesiastes and how Solomon had this 'poor me' syndrome as he looked back on parts of his life. Then he challenged us to have a positive attitude about this new year and to commit to allowing God to use us in any way.

He gave us mirrors and asked us these questions: 1. How do you see yourself? (he also suggested to look at what 'season' we were in) Out of all the seasons that are listed, I kept coming back to 'a season to die'. Great I thought but the more I dwelled on it I realized that God was telling me that I'm in a season of 'dying to myself.' With some of the personal things I'm struggling with, I need to die to my wants, my selfishness and put others before myself... I need to let go of some of these things and I need to let God heal.

Question 2 was: How can God use you this year? And this was exciting to me. My prayer is that God will use me to plant His seeds with these ladies I have been building a relationship with but I can also see many other opportunities of how God can use me if I'm willing which makes me want to stay close to Him. I don't want to miss out on being a part of God's plan.

I'm still working on what my actual resolutions are. I love to do this because I'm the type of person that once I write something out or make it known to others... I'm motivate to press on to reach that goal. So that will have to be another post.


VOTD:

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” - Psalm 90:12