A Clean Slate 2012

I once heard the analogy that our lives are a book to be written, and each year a new chapter.  Last night ended one chapter of my life, and today I start writing a new chapter.  However, the beauty about life verses writing a book is that each chapter need not progress the story as the last chapter did.  The failures I had last year need not reoccur this year (although many of them probably will be default).

One thing I love about this analogy is that by the end of the book, hopefully the lead character of the story will have changed from me as an individual to the person of Jesus Christ.  For the past thirty something years I have lived primarily for myself, what makes me feel good, what I like to do, and not entirely focused on Christ.  Yet, each year as my story progresses I begin to hand over the leading role more and more to my Lord.


You see, my life should have nothing to do with me.  My life should be nothing more than a conduit (like an electrical wire) for the power of the Holy Spirit to work through me.  I am to be the hands, feet, and mouth for my Savior.  Exclaiming His greatness!  Sharing His Gospel, and passing on His love to those about me.


My plan this year is to read through the Bible four times - This should take no more than about an hour a day to accomplish.  I also plan to have my oldest daughter read through the Bible this year.  I am going to give her the same reading schedule I will be reading so we can discuss what we read.  My younger children will be reading/listening to the Day by Day Kids Bible (as none of them are proficient readers yet).

We are also reading the Daily Light at Breakfast and Supper each day.  I was given this wonderful gem years ago when I graduated from high school by a family that has had a huge impact on teaching me what it means to give everything to the service of the King.  They also taught me how to study my Bible and how to love those around me.  The sad thing is that I never really paid much attention to this gem until my MIL was here last year.  She had been reading it during her visit and was so excited about it.  She brought it to us, and as we read the Scripture compilations, we realized how wonderful this would be in helping us to pass on a love for the Scriptures to our children.

Anyways, my prayer for this year is to cultivate a love and passion for God's Word in my children.  But to do that, I must plant and cultivate and care for that passion in my own heart.  I pray that at the end of this chapter I can look back and say wow, God's Word is EVERYTHING to me.


What do you plan to have written in your chapter this year?




*Just a side note - right now I hear my six year old stumbling through the words of the Day by Day Bible and the sound of it is so precious.