Joy to the World and a Happy New Year

Wow, it's been entirely too long.  Somehow I got off track with my writing and never made it back.  Until now, that is.  2012 has been a whirlwind of a year and I'm almost in disbelief that it is coming to a close.  At the end of each year we challenge ourselves to think of what lies ahead and many of us even set goals for the new year.  We decide to change something about the way we live and hope that it makes the next year even better.  Personally, I'm not very good at accepting change.  I find places where I'm comfortable and I tend to bury myself and hold on for the long haul.  Maybe that's a weakness of mine.  Sometimes change can be good.  It keeps us guessing and helps us live a life that is more full.  If we never change, we will never take risks, never learn new things, never experience anything different than we already know.  Being that it's the last week of December, it's probably about time to start making my list of resolutions.

First and foremost, I want to choose to be more joyful in my everyday life.  Don't get me wrong, I am incredibly happy and I feel very blessed.  I merely want to recognize the things in my life that make me happy and put more focus on those things and less focus on the stuff that is stressful or mundane.  I found this little gem today and I wanted to share it with you:

found here

I think the world needs more people to dedicate themselves to simply spreading joy and love to those around them and I want to be more mindful of doing just that.

My second resolution is to be more diligent about reading a daily devotion and spending time in THE WORD.  I bought a devotional last week that I'm hoping will also help me choose to be joyful more often.  You can find it here.  I always start a devotional and less than a couple of weeks later, I've put it down and moved on to something else.  I know in my heart how important the Lord is to me but all too often, I fail to show Him how much He means to me.  Isn't it great though to know that no matter how often I fail, God's love never fails me.  If for no other reason, that is amazing enough to take a few minutes out of my day to praise and thank Him.

My third resolution is to floss more often.  This may seem small to most people but I hate to floss.  Seriously, I really don't like flossing.  I know, I know...it's silly and I need to get over it.  I really want to be better about it though.  It helps that Andrew loves to floss and always does so.  Maybe I'll ask him to keep me more accountable. 

So, to wrap things up, I'll start making a list:

1. Choose Joy

2. Spend time in The Word each day

3. Floss like my life depends on it

I have many more resolutions so stay tuned.  Are you making a list?  What kinds of things are you changing in the New Year?