I’ve never been a big fan of New Year Resolutions. Many times our own personal resolutions seem selfish in the light of eternity. Therefore, instead of making those famous resolutions, I would rather go before the Lord and ask Him to allow us to accomplish the following desires of our hearts - with his aid. With all the events occuring around us, I can’t help but believe that the Lord surely must be coming back soon. As I ponder upon the Lord’s return and as I search my own heart and the spiritual growth of my family, I have asked the Lord to allow the following things to occur in our family’s life in the year of 2009.

1. We want to growth in a closer relationship with the Lord and get to know Him more. As times get tougher, it is vitally important that we know our Savior more so that we rely on him with a greater sense of trust. Reading scripture more often as a family, spending more time in prayer, and discussing God’s attributes as we enjoy the daily blessings of God are just a few of the activities we plan to work on. There are several books (listed on our website, www.godseternalmasterpiece.com) we also want to read through and discuss with our older children. Following God With All Your Heart by Elizabeth George, A Man (and Young Man) after God’s Own Heart by Jim George, and A Journey to Victorious Praying by Bill Thrasher are a few books we highly recommend and plan to use ourselves.

2. With God’s help, we also want to continue to build strong godly character in our children. Because we strongly believe in the power of godly literature, we desire to continue our tradition of reading character-building classics to our children each day as we sit around the dinner table. Books from Grace and Truth Books (such as Tampering With Temptation and The Little Medicine Carrier) and Lamplighters Publishing (The Beggar’s Blessing, Saved by Love, Stick to the Raft, etc) are just of few of the many books we enjoy. As we see persecution against Christians growing in our country, we also want to encourage our children to stand strong for the Lord. We will be reading the Salem Ridge Press books such as The Martyr’s Victory and Gytha’s Message to remind us of the persistance of Christians in times past and how they stood for the Lord, even when it meant giving the ultimate sacrifice. This year we also want to help our children to act out what they have learned. Therefore, we are going to do more in the community as a family to live out God’s love to those around us. Working in the community kitchen, witnessing to those around us, helping with fund-raisers, ministering to those in the nursing homes, and volunteering in other church ministry projects are just a few of the projects we’re prayerfully planning and considering.

3. Scripture memory is also an area that we want to continually reinforce. When times get hard, it is so comforting to have God’s Word in our minds to draw upon. We will also be better witnesses when we can quickly recall God’s Word. Our children are constantly memorizing scripture due to Joy Club, Talents for Christ, and Sunday School. However, we also feel that it is important that we memorize scripture as a family. This year we hope to accomplish that better than we did last year.

4. Because our children are a gift from the Lord, and we have no idea how long God has loaned them to us, we have a strong desire to spend more time as a family making memories. Our son leaves us in June to work at our Baptist camp for the summer and then he’s on to Bible college in the fall, Lord willing. My husband and I are earnestly praying that each and every day we have with him will be days that will be engraved in our hearts forever. The same goes with the other children as well. Taking time to spend with the family is hard work at times, but they are precious times that we’d never change!

What are your desires and goals for your family for 2009? We’d love to hear from you and your family. Your ideas can help to motivate others to turn their hearts back to God and their family!

May you have a Happy New Year and a wonderful 2009 as you draw closer to the Lord and reach out even more to those around you!