Refresh

It's a new year. So many people make resolutions of things they will do or quit doing this year. The Portuguese chime in the New Year with eating 12 raisins (one for each stroke of the midnight clock) and making wishes for the new year.

I am doing something different for me this year. I've read so many blogs and articles that have talked about setting an overarching theme for the year. The more I read, the more I liked the idea of this.

Refresh. My theme for the year--my overarching goal that all I do will fall under--is Refresh.

2013 was a year of transitions for us. We lived in 3 different countries and moved in and out of 5 different homes. We had our first child. Lots and lots of transitions. 2014 was a year of adjustments. Adjusting to all of the many transitions of 2013. Finally getting comfortable with the language (for B), getting used to being a family of 3 and all of the changes that brings, finding areas to serve and making friends. Lots of adjusting to all of the new things 2013 brought.

We finally feel like we've gotten a good grasp on life here. While we learn new things daily, there are less and less surprises. This is the year I want to hit the refresh button on my life.

Refreshed as a disciple
I want to first and foremost refresh my relationship with God. Earlier this month, I was struck by Psalm 23:3. God refreshes our soul. I keep picturing myself at the beach on a hot, sunny day. When the heat is almost overwhelming, I just in the water, and there's instant relief and joy. It's refreshing. This is what God wants to do for my soul. This is what I want to let Him do. I'm making a conscious decision to spend quality time with Him daily--not just reading through a Bible plan or using the Bible to prepare for a small group I'm helping lead--but to truly stop and listen to him and respond to Him. If I'm not doing this, nothing else can be refreshed.

Refreshed as a wife
I want to refresh my marriage. All of y'all with a small child know how hard it is to adjust to being a family with a small child for the first time. We're making a conscious effort this year to grow our marriage. This means having long talks over cups of tea after E goes to sleep, learning how to play the guitar together, playing board games, cooking and cleaning together while talking, and finding time for dates.

Refreshed as a mom
With E, I find myself wanting to press the refresh button each day. There are so many days when I fall short. I'm making a conscious effort to put down the iphone or computer or even my own book and spend quality time with her doing things she likes to do and introducing her to new things. We're making sure we do something artistic together each day as well.

Refreshed as a minister
We want to refresh our ministry. We've now found some great things to be part of. We have several church planting projects we're part of (at the university, in Rio de Mouro and helping another church prepare to plant by training their core team) as well as great discipleship and training opportunities. But we want this to be refreshed. We don't want to just do the same old stuff. We want to be connecting into the power of God and see this explode in such a big way. We want to be intentional in our ministry. We want to prayerfully seek God's direction on where to serve and how.

And in other ways...health, friendships, learning the language, connecting to family and friends back home, and more--we want to see all of this grow and flourish...not stay the same or decline.

Pray for me that this year will be a year of refreshment. We want to thrive here. We want to be refreshed my what we do, and not wearied or burned-out or stressed.

And this month--though we've not had a full day-off, has been refreshing. Spending quality time with God has overflowed into all areas of my life (well, minus the health part, but it is king cake season, and as all Louisianians know, we don't worry about diets, etc. until after Mardi Gras). Making the time we have count and spend quality time together as a family--even if it's only for a few hours. I can't wait to see what happens next!