Hmm, it seems so strange to write that date. It still seems so far in the future, and impossible date, like when you are 16 and imagine being 40something. It will never get here, and yet, here it is.

I’ve been thinking a bit about goals for the new year, as most of us tend to do after Christmas, and I have reached a few decisions. No really grand schemes, but a year I plan to spend doing the little things that make me who I am. No big vacations, no weird purchases, not even humidifier filters, but a year of quiet pleasures. I’m thinking that a gal whose kids have planned visitations with their other parent ought to have plenty of time for dates with herself. For me, 2010 will be the year of

• burned candles
• snapped photographs
• read books
• watched movies
• finished projects
• studied Word
• reclaimed self

There is one other thing I want to do this coming year, a bigger thing, and it will require a great deal of thought and prayer on my part. This year, I want to be a life-giver. That probably seems like a weird statement coming from a woman who has given birth eight times, but I am not talking about physical life. I am reminded that the power of life and death is in the tongue, and this year, I want to build people up with my words and not tear them down, to speak the truth in love and with kindness, to cultivate that meek and quiet spirit that is so precious in His sight. That last will take the rest of my life to master, and if I ever think I have attained it, it will be lost again.