Jumping in to 2012

January always makes me feel like I am getting a do-over!  So this year I spent December really thinking about what I wanted to do with 2012.  Here's some thoughts:


If I got somehow stranded in my house for the year, without ever being able to leave, I would have plenty to do every day, crafting, sewing, reading, cooking.....  I think we could even have enough to eat for quite awhile.  So I thought that maybe that is exactly what I would do.


During the Perspectives course last fall, we talked a lot about the sacrifices we should be making for the advancement of the gospel, for the spread of God's glory.  It is easy for me to see what everyone else is doing wrong, but not see that I could really be sacrificing also, and think of ways to be able to give more.


How can that look?  Well, I could start going through things that I have (we have) that are just taking space, and intentionally not bring anything else into the house that is not immediately consumable.  I can set things aside to donate, which will give us a tax deduction.  


I also had read a short blog, somewhere (I will try to find it, it's probably on the Colson Center) which talked about the fact that we were created to be creators not consumers.  How much of what I do is creating and how much is consuming?  


SO:  I am intentionally trying to:


-Declutter
      --systematically work through every corner of the house to get rid of what we don't use regularly, make things easy to use, make it so the house takes care of itself.... 
      --have things so streamlined and decluttered that I can hire someone to clean every other week.  Then I will be freed from vacuuming, dusting, bathrooms, counter cleaning.
-Create (from what we have) instead of consume
-Daily bible reading
-Daily prayer for the nations, missionaries, Compassion kids, etc.
-Daily prayer for each family member
-OUR house is my priority.  No outside commitments for this year.  


In December I also read Radical by David Platt.  He has a one year Radical Experiment, which fit in perfectly with what I was feeling/planning.  So I printed off the daily chronical bible readings, and our family is doing that.  We also plan to have one night a week for family worship, with an outline that is on the site for the book.  More about that later!