Without Vision

-
                                                                                                                                **



We skipped right over Thanksgiving and Christmas and flew swiftly into the new year. Happy 2025! New years are new beginnings. They are usually the time people look ahead with new vision, perhaps evaluating the progress of old goals and setting new ones. I, personally, do not make resolutions. I am fully aware of the statistics. "According to Forbes Health, '80% of New Year's resolutions are abandoned by February'." "Fortune calls the second Friday in January 'Quitter's Day' because that's when people are most likely to give up on their resolutions." However, I avoid failure by rarely making goals. I am afraid I will fall short; therefore, I definitely do not write it down even if I have a goal in my head. What does the bible say about this mindset? "Where there is no vision, the people perish: But he that keepeth the law, happy is he." (Proverbs 29:18 KJV)

Webster's definition of the word "perish" states, "to become destroyed or ruined; cease to exist." I do not want to be "destroyed or ruined" because I have no vision! Instead, I want to be happy because I have kept the law. The first thing it seems that I need to do is set some goals for 2025 and I will be accountable by setting them in writing here.

SPIRITUAL

Beginning in August 2023, I had a goal to read through the bible through in a year. I have been a bible believing Christian for forty-one years and had never done this. I felt prompted to accomplish this and I did. It may have taken me longer than a year, but I finished in November 2024, just in time to read a "Countdown to Christmas" bible plan December 1-25. This year, it is my goal to dive further into a specific book of the bible. For some reason, I am being drawn toward the book of Hebrews. I am putting in writing that I will begin using a study bible but may want to also use a commentary at some point to read through the book of Hebrews. Hebrews has 13 chapters. I will read two chapters a day Monday through Saturday, and one chapter on Sunday. I will read through this book of the bible four times, taking me into the beginning of February. At which point, I will choose a new book of the bible. 

PHYSICAL

I have not been keeping up with my PT exercises. The first plan of action will be to get back on track with them this month. I am putting in writing that I will continue to run or walk a 5K (3.1 miles) distance three to four times a week, but I will also incorporate my PT exercises into my week at least three times. Sundays can completely be my day of rest unless I choose to do something extra that day.  I will also work on my nutrition. The second plan of action will be to implement a 12-hour eating/12-hour fasting routine. This morning, I was given a book by a friend at church, "Trim, Healthy Mama Plan" (Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison). I will skim through this book in hopes of educating myself how to even begin to eat healthier. I have been so overwhelmed in the past. I need someone to break it down simply for me. If this book doesn't do that for me, I will look into other plans. As this develops, I will begin to set more nutrition goals. For now, my third plan of action will be to focus on exercise while educating myself on the basics of nutrition.

EMOTIONAL

I want to complain less and be more joyful. I want to approach my day with purpose. "Purpose" is my word for 2025. I am putting in writing that I will start my day with the "Verse of the Day" and "Guided Scripture" by using the YouVersion Bible App and will also choose a worship song for each week that I will start my day with. This will help me begin the day with my focus on God in hopes of spreading His light to those I come in contact with which is my purpose. 

BLOG

I am putting in writing that I want to keep this blog going. I want to publish a minimum of one blog post per week. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head. I believe this will also allow me an emotional release for different thoughts I have. If this blog stays as a personal diary for me, I am okay with that. To anyone reading along, thank you! This is my prayer for you in 2025; "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26 NIV)


(**My husband and I usually celebrate New Year's Eve at home and at midnight, we head out for our first walk of the year. This year was the first time in sixteen years that our kids were home to join us. Their tradition of bringing in the new year with a sleepover at my mom's house has come to an end. The picture at the top of this blog is from our walk that night. I felt the picture was appropriate given the blog title.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

There Will Be Cake

-
Image
Today, there will be cake, birthday cake to be exact. It will not be a joy filled, opening presents type of celebration, however. Nineteen years ago on March 16, 2005, I had an experience that changed my spiritual and mental outlook forever. It was definitely a defining moment in my life. I was about thirty-two weeks into my second pregnancy and things were progressing well. As a matter of fact, I went for an ultrasound on March 14th and was told the baby was developing normally, everything looked good. We decided we didn't want to know the sex of the baby, as we did with our first pregnancy. I loved the element of surprise, it made it even more exciting and, man, were we excited! March 15th was probably like any other ordinary day at the time, filled with playing with our daughter, something imaginative I'm sure, followed by the mundane lunch, naptime, dinner and bedtime routine. I was mostly an at home mom at the time, with a biweekly cleaning job and this was my week. I woke...
Read more

Nothing Else

-
Image
In the last blog post, I put in writing that I will choose one song a week to start my day. The goal of this is to begin my day with focus on God. My chosen song of the week was "Nothing Else" (Songwriters: Cody Carnes/ Hank Bentley/ Jessie Parker Early).  "I'm caught up in Your presence  I just wanna sit here at Your feet  I'm caught up in this holy moment  I never wanna leave."  We wake up, start our day with worship and a time of devotion. We feel like we have spent time in the presence of God and our hearts are feeling joyful until we make breakfast, spill our coffee on our carefully selected outfit and sprinkle Cajun seasoning on our toast instead of Cinnamon (almost happened, but luckily, I caught it in time - phew!). Our mood shifts quickly, and we no longer feel joy or that God is near to us. How can we get to a place in our lives where this desire to be caught up in the presence of God becomes a daily reality in our lives, and one that follows us th...
Read more

This Little Light of Mine

-
Image
Last weekend, I met up with "J" and her cousin, whom we will call "K" to run some miles on the river trail. When I meet them at the trail, they usually run for a minimum of ten miles together and meet me somewhere in the last half of their run to pick me up for the four (4.25 to be exact) miles back to the parking lot. I have to decide whether I will run the rest of the way with them and be driven back to my van or run with them a certain distance before turning around and heading back to my van on my own. I used to go the whole way with them before turning around and heading back to my van on my own, but I haven't been going much over four miles at a time lately. So, last weekend, we started out and when we got close to mile two, it was in my head that I needed to make a decision. I felt like I could go on. At mile three the uncertainty started to set in. At that point, I either needed to keep running, and not walk, with them the rest of the way or, if I turned...
Read more