A New Year

Every year I sit down and devote a page in my journal to goals for the up and coming year. I also look at my list from the previous year. For several years quitting smoking has been # one on my list. . I am happy to say that this was accomplished in May of 2005. I have been cigarette free for seven months. Disappointedly I must confess that I do not weigh less than I did last year. In fact, when I quit smoking I gained a few pounds and have been working hard to get rid of them ever since! Last year was a bad year for several key relationships but there was one relationship that I am rejoicing in and that is the one I share with my sister. I feel as though I have developed a deeper appreciation of her as a person, a sister, and a friend.

The main goal for this new year is a goal that I have been repeating for several years and it involves taking control of our household finances. I would like to develop a budget, actually save money, and at the end of next year bless my husband with what I have saved. I want to be a wiser steward of the money that my husband gives me to work with each week. Time will only tell if this is the year to make those changes.

This will be another challenging year. There are many changes taking place in our family including our eldest daughters graduation and her leaving for college. There are challenges ahead in my husbands career which translates into challenges for me. I am thankful that God will see us through it all and I am thankfully for all the opportunities to get to know him better. We never learn the full extent of Gods love when we are walking in sunny fields. It is only in the valleys of life that we experience it completely.