March Update on New Year's Resolutions

Below are the New Year's Resolutions I made for 2017.  Can you believe 2017 is already A QUARTER OF THE WAY DONE?!  I can't believe it.  I'm turning 30 in less than 7 months, but I don't wanna talk about it.  Anyway, let's get a progress update on my resolution list, shall we?

1) Lose another 50 pounds - As of this past Sunday, March 26, I have completed one month of my 3-month weight loss challenge in which I've lost about 9 pounds in 4 weeks!  Between sickness and back pain, I haven't worked out as much lately, so my exercising has slacked off, but I must have built some muscle, because I can tell I'm still burning fat.  Well, it's at more of a simmer, but still...

2) Pay off all of our immediate debt - Still chugging along!  Even though we're down to about six bills (at least when it comes to paying off debt), they're still the largest chunks, so I'm having the mentality of "slow & steady wins the race" right now.

3) Rewrite Ravensboro - Still no more progress on this.  I'm ashamed to say between work (tax season is here and I work in a tax office), working out, and otherwise being married and being choir director at my church, I haven't had much time to do much else.  Including updating Ravensboro.

4) Finish Harkness - I really can't start on this until Ravensboro is done...  ='(

5) Journal/Blog more - I have SIX more book summaries waiting to be written and posted on my blog, which is awesome, but I've started slacking on the journaling front - unless you count the food journal I'm doing for my weight loss competition.

6) Find out where I should be career-wise - I just got a raise, so I'm sticking where I'm stuck right now.  Hopefully, God will continue to lead me in His will for my career, because I still don't know what to do.  I had lunch with a friend the other day, and we were talking about careers and finding jobs doing what we're good at and love to do.  Obviously, being a writer or working in a church would be preferable, but I have also considered guidance counseling or camp counseling before.  So maybe I'll look into that...


What about you?  Did you have any New Year's Resolutions going into 2017?  How are those working out?

LiveJournal Post from March 3, 2007

[This is a good reminder of what led me to counseling in the first place.]

     I am the queen of crap. My whole life - a load of crap. Everything I try to do - utter crap. 

     Ok, here's what I'm trying to say. I've met a lot of Christians in my life. They all have completely different personalities from mine. But when I met them, I noticed the love and passion they had for Almighty God, and I wanted that. So instead of seeking after Him, I sought after imitating their mode of worship and how they acted about their love for Him. So my worship to Him about 80% of the time was not real. It was not me. But today, I was challenged. I have been challenged a lot lately. Challenged to be who God made me. And to be real. To be authentically Christina in love with her heavenly FATHER. 

     And tonight I was grieving. Because I've been sick lately, and I've been focusing more on trying to get better instead of growing closer to God. So I was thinking about areas in my life that I'm unsatisfied with - I don't trust guys. I haven't developed very close friendships with the people I've met at college. Why? The heck if I know. So there I was, sitting in confused anguish. And I opened my Bible and prayed for God to open my eyes. And I found - 

"Give the Lord - you heavenly beings - give the Lord glory and strength. Give the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the SPLENDOR of His holiness. The voice of the Lord is above the waters. The God of glory THUNDERS - the Lord, above vast waters, the voice of the Lord in power, the voice of the Lord in SPLENDOR. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion, like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord hews out FLAMES of fire. The voice of the Lord SHAKES the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve and strips the forest bare; and in His temple everything says, "Glory!"" (Psalm 29:1-9)

     His voice does all this. His power is infinite. And His voice calls my name. He gives me His power over my enemies - His enemies. Wow. 

And then - "One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple...When You said, ' Seek my face,' my heart said to You, ' Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.' ...Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord." (Psalm 27:4, 8, 14)

     That is what I pray I may do all the days of my life. To wait for the Lord. To dwell in His house. To behold His beauty. To meditate in His temple...to inquire in His holy place. To be transformed from the inside out. To show with my life His glory. My spiritual gift is exhortation. I want to use it for Him. 

     I do. This is my prayer. My plea. My passion. This is my purpose. I want to encourage others. I want to be available to everyone who needs someone to pray with. Because I've been so deep in despair and I've felt so alone in my quest, in my search to find God. I've felt like there was noone willing to pray with me who cared about what I might be going through. Who might not understand what I was going through or who might not want to try to understand. 

     But I want to know my life is open to God to use however He needs to use me. To lead me wherever I need to be led. And that I will be willing to follow. 

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him." (Psalm 28:7)