New Year's Resolutions

Only 288 days to go! Whoop, whoop. Less than 10 months until you become Mr. and Mrs. Doesn't sound so far away any more! Happening this year, baby! 2015! An exciting year ahead between your wedding and Anton's college graduation. (Also the year your Daddy and I turn 50, but we won't go there yet). We are getting so excited! Praying this whole year is a happy one filled with gobs of blessings for everyone.

Your Daddy and I are kicking off this new year in New Orleans ... newspaper duty calls: Sugar Bowl with Alabama and Ohio State. It is exciting to see all the fans here celebrating the start of 2015. So many amazing things to see and do and taste in this wild city. A bunch to hide your eyes and ears from as well. That's where using Scripture and God as a filter come in.

If there was anything we would wish for you in 2015, that would be it. That everything you do be filtered by the grace of God. Every decision you make, every word you speak, every thing you watch or read, every action you both take, that you use the best-selling book of all time and the Creator who wrote it to guide your steps. Friends told me recently that they as a couple are reading through the Bible together during 2015. While both have read through the Bible independently before several times, this is the first time they have read it through together. A sweet time of togetherness, devotion, study and spiritual growth. Imagine facing every day together after a morning of Scripture time. What a perfect plumb line they will have to set their day by.

Set yourself some goals this year, including spiritual ones. Back in November we talked about ..spiritual measurement. Make good on growing ever closer to our Father. Read the Word every day. Pray. Take a new study. Get involved in a small group. While you are at it, stretch yourself creatively, learn something new, volunteer in some aspect, do random acts of kindness, spend time with God just to be with Him, and make every effort to love each other faithfully and  preciously in word and deed.

Know that we are praying for you in this new year. That you grow every more in love and ever closer to the One who brought you together. We love you both. Happy, healthy, blessed 2015!

Discussion: What are your individual goals for this year? What are your goals as a couple? What is something you have always wanted to do or learn that is reachable this year? What can you do this year to grow spiritually?

Prayer: Father we dedicate this year entirely to you. We pray your Holy Spirit and Word guide us. Help us be wise in our decision making and quick to love your children. In the name of the One to whom every knee will bow, Amen.

Joy Jar

I got our family a Joy Jar two days ago at Target. I have always wanted to get one after hearing about Ayla's years ago, but just never got around to it. So I finally found us a jar in the Christmas discount bin, slapped a label on it and now we're ready for 2015.

Not sure if the Joy Jar was Ayla's idea or if she found it somewhere, but she started it right after she moved to Rhode Island. She faced many challenges in that first year there, and used the Joy Jar as a way of being more positive about her circumstances. She would write about things that made her happy, successes and sweet memories with the date the event took place and put that piece of paper in the Joy Jar. Then at the end of the year on New Year's Eve, read through all the pieces of paper to reminisce about the joy. Some folks do a Thankfulness Jar and put things they are thankful for and then read them at Thanksgiving. Either way it's a precious reminder of the good things in 365 days.

When we went to visit her at graduation in 2013, I sat and read the items in her Joy Jar. We giggled because between my aging vision and Ayla's handwriting on some of the slips, I misread many of her joys. Apparently when packing her for her move to Bar Harbor, the jar didn't fit in a storage box, so we took out the slips of paper and tossed the jar. Ayla said she hasn't found a jar like it since, so therefore hasn't utilized her Joy Jar.

Brad and I are going to do the Joy Jar in 2015. And we anticipate much joy in the new year ... including a wedding in October. Perhaps it's time for Ayla to find another jar to fill. I think it better be a big one. Wishing you both a blessed, joy-filled 2015. Happy New Year!

Discussion: Would you both like to utilize a Joy Jar in the new year? What are some joys you've experienced in 2014?

Prayer: Glorious Father, we thank you for 2014. So much joy this year! Beach trips, an engagement, Brad became a pastor, he got a hole in one, I moved to the Going Home Show on The River, Ayla got a new job and new apartment. Such blessings and we thank you for them. We thank you for all the joys in Rob and Ayla's life and pray that 2015 is filled with even more joy. We love you, Lord. May we glorify you in all we do next year. In Jesus, Amen.