My Word For The Year

Today is the start of a new year. 2013. The year that will probably bring about many more changes for our family (it's just what we are good at). Last year was overwhelming at times and yet so full of blessings. We said goodbye to the house we had owned for 2.5 years which obviously was a little hard in some ways, and yet so freeing. God pushed us and changed us a whole lot in the last year and we are so thankful. There were tears, lots and lots of tears, but there were also moments of rejoicing...even during a crazy move and all of the phone calls we had to endure. Seriously, we feel so blessed. Obviously, the best news of the year was finding out we were pregnant with our second baby, only by the grace of God, and we found out it was a boy! We never planned to have two kids of our own before adopting, we just were open to it if God wanted that to be our story, and He did. 

So, here we are entering a new year. It will be a year of moving again most likely (although nothing is guaranteed that's for sure and that is fine). It will be the year that we bring home our baby boy and navigate life with two kids. It'll be another year of us asking God to push us and stretch us no matter how hard it may be. 

This year I wanted to choose a word that would help me to define what I want to see in myself and my family. The word instantly came to me as I prayed for something great for our family this year. Intentional. I want to be intentional in 2013. Intentional means to be done on purpose or deliberately. I want each choice I make to be thought out. As I parent two kids I want to know that I am choosing to live my day for God and in turn making sure that my time is dedicated to loving my babies, playing with them, and showing them that they are important. This is also true for Josh. I want to be intentional in loving him. Our time together is much more limited these days with his work schedule so I want to ensure that I am loving to him when he is around. Most importantly, I want our family to be intentional with our lives. The way we live each day. How we spend our money. Not living beyond our means or even within our means, but below our means. Our prayer is that we learn to live with less this year. I am hoping to share our journey that we have already begun...one of purging the STUFF that was taking up space in our home, the STUFF that was not helping our family, the STUFF that was taking over our lives and making us feel overwhelmed and pressured. Our goal is to have a home that is devoted to only things that we love and that are helpful to our family. We are also praying that by living this way it will get us much closer to missionary work and of course, adoption. These two things have been on our hearts for some time so we are working hard to be ready when God calls us to action.

Intentional. I love it. I am ready for whatever challenges it may bring. 

Happy New Year my friends! Excited to see what a new year will bring for all of you!