Unleash Your Power To Start Fresh.....

January....Resolutions.....Starting Over....Goals....Plans...My Word For The Year

Do these phrases sound familiar?  Have you said or done any of them?  

I have. Many times. What would happen if we didn't?  Could we just be?  Would we wander aimlessly through our year?  Would we be free from self condemnation? 

Let's keep this in perspective.  I like to have my "word" for the year.  I don't see this as either a good or bad thing.  I like linking that word to who I am.  I like striving to get myself to a place where I feel more like "Penny".  Goals and Resolutions however bite me in the backside all the time.  I use them to beat myself up for what I don't or didn't get accomplished.  Let's face it, I pick the hardest thing for myself, my biggest obstacle, and focus on it all year long.  What if I quit giving it that power?  

They say your biggest fears lose their power over you when you stop focusing on them.  What if we took that approach?  My "word" this year was for acceptance.  I want to just be me.  I want to value my own beliefs and choices and be ok with that.  I am striving to be a free spirit and get out of the bondage of my own mind.  I am striving to leave my people pleasing behind and be the woman my Awesome Creator made me to be.  I am God's handiwork and he wants me to let that be a Light for others.  

What are some of my biggest struggles?  Weight is one.  Or at least the fear that others see me as obese, not what I once was, a glutton, etc.  This struggle began for me when I was 14 years old.  I remember the exact day I let Satan have control over my thinking in this area.  I struggled with Anorexia for several years, almost hospitalized once.  After children, my struggle was weighing more than the BMI said I should or what I want that stupid scale to say.  What if I just quit fixating on it?  What if I turned my thinking back to God's word and not Satan's attacks?  Sounds like a better plan to me than the one I have been working on myself for the past 30 years.  

Another struggle?  Parenting.  What do other's think of my parenting?  Am I making the grade?  Am I meeting "their"  expectations.  A big one for me in this area is the ever present argument of Do You Let Your Child Have A Cell Phone? Why yes I do... and this is why: I want to know I can get a hold of my child.  I want to be able to say "Get Home" as well as "How was your day"?  I can say, "Don't forget to pick up your sister" and I can say "I am praying for your science test today".  With that said, if you don't wish to let your child have a cell phone, then by all means don't.  God gave us each our children because he equipped us to raise that specific child.  Period.  Quit the Mommy Wars people.

However, technology as a whole can be both good and bad.  As parents we do need to be cautious of what, how much, and what age we utilize different forms of technology.  Dr. Kathy Koch has written a new book titled Screens and Teens: Connecting With Our Kids In A Wireless World.  If you are feeling you don't know how the Lord is leading you on the issue of keeping technology in check in this technology era, this book is a great place to start.  It will be released soon and I am so excited that I have been chosen to read it early and help promote it!  Remember technology never falls backward, facing it head on and dealing with our new age is a must.  

Share your thoughts or read other's thoughts on having a Fresh Start in the new year and your feelings on Screens and Teens on Jill Savages Third Thursday Blog Hop link up....

Happy New Year!