Yes

As the world ran around buying workout clothes and gym memberships and new tennis shoes, I made resolutions too. As grocery stores filled their shelves with vegetables and 100-calorie packs of everything, I too was thinking about the new year.

Yes, this year I would like to move more and eat better, but my planning for the year took a bit longer.

This year I've got a baby.

A real, live baby.

And I take each of those words quite seriously. This year I have a real baby, not just one I've dreamt about for years. This year I have a live baby, one that still lives and breathes and looks back at me into my eyes and straight into my soul.

And this year I've got a new job.

I'm now what you would call a stay-at-home-mom, a manager of the home, a domestic engineer, a household CEO. And man this is what I was built for.

But this year also I have new ambitions.

The world around me moves so very quickly that I must take the time to consider how every moment is spent. I could let my days waltz so easily by me and look back in five years and wonder where I am. Or I could take this time, in January, at this new beginning in life to consider the possibilities.

So this year I've spent January reading, praying, writing and planning.

My favorite book so far is The Best Yes by Lysa TerKeurst, even if I've only had time to read the first few chapters. The book speaks of all the things I've been thinking about and more.

And so with this new time. Not that I'll pretend to have any more time than before, but with this new chance for new beginnings I've been careful with my "yes." I've said "no" to many things and yet I still find myself quite busy.

I don't just go around saying "no" so that I'll have plenty of free time or me time; but it's a very thought out "no" or more so that every "yes" I give has been carefully considered. If I say yes to everything the world asks of me I'll be exhausted in less than a minute and, well, with less than adequate nighttime sleep, I may only make it thirty seconds, really.

What has the Lord called me to do with this time in my life?

I'll say yes to those things.

Not that everything says "Hello! I Love Jesus and this is a big deal!" But sometimes it means laundry or dishes or poopy diapers, it's not all glamor. But in the world of poopy diapers, I have less time. In a world where I no longer have a "full-time job" I still have less time. I'm sure that in your world the time does in fact seem less and less every year too. Are we saying "yes" to the things that take that precious time away from the things we are called to do?

My relationship with the Lord and the outpouring and service from that relationship is a priority I'm surely called to. My relationship with my husband, my relationship with my son, my relationship with family and friends, and the things that I do to take care of those people are the heart and soul of who I am. But life offers so much more, and I do want to take hold of the other things, and take time to figure out where I spend my time.

So rather than taking on everything in life, rather than saying yes to everything that anyone asks of me, I'm thinking and wondering and praying about the things the Lord has called me to do. Maybe I will look back in five years and say, "yes, this is what the Lord has called me to, I spent the time he gave me wisely" instead of looking back and wondering where all the hours, and days, and week wondered off to.

So for now:

1. God
2. Kyle
3. Lincoln
4. Friends and Family

And then, as much as it scares me to even say it out loud, and to type it on a page, quite possibly:

5. Writing

Maybe just maybe I could make time for writing, for more writing, for better writing. But oh to say it loud is scary, to tell the world of my dreams means I'll really have to give it a go.

Is it something I want to do? Something I want to work on, to refine, to give my time? Something that I don't just let slip away this year because I was too busy with everything else?

Yes.

Yes, actually.

Even though it scares me.