<-- dIrEcTiOn -->

which way to go? what to focus on? how to prioritize? these are my questions. looking ahead to 2008, wanting it to be "great." i am trying to spend some time thinking about what my role needs to be in that...i want to live my life to the fullest and make the most of every opporunity. i want to avoid the common traps of storing up treasure on earth and leaving my storage space in heaven vacant. i want to resist the pressure of making work my life and pleasing people my goal. i want to be who god made me to be, live how he wants me to live, and invest where he has for me to invest. he already has good works planned out for me; i don't need to veer off the path and try to create my own.

i want to have an attitude like christ jesus, who being god in the flesh did not consider equality with god something to go after, but instead, made himself a servant. so...where do i begin? and how do i avoid making my life all about "doing" the right thing? i definitely want to have the relational basis in place. i want what i do to be the overflow of an intimate relationship with jesus christ. i want jesus to be the motivating factor behind all of my actions and decisions. i guess that is where all of this begins. establishing relational intimacy with the creator of the universe. glad he didn't make it complicated. he made it pretty simple in fact. all i need to do is spend time at his feet and in his word. time and humility. willingness to allow him to make me into who he has designed me to be all along. why wouldn't i want to be that person? cuz it's hard, scary, unknown to me. well, all those things aside, it is so much better than anything else i could imagine. so what direction am i headed in 2008? hopefully, wherever the lord leads. glad i have the holy spirit as my personal guide. :-)

standing on the rock.

the other day i had this thought that the theme of 2008 may be "set your feet upon the rock." thinking back to the last month and looking ahead to the next months, it makes a lot of sense that this would be the theme...all this sounds very challenging and not any easier or more comfortable than last year. :-( i guess god's not really into easy or comfortable for that matter. his goal is my character not my comfort. so true. not that life with jesus won't ever be fun, but it's certainly not all fun and games. jesus' life wasn't like that, why would i expect mine to be?

last year's theme was "fix your eyes on jesus." god's plan is not for me to live some safe, comfortable, status quo life so i better give up any remnant of that dream right now! help me, lord! setting my feet upon the rock. my foundation needs to be the rock. that way when the rains come down and the floods come up, the house on the rock will stand firm. no matter what people say, no matter the opposition, the discomfort, no matter what, i need to stand firm on the rock. jesus is that rock, and his word has to be my foundation. so much to learn...2008 here we come.

looking forward...

yesterday at work, i was telling someone that i work with how i am glad that 2007 is almost over because it's been a challenging year. not that i don't appreciate a good challenge from time to time, but a year of various challenges and many seemingly dry times is not my favorite thing in the world. don't get me wrong, i am grateful for 2007 and all the lord taught me through various circumstances, etc., but i am also very ready for a change. however, after telling this person that i was ready for 2007 to be over, she asked me what i was looking forward to in 2008. that was a good question, and one that caught me off guard. what am i looking forward to in 2008? what is going to make it different and, for that matter, better than 2007? the only response i could come up with on the spot was that i am looking forward to my new living situation. other than that, i didn't have anything to say really. i guess it's time for a vision for 2008 which means a conversation with the lord. or multiple conversations for that matter. let's see if he has anything to say about 2008...

remembering.

this past week, i spent some time looking through old journal entries, trying to recall things the lord has taught me this past year. as 2007 is coming to a close (praise the lord for that!!), i am trying to get a recap of what all happened this year. there have been quite a few life lessons. check out the partial listing:

1. my eyes need to be fixed on jesus the author and perfector of my faith not on circumstances, myself, or others.
2. life is going to be hard, and i'm not always going to like it.
3. my hope needs to be in the lord. when i hope in him, i will not be disappointed.
4. god really does know best, and his plans really are good. i just need to trust him.
5. surrender is not this mysterious thing i am incapable of. surrender is simply acknowledging i don't know best, giving up, and deciding to follow the lord.
6. honesty and openness really are the best policy, especially when it comes to relational things.
7. god will provide!

so simple, yet so easy to stray from these truths and try to do things my way. for the record, it is not a good idea. do what jesus tells you to do even if it seems really hard, awkward, or not fun. in the end, it really is best. he knows what he's doing, and he knows you better than you know yourself. our god is good, faithful, and fully trustworthy. more jesus and less lisa. this is what i need in life. :-)