Trading Resolutions For Grace

Starting tomorrow, millions of people will set their New Year's resolutions and face them head-on. For a day, maybe a week, hopefully longer...

Has this ever happened to you: you start the new year with a handful of resolutions that will make you healthier, smarter, prettier, and more spiritual. You're motivated and ready to go, and you do pretty well for a while.

But then your schedule stops you, your relationships hold you back, your plans fall apart, and soon you've decided it's easier to just go back to the way you lived before your resolutions.

Sound familiar? For most of us, this is what the first few weeks (ok, days) of the year look like. There's no lasting motivation to keep going with that exercise plan, Bible study, or house cleaning schedule, so it falls by the wayside.

Unfortunately, this also means that our spirits take a beating. Our best intentions turn into something we stick in the back of a closet, only to be pulled out again next January. Suddenly we're depressed and discouraged because we're failed once again.

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

If we try to start the New Year under our own power and with our own ideas, we're bound to fail. But if we're completely surrendered to God's will in our lives and stay obedient to His word, His grace will fill in the rest. 

It's not about me. It's about the Lord.
It's not about my strength. It's about His.
It's not about my plans. It's about His.

And that's the grace-filled plan for the New Year. It's all about Him.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holland Creme - That Amazing White Stuff In Donuts

Image
I remember going to the grocery store every Saturday morning when I was growing up, and my favorite place in the entire store was the donut case. All the glazed, powdered and filled baked goods drew me like a magnet. My favorites, far and away, were the ones filled with that beautiful white, fluffy creme. At the time I didn't know it was called Holland Creme - I just knew it was the most amazing concoction ever. Ever. Here is my version of this sweet treat. You can make your own fried donuts and fill them, or like I did here, you can cut a crevice into store-bought donuts with a knife and fill them with creme in a piping bag. Either way, you're going to love it. Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup shortening 1 cup butter 1 Tbsp vanilla 7 cups powdered sugar 1. Make a simple syrup by combining sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat until boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool complet...
Read more

Recovering An Old Card Table And Making It Usable Again

Image
This card table recover project has been on my to-do list for months. I've been using it as my workspace in the craft room for quite some time, and it sees a lot of abuse. Here it is now, with a neutral cover on it so I can take better pictures for my tutorials. There were dents and dings in the old blue covering from metal tools. And yes, I've used my embossing heat tool on it several times, leaving pretty good scars. The padding underneath the blue cover also made it difficult to keep paper crafts flat when adhering them together, so it was time for something new. That's where a simple vinyl tablecloth comes in handy. The process to recover the table is pretty simple, but I learned a couple of lessons the hard way. I share them with you now. First, don't do this on any surface but a carpet. I tried it on the deck int he sunshine to get better pictures, but all it did was tear up the cover. Second, get a second pair of hands to help you kee...
Read more

Crafts For Teen Girls To Make

Image
In our teen girls Bible study, we're studying our way through the Proverbs 31 woman and it's been such a blessing to me, as I hope it's been to them. Every month we spend an afternoon or an evening together studying Scripture, making something amazing in the kitchen and creating something that corresponds to the verse we're in. Choosing the crafts each time can be a challenge for several reasons. It needs to be something they can completely finish (or do most of) because once they leave they're probably not going to work on it themselves - that's just the nature of teenagers. Remember? It also needs to be a project that keeps they're attention, is age-appropriate and is cool enough that they'll want to keep it or give it to someone special. But hey, no pressure on the Bible study leader, right? Here are just a few of the projects we've done together in the year we've been meeting. * This month's craft will be the adorable cross stit...
Read more