Who will YOU be in 2009?

Happy New Year to you all!

I'm not in the 2009 writing mode yet...I'm still putting 2008 on things.  That will take some getting used to! =D

I was so glad to hear about the great time many of you had at Magic Mountain yesterday!  I truly wish I could have been there with you and I appreciate how supportive you've all been about my MIA status from Youth Group right now.

Thanks to everyone who is diligently praying for my mom & dad.  I spent all of yesterday with my mom.  She was in good spirits and really chatty all day.  In fact, we were watching Animal Planet and she said a particular black dog reminded her of a chicken she once knew.  She then went on to discuss this chicken that used to attack her and her Aunt Aileen when they would try to go to the outhouse (yeah, that long ago).  So, mom's reasoning processes and long term memory are still somewhat in tact.

Today is the biopsy to remove a portion of the tumor in mom's brain.  We will have a preliminary finding but not the final analysis until sometime early next week.  Continued prayers are greatly appreciated!

God is incredibly good and I have seen His hand at work in so many unforseen ways.  I will praise Him, even for this time of sadness, not-knowing-ness and the "c" word (cancer).  Debbie came for several hours to sit, laugh and make sure I ate something.  I thank God for her best-friendship and sisterhood!  This verse in the following Planet Wisdom devotional reminds me of her!

As you begin your new year, agree with me and let's focus on how God wants us to live, by the power of His Holy Spirit!

I love you all, am thankful for you daily & pray for you to fall deeply in love with God...today and every day!

-M
 

PlanetWisdom.com Devotionals

Who Will You Be in '09? Posted: 01 Jan 2009 10:43 AM CST "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23) Who will you be in 2009? That's a way better question than the ones we usually ask about a new year: What will I do? Where will I go? What will happen to me? What relationships will thrive and/or fail? How much will I make? Will I win the lottery? Find true love? Become the best at . . . anything? We've been following Paul's train of thought through Galatians 5, and we're finally done talking about who we DON'T want to be and what we DON'T want to do in 2009. He's already promised that we can win the battle for the don'ts with the power of God's Spirit in us. But Jesus-followers who define themselves only by what they don't do are some of the saddest people I know. Being like Jesus is about what we say yes to, the kinds of emotions that flow out of us, and who we are. We'll kick this new year off remembering for a few days what Christians who "live by the Spirit" look like. Think: Do you ever tend to define being a Christian by what a person doesn't do? What's the problem with that? Pray: Thank God for continuing to make you new in a new year. Tell Him you want to live this year for His glory, and ask Him for the wisdom to figure out how to do that today. Do: Looking for a new project for this year? Two ideas: One, try counting every time you sneeze for all of 2009. (My brother actually did that last year.) Two, without repeating, pick a new person every day to thank God for and make one request about. (E.g., "Thanks for my Facebook friend Tom; help him to make wise choices today.") Visit PlanetWisdom.com for more great resources!