It's a New Year and I've been thinking about, praying about changes I want to make.....in myself mostly but also in the way I do things.
For the past few years I've prayed about and focused on one little word that I could work on for the year. This year my word is "intentional". I truly want to be more intentional in every area of my life, as a follower of Christ, as a Wife, as a Mom, as a memory keeper, as a photographer......and the list goes on. My desire is to be more purposeful in all I do. The hurdle in this is that to do that I need to be more organized.......insert sigh here! So that is my starting point for now.
So last weekend as we fought the flu and hung out at home I organized my computer and EHD's.......backing everything up and going through digital scrapbooking supplies. I looked at the few layouts I got done the beginning of 2012 for Project Life and I realized how much I loved them! Why did I not continue all year with this project??? So I decided to try again to get these weekly layouts done and record our memories in this fun way.
My focus is going to be on my photos and the journaling.....not so much making fancy scrapbook pages. Simple, clean and easy. Doable...I hope! Here is my title page and week ones layout..........

title page

left side of layout

right side of layout

I know that it is only through the strength God provides me that I can accomplish any changes in my life. So being intentional about my relationship with Him is my biggest priority or all else will fail.

Blogging took a back seat these past months but just the other day I was looking through some old posts and realized how much I enjoyed having past moments and thoughts captured here to go back too. So I am going to try to be more present here and on that note I will begin with my one little word for this year......
Prepare.....just last week as I was thinking  about this God placed this word in my head and I have not been able to get it out! So this year will be all about preparing....

Preparing my mind.... But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15
studying His word.....going deeper in

Preparing my body..... "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body," 1 Cor 6:19-20
healthier eating habits and regular exercise.....remembering my water and vitamins


Preparing my spirit......Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2
Being in constant communication with the one that keeps me on track.....organize my prayer life to be more effective....be still more to hear His voice

I am also praying about how I am preparing my children.......and how I might do better at that. More thoughts on that to come. But for now as we begin this New Year I know I need to draw close to the only one who can give me the strength I need to accomplish His plans for me......

Here we are New Years eve on the edge of a fresh year to start anew in! As I have been thinking and praying this week God has revealed to me that this will be my year of "BEING".......yes.......just BEING.
Being (not doing)
Being present in every moment
Being in Christ and Him in me
Being prayerful
Being atttentive
Being still
Being available
Being able
Being all I can so I don't miss out on the blessings of this moment in time......this day......this hour ......this minute.......I want to be in the here and now...not thinking about the next thing or the next moment but taking the time to be and ponder in this second God has given me.
My "being list could go on and on and I'm sure as God reveals more areas of my life I will add to the ways I want to be........but mostly I want this year to "BE" a season of growing closer to my Savior and not missing a second of what he is trying to do............ through my list of "being" I hope to do this.

As I started looking back over my week I thought about what I had done to pursue my treasure.....to build it up. As our family prays for those in Haiti it brings to light even clearer the importance of storing up my treasure...now. Not tomorrow or the next day but now. We know not what tomorrow will bring. Or even what the next minute might.

I need to get in the habit of being intentional about my time. How many moments go past us ...slip by.....wasted. I could have given a hug.....played a game.....held a hand.......listened. Been there.

I want to build memories for my family that we can treasure. They say it is the little things that make the biggest difference and I believe it. A shared giggle.....reading together.....laughing.....praying.

Oh Lord that I would be present here and not running off to the next thing on the to do list in my head. I want to be building these relationships up.....as a wife and as a mom.......speaking Gods truth into those around me and letting them know of the treasure they are to me.

So today we will go slow.....I will go slow.....moment by moment savoring each one......rejoicing in each gift......stilling to listen.........building treasure as I go.

          wealth or riches stored or accumulated
          wealth, rich materials, or valuable things.
          any thing or person greatly valued or highly prized
          to retain carefully or keep in store, as in the mind.

to regard or treat as precious; cherish.

to put away for security or future use, as money

Wow! I took alot more time off from blogging then I thought I would....my hard drive crashed!! But all is well now and I do have some things I've been wanting to post about!
The New Year is upon us and with it comes thoughts of what I want to accomplish this year. I've been taking inventory I guess and praying about what God would have me be about this year. I have picked a word to guide me as I begin this new year. If you check out Ali's blog you will see lots of people picking words to guide them this year.
As I prayed about what word I would choose I really felt like this year needed to be about

FOCUS

So often in my busy life I feel like I am always trying to fit God into what is going on....squeezing Him in here and oh remember to make room for God there....
Really what I want and need is for God to be first....to be the FOCUS.....and everything else gets squeezed in around him. I don't want to just see God here and there I want to look through a God like lens at everything in my life and let everything filter through Him. He is the most important.....in all things.