F.R.O.G.

Does anyone else remember the F.R.O.G. bracelets that were around in the '90's?  I do, and for some reason, I woke up this morning with that on my mind.  Well, not the bracelets themselves, but rather the meaning behind the initials.  Fully Rely On God.  So easy to say, but so hard to do.  Often, I think we omit the "fully" from our philosophy and just rely on Him when it's easy.  Reflecting on that, I came up with my resolution for the year of 2011.  This year it won't be a list of goals, or do's and don't's, it will simply be making that phrase the definition of my life, and teaching others to do the same.  FULLY rely on God.  No matter what happens, no matter what we understand or don't, I want to be fully reliant on His grace to catch me when I fall, His mercy to be new every morning, His love to cover a multitude of mistakes, His strength to be more than sufficient, and His compassion to wipe away my tears.  He is big enough to handle my fears and doubts, and He pours into me himself so that I can know Him better and more initimately than ever before.

New Year's Eve Eve

While I was in the States in the fall, a good friend suggested to me that I start a blog.  The idea was intriguing.  I've always enjoyed writing down my thoughts and sharing them with others, but the big thing stopping me from blogging was that I didn't think I would ever have the time.  I know that you all are busy too, so maybe you can understand this.  See, I am a wife, a mother of 4 children under the age of 6, I homeschool my oldest child, and I am a full-time missionary alongside my husband (which involves a whole variety of duties that I won't even try to mention).  Will I have any time left over to keep up a blog?

The answer to that question is still unknown.  I have no idea if I can make this fly or not...but I am willing to try.  So, this is my very first post.  I don't really know what I want to write tonight, I just know that I wanted to start trying.  You know, one of those now or never moments where I knew if I didn't try now I probably never would.  Maybe taking a new chance has to do a little bit with the idea of a new year right around the corner.  A new year usually brings about thoughts of a new start, maybe a chance for reinvention and redemption.  The things we did wrong last year, we can change this year.  You get the idea.  Now, starting a blog is not by any means a life-altering change...but, it's nice in a subtle sort of way.  Something I always thought would be nice to do, but never did it...until now.

Hmmm...I had no intention of being profound tonight, but maybe I am just scratching the surface of a small thing that can make a huge difference.  There are things that we want to do in life.  Maybe even things we were created to do...things that may not be extraordinary, but character qualities that God put in us from birth to accomplish different tasks.  The desires, dreams, and visions may be big, or at times they may seem small and insignificant, yet they are in us.  Places we want to see, things we want to experience, and even life lessons we want to learn.  What keeps us from feeling it all?  Maybe we just need to do it.  Look at it like a "now or never" moment, and decide that the time is now.  It may not work out the way we want it to, or may turn into something totally different from what we had planned, but it's time to do it.  To grow.  To learn.  To try.

I have a lot of "now or never" moments on the back-burners of my mind, and I have already decided that the year of 2011 is the NOW.  I need to finish up this post (a little suspense is good, right?), but follow my blog to see how these NOW moments will play out in my life.  These little forgotten towns in Michoacan, Mexico have no idea what's going to hit them...and we are all going to experience God's character in brand new ways.