Clogged with Wishes!

Wow! ... So I'm reading a really amazing book right now.  Yes, Mical Masterson is reading!  This is huge, I know! ;) ....... It's called Passion and Purity.  It might be my new favorite book! .... I'm sure I'll be sharing all of the points I took away from it when I'm finished reading it, but for now, I need to share a quick thought about chapter 7.  It is hitting me so hard right now because the author, Elisabeth Elliot, went through the exact same thing that I am going through now.  At least her thought process is the same.  I won't try to compare my puny life to her grand and crazy trials.  But anyway ....

Toward the end of chapter 7, Elisabeth asks a question and then makes a statement that I couldn't have said better myself.  It explains my position right now.

"How can God work His will in me if I am clogged with wishes of my own?"

"I was wishing that my wishes were what God wished; I wished that I could wish that my wishes would go away, but the wishes were still there."

Oh, how true!  I have two desires in my heart right now - my two greatest passions in life.  And at the moment, God is putting them on hold.  Maybe forever.  You never know.  But I ache.  I desire them so much that I don't know what to do with myself!!!

But!  In saying that, I am reminded of another important lesson from chapter 6.  Ugh.  Important but difficult!!! .... Elisabeth described a conversation with a girl who used to live with her, and this girl wanted to marry a rich and handsome man.  When she came home from a date one evening, she started telling Elisabeth how the guy she went out with was nice, a Christian, interesting ... but then she mentioned that he wasn't wealthy.  Elisabeth then asked her questions like "What if God were to choose for you to marry a poor and homely man?"

The questions and responses continued for awhile until the girl finally asked, "Doesn't God want me to be happy?" ... Wow.  Isn't that just like us?  It all comes back to our own happiness.  If we aren't happy, then life just isn't worth living.  When, in reality, we should be finding joy in our trials, in our heartaches, in our unmet desires .... because these "unhappies" force us to depend on Christ and find complete fulfillment and happiness (or rather JOY - which is NOT temporal but lasting!) in HIM ALONE. .... This girl was focusing on her own happiness, which is what we all tend to do.

But I love Elisabeth's response! ..... She said, "God wants you most to be holy." ..... Wow!  I remember being taken aback when I read this line.  It was one of those moments when the words jump off the page and smack you in the head! .... I started reading Passion and Purity because I was down about my desires concerning my love life.  I was reading it to pursue Christ's perspective in the situation, yes .... but also because I was bummed out.  Isn't it great how God will reveal His perspective when we really seek it out?  It's great alright ... but also convicting!!!! ..... I think He wants us to be happy ... BUT! .... He isn't ultimately worried about our happiness.  He's worried about our holiness!!!  A similar way to put it .... My pastor often says, "God's not concerned with our comfort; He's concerned with our character." .... Holiness is being "set apart."  Jesus is the ultimate picture of holiness - completely set apart from any ideology, any response to any situation, any person on this earth.  And He calls us to be set apart as well. .... Elisabeth threw out the definition of holiness to mean "wholeness."  Another great way of putting it! ..... When we are holy ... set apart ... we are W H O L E.  I want to be whole! ..... It reminds me of James 1:4 when it says .... "And perseverance must finish its work so that you will be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  That is EXACTLY God's desire for us!  He wants us to be whole!  Complete.  Not lacking anything.  Holiness is the path to wholeness.

So in all of my "unmet" desires ... I need to be seeking out holiness.  Then ... I will eventually be whole.  Whew! ... What a rough concept.  I hate that it is taking me so long to learn this lesson in surrender.  You'd think I would've learn it by now.  But no. ..... Thankfully our God is entirely faithful and full of grace to extend to us each and every day.

Alrighty .... So I really wrote this only for myself.  I needed to get some thoughts. .... I pray you all have this surrendering desires thing down pat.  But ... knowing you (the fact that you're human), you don't.  So I thought I'd share my struggles and thoughts. .... Like I've said so many times before ... it is soooo much easier said than done.  But we can't stop striving toward the goal.  The goal being - WHOLENESS IN CHRIST ALONE.

First Things First!

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine, Jason (who also helps lead our youth group), shared a message with our youth group about our ultimate calling - Glorifying God. ....... It was pretty amazing! I got a lot out of it and have been thinking a lot about his words and God's words that he shared with us. I've been wanting to share 'em here ... so here goes! :)

"Put first things first, and we get second things thrown in; put second things first, and we lose both first and second things." - C.S. Lewis

READ THAT AGAIN!

"Put first things first, and we get second things thrown in; put second things first, and we lose both first and second things."

That is big! Wow! Better preachin' than you think!!!! ....... Here's my paraphrase: Put God first in your life, and all else will fall into place. Leave God out of the #1 spot, and everything else will fail. ......... This is a BIG idea! This is a big REALITY!!! Life is pointless, futile ... trifling! ... if we do not make Jesus our E V E R Y T H I N G !!! He MUST be #1! Always and forever!

Jason asked us to think about a few questions ....
* What matters most to God?
* What cause is God most passionate about?
* What is the primary reason God wants us to spread His Gospel?
Think about these questions for yourself ..... what kinds of answers do you come up with?

Now! Read these verses ..... Colossians 1:16-18, Isaiah 43:7, Ephesians 1:6-14, and 1 Peter 4:10-11. .... In case you don't have a Bible handy, I'll give you the "gist" of each passage. These are the "fill-in-the-blanks" that Jason had us fill out.

Colossians 1:16-18
* Christ created all things so that ......... fill in the blank. .... so that "He, Himself, will come to have first place in everything." (NASB)
Isaiah 43:7
* God created us ........... for His glory.
Ephesians 1:6-14
* The ultimate reason God saves us is so that ........ we will praise and glorify Him.
1 Peter 4:10-11
* The primary reason God wants our service is so that ......... we will glorify Him.

Seeing a pattern? ;) ..... Yep, that's right! We are called to GLORIFY GOD. Ya'll can do what you want with these verses. And I challenge you to really read them; dwell on them; soak them up!

And I want to leave you with a passage that Jason left with us .........
1 Peter 2:9-12
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." (NASB)

Good stuff, huh? ......... It's all God's words. :)

And think about it ... we were CHOSEN to GLORIFY GOD. This is our P U R P O S E !

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

New Question! Swweeet! :)

This post is actually a question I asked under the "Question for You" application I used to have on my blog. It's such a good question to think about, and I love my answer! So I couldn't just delete it! :)

What do you want to be/do when you grow up?

Me? .......

I want to finally get this primary calling thing right ... to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. I want Psalm 16:11 to be the center of my entire being, not just sometimes, but on a moment by moment basis ... "In Your presence is FULLNESS of JOY." I want to live in such a way that JESUS is my EVERYTHING! I'm a workin' on it ... but I want to be ever closer to PERFECT joy in Christ!

I also want to work with young people. I want to work ... somehow, somewhere ... with kids, teens, and people young at heart! I want to pour myself into them and be poured into by them! I want to share Jesus with them ... share encouragement with them - "You CAN overcome these hard times! I overcame mine through the power and grace and faithfulness of my awesome Jesus!" ... I want to simply BE with them!

.... Could this mean teaching? I thought so for such a long time ... but I'm waiting on God for that one. Could that mean going into youth missions in the deepest jungles of South America or in the growing churches in China? I don't know. Letting God take that one! Could it be taking over the Sunday School program at my church? At a church in the ghetto of St. Louis? I have no idea! .... God knows though! And He'll let me know in HIS time!

... All I know is that I want to love on chil'rens and youth and .... people, in general!!! :)

Lord, guide! Direct! Provide! Give peace! Open doors! Shut doors! I will follow your lead!

Happy Birthday to Mical! :D

Well .... it's my birthday today!

22!!!

So .... since it's my day ... I'm gonna splurge and write a couple of blog posts I've been storing up. It's one of my birthday presents to myself. :)

Gooolllly! My life has been oober busy the past couple of months! Hence, the lack of blogging. I'm workin' on it though. :) Slowly but surely finding balance. ... God is faithful. :)

Without further ado ... the previous couple of posts are some thoughts I've been wanting to post about for quite some time .......... Yay!

Enjoy! :)

God's Grammar Rules 102: Appositives

So .... does anyone remember God's Grammar Lessons? .... Yep! Waaayyy back when! The first lesson was about commas and periods. Today's lesson is about appositives. They are one of my favorite grammar devices. (Yes, I'm an English major.) :) ....

For those who aren't into grammar and have no clue what I'm talking about ... appositives are phrases offset by commas that when you take them out of your sentence, your sentence functions just fine without 'em

.... I like 'em because they are often used to enhance your sentence. They can also make your sentence wordy or too long and confusing, but used correctly, they can make your sentence so much better! So! I have two thoughts about "life appositives," as I'm gonna call 'em. :)

Before I start ... let's make a word picture. (Yep, they are our favorites, aren't they, Alex?) :) .... Think of your life as a sentence. If we wanted to get really complex, we could think of our lives as an entire paragraph or even a whole book .... but for this lesson, let's stick with our life as a sentence, shall we? ... We shall. :) Our sentences (lives) are full of punctuation, adjectives, nouns, ect. Our sentences are also full of appositives ... those events/people/whatever that either enhance our lives or make them confusing and difficult.

Often (if not always!), we can take these things out of our lives, and our lives function just fine without them. The example I want to use in my life is ..... dut, dut, dut, duh! .... My love life (or lack thereof - ha ha!). .... For the past two years, I've been trying to add this love life appositive to my sentence. I've been trying to write my own love story. But rather than this appositive enhancing my sentence, like I THOUGHT it would ... like I WANTED it to ... it just got wordy and confusing. This appositive involved getting so caught up in finding the "right guy" that I wasn't focusing on the ONLY Guy who really matters ... yep. The Jesus Man! :)

I battled these crazy offset commas for months and months. And when I finally dropped the pen and let God continue writing my sentence, I found that He took this love life appositive out. He knew that the sentence worked just fine without it. He knew the sentence worked BETTER without it. He helped ME see that my sentence was better (at least for now) without these so called "enhancements."

Perhaps ... down the road ... God will put this love life appositive back in my life. But for now, I'm really enjoying my sentence without this particular appositive. My sentence is reading so much more smoothly, and it is no longer wordy and confusing. .... It's amazing how that works, huh? When we give the pen to God, He writes a sentence (and an entire story!) packed with fulfulling and purposeful punctuation, adjectives, nouns, appositives, and so much more!

Keep trusting God to write your sentence! He is the Master Writer and Editor, and He knows what He's doing! :)

It's All About Mical! :D

So everyone is posting the "about my mom" post ... initially stolen from Judy (I think). It is a fun post! But I'm gonna spice it up a bit and be a little selfish ... I'm gonna twist the questions to make them about ME. :) Come on. It'll be fun! :D

What is something (or some things) Mical always says?
"Sheesh maneesh."
"Let's get rockin'!"
"Oh, man."
"Hmm, hmm, hmm." (It's more like a hum)
"What the heck!?"
"So ..."
"God is faithful."
"(So and so) cracks me up!"
"What a hoot!/(So and so) is a hoot!"
"Too funny!"

What makes Mical happy?
Friends
Both of my church families
Kids/youth (folks between the ages of 7 and 17!) :)
Time with my SoZo kids
After school program on Mondays and Wednesdays!!!!! LOVE it!!!!
Time with Jesus right before bed :)
E-mails
Sweet tea :D
The sky
.... I better stop here.

What makes Mical sad?
Broken relationships!!! (But sad is the understatement of my life when it comes to this!)
When my friends go through tough times

What makes Mical laugh?
If you want the short version .... I could say EVERYTHING! (I laugh all the time ... it's a hobby of mine.) :)
But let's be a little more specific ... because it's just fun. :) And let's change it to who makes you laugh the most?
My big brother, Adam, makes me laugh more than anyone in the whole world!
The Jared
James :)

How tall is Mical?
5 feet 5 in a half inches ... to be exact.

What does Mical like to do?
Starbucks friend dates with Ben
Hug Emily and be hugged by Emily
Los Rancheros dates with Hannah and Tiff
Laugh with/at James
Hang out with kids (after school program!!!)
Hang out with my youth group kids!!!
Play my guitar
Hiking
Volleyball, basketball, football, ultimate frisbee .... just about any sport.
Camping (I'm going 3 weeks!!!)
Higher Ground
Going to church!
.... I could keep going, but I'll spare you the long(er) list. :)

What kind of job does Mical have?
Student at IUPUI (graduating in December! 9 months and counting!)
Writing tutor at the IUPUI University Writing Center
Assistant in my mom's bookstore
Work with kids (DREAM JOB!)
Follower of Jesus (ULTIMATE GOAL!)

What is Mical's favorite food?
Easy. - Steak and potatoes!

How does Mical show people that she loves them?
Writes letters/notes/facebook messages/e-mails of encouragement
Gives hugs (to those very few, lucky people) ;)
Goes to lunch, meets them at their house to chat, finds opportunities to work in ministry with them or simply be around them .....
Buys/makes gifts for them
... Yeah ... I think those are the main ways. :)

Now wasn't that fun? :D

Empty Me

Who here likes Jeremy Camp???

Fun beat, nice voice, amazing lyrics.

Yes. Everyone should like Jeremy Camp.

His lyrics are probably the most convicting and Christ-centered words I've ever heard from an artist. Perhaps there are others. James says Caedmon's Call has amazing lyrics. I still need to check them out sometime. Superchick has pretty great lyrics. My friend, King Barry, likes the "old school" Christian artists/music 'cause they have great, godly lyrics. Yeah ... But Jeremy Camp is pretty up there in the "greatest godly lyrics ever" group. (Yes, I just made a group.) ;)

Anyway. (I love tangents!) :) ... I'm posting the lyrics to an amazing song sung by Jeremy Camp. It is short ... simple. But oh, so convicting. Read these words ... and really read them. Soak 'em up. Carry them with you today. Dwell on them. Let Jesus transform you by these words. ... Amazing stuff!

MY PRAYER FOR EACH OF US ...
Lord God, may this be the prayer and deepest longing of our hearts. Change us for your purpose and glory!

EMPTY ME

Holy fire, burn away
My desire for anything
That is not of You and is of me.
I want more of You
And less of me.

Empty me.
Empty me.
Fill me with You.
With You.

22 Words

Wahoo! I'm excited about this post! ...... Judy wrote a blog post almost a month ago called "Ten Months," and I loved it! It was the story of her life over the past 10 months ... told in 22 words. It is a ton of fun! We ALL should write a 22-word story and post it on our blogs.

My story has to do with the hardest 15 months of my life. I'm finally healed over them, and I've learned more from them than I can express .... and God is continuing to do amazing things in my heart and life! Yes!!! So I can share the story fairly effectively (and without any heartstrings attached) in 22 words. Here goes! :D

October 2007 - December 2008 in 22 Words :)

Emotional Roller Coaster:
Ninth Praxis
Two guys
One Jesus
Broken friendships
A broken heart
Lessons: surrender, waiting, finding contentment in Christ alone.

(P.S. The broken friendships are renewed. Praise the Lord!)

Yep ... that's my story! God is amazing!
Have a great day, everybody! :):):)

Mical's Wisdom List from God :)

Alrighty! ... So I'm up for another long-winded Mical post. What about you? :) ...... A couple months ago, I started a study through the book of Proverbs. God's been doing amazing things in my life over the past several months - lots of lessons - most learned the hard way ... but I'm good with that now (probably 'cause it's all over - at least for awhile - right? Ha ha!). Anyway! I am in/going into a bit of a transition period in my life. I'm finishing up school in 10 months (yes, I can finally count them on two hands!!!) ... and I'm kind of getting to that point where I'd like to find the guy God has for me. NOT quite ready to be in that relationship just yet ... but I can see it happening in the next couple, three, four, eight ... years or so. Ha! No, I am NOT narrowing it down. Leaving it up to GOD! (Finally.) ;) .... So. Career. Godly man to marry. ..... MINISTRY! These are the three things I am seeking God about. I want what HE wants. No more Mical, please. :) So ... to find out what HE wants, I need wisdom. And where better to get it than God, Himself. :) Or ... in other words, from His WORD. :) All of that said ... here is what I found in my trek through Proverbs a couple months ago. This is GOOD stuff! Look up the verses that go along with these "wisdomisms." Let God reveal His plan, give you peace, or simply say ... "Good job for seeking Me. I do have a plan, but I'm waiting to reveal it to you. Just keep doing what you're doing." (That's the answer He gave to me through my study. And I'm good with that!) :) ..... Without further ado ... here's some Proverbs wisdom for you all. :)

PROVERBS (Yes, the whole book)
Wisdom is/comes from .......

* Fearing the Lord (1:7, 9:10, 14:26-27)
- Fearing the Lord is kind of a fuzzy concept to me at times. What does it mean to fear the Lord, exactly? It's something for great minds like ours (yes, you and I, fellow bloggers) to think about. I'm sure you could go deeper than these definitions, but perhaps my mind isn't as great as yours. ;) ... I figured fearing the Lord means, in simple terms, revering Him/respecting Him/knowing that He is completely powerful and just/standing in awe of Him. Those definitions aren't too shabby. They DO give us things to ponder. Do we really FEAR (thinking of these definitions!) the Lord? ... Anyway ... look up these verses and ponder on 'em (with the defs in mind, of course!). :)

* Trusting in the Lord (3:5-6 and 28:25-26)

* Cherishing the things of God (4:6-9)
- I thought a lot about cherishing His word and cherishing His people when I thought about cherishing "the things of God." He obviously wants us to cherish His word ... and people are more important to Him than anything, right? ... So we should cherish these things. Can you think of anything else? Think about it! :)

* Guarding our hearts (4:23)

* Seeking God's calling and staying focused on it (4:25-26)

* Loving God and seeking Him (8:17)

* Getting rid of evil (8:13 and 14:16)

* Listening to Godly counsel and acting on it (12:15, 13:10, and 19:20)

* Learning from mistakes (13:1 and 29:15)

* Acting in obedience to God (4:13, 10:17, and 19:27)

* Fellowshiping with wise people (13:20)

* Building our lives on God's standards (14:1)

* Making every part of our lives about Jesus (16:3)

* Growing in gentleness and patience (14:29)

* Being slow to anger (29:8&11)

* Speaking truth and life to others (3:3-4)

* Being joyful in every situation (17:22)

* Controlling our tongues (16:23, 17:27, and 21:23)

* Putting good things in our hearts (27:19)

* Realizing that God is in control, not us (16:9, 19:21, 20:24, and 21:1-2)

Whew! That's a long list! And some of it may be common sense. But man! Good stuff! Seriously! I encourage you ... no, I implore you to prayfully look up these verses and let God speak to you. We ALL need wisdom about something (or somethingS!). Seek God for wisdom! He'll give it! And if He waits to give you the so called "answers" you desire ... He WILL give you peace in the mean time. I am living proof of that. :) Keep seeking after Jesus, everyone! He has so much in store for each of us! Gotta keep trusting! Gotta keep seeking! Gotta keep, keep, keep!

Can't think of a better way to end this post than to leave you with this verse ....

James 1:5 - But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
:):):)

25 RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME :)

So ... many of my Facebook friends started tagging people in a "note" called "25 Random Things about Me." I don't know how to create a note on Facebook, so I'm gonna post my 25 randoms on here. :) You should read mine and then make a list of your own! What fun! :)

25 RANDOM THINGS ABOUT MICAL LYNN MASTERSON :)
1. I gag on the wind ... among other things.
2. I really, really enjoy string cheese, smiley face fruit snacks, sweet tea, and my crocs.
3. I really like Starbucks, but I despise coffee. (I get hot chocolates and coffeeless fraps.)
4. I love it when people I don't know smile/say hello to me.
5. I am in love with people the ages of 7 and 17.
6. I am in love with my friends!
7. I am happiest when I am with my church family, my HG fam, the Cooks/Adamsons gang, my youth, and kids of all ages!
8. Starbucks friend dates with Ben, hugs from Emily, laughing with/at James, and Los Rancheros dates with Tiff and Hannah are my 4 all-time favorite things to do.
9. I really enjoy filling out useless information about myself (like these 25 randoms) ... although it DOES take a loooonnngg time! ;)
10. I have a new found love in my IUPUI sweatpants (In other words, I really enjoy being comfortable. I would choose sweats over dressing up ANY day!).
11. I really enjoy playing sports ... volleyball, football, and basketball are my favorite.
12. I have learned amazing lessons about surrender, contentment, and waiting in my walk with Jesus over the past several months.
13. I really like the names Uriah and Dinah from the Bible, and I'd like to name my kids these names someday.
14. I like to pray using a prayer journal.
15. I really enjoy working in the IUPUI University Writing Center. (I am actually in the UWC right now ... not many tutees ... none for me today.)
16. I do not like animals. Yep ... none of them. ("When (not if!) pets attack!" is my motto!)
17. I adore my little brother, Wes, and I went all out his senior year ... He played basketball, and I put up signs at basketball games, gave him goody bags before each game, and even made t-shirts! "Cheer for Wes!" "Wes is the best!" .... Yes, I AM THAT CHEESY! :D
18. I am not a very touchy person. I'm getting better, but I have a phobia of prolonged touches. (No joke!)
19. Although I'm not touchy ... hugs from Emily, Judy, Ben, James, Jared Wade, Tiff, Kim Svoma, Uncle Mike, and Adam Cook make me so happy that I want to cry! Yes, I am that sappy.
20. I am in love. (As much as I know what that means!) Ha ha!
21. My favorite human characteristic of all time is .... consistency of character (and going along with that ... people who make things right when they mess up).
22. Steak and potatoes are my all-time favorite foods!
23. I want my cause of death to laughing myself to death. :D
24. I am a pro at sleeping. I hit my pillow, and I'm out - every night. I could take a 3 hour nap earlier in the day and STILL zonk out within 30 seconds of hitting my pillow!
25. I love to dance. I'm a wicked awesome dancer (Just catch me in a dancin' mood! ... which is a lot of the time!). :)

Wow! Aren't we glad the list is random! 'Cause I was all over the board! :D

I DIED ...

Well, as I'm sure you've all noticed ....

I DIED.

That is why I have not been blogging.



Ha! I feel like I died. Fell of the face of the planet. Buried myself under all of my Mical-isms (tutoring, school, ministry - ahh!).
Thanks to everyone who misses my blog. That means a ton! :D .... I have a few blog posts I've been storing up ... about my Proverbs study about wisdom, about bosomness (those who know my friendship with Emily Karas will know what that means) ... and then there's the whole debate between Calvinism and Arminianism. Bru ha ha! Judy's been getting on me about finishing the T.U.L.I.P. and taking a look at the Arminian point of view. ;) .... Good stuff! Lots to come! If I get more than 5 minutes of down time in the next few weeks, I will be back soon. But until then!

Live for Jesus.
Love every person who crosses your path.
Laugh until you cry.

That's better preachin' than you think! Get to it! :D And I will too!!!!!!!! :D

Well ... just getting on to say ... I died. But I'm being revived. Ha ha! God is doing lots in my life! I am happy. I am content. I am growing more in love with Jesus.

My God-given, God-taught, God-cherished motto (God gave me this motto through the lessons He taught me over the several months, and I cherish it! ... That's what that means.) :)
LIFE

IS

GOOD.

Because ...

GOD

IS

FAITHFUL.


Love you all! A L O T !!!

MICAL'S NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS .... 2009!!!

Haaaaaaaappppppyyyyy Neeeeeeewwwwwww Yeeeeaaaarrrr!!!!!

2009! It's here!!!! Sweeeett! ........ I'm excited for a new year to serve Jesus and grow and love and fall and be picked up .... to be hurt and to learn from mistakes .... and to love and grow and love! Yes! I want to LOVE more than anything this year!

And I'm sure you're thinking .... "Mical? Is that you? What the heck?! .... You said you want to be hurt? You want to fall?" ........ Yep! That's what I said! Falling is inevitable. Being hurt ... yep, it's going to happen! Yes, we should try to avoid it with all that we are ... we shouldn't strive to mess up. But ... we. are. going. to. ......... One of the greatest lessons I learned in 2008 is that GOD USES OUR MESS UPS. He uses our falls .... to draw us closer to Him. To help us realize how much WE NEED HIM. Period. We need Jesus!

Okay ... so just want to share my New Year's Resolutions with ya'll! :D You should post YOURS TOO .... so that we can keep each other accountable ... and because it just fun! :D

MICAL'S NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS - 2009!

#1 - Spend more Q U A L I T Y time with J E S U S! (I'm studying several books right now ... Romans - ahh! ... John - with Higher Ground ... Proverbs - seeking out wisdom ... and striving to memorize some scripture.)

#2 - Budget my M O N E Y better. (I graduate in 11 months, and I have NOTHING saved!) .... Wait a second!!!!!!!!! It's 2009! I GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE IN 2009!!!! Oh my goodness! Heck, yes! I'm wiggin' out!!!!

#3 - Run on a more R E G U L A R basis. (I just want to run. But I'm also running in a 5K - just over 3 miles - at the beginning of May, and I want to beat last year's time by at least 5 minutes ... doesn't sound like a lot, does it? But it is! ... And remember my bucket list? I'm gonna run in a mini marathon before I die! So I better get to trainin'!)

Okay ... that is all for now! Have a G R E A T start to your New Year, all!

LESS of US and MORE of JESUS! ..... Sound like a plan? I think so!!!!!!! :D