Living a New Year

This time last year, I knew exactly the exciting year that was before me.  I was very pregnant with our second child, due January 25th.  So the first few weeks of 2014 were filled with the anticipation of a new baby and the last cherished moments with my first baby, Jasper.  I knew my year would be filled with taking care of my newborn and lots and lots of exciting work that I already had booked on the calendar for the Summer and Fall months.  The BIG moments of my year were laid out before me, already planned, and it was exciting.But this coming year there are no big changes that I see out in front of me.  As I look around it feels as if everyone I know has something BIG in the works: a new baby coming, plans for a new house or new job, big life changes.  It gives me baby fever when I know I am not quite ready nor is my family, it gives me house envy when I don't even want to leave my house quite yet or even need to, and it makes me want some huge life goal accomplished even when I know it is the striving everyday for that life goal that ends up being so rewarding.So what do you do with your fresh and exciting upcoming new year when you feel like there are no BIG life events to anticipate?  I am still working through this myself, but this is what I have come to.1.  Life Verse/One Word: I have been reading a few books and diving into a few devotionals and I have been inspired to find a life verse and/or word for this year.  I am going to spend some much needed quiet time this next week so that I choose wisely.  I want this life verse and/or word I choose to help direct my focus to what is most important in my life this entire year so that no matter what comes my way or what decisions or questions I may have, I will be able to return to the basics of how I want to live my year.  I am hoping that it will give me clarity when some days or choices seem unclear.2.  Simplified Goals: I have never been a big New Year's Resolution person, but I love setting new goals for myself for the new year.  I am a big dreamer and sometimes I can make a few too many goals only making it harder to remember what I am working towards throughout the year.  This year, I am going to narrow them down, so that I can keep my list in the front of my mind at all times.  Then when life starts to get crazy or if (when) I start to take on too much, I can return to my list.  If the to do's filling my time are not working towards my goals, I will know what I need to cut out.3.  Continued Learning: I am an avid learner and I never want to stop.  Last year I felt as if all of my extra brain power was put into a newborn, so this year I want to challenge myself more.  Read more, take in more, learn something new.  Learning makes me excited about life and makes my conversations way more interesting!  How many people really want to hear about my kids' sleep schedule one more time? :)4.  Preparation: And the biggest thing of all that I am learning, is that even though it may not be our time for a big life event, I am still in preparation for the next life event.  I may feel like I need something new and exciting in my life, but maybe God is just preparing me for it to happen in the future.  I feel as if I am in the preparation stage for many big upcoming life changes but not quite ready for them yet.  It is teaching me to be patient in the preparation.  I told a friend recently that I feel so called to write and to eventually write a book.  I have never had a feeling of being called to doing something like this in my life.  I have always felt that being "called" was a very strong word to use, but this feeling that I have cannot be described by any other word that I can find.  I struggle with this everyday because I feel that I am ignoring this push to write.   I am so busy and life is so crazy right now that I don't even know when I would fit in the time to write regularly.  As I described this to my friend she simply said,  "maybe God is preparing you for that right now, but right now just isn't the time."  Those words completely changed my outlook.  I have felt like a failure, feeling like I will never have the time to accomplish this goal.  But I now realize I am working towards it a little everyday; learning more, reading more, living life more, and there will be a time to get it all down on paper.  I am preparing in my heart and head everyday.I want this year to be awesome!  I want to look back and see that I really lived a great life this year!  I want to live the life I want and not just let life happen.  But most of all, I want to be happy with all that I already have.  One big life lesson I learned while my mom was sick is that a so called boring normal day isn't such a bad thing.  Be grateful if your life feels "normal".  Normalcy means everyone is healthy and safe.  I am praying that most of my days in 2015 are normal.  The exciting parts will hopefully be seeing my children's smiles, hearing their laughter, enjoying simple days with my family, and striving everyday to prepare myself for the future and live life fully!  Happy New Year!I hope to update you on my life verse/one word and some of my goals, but in the meantime let me know if you set goals or have one word.  I would love to see how you are preparing for your new year!And because I still can't quite let go of how magical it is to see Christmas through my two kids' eyes...here they are on Christmas Eve!