2015 Goals

I have been thinking (and praying) of my goals for this year for about three months, and I am still struggling to come up with good ones- ridiculous! I can, of course, rattle off the same things everyone always wants to change, but I don't want this to be resolutions that start off strong and fizzle out.  I want to set goals and achieve them and then make new goals to strive for. I want to change me, change my family, change my relationships, serve the Lord, and serve His people.  I want to grow stronger in my faith, stronger in my good habits. I want to make a difference in my life and those around me. I want to make a difference to someone who needs it- maybe someone I have never even met before. I want to discover my God-given gifts and use them to serve my church, my family, my friends, my community. I want to strengthen those gifts I have already discovered and put them to better use, too. I want my businesses to grow and be successful. I want to be organized in my personal daily life, and I want to carry that through into my home. I want to clean up my habits and lead a healthier daily life, physically and emotionally. I want to discover the Lord's will for my life, and His word for my heart. I want to write daily and make writing a habit, practicing and strengthening my craft. I don't want much, right? Most of these things mean I have some work to do. I have some real work to do. I am up for it, it is time to roll up my sleeves, make some lists, some plans, and put it all into action daily. As my dear cousin Greg says, "Plan your work, and work your plan." I am hoping to get my list finished this week and I will post it here for you all to see-and I hope comment on.  I am open to your advise and I love your support, love, and prayers. I love sharing with you, thank you for letting me continue this with you.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from the Rosecrances! We have had a wonderful holiday season! We went to Snowshoe, WV for a 10 day ski trip through Christmas and New Year's! It was truly the best vacation we have ever had.  Harper Grace learned to SKI!! For real, with her daddy's help, but she loves it.  I think she is only in it for the trail lift ride back up, and the M&M she gets at the bottom of the slope! HA! Whatever works, right? Now if we could just figure out how to translate that into potty training.  She can ski before she is potty trained, that is terrible.  I know she is perfectly capable of using the potty, she just likes to be in control of EVERYTHING! So I try not to push her, and just ask her daily if she would like to use the potty. The answer is always "NO!" but maybe one day she will change her mind and her answer.  I can hope, right? So here are a few pictures from our trip:

I thought I would share a little article I was asked to write for the church news letter this month (two birds/one stone): 

A Challenge That Will Give You Life
By: Crystal Rosecrance

January is a great time to set goals (ahem...resolutions) and reconnect our mind, body, and spirit to God. I have always enjoyed reading, but I have struggled with actually reading the Bible. I’ve struggled with my prayer life, too, for various reasons, but today I am concentrating on Scripture. I am no expert-wait; maybe I am an expert in trying and failing. We all fall short of the Glory of God, and I am no exception. But I have a deep desire to learn the promises of God and to let His will shape and mold my life every day. I know that being in Scripture daily

is the best way to walk closely with the Lord, but keeping that up is often hard for me to do.I try to set aside time every day to read scripture, pray, and commit my

day to walking with the Lord. Year after year I have set goals to read my

Bible every day, or read through the Bible in a year. The goals change but

the end result has always been the same: I do it for days weeks or even

months only to stop and become disappointed with myself. I usually

pick it back up at some point and the cycle repeats.

Early in 2014, I stumbled on a wonderful idea. It was a 30-day challenge.

It went something like this: pick something that you are putting before

God that is hindering your relationship with Him, instead of doing that

thing, pick up your Bible or pray. So for me that thing was social media. I

found myself with my phone in my hand all of the time, and I would open

up Facebook or Instagram almost like second nature, scroll through any

new updates, and then click off. I don’t know how many times a day I did

this, but it was a lot and I knew I had to make some changes. I decided

that when I found myself wanting to peek at social media, I would

instead use that few minutes to read through some of the Old Testament

books that I usually find boring. I finished Job in 2 days. Shameful, I know,

but eye opening and I was so blessed by this experience. On that first

30-day challenge, I managed to read through several books in the Old

Testament, and to my surprise, I found myself looking forward to my

Bible time and my prayer time. By the end of the 30 days, I would reach

for my Bible instead of my phone and I was learning so much about God,

His word, and myself.

Since that first challenge, I have found other challenges to do. Some from

other sources, some I made up for myself, but each were great to hold

me accountable and get me into some wonderful habits that I know I

will be able to continue going forward. All I really did was trade one habit

for another. January is a great time to start. Just take it 30 days at a time

and let a bad habit remind you to reconnect with God.

I am working on my New Year's Goals and I will share them with you later this month along with a report on how I did on last year's goals!  Happy New Year to you all!