A word on 2017

It's nice to be back here.  I do a daily journal (cough cough) about once a week.  Ha!  But I need more outlets for all my readers out there (aka me).  I'm actually kind of happy to see the blogger backlash lately.  I cannot imagine how exhausting it would be to keep up with sponsored posts and nasty commenters and all that.  I write for me and for our kids and our family and for stuff like, "when did that happen" and "oh yeah that's when we went there" and "awww we look so young there."  It's good to have documentation.  

So 2017.  I see you with excitement and trepidation.  Goals you ask?  YES!  Of course I have the usual goals of health and fitness and weightloss.  It almost seems rude to mention those, doesn't it?  But my main goal (first time to see it in writing) is to bring our kids closer to Christ and to find ways to serve.  

See, I've been going on this self-centered journey of mine that some people call life and I don't think I've done much in that regard (gulp).  I gawta and I am way behind.  I am working on praying every day with the words "How can I serve Thee today?  How can I serve others?"  And I don't mean some kind of awesome service project but you know stuff like being more selfless with the kids.  Willing to drop everything and play cars with Moses, to talk with Lizzie at night when she wants to chat, to give Grace a nice long snuggle (oh man her love language is touch like crazy!!), and to stare deeply into Maxwell's eyes and make sure he knows he is wanted and loved.  

The other one good thing I have done right so far this year is I got our family a huge chalkboard that I placed on the kitchen wall and every month I am going to replace it with a different easy scripture for our family to memorize.  I am so grateful Paul is really on board with this and any kind of scripture or gospel attempts I make.  We are gonna do this guys!  I want to be a deliberate mother in the gospel to our kids.  I need them to have their minds take them back to scriptures in times of need and in times of joy.  I loved memorizing scriptures in seminary back in the day.  It is such a comfort.  

Back to service, I need to instill this urge to serve with our kids too.  Anyway, I pray and hope I can be consistent on this above all things.  I love my family so so much and I want us to all be together.  No more or this mediocrity.  Can people change?  I have been pondering this all evening and the answer literally just came to me, Yes!  Only with the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ.  And I don't honestly even completely know what that entails but I know that it can.  Happy New Year!!