Happy Simple New Year

Last year was an incredible year. It's been one of the busiest years of my life so far, but I really enjoyed it.

God taught me so much this year. One thing is how to live more simply in the midst of a hectic world. I find it so easy to get sucked into the craziness. I love being busy, but I never want to become so busy that I can't focus on what's important. For me one of the meanings of simplicity is being busy doing what really matters to you.

What really matters to me? Loving God and loving others. These have have been my goals since I was small, although living them out has always taken on new forms.

With each year (sometimes daily) we go and change. As I have changed, God has given me new ways to love Him through others.

This year I and the other MOHL girls are going to be taking on the challenge of living out our faith. I'm so excited about this. My goal for this year is to do more of living out my faith than I do talking about it.

To this end, I've made the following goals

1. Volunteer at a hospital.

2. Choose 1 ministry every month and make things for that ministry.

3. Read 75 books. Including rereading some devotional books, reviewing one audiobook a month, and read the free books I've gotten on my kindle.

4. Have a tea party every month.

5. Publish at least 2 plays, edit 4 plays, and write 3 plays/screenplays.

6. Continue to work on ASL.

7. Continue blogging.

8. Enjoy life as I work out my simpleness journey.

Simple Christmas

Sorry this post is a little late. But I have been having such a good time.

The Christmas spirit finally got to me and I was having so much fun looking at lights, singing Christmas songs, and spending time with my family. I was able to sit back and enjoy the festivities with a contented heart. Complete with a candlelight midnight service on Christmas Eve, this year ended up being perfect.

Even more than that God helped free my from the anxiety and worry that have been plaguing me for the past few months. Nothing miraculous, just an amazing God working in ordinary places. Life is good.

Now as we clean up the Christmas decorations and get ready for the new year, I'm excited to see what God does. I have a feeling this is going to be a busy fulfilling year. And I'll enjoy seeing what it holds.

I'll be writing up a post soon to tell you all about my goals. Until then I'll leave you with this thought, which has nothing to do with my post, but I wanted to share it with you anyway.

There is no such thing as a small act of goodness. Each one touches a life for the better.

Simple Fulfillment

Things won’t fill the hole in your soul. They might bring you brief happiness, but they can never satisfy you completely. 

One of the biggest lies of our society (even our Christian society) is that you have to have the new, biggest, and best car, Iphone, jewelry, clothes, make-up, cologne, movies, or furniture to be content.

 But fulfillment comes from God. The more satisfied we are in Him the less we need things to fill that hole. 

If you find that you are tied down to the things of this world, ask God to help you see what is really important. Pray that God will satisfy you with Himself and wean you off things. Be forewarned however, this prayer may lead to radical heart changes and loss of things. Yet the end result is always worth it.