Turning Over a New Leaf

Well, here I am. 2010 is nearing its end in a few months, and this is only my 16th post (and three of them I kind of cheated…I cut and pasted what I wrote for our MOPS newsletter). I obviously was not able to blog as much as I wanted to, but truly, what an extraordinary year this has been for me.  On the outside, it may look like any other year (besides having a new baby and all).  But that’s why I really wanted to blog about what God has done on the inside – how radical this year was for me in my walk with God.
I just reread what I wrote when I started this blog. In the description of my blog, I said this: In 2010, I want to be more strategic about creating "space" for God to move...and allow Him to make this year more extraordinary than ever before.  In my first post, I said I had two goals for this year: 1. I want to strategically concentrate more on my love relationship with Jesus and what He wants to do in my life (instead of always being consumed by the affairs of my family). 2. I believe God desires to increase boldness in me, which will lead this year to be more extraordinary than ever before.
Looking back now, I don’t think I quite realized how God was going to make this year more “extraordinary.” When I read over my goals again, I realized that God had a much higher goal set for me than what I had set for myself. What He has shown me these past several months is this: He desires for my life to make a difference for eternity and bring Him much fame. This goes beyond the goals of just concentrating on my love relationship with Jesus or the affairs of my family. It goes beyond concentrating on a specific character trait such as boldness. Those are still important, and God did allow me to grow in those areas this year. In the process, He revealed to me even a bigger picture of what my life is about. God has me on a mission; I am called to show my world who God is and make an impact for eternity. My family is on the same mission.  Our focus should not be on how comfortable and pleasant of a life we make for ourselves during this short time on earth. We have a much higher purpose than that. God is in the business of bringing people to Himself, showing them His salvation through His Son, and restoring (or transforming) their lives with His love. I desire to dedicate my life for this cause, and I want to do it with everything I’ve got.
To put it in a nutshell (if I’m capable of such a thing), God gave me a greater passion for His people that are lost or hurting, who desperately need Him, than I’ve ever had previous to this year.  Many events and inspiring stories have caused this passion inside of me to rise this year.  All I know is that I can’t stay silent anymore. I desire to tell, to write, to do whatever I can to unleash this passion. 
One of the ways I desire to put this passion into action is through this blog. I want to write about God’s amazing, real-life stories of faith, hope, and love.  More on this to come shortly…
Psalm 105:1-2 (New Living Translation): Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.