COMMIT!

Last week, in a conversation with my sister-in-law, she talked about her granddaughter having a "word for the year."  I have heard of other people doing this in the past, and wondered what might be an appropriate word if I were to jump on the bandwagon.  In the days leading up to the new year, I found myself pondering the thought more, and decided on some form of the word, "COMMIT."  It might be extended to "COMMITTED" or "COMMITMENT,' but in any form it would be a good focus for the year 2018.

To start my journey, I created a Facebook Group entitled, "Read the Bible in a Year."  Over the course of six years, 2006-2011, I was able to accomplish this by using a guide published by Samaritan's Purse, called "Prayer Point."  Since then, I haven't been as committed to my Bible reading, and decided 2018 was the year to do it again.  Already several have indicated a desire to join me.  Hopefully, besides accomplishing the reading, we will be able to share insights and lessons learned in the process.

An old "Sunday School Song" was the source of another idea for my commitment journey.  The words which came to mind were, "Read your Bible, pray every day and you'll grow, grow, grow!" [An alternate verse to "I will make you fishers of men"]  Although my mind tends to turn often to prayer throughout the day, a more focused time of daily prayer is something I have been missing in my life.  I enjoy a weekly prayer time with a prayer partner over the phone, and feel I need to create a space of time each day to commune meaningfully with the Lord.

Another commitment I decided to tackle was reading more actual books, instead of mindlessly scrolling through Facebook.  Yesterday I completed Max Lucado's new book, "Anxious for Nothing," and today started on a book we received for Christmas.  It is written by Robert J. Morgan and entitled, "The Red Sea Rules."  The subtitle is "10 God-given Strategies for Difficult Times."  Having completed the first three rules today, I'm looking forward to seeing what the other seven have in store!

How else can I be committed in this new year?  After attending a presentation last week, my desire is to be more mindful of my general health.  The speaker was a native of Crosby who recently started a business venture called the "Brain Health Institute" in Birmingham, Alabama.  She is a neuropsychologist, and her partner is a functional doctor.  Together they are on a mission to point people to a healthier way of living, which in turn will promote better brain health. 

With my bipolar diagnosis, I have already learned it is beneficial to follow many of the suggestions she covered, (such as healthy eating, exercise, toxin removal, and proper sleep), but I realize there is always a deeper commitment which can be made.  I'm thankful for the friends I exercise with at the Prairie Tumbleweeds Fitness Center, and hope to maintain the M-W sessions of "Women on Weights," and add in T-Th Yoga workouts.  Now that the holidays are over, I also need to commit to less sugar!

Our pastor had an excellent sermon yesterday, and encouraged us to draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper.  At the top we were to put a plus sign on one side and a minus sign on the other.  This was to be a tool to evaluate the things you would like to eliminate and add into your life for the new year.  It looks like I've made a start. . .now to follow through and COMMIT to doing it!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!