Finish List

So there is a blogger from the Dave Ramsey camp named John Acuff. He proposed that his readers create a "Finish List" for 2012, instead of calling for New Year's Resolutions (See his blog post here http://www.jonacuff.com/blog/the-hardest-part-of-a-project-is-also-the-most-important/). I say this because that was the train of thought that got me thinking about this blog post.

I have a lot of big ideas for 2012. Finding a full time job once I graduate, paying off the loan my father gave us to put me through graduate school, join a new social group, creating a savings account that increases every month that we don't touch, vote, going through the Insanity program in 60 days, losing 40 pounds, get a dog.

I also have a lot of ideas on what I don't want to do. I don't want to have a baby (yet), I don't want to be in school anymore (after May 2012), I don't want to lose my passion for social justice and wide scale change, I don't want to sell my car, I don't want to lose any of my distant friendships.

In thinking about all of my plans for the New Year, I've realized that it is very...planned. I have a very clear idea of what I want to see happen in 2012, at least as far as major events go. I'm very good at writing daily, weekly and monthly To-Do lists and getting them done. I'm good at getting things accomplished. But even in the midst of the plans I have, I realized I've left out a minor detail: God's plans.

So my focus for the new year is not to lose weight or to find a job, though those things I assume will happen. My focus will be on God. More importantly, my focus will be on God's plans for me for 2012. Romans calls us to renew our minds in order to divine God's will. That is my focus for 2012.


"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

If my focus in on God, the desires of my own heart, such as losing weight or saving money, will follow suit through the increase self-discipline and wisdom found in Christ. Not only that, but the humility that will come from submitting my plans before God will be a great, great thing to grow as well.

January's focus will be prayer. I will journal at least once a day, and more than that, I will engage in a daily vocal prayer to God. Sometimes I feel as though I hide behind my journal, even though my entries are worded as prayers and conversations with God. Engaging in verbal, direct communication is a very different feeling. Feeling God's presence and listening for Him feels very different when I say things out loud.

 So while I make my to-do lists on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, my focus will be directed towards God. As I move forward, I pray that I am following a path that is pleasing to God, and that He grants me a vision for what He wants from me in 2012.

Happy New Year.


"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13


- Erica

"Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. 'Come now, let us reason together,' says the LORD" Isaiah 1:17-18