A New Season

It's about time that I stopped TALKING about changing things and actually start DOING.
I've been living in Michigan for 10 months now (holy freaking cow...it's been almost a year!!). I've struggled with a lot of things this year, and it's about time that I start taking steps to get through those struggles, get the focus OFF of myself and on to God and other people.

Item #1) After 10 months, I think I've found a church that I can connect with and feel part of their community. It's called Northeast Community Church of the Nazarene. I actually visited there in Augustish, but decided to cross it off of my list because there weren't enough people. However, I feel extremely welcomed by the people there and I just feel like that's where God wants to put me right now. http://www.northcommnaz.org/ I'm excited to see what God has in store for the church there.

Item #2) I actually joined a gym. http://www.fitness19.com/ I've talked about exercising for a long time. In the summer I was a little more active and took a lot of walks around the neighborhood and stuff...but it wasn't really a regular thing. Then in the winter I found myself not doing anything and gaining weight...not cool. Money has been an issue, but I just decided that I needed to make it a priority to be more healthy and I'm sure it'll work out. So yeah, I'm actually really excited about that.

Item #3) God is showing me that I need to get outside myself and focus on other things. For the past few weeks I've been volunteering at Love INC in the thrift store there and I've had a ton of fun. I love thrift stores anyway, but Love INC is such a great ministry that helps people right in the community with needs that they have...food, housing, clothes, whatever...so the money from the thrift store helps out with those things. The volunteers are all really great people, so it's good to work with them, as well as good to meet the people that come and shop in the store. I'm excited to get more involved in different areas there as well. http://www.loveinthenameofchrist.org/

Item #4) I decided to observe Lent this year. Lent is generally a Catholic tradition, but I know a lot of Protestant churches and people that observe it as well. Lent is the 40 days of preparation before Easter that Christians use to focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus. I don't observe it every year, but this year I feel the need to renew my focus on Christ himself and spend more time thinking about Jesus, his life, his death, his teachings and everything else about Him. This may seem like a weird thing...but it will be a sacrifice for me...I'm going to give up eating out on my own. This includes fast food runs during work, on the way to work, the way HOME from work...all of those things :) It will help me eat healthier, help with finances and maybe I'll learn to cook as well. It doesn't sound like a very spiritual thing to give up, but it will be a reminder to me that I need to focus on the reason that I've given it up in the first place.

So that's it. Those are big things for me, but writing them out will make it easier for me to remember those goals and keep them in mind when I don't want to get out of bed on Sunday morning and go to church, or if I think I'm too tired to go to the gym. I'm excited to see what this year has in store...