I'll take some Sherry.......Dew

I visited my parents' a couple weeks ago and my mom lent me a collection of Sherry Dew talks to listen to on my four hour drive home. It was one of my favorite car rides ever.

Sherry Dew (it feels weird to call her Sherry or Sister Dew for some reason) is an amazing speaker with insights that are so refreshing and thought-provoking. I didn't listen to all 10 CDs on the way home, as there wasn't enough time for that, but I have been listening to them here and there in 20 minute intervals. I finished them yesterday and got really sad. I picked up a lot from her words but there was one thing she talked about that really stuck with me: how would my life be different if I thought of it as a ministry? She pointed out that she didn't necessarily think that we would need to do more, we would just need to do some things differently.

I love the idea that I am an eternal being and this life of mine is my ministry.
It's going to take a while to figure out exactly what that means to me, but I know that it doesn't mean being short of patience and love. It doesn't mean slogging through my days, forgetting that I am doing the most important job in the world by being a mother. It certainly doesn't mean filling my time with to-do lists that don't matter.

I have a lot of work to do.

Eventually, in the next life, I'll reach perfection. Right now, I'm just striving for purity.

Not an ought, not yet a teen.

Yes. I am aware that it is January 6th and I am just now posting my new year's resolutions. It's because I didn't want to break my resolutions right out of the gate so blogging about them was low on the priority list. K?K. Also, I hate using the term "new year's resolutions" because it makes me feel like a poser (I think 7th grade was the last time I used that word) who will break all those resolutions within the month of Janvier. I will not be one of those people who pack themselves into the gym everyday at the start of the new year only to stop going by the end of January. You know how I know? Because I was already going before 2011 hit.Boom. Roasted.

So without further ado, here is what I want to accomplish in two thousand eleven (in no particular order).

1. Flirt more with my husband. Be a better wife and let the small stuff go and concentrate on the positive.

2. Be a stay-at-home-mom. But Tiffany, you already are. Eh. Yeah. Technically. But I want to really be a stay-at-home mom instead of a stay-at-home-maid or a stay-at-home-get-annoyed-easily-by-the-baby or a stay-at-home-forgets-how-lucky-she-is-to-spend-so-much-time-with-my-little-one.

3. Improve my relationship with Christ. Scripture study, prayer, all those things that make me worthy of His Spirit and guidance. I need it now more than ever.

4. Pray with my husband more. I think this is the best way for us to have an intimate and infinite relationship and the best way to tell what's really on each other's minds.

5. Workout 4 days a week. At least.

6. Craft once every week. I love crafting. I love creating beautiful things. I love making my home beautiful with things I made that hundreds of other people can't buy at bed bath & beyond that don't cost me a ridiculous amount of money.

7. Waste.Less.Time. Doing who knows what? I swear I'm Fox Mulder and there are portions of time for which I cannot account. Tired of that.

8. Only spend one day a week cleaning. I have this problem with laundry that I don't finish it all in one day..... or two days..... or three.... and by the time I finish it I have to do it all over again. This may take the whole year to accomplish.

9. Take a picture everyday. A year of pictures. Maybe this will make me a better photog? We shall see.

10. Laugh more.

11. Try a new recipe every week.

12. Be a better budgeter.

Numbers 6, 9, and 11 I will share with you all.
I have a feeling that this is what my list is going to look like for years to come...