The “one word” concept has been gaining popularity over the last few years. The idea is that you choose a word that you feel God is laying on your heart and/or that you want to focus on or be guided by for the next year. My word for 2012 is:

PREPARE

I don’t know what this year may hold, but I know God is moving us toward the next thing he has for us, whether that be a time of waiting or busy full-time ministry or something else unexpected. It rings in my ear and heart how our pastor has talked with us about having a strong spiritual life to get you through the struggles of ministry. And I know that life never slows down, it only goes faster and faster, and so I want to start now to cultivate the habits that will build the life I want to live. I want to PREPARE: spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, financially.

Here are some of my goals in the other areas:

What I really want in 2012 is:

• to blog and journal regularly
• to read for pleasure

What I really need in 2012 is:

• to keep the checkbook & budget in order
• to be consistent in parenting/discipline
• to read Scripture daily
• to limit my internet/social media with a reward approach
• to floss my teeth

What I will share in 2012 is:

• call/connect with friends I’m thinking of
• be available for seminary friends & wives
• practice hospitality in our home

In 2012 I will succeed at:

• acquiring a new author
• exercising 180 times
• finishing seminary with no credit card debt/with savings
• reading at least the entire New Testament

So (since it’s the end of January already) how’s all that working out for me? Well, mixed results, but moving in the right direction, I’d say. I’m on the way with some of my Needs and Succeeds: reading Scripture at breakfast, getting on the treadmill or busting out my wicked (ugly) Wii dance moves 2 or 3 times a week (despite determining I have plantar fascitis!), wielding the hammer of parental justice swiftly and calmly, and yes, I was even able to tell the hygenist honestly that I’ve recently taken up flossing from time to time. Obviously I have a ways to go on making writing/blogging a habit again! But I’m hopeful that as I get better at working these Need habits into my life, they will begin to yield the space and energy needed to do better in some of the Want and Share areas–although I need to stay intentional about those things too.

And while I’m oversharing and enjoying this blogging time, here’s another way (via the Dalai Mama) to look forward and back:

Things I Think Will Happen This Year—Aaron will freak out about graduating. Aaron will graduate anyway. Aaron will freak out about not getting a job. Aaron will get a job anyway—or if he doesn’t this year, he’ll still have plenty of reason to trust that he will, in time. I will freak out about moving. Moving will work out anyway. Anna will be ready for kindergarten, love it, and start reading. I’ll keep unofficially taking on more responsibility at work.

Stuff I Would Like To See In My Life—More discipline by me to allow more time for the things that are good for me and that I need and enjoy—reading, spiritual life, exercise, writing. More obedience with less attitude from AJ (it’s on me to make this happen). My husband using his many gifts in a place we love. Old friends. The ocean.

Things I Regret—I regret dwelling on regrets… Not being as close with some friends this year. Not recognizing the help some friends needed. Letting savings slip away.

Things I Am Proud Of—Our daughter and our family as a whole are awesome (toot toot goes my horn). Coming up on 15 years of marriage. Knowing my strengths.

One month in, how are your resolutions going, if you made some? What would be your one word?

• Holy cow, I got a full month out of AJ’s box braids! I did them at Thanksgiving and made them last until Christmas Eve with a couple partial rebraids here and there. (Not saying they looked great by then…)
• AJ turned five! We celebrated a little on her day, and then, because I am a moron a glutton for punishment always forgetting the December is an insane month a fun-loving happy-making theme-crafting mom, we had a Muppets themed birthday party. Photos of the Rainbow Connection cake to come!
• After Christmas, we finally got to the movies to see The Muppets. It was AJ’s first non-drive-in movie experience, part of her birthday present, and she loved it. My brother and sister-in-law came too. AJ sang along. I cried, of course.  (Here is a great NPR interview about it.)
• Aaron’s semester finished up with crazy amounts of work but good grades resulting, as usual.
• Aaron was called upon on short notice to preach on Christmas Day because our pastor was really sick. He did a fantastic job! It was nice to go to church on Christmas too, although it made the day start early and go long. We actually didn’t go anywhere on Christmas Eve, just stayed home and enjoyed that…
• THE LIONS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS! And overshadowed by yesterday’s stinker of a last game is that Matthew Stafford has been incredible this year with over 5000 yards and 41 touchdowns. The future is bright!

More soon on birthday, Christmas, and my one thing for the new year . . .

AJ liked the Grinch, the sled dogs, the marching band, Santa and his fake snow machine, and anyone with candy. I liked the hot air balloon flame-shooter, the Bobcat with reindeer extending 30 feet in front of it, and the motorized buggy advertising the “Amish Warehouse.”

But mostly I love that my little girl loves to go do things with me and is always up for a celebration. She was sweeter than the hot cocoa we shared tonight!

One thing I am aware of this week is the relationship between the privilege that comes with class and credit.

When we were newly married and Aaron was still finishing undergrad, we were able to buy a house because even though we didn’t have money, we had credit. When we (predictably enough) got in over our heads and ran out of cash, we had credit (cards, or later home equity). And if the bank wouldn’t give us that credit and we needed it, a family member could co-sign for it, or I could get a loan from the “Bank of Dad,” as he calls it. My family never would have let me derail my education or long-term financial well-being, because they had the power to help me. The same  goes for most of my friends. We’ve all at times complained about being “poor,” but being poor means not having that safety net.

Being poor means you don’t have money.

You don’t have credit.

You don’t have family co-signers (because, hello, they’re poor too!).

You don’t have a Bank of Dad.

And (Christian) educational institutions should stop assuming everyone does. If you really want some diversity–of class among other things–you have to stop pretending everyone is coming from the same place. You have to consider what it would be like to walk into your institution without the privileges most of the students have. And if you realize, or they tell you, that this lack of privilege is holding them back from participating, you have to step up and fill the gap! That doesn’t mean you have to hand them everything, but you do have to give them a tool that fits in their hand. Yes, that is your responsibility. I see you have some lovely, plaque-adorned sculptures which certainly reduced someone’s tax liability–could you not be troubled to go ask those people to be someone’s last resort, or at least their stinking co-signer?

Sigh.

Pardon my rant. It’s not for me. It’s for the whatever percent.

OCCUPY [REDACTED] COLLEGE!

Several sites for products I either like or wanted to try had big black Friday sales, and if you have a little natural you know good hair products are almost as expensive as they are natural. I hadn’t purchased anything in a long time, though, since her stylist hinted that it might be better to stick with a couple things that work well together and I already had too much of a mish-mash stockpile. Then seemingly overnight I was on the last dregs of things. Danger!

We got home pretty late from super fun times with super old friends, so I was racing the clock for the deals that ended at midnight Friday. Some companies are extending their deals through Monday, though, so there’s still time to stock and save! (Happygirlhair.com has a post listing all the sites with sales.)

I managed to limit my purchases (for now) to Darcy’s Botanicals and Bee Mine, the latter of which is new to me. I was tempted to reload on Oyin Handmade and try some Blended Beauty stuff . . . but then I’d be back to too many different things again. I can get Kinky Curly at Target. I know this sounds crazy to some of you but I really don’t use a ton of products. Honestly I should probably use more to make styles last longer and to give AJ more moisture now that the air’s so dry. I hope I hit on a  great combination of new stuff. And although the products are expensive, they usually last quite a while, and I have had money sitting in PayPal for a long time for work I’ve done on the side, so it’s kind of like a secret hair products slush fund. Or it was until I discovered that Land’s End takes PayPal. DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID?! LAND’S END TAKES PAYPAL!

Be afraid, Mr. Postman. Be very afraid.

But please also be fast!

Today AJ scared me to half to death by coming and leaning on me while I was sleeping, but I got a few extra Zs anyway. We didn’t do much in the morning except go the Christmas market downtown for a bit, which was probably a bad plan because I got a late start on her hair. It had been in twists, then in a twist-out since Sunday. ERROR–it was kind of a mess and so the whole washing and detangling process took much longer than I’d hoped. I also started braiding without much of a plan, so I ended up with a bunch of box braids which also took forever. Which meant a late/short naptime for her and not much day left for me to accomplish anything else. But that’s okay, because tonight we are going to hang out with old friends, and tomorrow I should have time to clean up the house before we have seminary people over. I don’t think I’ll get any shopping in this weekend except to order some badly needed hair products that are on sale.

Thank goodness for Free Bonus Saturdays!