Better-My Word For This Year

I can remember it like it was yesterday.  My dad and I cruising down a flat road somewhere in the delta with his left hand on the steering wheel of the most epic burnt orange, long-nosed Mercury Cougar you have ever seen.  His favorite place to be was on the road.  As we cruised down the road, we would talk.  Boy, would we talk!


I remember one time we were driving from Memphis, Tennessee to Austin, Texas.  I talked all the way from Memphis to Texarkana which by the way is a 6 hour drive.  When we arrived in Texarkana, I opened the car door and will never forget the wall of summer heat which took my breath away after the chilly frost of the air conditioned car.  I asked my dad if I was talking too much.  He laughed and said, “No, but you haven’t taken a breath since we left Memphis.”  I could see by his whiskered grin he loved every minute of it.

On one of these road trips, my dad asked me what my New Year’s resolution was.  I told him I wanted to be a better person.  He never forgot that.  It was inspirational to him, and he would mention it every new year.  He would ask me, “So, do you still want to be a better person this year?”  Every year, my answer would be the same.  Of course, I wanted to be a better person, but the truth was that for several years I had no goal or plan of how that was going to happen.  Nothing to achieve.  No goal to shoot for just the idea of being a better person.

I think a person should have goals.  I view life as a flower.  If I am not growing then I am dying.  So, this year I am using just one word.

BETTER


I want to be a better Christian by…
  • not waiting to read my Bible at night when I am too tired to absorb what I am reading.
  • having a more focused prayer time and to be a more powerful prayer like Miss Clara in War Room.

I want to be a better wife by…
  • not pointing out all the specks in my husband, because I know he could turn and point at the logs in my own.
  • encouraging him with my words as well as serving him better.
I want to be a better mother by…
  • really taking time to disciple my children by reading scripture together or books.
  • focus on them more rather than being “too busy” to do something for or with them.

You get the idea.  I want to be better, but I have to have a goal in all of the different areas of my life.  Physical, spiritual, work, relationships, etc. are all areas to be explored.  I am not perfect nor do I think that is even achievable, because it is not!  I am looking for an image that looks more and more like Christ every year.  That is what I am looking for.  Maybe if it was inspirational to my dad, it will be inspirational to you as well, sweet friends.  Not perfect but better!

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV