Re-Solution...

I liked Wordnet.com's definition of Resolution as: "finding a solution to a problem."

Since we returned home we've had a few days of down time and thinking time (January will give us our longest stretch at home since July, 26 days in our own bed!). We've been looking forward to the start of a new year, I like it that there is one time every year where it's okay (and expected) to be totally optimistic. This year, our list of resolutions would probably look pretty similar to everyone on the block and every resolution we've made in the past, but my dad shared some wise advice that he heard in church... "this year, can we please pick some resolutions that matter to God?"

Losing weight, making money, going on vacation, they're not bad things, but do they really matter to God and do they really reflect God to the rest of the world? So this year we're taking our resolutions from Psalm 146 (one of our favorites) and it's really less about what we do and more about what God does.

I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free,
the LORD gives sight to the blind,
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the alien
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
The LORD reigns forever...
Praise the LORD.

Sure, just like any other year we'd love to travel to other countries, lose weight, keep up on hobbies and read some good books, but even more than those things, we would like 2008 to be a year where we Praise God, lift up the cause of the oppressed, share food with the hungry, see prisoners set free, help the blind to see, lift up those who are bowed down, care for the aliens, orphans and widows near and far, trust that God reigns forever even though wickedness seems to be ruling the day, and we plan on ending the year just like we started- praising God.

We received a newsletter from an excellent organization called International Justice Mission that works to rescue child-slaves and people who are wrongfully imprisoned. One of the phrases from their letter really grabbed our attention: "God is making the impossible possible." Jesus said it himself in Luke 18, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."

So we think that we're going to use that as our theme this year: "God is making the impossible possible." And we're already praying about some seemingly hopeless situations and trusting that God can make one of His finest masterpiece's out of the mess.