I Think I'll Let Him

This time last year, I was in Bolivia watching my Cards lose to their arch rival Cats and being consoled by my soon-to-be UK-fan fiancé. Oh what a difference a year makes.  This time I consoled my Wildcat husband in the comforts of our own den in Kentucky by the fireplace as the Cardinals took back the Bluegrass basketball title.  This year, instead of passing the holidays in the blistering heat with friends and the kids from the children's homes in Santa Cruz, we celebrated with family and snow and all the traditions I grew up with.  Both were beautiful ways to honor Christ's birth, but the UL win is always preferable.

We were visited and we were visitors.  We introduced Angie to The Grinch and snow and the 12 Days of Christmas. We exchanged gifts, hugs, baked goods and stories. And we cherished every moment of a week with at least double the family any of us had last year.

After feasting, gaming, vegging, and sledding with the Charleses, Spearses, Scotts, and assorted friends, Jon and I made the snowy drive home from Iowa alone as my parents kept Angie one more day to sled and swim with everyone in Ottumwa. 

I'm not a big goal-setter. I don't like to tell God what I'm going to do with my time or my money, I usually just wait for Him to make suggestions.  But with eight hours alone in the car together, the most peaceful, uninterrupted eight we've had since the honeymoon, Jon and I made some plans. We planned our giving, our saving, and our spending for 2013.  We chose a Bible reading plan for the year.  We worked out our ideas for our new young married couples' small group. We talked about what 2014 and beyond might look like. And we were very content.

We may have made some plans and set some goals, but we know that we can't make any of it happen on our own. We can't have peace and harmony in our home by our own efforts. We can't finalize the adoption alone. I can't be the wife and mother I'd like to be. But we know who to look to for help. Yesterday at church I heard the motto I think I'll use for 2013:

I can't.

He can.

I think I'll let Him.

Who are you going to let lead you in the New Year?