Happy new year! This year neither Michael nor I made resolutions. Instead, we made it a goal to try to better ourselves throughout the year and be better people at the end than we were at the beginning. As Michael said, there's no point in making a new year's resolution if you don't lead that kind of lifestyle to begin with. So this year we're going to be more generous, as well as more conscious of our spending. We want to love others as Christ loves them, and be deliberate in our actions. We have tried to that this last year, but want to be even more intentional and deliberate in our actions this year. We want it to become a lifestyle, not just a resolution that we make one day and break the next. Oh, and just a side note, I must say I am a bit annoyed at the fact that it's been too warm that we couldn't go snowshoeing yesterday. We would have had to drive all the way up near the resorts, which we didn't want to do! Who would have thought I'd be annoyed by warm weather??
I'm bored with church. I have my issues with our church and church in general, but that's not the bone I have to pick today. I'm bored and tired and just plain "over" church. It might just be the new focus that my church has, which I am definitely not their target audience, but it might also be that I've gone to church almost every single Sunday of my life... I don't feel like there's anything they can say or teach that would have me saying "wow! I never thought of that! My life is changed forever!" I feel disheartened that I can look at the series title and the "subtopics" of each week, and predict (with pretty close accuracy) what the overall message will be. So what happens when you've been going to church for almost 23 years and it's all old news? I know that the gospel and Jesus and the Bible are always "alive" and can change lives, but I sure don't feel that way. I love God, I believe Jesus was born and died on the cross for the world's sins, and I believe the Bible is God's holy word; I also try to live my life loving people the way Jesus loved them and viewed "others" and "sinners," I tithe, I try to read my Bible regularly, I pray... so what else is new? I know I can learn new things, like Bible history/context, but that just becomes head knowledge. The only thing drawing us to church is our young marrieds group... but even that is beginning to lack because we see the same people on Tuesday nights for our Bible study. Don't get me wrong, I love our friends, but I don't feel like we're connecting on the level that I desire. But I'm sure it just goes along with my overall feelings about church at the moment. So is there hope for next Saturday night, when Michael and I are in bed discussing whether or not to set our alarm for the next morning? I know church is about fellowship, but just going and sitting in the seats does not make any sort of fellowship-- there are hundreds of people who come to the same service I do, and I know about a dozen of them because they're in our young marrieds group-- there is no real sense of community or fellowship. I feel obligated to go because I'm a "Christian" (or as I like to say, Christ-follower) and church is just something you do. So all this to say, you might not find me front and center at church for a while. We'll go occasionally, but Michael and I have created friendships that we can get fellowship out of, even if it's not in a building doing "church," so going on Sunday is not as much of a priority. And now that it's getting snowier, you're probably more apt to find us trekking up a mountain through the snow on our snowshoes with friends and some hot chocolate! I'd much rather spend my Sundays with good friends, surrounded by God's creation. That way, I won't be more entertained by a piece of candy than the "production" my church is putting on.
Michael and I went snowshoeing for the first time this last weekend. It was a BLAST! We got snowshoes through a friend and drove my dad's Forester up to Idaho Springs. We found the trail our friend told us about, struggled to attach the shoes to our boots, and headed off into the snow-covered wilderness. It was an awesome experience, not just for the company, but for the views and sights that we saw. We were somewhere that, without snowshoes (or cross-country skis) you could never get to. The trees were glistening with snow and the scenery was breath-taking. It was like a little eye-present from God, showing us His beautiful creation in the mountains, even though it was the middle of winter. I love hiking, so now being able to "hike" in the winter makes enjoying the Rocky Mountains even better! So I would suggest that if anyone has ever wanted to go snowshoeing, they should definitely try it out-- it's WAY cheaper than skiing/snowboarding (rentals cost at most $12) and it can be done almost anywhere-- you don't have to drive all the way up to a resort to spend a bucket of money just to go! It's hard to imagine not living right next door to the mountains!
Happy Groundhog Day! I had a discussion with one of my roommates this morning about who originally had the idea for watching a little rodent-like animal crawl out of the ground on a random day and ask it to predict the future by looking for it's shadow. I think alcohol was definitely involved! Anyway, I saw on my little news post on my homepage-- that's how I get my news... who reads newspapers anymore?-- that the groundhog didn't see it's shadow so spring is coming early this year! For once I hope that stupid rodent is right! I am really tired of this cold and snow. It was 0 degrees outside this morning when I got up! No good! But seriously, of all the animals... why a groundhog?
I'm cold. I'm freezing cold, to be exact. It's been below freezing for about a month straight! I have no body fat for insulation so I cannot naturally keep my body warm as it is. When it gets below freezing, you can always pick me out of a crowd because I'm the one completely bundled up from head to toe for the frigid winter air! I'm tired of the snow and I'm tired of the cold. I used to love snow. I used to want it to snow. Not any more. We've had 3 feet of snow for about a month now and it's not going away any time soon... ugh! It just needs to warm up enough to melt all of the snow AND ice away! I want my lovely, cool Colorado back-- I don't live in Michigan, so why is the weather acting like it? I've never been more eager for summer to come around (which I will then whine about it being too hot... vicious cycle!)! Okay, I'm done for now. I feel a lot better having gotten that off my chest! (And yes, that is my car. It was buried under all that snow! No fun!)
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