Happy New Year! & #cruconf

Happy New Year!

I’m still feeling so blessed and refreshed in my heart from spending the last few days of 2013 hanging out and catching up with so many close friends at Cru Conference – all staying in the same hotel and many of them freed of their usual responsibility as mother to young children! I loved hearing all that God is up to in their lives and praying for them. I also loved having the opportunity to verbally process what God is up to in my life by honestly answering the question, “How are you?” several dozen times! I felt so loved and cherished and immersed in the beautiful intimacy and inspiration of an entire community of sincere Jesus-followers (“surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,” as it were). They still listened and hugged me and empathized even when they heard all of my worst failures since we’d last spoken. To be known and still loved — what a blessing.

I also got quite a bit of quality alone-time: time to think and pray and listen to God, mostly about my life and His continuing direction (small and large) in it. The dawning of a new year – and later of my new year on my birthday – is always such a significant time for me to evaluate, seek God, and make slight course changes wherever needed. I love New Year’s Resolutions, but only when they’re a reasonable and attainable step for where I’m at in the process of my life and mostly when I sense God “giving” them to me. Here are a few of mine this year:

• develop more artistic discipline in my life (blog)
• create touch points with some old but dear friends I’ve lost touch with
• look into going back to school for some kind of Master’s degree

It was a last-minute decision to go to conference, and I am so thankful for Jason Larsen and my mom who so generously sponsored my spontaneity. And it was so wonderful that I think I must add the following resolution to my list:

• go to Cru Conference every year possible from this time forward

What are your New Year’s resolutions?