Resolution

I will confess that I was one of probably 97 million Americans who started off today with a new exercise plan. What is it about a new year that inspires us to sweat? I have no grand goals. I am not training for a marathon or planning to climb Mount Everest. I simply want to keep moving forward in my life long pursuit of wellness. GAG! Okay, I'm just kidding. What I really want to do is find a way to support my ever-growing cheese habit.

As I placed seven different kinds of cheese in my shopping cart at Costco last Saturday, I found myself wondering if that sort of lactose-loving behavior was normal. And If you only knew how many other cheeses I wanted to buy and didn't! Only seven varieties were purchased because I realized at that point that about 20% of my grocery budget was going towards cheese, and I needed to exercise some restraint.

Perhaps I will resolve in 2010 to try EVERY cheese sold at Costco...and to do so BEFORE we leave for France. It would be like a warm-up for French living. It probably should be a pre-field requirement for missionaries serving in France. Anyways, would it be so sinful to make such an indulgent resolution? Is it wrong to resolve to do something completely decadent? Do New Years Resolutions ALWAYS have to involve pain and sacrifice? Maybe I should pray about it.

Now honestly, is that the sort of thing the great prayer warriors of this world take before the throne of God? I NEED to know! Is there some great value in talking to God about my cheese issues? I mean, I know that He loves me and all, but is this truly a matter for prayer? Not that I don't talk to Him all the time about even more trivial things, but I do it in a conversational "here's what's going on in my life" sort of a way, not in a "folded hands, eyes closed" sort of way.

Speaking of prayer, I started the day off with a time of prayer, and I think I made some progress. Progress meaning I haven't been having a dedicated time of prayer, but today I did. So if "just doing it" is progress, then I made some. I did not pray about cheese. What I did was I used the Lord's Prayer as a frame work, and sort of filled it in with some specifics. For example, under the "Your kingdom come" heading, I prayed about God's kingdom being enlarged in France. I prayed for some pastors and missionaries who are already there, working towards that goal.

There were no great epiphanies. I didn't feel any different. I don't mean to sound ungrateful or irreverent, it just wasn't a life-changing moment. Or maybe it was. Maybe it was one of those "every great journey begins with a single step" moments. Really, it felt like a very small step. Still. It was something. God could use it. And I'm willing to do it again tomorrow. I'll let you know if cheese comes up.

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