"I will stop eating carbs!"

"I will stop being late!"

"I will quit complaining!"

These are what my New Years Resolutions have always looked like in the past, but 2017 is going to be different! It's been proven that trying to quit things and remove things from our lives rarely works, but adding things can actually create change. I want to fulfill my resolutions this year so I have picked 3 things to add to my life in hopes of 2017 being the best year yet!

I will add REST.
Stress is a typical word to describe life last year. However there is no way to avoid the stressers that will also come in 2017. The real answer is to learn to REST in the Lord no matter what comes my way. Matthew 11:28 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." How crazy that rest is available if we only give our stress to the Lord. It's not about extra sleep or down time in my life, but about truly teaching my soul to rest in God. I want to work hard and be diligent each day while knowing that I do not have to do it all on my own. Wouldn't this next year be incredible if we could simply give our burdens to God and rest in Him?
I will add QUIET.
With our smart phones constantly ringing and dinging, music always blaring, and family always talking there is little time for quiet in life. The days I did start last year with a few minutes of quiet including prayer and sometimes Bible reading, completely transformed that day. I want more of that. Whether it's 5 minutes in the car alone to be introspective or 10 minutes before bed to talk with God, I need some silence. Life moves too quickly to simply keep up and not take stock of my own heart and emotions. Whether you call it quiet time or devotions, more time with God and your thoughts is always a good thing. I have no doubt that adding quiet time with God more this year will radically change everything about me and I can experience it anywhere at anytime.
I will add THANKFULNESS.
November is a great month where we talk all about how thankful we are, but then December hits and I am back to my complaining. I want a year filled with a grateful heart. I could make a resolution to write down one thing I'm thankful for every day, but I am sure I would forget for a day, then a week, and then before you know it I feel horrible for breaking this whole goal. Instead I will look for ways to be thankful in the small moments. I want to ask myself on the days when I do not even want to get out of bed, what can I be thankful for in this moment? I know God has blessed me with simply things like a bed, a roof over my head, and food but there are always even more things to praise Him for every day. I want to notice the big and small blessings and make a new habit of whispering small prayers of thankfulness to God.

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