THE NEW BEGINNING

It is a new year with new goals, new plans, new dreams and new hopes.  I have made a strong commitment to achieve my goals, live out my plans, realize my dreams and acquire all that I have hoped for.  And all of it has started by simply taking a few things out of my life.

I started with coffee.  My four shots of espresso (sometimes 8) probably were not helping me very much in a few areas.  I and hoping that I do not crash in the afternoon anymore.  I hope that my concentration gets better.  Can they diagnose an adult with A.D.D. or is it just abuse of caffeine?   Three days in: 1 relapse due to being frugal.  I had two 8 o.z. cups of coffee that were watered down because I did not want to waste the church coffee.

I have cut sweets out of my diet.  This means only natural sugar, no chocolate, no candy. Three days clean but there is a giant container of M&M’s in the cupboard thanks to a very sweet lady from church who likes to keep my 8 year old son fueled up on chocolate.

Lastly I have cut out T.V.  I will only allow myself to watch Christian programs for education purposes.  The Steelers did not make the playoffs, Notre Dame did not make the championship, hockey is slow this time of year, the Big bang Theory is ending, everything lined up to help this effort.  This is the one that has had, in the last three days, the biggest impact on my life.  Without T.V. I have so much more free time for activities.  And that was the point in all of this.  No relapses yet, Praise the Lord!

I needed more free time, better focus and more energy to devote to our Lord Jesus Christ.  I prayed and prayed and sought God on what I should set aside to better serve Him.  My time is limited and very valuable, my energy is just as limited and as a Pastor of a small church my focus can be all over the place as there is always something to be done.  

I am committed to studying His word more, serving His kingdom more and leading more to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  This is my goal everyday.  At this time I have chosen to remove a few barriers in my life that will keep me from achieving my goals, living out my plans, realize my dreams and acquiring all that I have hoped for.  The new beginning was the end to T.V., coffee and sweets!

Please pray for me as I am on my journey!