Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A funny thing happened on the way past the candy dish...

The last few years I have decided that I can't - or, let's be honest, maybe just don't want to - make New Year's Resolutions. I like to tell myself that there are just too many ways I want to improve myself, and so instead I make New Month Resolutions! Maybe I'm just non-committal.

This year on January 1 I resolved to not eat chocolate for the month of January. Though I'm sure right now my boss Karen, the queen of all things dark chocolate, is considering firing me for this, it's a decision I made for a few reasons. First of all, recent findings show I may be allergic. I know, I know, but please don't cry for me. Secondly, I could stand to lose a few pounds and avoiding chocolate certainly won't hurt, except maybe emotionally.

Well, it was only January 2 when I realized how prevalent chocolate is in my life. My husband bought a delicious birthday cake for our son and it had the most delicous chocolate mousse filling - I'm speaking from memory of course, because I some how managed to only eat the cake and frosting, thus keeping my resolution. Despite crazy thoughts of "how could I NOT eat my son's birthday cake" I stood strong. Phew! That was a close one.

So here we are a few days later and something amazing, even empowering, happened. On my way out the front door of our office, as I walked right past the candy dish my first thought was not to questions how to avoid the chocolate, but rather that I really didn't want/need ANY candy. What a surprising turn of events: I took one small stand and it gave me more strength than I planned on.

With that on my mind, I wondered what might happen if I took a similar stand in some spiritual matters. If I resolved to read one Bible verse a day, perhaps I'd read a whole chapter. Or two. If I resolved to say please and thank you more, maybe I'd actually feel more grateful the gifts God has given me. 2 Timothy 1 tells us to "fan into flame the gift of God." Notice it is not "fan the flame" signifying a blaze that is already burning, rather it is the transition of something small into something greater.

Let's see how the rest of the month goes...

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