taste & see

dear new year,

   thank you--once again, for the fresh start.   usually i meet you with a long list of resolutions...things i want you to help me change.   along with the list, i harbor secret hopes and demanding expectations for your days.  i'd like to apologize for past years.  i'm so very sorry--i am a bit of a bossy dreamer.  i have these great ideas and i just get to thinking that they are the best thing for me and you.  i know typically, if we don't ride off into my whims and adventures i tend to sulk a bit.  my Creator made me quite determined to milk the most of my minutes on this earth and so sometimes i bring life to your days with my dreamy ideals and other times i kill your moments with my demands of them. i guess it's my best and worst quality.  so, as you know, i usually pack your january with a bunch of dull things i really don't like (but i think it's for the best) and then, come february,  my resolutions have faded and shame and regret take over.  oddly enough, the good list i greet you with in january always seems to become the judge of my life and i am weighed down by it and no longer able to fly free...

this year, if it's okay by you-- i'd like to do things a little differently.

i've decided to revise and revive the list.  i'm changing my focus this year.  i'm not inviting any negative voices in to preside over us.  while i am still making a list for us--instead of making the usual grand plans--i am aiming to live in your smallest moments and make room for my Father to join me.  my theme is: 

taste and see. 

(psalm 34:8)

Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.

so this year i'm making a list of wonderful things to taste and see.  things i don't wanna miss.  i want to make sure i squeeze them all in somewhere between your january and december.  instead of the usual skinny and self disciplined resolutions i'd like to go with something that cheers on life and creates space for the Creator to do something wonderful. this time next year i want to look back on a year where i tasted and saw that He was good...and i didn't hesitate to run to Him.  so here's our list:

1. try new foods at every culinary intersection.  when given a choice...get adventurous.

2. buy some pretty local produce.  taste it.  see it.  find His goodness in it.

3. go to the beach more.  it's like thanksgiving for your eyes...and it's just 10 minutes away.  waste the gas and just go.

4. drink more tea.  drink it slowly.  drink it with friends.  drink it with the kiddos.  note the taste and color...

5. find your very favorite color in this whole entire world.  name it.  frame it.  collect things this color all year long.

6. eat more peanut butter...share any new peanutty recipes with family, friends and strangers.  see what happens.  

7. go one day without seeing (no contacts)

8. go one day without tasting (fast)

9. celebrate beauty unabashedly wherever you find it. don't let it go unnoticed.  in people.  in places.  inside, outside.  let this year be a beauty hunt.  collect it when you can, take a picture or put it in your pocket.  open your eyes and see it everywhere.

love,

love,

love,

lexi