It’s that time of year when I look back over all the posts from 2013 (all 105 of them) and write the first line of each first post from each month. Don’t ask me why . . . my friend does it and I think it’s fun.  Maybe it will make you want to go check something out again? If I made money on my blog that would be important but since this is just a place to express myself, your visit to past posts would only serve to entertain you.

January: “This year I resolve to be less awesome since that’s the only thing I do in excess.” (another resolution down the tubes!)

February: “So many of you voted way back when and helped Promise Christian Academy win a grant from Monsanto.”

March: “When I was in elementary school, days off were few and far between.”

April: “Little continues to have a tough time keeping her hands still.”

May: “I wish I could get fit from just watching this. . . I love watching this!”

June: “I should finish up May and tell you the big news I said I would tell you a week (or two) ago.”

July: “So many of our friends are in the process of adopting or have recently brought home their new family members.”

August: “It has been a crazy summer and I have felt like I was drowning for all but 30 minutes of it.”

September: “Today’s list topic was, “Weird Things That Make You Cry”.

October: “An Open Letter to the Writers of Castle (that will never be seen by a writer of Castle)”

November: “Halloween was a dreary day in middle-America.”

December: “Today on the website, BIggest Price Drop, I saw this picture of a shoe”

What this exercise just taught me?
1. I have GOT to start doing a better job with the first sentences of my posts – they are dry and don’t draw you in.

2. The 105 posts of 2013 were evenly distributed 1/2 in the first six months and 1/2 in the last six months. If you take out the blogging bonanza in October, I actually blogged exactly 1/2 as much since starting to work. True that there is less than 1/2 of the fun things to tell about, but this statistic has me thinking a bit deeper about the time and energy I am putting into my family outside work. I need to think more.

3. Honey and I have both agreed that 2013 was one of the hardest years of our lives on many fronts. I learned this year that I don’t write hard well. So many blank pages? So many tough things . . .

4. It’s not enough to just post a picture.

So, enough of that. Happy New Year to you. I hope the next few days afford you time to look back over 2013 and take a few notes on what you see. I pray you will be challenged by what you observe and that hopes, dreams, passions, and goals will be revealed for the upcoming year. Mostly I pray that no matter what plans you make that you will walk joyfully as He directs your steps and trust Him completely with the plans HE has FOR you – plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans for hope and a future. And I pray the same for me. . .