I'm on a Boat

Growing up near the Lake of the Ozarks has left me with a love of being out on the water.

On. Not in.

Never, ever, in.

Too many fish and other scary things that will nibble your toes and eat your legs and kill you.

Trust me on this. I just know it's going to happen to me any day now.

Anyway, for as long as I can remember, we've always had a place at the Lake. One of my very favorite things to do when I was there was to wake up early, head out on the deck with my Bible and a cup of coffee and watch boats come out and the sun rise over water.

Later in the day my mom, sister and I would gather round the dock and watch dad get the boat out and take bets on how long it would take for him to have a nervous breakdown.

But once we got out on the water, well, let's just say nothing beats falling asleep in the front of the boat with the sun and wind in your hair.

I've missed the Lake. I've missed the boat. I've missed being out on the water.

So when our super-awesome friends called us on Wednesday to ask if we'd like to go out with them on their boat, I got a little giddy.

More than a lot. I think I was bouncing around the house.

Either that or I had six cups of coffee too many.

Let me explain Vero a little bit. Our town is situated on the Indian River - an inlet of ocean water between us and the barrier islands - and on the other side of the barrier islands is the ocean.

We went out on the Indian River - smooth, calm water with lots of sailboats, kayaks...

And dolphins. Lots and lots of dolphins, just swimming right by the boat.

Sorry, Lake of the Ozarks. I love you, but I love dolphins more.

We rode out to Round Island - my favorite part of the ride. It's a lagoon-ish area full of kayakers and manatee...the manatee were swimming right under us. It was pretty cool.

Thanks to Sara and Gray for such a great afternoon.

And our Captain was awesome!

Today I Love: Our sweet friends who invited us to spend the afternoon with them and the fact I got a suntan on January 2nd.

Revised Resolutions

It's inevitable.

Every time a new year rolls around, I make promises to myself. It always, always has the same theme song of "lose weight, more willpower to lose weight, run more marathons, lose weight..." yadda yadda yadda.

I'm done. I'm tired. I'm through.

I'm tired of feeling like I let myself down. Tired of worrying what other people think of me. Tired of starting over one more time. Tomorrow. Monday. Whenever. After this last piece of chocolate.

Mmmm. Chocolate.

Anyway. Moving on.

This year, I want to do something different. I was all prepared to write a post about a numerated list of goals and objectives when a friend of mine on Twitter re-tweeted the following thought from @LisaWhelchel:

"Before God writes your new year, He imagines you twirling with joy while He watches adoringly. Step into His vision for your 2013." #letsdance

Isn't that beautiful?

So what's His vision for me in 2013?

I have no idea. But I'm open to the possibilities.

I will admit I do have my weight-loss chart printed out and hanging by the scale, my 30-day Paleo kick-start menu plan on the fridge (the Practical Paleo book is amazing, by the way), my promise to M's aunt that I will run the 2013 St. Jude's Half Marathon with her this next December.

It's good to have plans. To prepare. To set goals and reach for them.

But I'm not going to let them become my focus. With my personality, those things can easily become an obsession. I struggle with obsessions, and the result isn't healthy. It's addicting. It's all-consuming. It tears me away from what's really important.

I want to be consumed by my Savior.

Maybe I'm just tired. Maybe I'm just getting old.

But maybe, just maybe, I'm finally discovering myself in the place where I was meant to be.

Let's twirl with joy this year.