Thoughts for the New Year

I've been tossing around the idea of picking a word/theme/verse for the new year but each time I tried to pick something, it just seemed to hard and didn't feel right.  That is, until I was at awana the other night listening to the lesson and this verse was read:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

 Matthew 6:19-21

Verse 21 really stuck out to me.  You see, I've thought a lot about money this last year. We went from incomes to one.  And while we weren't really raking in the dough before, we had a good amount of freedom with our money.  With just one, lets just say we started a budget and I have a love hate relationship with it.  

But this really isn't about how much money we make, it is about me being content and thankful with what we have.  I've been struggling a lot with this as we've become more intentional with our money.  Caleb & I took a Dave Ramsey class last fall and I loved it.  I already had the mindset of only spending what you have, but it really gave me the confidence that we CAN make one income work just fine for us.  It also made me realize that I love money.  Well, not exactly money per se, but I love having nice things.  I want to live in a nicely decorated house, drive a nice car, and be able to go to Starbucks more than once a month.  Is there anything wrong with that?  I don't think so.  Money or wealth isn't evil, but the love of it is.  And it seems I spend a lot of time thinking of what I'd like to do to our house to make it look nicer, to make it feel more homey instead of setting my thoughts on God.

I read The Practice of the Presence of God by brother Lawrence and he talks about how he continually tried to be in prayer and practiced the presence of God.  This really stood out to me:

"Knew we but the want we have of the grace and assistance of God, we would never lose sight of Him, no, not for a moment."

So this new year, and the rest of my life, I want to spend my days sitting in God's presence instead of filling my mind with earthly things.  This doesn't mean I won't ever have nice things or spend some time thinking about money, I just don't want it to be the majority of my thoughts.  I'm not sure where the balance lies.  I'm not sure exactly what being content with what God has given me will look like either, because I am incredibly thankful and I realize he has given me so much.  I just don't feel like I'm quite there yet.