Worry is a sin.

Matt. 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and be loyal to the other or he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

Worry is a tricky one. Because it doesn't feel like sin. When we are being tempted with worry, it feels so right. We feel justified. We even complain to God (and others) about our worries, feeling like we deserve their sympathies. Don't be deceived, this is pride.

I never thought I loved money. Loving money means greed, sketchy big business deals, swindling, gambling, being a workaholic, being consumed with wealth... right? Well, yeah, but it's also worry. Worry that there won't be enough. Worry that makes you take a job that might not be God's will. Valuing financial security. Sacrificing some of your time that could be spent in the word to do extra work to please your superiors. Living before the eyes of man. Maybe it's simply adding everything up at the end of the month, paying the bills and budgeting whats left without seeking the Lord for what He would have you give first?

Ouch.

Vs. 25, "Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?"

Vs. 33-34, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow..."

Worrying about money is serving money. It is giving power to money, letting it be your master. 

Whatever you worry about has power over you.

This will change the way you look at worry. Whenever you are tempted to stress about something, you are actually being tempted (by the enemy) to give it power over you. Resist! Trust the Lord and refuse to worry. Also refuse, outright, to allow anything to steal from your time in the secret place, with the Lord, in the word and prayer. This is what the enemy is after.

Everything we are tempted with, whether it's worry, greed, security, favor of man, better houses or cars or positions, it is all meant to steal away our time of seeking.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Therefore DO NOT WORRY."

This is the litmus test. Whenever you are faced with a pressured decision (something that causes stress or worry and makes you feel like you must take action right away), decide to take time, seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Be warned-the enemy will violently oppose this! But every time there is no time to seek the Lord, you are serving something else. Do not be deceived! Seeking God is ALWAYS the right thing to do.

You cannot serve both God and money.

You cannot serve both God and anything else.

Keep runnin'

LM

Our lives of love.

A couple of weeks ago my neighbor of 15 years or so died. Last night I dreamed I was at a show, heading into the ladies room and I met her. She was on her way out I could tell but she stopped and gave me a big hug. She asked if it was Tuesday (it was) and said, "Time doesn't matter up there. Of course, if He wanted it to then it would." And I knew she was talking about heaven. Then she looked at me and said, "You know, the angels are amazed at our lives of love. Not good works! But love."

Then I woke up.

The other night we were doing this song called, He is Yahweh, and the bridge goes like this:

You are holy and eternal     and forever You will reign

Every knee will bow before You     and every tongue will confess Your name

All the angels give You glory     as they stand before Your throne

And here on earth we gather     to declare Your name alone

There will be a day when every knee will bow and every tongue will say, "Jesus is Lord", every single person alive on the earth at that time. But it won't be because they all become christians. When Jesus comes to take over the earth as His kingdom, His enemies will see Him and there's no denying that He is Lord! It's like waking up in the morning and saying, "The sun is up!" And when every knee bows it will be mandatory obedience. Jesus will be worshiped on the earth when He takes over but sadly, for many it will not be a choice. That's why our voluntary love and worship means so much to Him.

  
  All the angels worship Him because they were created to, and they stand before His throne of glory- how could anyone not worship Him! We were also created to worship Him but we are here on earth, where we declare His glory by faith, from what we know of His word. We live in the midst of darkness, deceit and evil and when we choose to love Him it touches His heart like nothing else!

This life is the only chance we'll have to love Him in the midst of trials and tribulation.

The angels aren't impressed with good works. What a laugh! They are God's messengers and good works (i.e. works of God) are their job description! When heaven looks at our "good works", it's no wonder they appear as filthy, stinky, moldy rags. (Isaiah 64:6) But when they see a choice of voluntary love, sacrificing comfort, serving others, worshiping the Lord and declaring His glory that we've only ever read about, they are amazed.

We amaze the angels!

Take your opportunities to love today. Angels are watching you. Others are looking to you to define the word "christian" for them. God is searching the earth for a voluntary lover...

Keep runnin'

LM

SHINE

I was praying from the moment I woke up today. "Lord, shine Your light into the darkness of this day!" Then I opened up my bible to Psalm 80 (vs 1-3)

"Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth! Before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your strength and come and save us!
  Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine and we will be saved."

I started thinking about halloween and all the darkness that will happen today. And our government, the corruption and poor leadership. Our bleak future, with healthcare, debt and a host of other problems and I just cried out,
                 "Resore us, O God; cause Your face to shine and we will be saved!!!"

And I stopped right there because it hit me: It's all about Him.

Everything is about Jesus. If we got a glimpse at the One who captivates the cherubim 24/7 for all of history, we wouldn't pray for anything else ever again! Only for Him. For more of Him. Greater revelation. And when He comes to us, His light casts out any darkness in an instant. 
                                          
                                We don't have to pray about the darkness!

We just have to ask Jesus to come. He is light. When you turn on a light in a dark room- BOOM. End of darkness. There's no need to pray about the darkness or cast it out- it's just gone. Like that.

Solving our problems isn't hard for Jesus. It's easy peasy stuff for Him. Being a glorious light that takes over the world comes natural to Him!

Seek the man, Jesus. Ask for more of Him. Search for the knowlege of who He is. Pray for His light, the glorious light that lives between the mighty angels.

When He shines forth His light, everything changes.



At the end of this age when darkness covers the earth, you know what we'll cry out?

COME LORD JESUS!  The Spirit and the Bride say, COME!




SHINE.

LM

God could leave you alone...

Do you ever see people and think, why on earth do they have it so easy? They're not pursuing the Lord; they're living in self-indulgence; they're not following any of the rules of Christianity 101 and yet they prosper! They succeed in business, have nice homes, great vacations, new cars- they have the life! It doesn't make sense!
  While you are here, struggling to follow the Sermon on the Mount lifestyle, fulfill the great commission, and you can barely keep your head above water. You fast and pray and still are overwhelmed with work/school/relationships. You keep your heart pure and in return are misunderstood and attacked. All day long you are plagued and chastened...
  
 Sound familiar? This was the heart state of the writer of Psalm 73. Go ahead, read it. Get out your bible or go to this link: Ps. 73 

  He despairs until verse 17, "until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end." I believe this means that when he paused, set his heart and took the time to seek the Lord, the Holy Spirit gave him understanding. Perspective of the situation. He realized that God simply left those people alone. The ones who shut God out of their lives. After a time, the Lord stopped knocking (Rev 3:20). But the writer knew that when this life was over, their end was fast and bitter.
  And he figured out that those who seek the Lord gain His attention.

If there's anything you want in life, it is for God to pay attention to you.

  When that happens, when you have come to the place of righteousness (Acts 10:4), hunger, simply trying as hard as you can to seek the Lord- God will turn His attention to you and say, "This is a good vine. I'll prune this one to bear much fruit." What a privilege! When the writer understood this, his whole outlook changed and he was horrified at his attitude (vs 21-22). He realized what we can also know for sure:

No matter how hard the storm, we are ALWAYS with God. 

He holds us up with His own hand, He guides us with His counsel and will welcome us into His glory! Besides, what could we ever want in this life in the way of nice houses, successful jobs or easy relationships when we could have Jesus???

Even in our lowest times, when we lose perspective and turn to despair against God (like the beginning of this psalm), He is our strength! He never leaves our side and He will give us Himself. (vs 26) Mind. Blown.

It is very important to know that when God turns His attention to you, so does the enemy. And he will do everything in his power to destroy your faith. And those other people- the ones with the nice cars and easy lives? They are NO THREAT to the enemy so he leaves them alone. So in a way, it's sort of a twisted compliment when you come under great attack... Even so, satan's only real power is deception. Lies. Making you believe God has left you alone, doesn't love you, is disappointed in you. LIES. Remember that.

( I get a comic-book picture in my head, you standing in the middle- satan on one side throwing lies, chaos and turmoil at your earthly situations. God on the other side, shooting strength, revelation, power, love and help on the other side. ) 

It's a fight. But here's what we know: verse 28
-We have to trust God. (always believing He loves you and has your BEST in mind in EVERY situation and responding out of that heart attitude.)
-We will declare His works. When we know God does everything for love we will be bold in standing up for Him- defending Him to the world who scoffs, explaining Him to the church who is hurt and confused. 

This psalm is a very important revelation and easy to lose. Keep it in your heart and steward it well! Help those around you who are struggling, understand.

Going back to the beginning, I'll end.

Psalm 73:1 "Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart."

God could leave you alone. If He didn't love you so much.

Keep runnin'
LM

"Abide in Me." A word for the guilty...

John 15:7 "If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you."

There is nothing new about this story. It is as old as the garden...

Once upon a time, any time, maybe even today... there were two little children, a brother and sister, who lived in a little village of no significance and had a quiet little life. They had a grandma who lived just a mile away from them, in a little woods and every day they walked to her house and she welcomed them joyously having prepared all kinds of fresh baked goodies and delicious treats. They would eat and play and sit on her lap while she told them fascinating stories and sang beautiful songs. By the time they left it was dark but she gave them a lamp which lit their way home and kept them warm and safe.
  One year the children started school. They were so busy! They made new friends and joined sports teams and clubs. Soon they stopped going to their grandma's house every day because they didn't have enough time. After a couple days they missed the freshly made sweets and goodies but they went to the store and bought cookies with their friends. And they still walked to grandma's every week, on Sunday. But their visits had changed. Now they were full of their own stories of school and friends. They would tell her their troubles and problems and she is full of wonderful answers. Sometimes they stop and listen to her but mostly they just talk. And they must leave before dark now because they are so busy on Monday! So they no longer needed the lamp to light their way and they ran home fast to keep warm.
  One Sunday they missed their visit. Friends invited them over and, "it's just this one time," they tell each other. But for the rest of the week they feel bad. They think of their grandma waiting all day with fresh sweets. How she must be disappointed in them! Maybe she is angry because they did not come see her. They've never seen her angry so they must imagine what it is like and it is terrible! As the next Sunday approaches they begin to fill up with dread... they imagine her at the door waiting to judge them for missing their weekly visit. Surely she won't have baked anything for them this time! Maybe she won't even let them into her house. They don't deserve to go there anyway, or enjoy the treats or listen to the wonderful stories and songs. They feel a twinge of longing but the guilt wins over. They should wait, give themselves a time out for their bad behavior- two weeks of staying away from grandmas, they decide.
  Well, two weeks turns into two months and more. They still think of grandma's house in the woods, so near yet so hard to get to... oh the yummy treats! They begin to desire them again but they cannot make the journey. Maybe if they will write to her she will understand! So they write a letter explaining in great detail how busy they have become and apologizing over and over and over. At the end they ask her to send them a few treats. Nothing much or fresh, just anything leftover in her cupboard. They wait and in a few days they receive a package full of all their favorite sweets. They are not warm or fresh but still good and as they eat they are filled with thankfulness. (But they only express their gratefulness to each other, and when the sweets are gone they soon forget.)
  This goes on for years. Sometimes when the children crave goodies they write to their grandma and usually they receive a package. They are thankful but always too guilty to visit her. A few times, when they run into trouble, they write a long, desperate letter for help. And she writes them back, sometimes with advice but usually with stories like she used to tell them. They are too busy to read them and discover the answers that are buried inside.
  So their lives went by in this way. They never went back to her house. They sometimes wish for the days when they were young and visited her every day... ohhh but that ONE week they missed! She would never forgive them for that. And as they neared the end of their lives they thought of making the trip, just once more... but maybe not today, maybe tomorrow. Or next year.

  What do you think they do not know? That their grandma stands at her door every single day of their life? That every single day she made fresh sweets and brought out interesting things to show them. She made her home ready and prepared lamps, bright and shining for them. She stood at her door looking, waiting for her beloved ones. Every day she waits.

Every day He loves.


You are always longed for, never rejected. Push delete and go back to the house.

You are much loved.


Keep running!
LM

Because HE is good.

"Mrs. Wilson doesn't give us cookies cause we're nice. We get cookies cause Mrs. Wilson is nice!"
                                                                                 ~Dennis the Menace

I love this quote. Is it odd that one of my favorite quotes is by a comic strip character? Who's like 5? No shame. Kids say the most profound things in their simplicity.


God doesn't love us because we're good. Like Dennis, we are not good! God loves us because He is good.

  This is so important to remember in our day to day, in the mundane, non-exciting, daily grind part of life. When we've been slacking off in our prayer/devos (I know the "Psalm a day" cop out or the "5 minute daily devotional" - let me tell you, you don't get deep revelation from the Holy Spirit in 5 minutes a day!) Or when we've been so busy or distracted that we haven't even thought about God all day.

Then something bad happens to us. We cry out to God for heeeelp! But wait, I don't have a very good track record today, I haven't built up my faith points - can I really pull the "rescue me!" card?

Let me tell you what faith is. Part of faith is that when we mess up royally, we run to God to fix it. Because we know in our hearts that He's the only one who can make right our wrong.

God doesn't come to our rescue because we've been reading our bibles and praying 2 hrs a day for a week and have a good track record. God comes to us in our weakness and pulls us out of the mud of our blunders because He is good. 

(Now, I'm not knockin 2 hrs a day with the Lord - that's how we get the revelation!!)

      In Psalm 31:1 David writes, "Deliver me in Your righteousness."
     And in vs 16, "Save me for Your mercy's sake."

Take advantage of the truth that GOD IS GOOD. Cry out to His righteousness and mercy. As a child of God you have a trust fund of love that never runs out and is accessible at all times! You don't even have to have a good credit rating.

Keep believing He loves you.
Keep fighting!

LM

Blood, sweat and joy.

  "So I wash my robes in the blood of the Lamb
    I am dead to sin, come alive again."

Washing our robes in the blood of the Lamb is a symbolic act, since we don't really have any of the actual blood of Jesus around for common use- what it means is basically we tell Jesus (in our hearts or out loud), "I believe You really lived, really died and Your blood is really enough to cover my sins. I receive that."

After that we are dead to sin. That prayer, whether you prayed it when you were 5 or 50, sealed the deal with God. You are now dead to sin.

This is where a lot of us (myself included) get hung up. Because we assume it means we will be dead to all our fleshly desires. And that's obviously not the case! So we are tempted and sometimes we fail. Then comes the guilt... How could I have done that? I am a horrible christian! Lord, if you will just forgive me this time I will try so much harder! I will try to live right and not sin! Forgive me!

This is where we commit grave error. We are trusting in our own righteousness. It may not seem like it because we are thinking about our failure, but also promising we will do better. This is a direct insult to the blood of the Jesus. 

Jesus died once. That blood was enough, is enough and will always be enough. EVERY SINGLE DAY OF YOUR LIFE. DONE.

But here we are on this cursed earth, trapped in our fleshly  desires, and bombarded with temptation from the evil one. We are painfully aware of this every day! So how are we "dead to sin"??

Jesus died to take away our guit and shame. (those words ring a bell anyone?) God doesn't want us to be distracted for a moment by guilt because of our sin. So He dealt with it once, 100%. Now we can always talk to Him, hang out with Him, be happy around Him and love Him. Without any fear or bad feelings. Ever. Even when we just sinned.

When you feel so bad about yourself that you can't think about God until you've been "good" for awhile; or "make up for what you've done"; or if you just can't hang out with God and be happy- it's guilt. It's not you, it's the enemy. It feels like you, and it feels so right to feel bad. After all- you did something bad, right? 

Here's the deal, when we sin it's so tempting to feel bad for awhile ("because I deserve it!"). DON'T DO IT. Think about the blood. Really, picture what the cross looked like in your mind (it's powerful). Then believe, so strongly, in the power of that blood that you never feel bad. That's the point! Jesus went thru the horrible crucifixion so that you and I will never have to feel bad ever again. 

Then smile. Say it out loud if it helps, "I know Your blood is strong enough to cover this sin. I am free and I love You!!" That's it. That's what He wants from you. To just be happy and love Him. Cause He's happy and He loves you. All the time. Every day.

With no nasty guilt or shame gettin' in the way.

Keep runnin!
LM

p.s. If you are struggling with habitual sin- i.e. not just once but continually living in and planning to sin WITHOUT sincere desire to change, YOU MUST LEAVE SIN BEHIND. It's HARD. But once you have repented and decide to stop, even when you mess up- there's NO more feeling bad! AT ALL. There is only love. (Can I get an amen??)

Mostly just gettin' stronger

"How are you??" 

"Fine!" (i.e. I'm really stressed and fighting a cold and my workouts aren't bringing desired results and my band hasn't toured in weeks and I feel like a failure most days but I really don't want to tell you all that because we aren't actually friends but I'm a polite Minnesotan so I'll just lie...)

Okay, a tad harsh. But really- what girl says she's "fine" when she really is fine?? If we're fine and life is good, we'll reply with a bright, "I'm great! How are you??"

I was comparing my life with the gym today... how we get stronger by lifting weights, i.e. tearing our muscles so that they repair bigger and tougher. And we condition ourselves by running till our heart rate goes much higher than normal and increases it's capacity.

In the same way we grow spiritually stronger by trials, battles, deserts. 
                                                 When we fail and we get back up. (stronger)
                                                  When we fall into sin and repent. (stronger)
               When we despair and give in to depression but choose to believe God is good. (stronger)
                   When someone hurts us and we don't tell anyone about it to save their face. (stronger)
          When a loved one gets sick and doesn't get healed but we believe God is the Healer. (stronger)

It's the same situation really. Life gets hard. We choose to trust God. We get stronger.

God knows if life is always easy we will eventually fall away from Him. He never promised us an easy life. He promised that the burden HE would lay on us is light. That's not talking about the world, other (selfish) people, our own flesh warring against us, our enemy... These things are not from God, because His burden is light. But He WILL use these struggles for our good. 

And don't you want to be a strong christian? 

I do.

So, maybe the next time I get asked, "How are you doing?"
I'll just reply, "I'm mostly gettin' stronger."

Keep runnin'!

LM

Lacking spiritual hunger: more blessed than u know.

This post started out as a tweet... and then grew waaay too long (don't u hate that?). So it turned into a post- even better. :)

"For whoever has, to him more will be given and he will have in abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."

This is one of those verses that is fully loaded! I feel like I could read this verse every day for a year getting new insight and perspective every day. Here's what struck me this morning...

"For whoever has, to him more will be given" If you have spiritual hunger, you will be given food. If you desire- you WILL be filled! ("and he will have abundance") 

However, more often than not- I am not one of those extremely blessed people! I think the biggest struggle in my spiritual life is lack of hunger. So, you may think it odd, but this next verse encouraged me greatly...

"But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." If you lack spiritual hunger or desire for God, soon even the knowledge of what you lack will be taken from you. You will forget that you have no hunger. You won't be able to tell that you lack anything! Let alone the importance of whats missing. This is a very dangerous position to be in, for there is little hope for the one who does not know he is spiritually dying, apart from divine intervention.

  So, here's why I am so encouraged: I know that I lack spiritual hunger! That knowledge has not been taken away from me. I am blessed! I can cry out for the Lord to fill my lack, to give me hunger. Then when I have hunger, I am assured- He will give me food, an abundance of it!  

  Therefore, when you realize your great lack in an area of your spiritual life, count yourself blessed! God has given you that knowledge for a purpose- to cry out to Him to fill up your lack. But often times the warning comes softly, as a whisper, or a slight hunch that you are growing lazy and dull in your pursuit of the Lord. If you do not take violent action upon that slight hunch, soon even that will be taken away from you.

Oh Lord, let that never be!

Keep running!
LM

Valentines day: the unimportance of romance.

Okay, I'll admit- romance is very important at certain times in your life. But I do think that we as a younger generation in this time and culture put WAY too much emphasis on it. And it's not even close to the most important kind of love... That said, here's the post for today:


This post was really about my birthday (which was yesterday) but it goes along with the holiday too now that I think about it.

  I was looking forward to my birthday last week and found myself sighing a little with anticipation and delight. And I thought, 'although I love the stuff, the best part of my birthday is the strong reminder of how much I am loved.'
  A girl needs to be reminded of that! And my family is near tops when it comes to loving me but around birthday time... they start layin' it on real thick. It's awesome!

  Love is to our hearts like water to our physical bodies.

  You can't just tell someone, "I love you." and be covered for the rest of your life, just like you can't drink a glass of water and expect to stay hydrated for a year- or even the rest of the afternoon! We all (but I think us girls especially) need to drink love like water to stay emotionally hydrated.
  There's nothing I thrive on more than constant affirmation from people that I trust. When I am convinced of their love, I don't just press on- I dance through my day! Sometimes it just takes a few words...   "Love you!"     "You're pretty amazing"     "You look so good today!"

   But sometimes words just aren't enough. You know when you're having a pretty awful day and when someone says you're awesome, you just don't believe them? A couple of my family members are pretty good at discerning when I am not emotionally capable of believing their words alone. And that's when they bring out the big guns... presents. :)

  Now, I know that sounds horribly materialistic and spoiled little girl-like but hang with me here. It's not necessarily gonna cost money but it does have to cost. Some presents (for lack of a better word) cost time. Some cost effort in being long thought-out. Some cost money or another such sacrifice. But it's the very cost that strikes something in my heart. 

  The cost proves their love in a stronger way. It makes me believe I am loved.

Sometimes words are enough. Sometimes they aren't. God made us with a longing to be loved, wanted, needed and adored. Constantly. Which is why we can be totally overwhelmed by a verse in the bible or a word from the Holy Spirit or a revelation of God's love, then two days later we're fighting depression. There's nothing wrong with us! We just have to keep drinking! 

God not only made us to need His love constantly but to need human love as well. Yes! We need each other. It's the second commandment placed only less than #1. The love of the people around us, family, friends, people we trust, is vital to our thriving. No one thrives on independence. We are all inter-dependent.

  So, I would put to you today (on Valentines and after) these 2 things:

First, don't resent or resist your God-given need to be loved. Let others love you.

(Caution: Be wise about this! It is the love of family that we need- sometimes that means friends who are so close they become like part of your family. Although most of us ladies will end up having boyfriends and/or getting married, it is not this kind of love that is the 2nd commandment. 
  It is quite possible (and easier than you think!) to thrive without the "romantic" type of love. God-love and family-love is the water we cannot survive without.)

Not to say romantic love isn't God-given. It totally is! But don't depend on it entirely. You need God's love. You need family-love.

Second, think about the people who need your love. Family and friends who need to hear you say those words like they need water. And sometimes they might need a little more- something that's gonna cost you. Be generous with your love! Go out of your way, over the top, to show your family and friends that you love them. It's an investment. (And the pay-back is well worth it- I promise!)

Let yourself be loved. And love others well.

Happy Valentines, beautiful girls!

XOLM
John 15:12

The mid-January resolution slump.

Dear sisters,
    
         Well, it's that time of the year... mid-January. Did anyone make a new years resolution? Can you still remember it? :) Seriously, I'm the worst at this. Last year I outright refused to make any resolution at all because of the imminent failure I perceived as unavoidable. Maybe it was because of a whole year off that, come this December, I was ready to take the plunge into another written recitation of goals... I think it was sheer forgetfulness. But here we are, mid-January once again and I can't say much for my track record so far.
  Which brings me to 2 points I'd like to make (both here and in real life if I can!) about resolutions.

1. Plan to fail. Yep, you read that right. If you always failed in the past and you're expecting to fail again... yeah, you probably will. Just consider that part of the plan. But here's the rest... don't stay down. Get back up, press delete in your mind and take off runnin'. And every time you get up, just pretend it's Jan. 1st again and you are gonna do this!
  Cause let's be honest, most of us make the goal, fail, then give up, right? But what if you got back up and plowed ahead again, full force! Well, give it a couple days and you'll probably fail again. Get good at starting over. I mean, really good at it. What if all year long you kept getting back again and going full force just like it was January 1st? 
  I'd wager you'd be pretty far along to your goal by July. Even closer come October. Maybe even almost there at the end of November... still failing every now and again, but still getting up and goin'.
  It's okay to fail. Simply because, you're going to! And furthermore, God doesn't really mind. He expects us to fail and waits eagerly to help us get back up! (just picture a happy couple, adoringly watch their baby take his first steps, even though he falls a gazillion times they ooh and ahh, encouraging him to get back up and try again. They are delighted with him. This is how God looks at us when we fail. Don't give up!! Fail. Get up. Fail again? Get up again. And again.)

2. It's easier to keep going then to keep starting over. Okay, this is going to sound like the complete opposite of point number 1... but it's really more advice for September... maybe mid-October. You've been failing, getting back up, failing, goin' at it again, etc... and high fives to you! By consistently starting over, I say- you're a success! 
  But it does get tiring after awhile. We become fed up with starting over and over, achieving little perceived progress (although learning to keep getting back up is major progress actually!).
  I read a quote on twitter the other day, "If you HATE starting over. Stop quitting!"
  First, get good at starting over. But eventually, just refuse to quit!

Well, I gotta go fish out that new years resolution again... I think it's somewhere under my bed. :)

What's your resolution?

Keep runnin',
LM