Resolutions

I love me some New Year’s resolutions. In fact, I think we should make resolutions more often, forever perfecting ourselves. It’s a shame that less than half the people who make resolutions actually keep them. My brother made a video the other day talking about Excuses. He said , “Have you ever said you were going to start doing or stop doing something and then ended up not following through.” And the truthful answer is: YES, we all have. You know those sermons where you think, OH crap, he’s talking to me. Well, we aren’t all the same but we all relate to something and we can all relate to that. Failure is not having a setback, its giving up completely. I think people get those two confused. If you think every setback is failure, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble. You have to keep on pushing toward the person you want to become. Therefore, my resolutions are geared towards creating a better “me” by taking a look at what my priorities appear to be on the outside and changing them to what I plan on the inside. Sometimes we don’t always act how we should, and we as people know that. Things just don’t turn out the way you plan because we let our emotions take control. So practicing what I preach was a big one for me this year. I have to stop allowing my feelings to explode at everything and everyone. For right now I am going to focus on the most important thing to me(on this earth), my family. This year I want to show them what God’s unconditional love feels like, through pouring out my love to them.

My first Resolution: Be more like Benji

Matthew 18:3 "And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

I love this verse because as we get older we get closer to the idea that kids know nothing. We see a lot of the times in movies that kids don’t know what love is because their too young. This baffles me. I love kids. I believe that they know love better than we as adults do. Hanging out with a child for a whole day and acting like they do can be so empowering. I decided to watch Benji for a few days. This time it wasn't how I studied them before in Child development, looking for their reflexes and motor skills. This time, it was looking for what his priorities were. Here is what I found.

Benji is such a helper. More than ten times I watched him willingly get whatever another person needed. Diego would yell from outside, “Benji can you get me a plastic bag,” and Benji would excitedly jump off the couch, run, get a bag, and say, “Daddy, here you go, I got you a bag, I got you a bag, look!” For him it was such a pleasure. I realized that it’s because of Benjamin’s attitude toward helping that people even ask for his help. He is definitely not lazy. Sitting and watching TV is only an option 10 minutes after he wakes up and 10 minutes before he goes to bed. He isn’t your sit and watch cartoons all morning kind of kid. Sometimes I wish that he was for my own selfish reasons but at the end of the day I am really glad that he’s not. It is amazing how forgiving he is. He’s mad for about 2 minutes after every spanking but that’s about it. He is so sweet sometimes with his kisses and walking me to the door when I have to leave for work and yelling at me, “Mommy I love you moooooooore,” until he can’t see me anymore. He is so loving and I wish I could be more like Him everyday. He genuinely cares about the people around him. There are somethings that money can’t buy and he sees them better than I do. I want to be a guide for him, I want him to describe me as gentle, caring, compassionate, and an understanding mother. I want him to know that there is nothing he could do that would ever make me ashamed or not understanding. Loving him is my first resolution for the year.

My second and last resolution of the year is doing the same for my husband Diego.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I am not patient, kind, and I do all the things with Diego that I shouldn't, I boast, I'm too proud, I'm self-seeking, easily angered, and I definitely keep a record of wrongs. The person I least control my emotions around is my poor husband. I know that he might not always feel loved by me because I am not always patient and kind. And that makes me sad. I wish that he always knew how much I value and admire him. He is a lot like Benjamin. He is hard working, very active, and so considerate. He got a promotion and one of the first things that he did was call me to tell me that I don’t have to go to work if I don’t want to. I appreciated that so much, not because I didn’t have to work but because me staying at home with Benji was satisfaction and an accomplishment for him. I felt loved and so happy that helping me was more gratifying than the extra money. He also called the gym the other day to see if I made it alright because there was a storm and I had forgotten my phone at home. He also genuinely cares about me and others. He is so good with Benjamin and everything around the house. He definitely does his share of dishes and cleaning the floors. I can’t complain about my husband at all, and I don’t. Sometimes like Benjamin, I wish he would just sit down and relax, but again, that’s because I have a problem not him. There are standards that I still was holding him to and when he didn’t fulfill them I complained. It was sickening and I no longer care what he does and doesn’t do for me, no one wants to be around a nagger. I want to be someone that is a pleasure to be with, especially with my family. And that wasn’t who I was being. I want to be a gentle and compassionate wife to Diego. I hope he knows that he is my number one person on this earth. That I would do anything and everything for him. That I love him now and always will until I die, because that's what I choose. According to God, I am one with him.
Please share your resolutions with me, I love hearing about other people's success stories. Go get em', become a better you!

Here are my handsome men!!