The New Year's Resolutions of a Toddler

Happy New Year! Have you made your resolution list yet? I'm not a huge fan of such things, but I thought it would be interesting to talk with Kate about it this morning while we were eating breakfast - meal time is about the only time I can convince her to stay still long enough to talk these days.

So here's a short vlog of Kate talking about the things she wants to do this year...

My personal favorite resolution she made was about telling me when she needs to go potty! She independently decided last spring she was done with diapers, so whether we were ready or whether we thought she was ready or not was a moot point. She does so well going potty for a while, but we still don't seem over the proverbial hump where we have those inevitable phases of backsliding.

Listening to Kate share what she wants to do this year and seeing how good it felt when she listed things like improving her potty skills made me wonder if that's how God feels when He listens to my resolutions. Do His eyes perk when he sees I want to read my Bible everyday or improve my prayer life? If they do, then how should that affect what I put on my list?

And when I have seasons of backsliding in an area of my life I'm trying to improve how does He respond to my inevitable shortcomings? Which brings me to a very self convicting last question: does my response to Kate's backsliding look anything like the Lord's response to mine? I'm still growing and learning and messing up continually just like she does - it's just in different areas.

I guess I just found my resolution for this year. I want to try my best to reflect the Lord's character in my interactions with Kate as we go about our daily life - both in the fun times of play and in the less than fun times of potty accidents or disobedience. I want to be unwavering in what is right and wrong; reward the right and allow fair consequences for the wrong; and freely give grace, love, and encouragement regardless of the circumstances.

There's a big difference in making a resolution and keeping it. I'm going to try my best, but I already know there will be moments of backsliding. But I guess when you backslide and re-climb up the hill you're burning calories, so I'll lose some weight in the process and kill two birds with one resolution!