less.

I refrained from posting this earlier because I realized that I wasn't living according to what I was writing.

At the beginning of 2013, I chose "extend" as my word for the year.

to spread or stretch forth; to make available; to cause to reach; to increase the scope, meaning, or application of

And then, I promptly forgot about it.

Nonetheless, looking back over 2013, I would definitely say that I extended myself and my life in several ways.

There was, and continues to be, the Baking Brigade. (Except, next month marks the one-year anniversary and I feel like it's the same now as it was then, but more on that later.) The end-of-the-year decision to develop more community within our home life group. (Like asking others to facilitate discussions or lead a devotional.) The start of volunteering at a counseling center on post. The season of opening our home, our lives, to two children. The start of a deployment. The deeper growth of my walk with Christ. (It was amazing, but personal, so I don't want to share it here yet/ever.) The process of helping friends move. The +3,415 miles I drove across the country in two weeks.

So, given that I didn't intentionally focus on my chosen word during 2013, I decided to go with less of a word and more of a theme for 2014. I debated about whether to even bother with it this year, especially because I couldn't even think of a word, but God worked this year's theme into my heart pretty quickly.

Recently, a friend posted a video about Pastor Lee Jong-Rak and his baby dropbox. I watched it and sobbed through most of it, deeply saddened by the need for such a ministry and inspired by the love and faith of Pastor Lee and his wife and staff. I felt driven to do something but stuck where I am. I also thought of Meggan Murkli and her ministry in a Romanian orphanage.

And I was like, "God, why am I not doing something amazing for You?"

I thought of the violence in the Central African Republic. Why is our media not reporting more about this? And then my thoughts turned to me. Me. In my house with lots of furnishings and clean water and interior plumbing and more clothes than I need and three dogs that are fed more regularly than many people across the world and climate control and so much else. And that's when I realized what I need to do this year: learn to live with less.

My goal is to learn to be content with less and to become a better steward of the funds and resources God provides.