so this is the new year.

I spent my new years eve in the back of a minivan with mini van voorsts. and also regular sized van voorsts. we drove, along with my parents, to south carolina this week to go to my grandpa's funeral. I am so thankful for how the situation turned out. while I was missing what was sure to be a great party in iowa city at the meyer's, I got to spend over thirty hours in vehicles with my family in less than a week. that probably doesn't happen much in adulthood. what a blessing.

thirty hours, as you can imagine, is a lot of time to think. with the new year approaching, I was thinking about what I wanted to change. as a habitual habit changer, I am prone to have lists upon lists of self-improvements. I have come to the realization that what I need most work on is not internal, but external. I need to stay in touch. I need to come alongside people in need. I need to keep friendships alive. I need to crave conversations with the lost. The last 3 months have taught me these lessons well. in hard ways. in encouraging ways.

so yep. I'm going to keep trying to go to the gym a few times a week. I'm going to keep disciplining myself to an appropriate amount of coca-cola everyday. I'm going to give myself goals that normal people already do with common sense. I'm going to give myself crazy goals. I'm going to fail. but those things aren't what I'm working towards this year.

enter the year of the relationships. to His glory.