Happy New Year! I love a fresh start! It’s like a personal reset for my life. Like many of you I am pondering my “New Year’s Resolutions”. I have several areas of my life I am wanting to grow in over this upcoming year. What about you?

Paul, the apostle, understood the importance of a “reset”. He had been a persecutor of Christians before he became a follower of Jesus. In his letter to the Philippi Christians, he said, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do; ‘Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

This world can easily distract us from pursuit of a relationship with God. More than anything God longs to be in relationship with us. He has a mission for our family that goes beyond all we can imagine. (Ephesians 3:20) So often, we settle for the things the world values rather than living out our full mission and purpose while in this world.

If we sat over a cup of coffee and I asked you what your family is striving to achieve in the months ahead, what would you share with me? What is most important to us is what occupies our thoughts, money and time. As I launch into this new year, I am asking myself, “If someone I didn’t know was looking at my life and my family, would they see pursuing a relationship with Jesus is important to me?”

Friends, God longs to be in relationship with you. He longs for you to lean in each morning and ask Him to open your eyes to how He can use your life today. If we are looking for the activity of God around us each day, we will begin to have a book full of “God Stories” we can share with our kids over dinner. Imagine their wide eyes, as they hear how God answered your prayer today. Imagine their excitement when they hear the story of how God used you to help someone in need.

This month in our Faith and Family Boxes we are going to focus on being “Cross Fit”. We are going to go back to the basics of our relationship with God and make some commitments on how we want to grow spiritually in the year ahead. You can join in with us through our blog posts throughout the month.

Paul shared with Timothy, a young pastor, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.” 1 Timothy 4:8

Let’s Get “Cross Fit” Together,

Katrina & The Faith & Family Box Team