Birthday Visioning

I just celebrated my 32nd birthday, and here is a list of what I hope will be my overarching vision this year (listed in no particular order):

1. To transition joyfully in parenting two children. This means in our marriage as well as in how I care for Adam and our baby (to be named). I know that the first six weeks or so are especially tough, and amid the waves of hormones and Adam getting used to being a big brother, I'd love to experience joy amid the adjustment to a new phase of family life and the pain of another c-section recovery.
2. To grow in courage. I want to specifically address some of my life fears. I want to be willing to try more new things, to be more peaceful about parenting, and to be willing to be an adventurer and explorer wherever that will take me! (Disclaimer: I think I will continue to detest spiders! I am just trying really hard not to show my fear of spiders to our son!)
3. To grow in intimacy with Jesus. Even though - or maybe because - I've been a Christian for awhile, I am realizing that this is not just a) an unrealistic goal or b) an option! This past summer has already been a deeper time of wrestling with who I perceive God to be and who he really is, which makes me all the thirstier to know the truth about him! I'm reading The Pleasures of God (by John Piper) and The Heart That Dances (a devotional, I forget the author's name), and as God tends to do for me through books (Christian or not), these two books seem perfectly coordinated in terms of what stands out to me and challenges me! I'm enjoying new freedom in expressing anger, cynicism, questions, and my mixed bag of ideas to God, and somehow this has begun translating into deeper prayer times and a more joyful heart even in the midst of mundane life activities like doing the laundry (and trust me, that's no small thing! I am no Housecleaning Diva!)!