a late start

This is my first blog for the new year and you can see that I'm getting a late start. My excuse: Both of our computers died in the last month and we finally have a new Gateway laptop. Also we've been in the process of sorting, moving, rearranging, resorting, and finally tossing many things to get our house ready to show and to start thinking of packing up to move. Wow! We have a lot of stuff and it's hard to decide what to part with. You know, you never need certain things until you decide to haul them off to Goodwill.
But I did have a Bible verse picked out as my verse for this new year as I have begun to study I and II Peter. "Therefore, prepare you minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." I Pet 1:13. Probably one of the most quoted verses from I Peter is the verse found in this same chapter one - "Be holy, because I am holy," verse 16. That's quite a challenge - or should I say a COMMAND! How do we accomplish that? Well, I believe the key is in that verse 13 with 3 ingredients to living a holy life. 1 - prepare you minds: get the right mindset, keep learning, thinking, delving into ideas 2 - be self-controlled: take responsability for your actions, think (and pray) before you act 3 - set your hope on Christ's return: in other words keep in mind the view of eternity. There is more to life than this existence on earth. Keep things in perspective. I think if we can consciously make an effort each day to practice those things we will live holy lives. Holy is a word we don't use much but it is certainly required of us according scripture. That is one of the major tennants of the Nazarene Church. I pray that I will not settle for less.
Well I'm off to emptying our night stands - the task for today. What shall I do with all those birthday cards from throughout the years?