I'm being very cautious about the new things I commit to for the unspoiled ground ahead in my calendar. This year I'm taking a different approach for that "to do" list of resolutions. "In with the new, out with the old" isn't working and I've devised an alternative.

I'm hunting for anchors on my resolution list. What are the absolutes, the solid things that I don't want to throw out this year ? Are there some old things that make life good ?

Like not exercising, just as I've always done ?

To find out which of the old is worth keeping, I'll take these first days of the New Year and wrestle some time to figure it out. To climb up above the every day and be pensive about the ground ahead.

Time management experts have illustrated this approach with the story of the thick forest and the need to cut a path through it to get to the desired destination. Before the path can be created, you're best to climb a high tree, survey the forest and decide which way you're going before you start chopping at the trees.

So where is that sturdy tree I climb to survey the forest ahead of me in 1997 ? For me it is my faith in God. I search out the Almighty, (on my part this will take silence and absolute aloneness) and up I climb.

Reaching, praying for God's wisdom, I start my upward move. With effort and strain, I drop selfish, sinful packings that hinder the climb. Up near the very tall reaches of God's ideals for my life, I wondrously blink at the forest ahead. From this vantage, there are some absolutes, some anchors that chart me through the decisions that lay ahead of me.

My first absolute; I am made in the image of God.

This is not my idea, but God's actual blueprint of how the human race began. Everything I do should reflect the fact that there is some of God's character in me. Obviously, this means I'm on the hook for my attitude towards physical exercise. Just as I am when it comes to self esteem, fear, or bitterness. The attitudes and activities I reach for should reflect the reality that God is in me. This means there will be plenty of stretching mind, soul and body in 1997.

My second absolute; People are not disposable. It seems this was God's reason for why He's involved in the world at all, so why should I minimize it ? This will be the very bedrock my family choices center on. My lifestyle whims must never erode the absolute that I am a wife and mother, responsible to love, nurture and help those with whom I've been knit together. People are not disposable; this anchor is going to affect relational choices at home, work and beyond.

The third absolute; Life has purpose. Years ago, I discovered a few anchors in the Bible which prove I'm not meant to be neutral or apathetic about the happenings of life. Ready, set, tackle is the cry of Ephesians 2:10. It's just one Biblical reminder that shows I was made to glorify God and that the conquering of good works await me.

I don't know what the view looks like from the tall tree in your forest, but here's a New Year's toast to the challenge to climb up and take a look.