New year - new blog!

    "So whadya do for New Years?" - people keep asking us.  Ummm....well, nothing exciting, except calling up the Saints and friends in Ghana!  That WAS exciting, though, come to think of it!  We have Brothers and Sisters all the way across the big pond (Atlantic Ocean)!  Isn't that exciting?!  We could use this nifty little thing called a cell phone and hear their voices and enjoy their surprise and delight as they heard us, especially when Zion and Havilah shouted out to them "Happy New Year!"  That WAS exciting!  We even SAW some of our dear brethren and talked face-to-face (okay... screen-to-screen!) on Skype.  Now, THAT was exciting too!  Sure, the connection wasn't perfect and more than half of the phone numbers we tried didn't go through, but after living in Ghana and knowing the plethora of technical difficulties that come with getting anything done over there, we were thrilled and ecstatic for the connections we COULD make.  It WAS exciting! 
   Then we cleaned house - literally!  We spent all afternoon of the first day in 2012 cleaning up our cute little apartment.  It's a little apartment, but was a BIG mess from the flurry of holiday activities.  What a good way to start the year (yes, this is Jessica writing!) - with a clean home!  Why was it important to clear stuff off the couch and chairs, vacuum the rug, sweep the floors, put away clothes, and so on ad infinitum!?  Because we've got a Bible study this evening!  A family with two young children will be coming over to our home and before I (this is Attah writing now!) can continue to share with them what God's plan of salvation revealed through the Scriptures is, they will need a place to sit on the couch in a living room cleared of too many visual distractions while the kids play in a bedroom that's clean and safely stocked with toys.
   As we have started this New Year, I think it is high time we clean our spiritual houses. We need to put away those unhelpful habits and impediments, including "the sin" which so easily entangles us. What is the reason behind this all? Because it's good for us, and it will help us in the long run? Yes...and that's good. But more importantly, we need to do this so we can be prepared and ready to serve and glorify God wherever and whenever the opportunity may arise. Whether its in the form of encouraging a brother or ministering to one completely lost, we need to be ready.  Whether to someone near or far and whether in person or through some form of modern communication technology, we need to be ready. It is a fact that people almost always find a way to do what is really important to them. I am sure you all have a number of goals you want to achieve this year like losing weight, breaking an addiction, developing a better prayer life, memorizing scriptures regularly, or studying the Bible yourself and with others, etc. Don't we all :). The question I want to leave you with is what are you going to clean out of your life and for what greater purpose?