Yet another one of my Plans That May Not Be Goals, But Are Still Worth Mentioning is better communication with my family and friends. In this day of instant messaging, texts, email, Facebook and Twitter it seems as if we’re communicating all the time but one of my favorite cousins’ lives less than 30 miles away and I haven’t seen her in over a year. My best friend lives a ½ a block from me and I only see her at church.

This year I want to be more purposeful about my communication. I don’t want to assume that everything’s okay just because I haven’t heard differently. I don’t want to look up one day and realize it’s been weeks since I’ve spoken with someone important to me. I don’t want to hear news about my family and friends from a third party.

I’m not saying I won’t utilize all the communication options available to me. I love texting; it’s all the contact without all the extraneous … stuff. No, I’m still gonna text and email and Facebook (is that a verb?), I’m just gonna try to be more intentional about it. And I’m gonna add face-to-face contact as much as possible, like dates with my husband, lunches with my bff and cousin, and Sunday lunches with the in-laws. I’m even gonna be deliberate about calling those who don’t text/email/Facebook so much- Grandma and Brenda I’m talking about you. Hold me to it!

If this past year of loss has taught me anything, it’s that we must be involved in, not peripheral to people’s lives. I’m not saying that I regret the level of involvement we had with Jack’s parents –our contact with them was almost daily; it’s that I can’t claim that level of involvement with most other family members and friends.

I believe God placed me here for His glory. I believe He placed me here, amongst this specific set of people because He has specific plans for His glory through my participation in these people’s lives and their participation in mine. Acting on this belief, I must be Christ-like in my communication as well. That’s a lot of big words and responsibilities to attach to a text or emoticon. No small goal-that’s-not-a-goal there.