Wow. Now, that would take some gumption, eh? 

Looking back, I’m confident he made his goal. After all, a granola bar is just a cookie that has been reshaped into a rectangle and repackaged to seem healthy. Cade’s pretty good at eating cookies. Especially when you take away the options of cake or candy.

Whenever I buy the humongous box of assorted granola bars from Costco, the ‘oatmeal raisin’ flavor are the last to go, since they aren’t my kids’ favorite kind of cookie granola bar. So I have been known to say, “Nobody gets any peanut butter chocolate chip ones till the oatmeal raisin are gone.” Which may have prompted Cade’s resolution. (It’s the only explanation I can come up with. And of course, he has no idea why he wrote that two years ago.)

Left to themselves, most little kids will choose ‘granola bar’ type resolutions. They will rationalize away any great need for change, and make minimal attempts at improvement. They need loving parents to help them see their weaknesses and set up a strategy for growth.

And in this way, I’m rather like a little kid. It’s so very hard for me to see my sin patterns. I minimize my faults and enlarge my strengths to the point that my whole picture of myself is distorted beyond recognition. But I have a loving Father who sees me with perfect clarity. He knows what needs to change, and he is willing to point it out. All I have to do is open his Word, and open my heart to his voice.

As 2014 kicks off, let’s find some quiet time to spend with the Father, and resolve to change what needs improvement from his perspective.