Not sure about you, but by this time in the year, my New Year’s resolutions are already beginning to blur. My clear resolve to not text while driving still remains intact, but I admit that I am already back into the old habit of taking a cell phone call or two (or three) during my daily drive times. New gym routines are quickly reverting back to my “old faithful” workouts. My grocery cart has a few more “fun snacks” in tow than it did the first couple weeks of the month. Yes. These well-intentioned resolutions of mine may have already slowly lowered since January 1, but this year I made one resolution my highest priority. I resolved to live a higher resolution life!

High Resolution is a photography term that caught my eye this past season.

Just last weekend my hubby and I needed to take some photos “that really mattered.” As we organized the annual FCA Coach Spouse Weekend retreat, we planned to take a picture of each of the 90 couples who attended. We knew these photos had a higher purpose. Although cell phone pics are good for quick text reminders or social media posts, we wanted to duplicate, print, and gift these photographs to each couple as a keepsake in a magnetic frame for the front of their fridge. For something that will last, we needed to bring out the “big camera”—our Canon. Why? Because we needed the highest resolution possible for the photos to be clear, long-lasting, and easily reproducible.

In a similar way, we as mommas have a high calling from God “that really matters.” We have a higher purpose in our parenting that needs high resolution lives. So even though some other resolutions may fade, picture with me what High Resolution lives can look like for mommas like us in 2020.

First, high-resolution moms seek to see Christ clearly in His Word. I still apply, almost every day, the challenge I heard from a speaker years ago. He encouraged us to “have 20/20 vision when reading God’s Word. Don’t just read a text; but read context. Don’t read one verse; think 20/20. Instead read 20 verses before and 20 verses after.”

For years this 20/20 challenge (and resources like Heart of Womanhood Bible Studies) have helped me (and my daughters) apply the principles of the Bible more clearly as we seek God’s bigger picture perspective. In a similar way, high resolution mommas in 2020 must see our lives with holy 20/20 vision too. Whether you are in the toddler phase where hourly moments of tedious training and time-outs blur your vision OR in the teenage years where fluctuating feelings and fickle friendships fade your faith-filled focus, I have found that frequently zooming out to view today’s trials within God’s “big picture” biblical context keeps my spiritual resolve clearly in sight.

Secondly, high-resolution moms are “in process.” Like camera film, we are daily being developed. At the marriage retreat I mentioned earlier, God tapped my spiritual auto-focus button to clarify my goal of marriage, as well as parenting. The paradigm shift came when we were asked, “Are you here this weekend to make your MARRIAGE BETTER or to let God use your marriage to make YOU BETTER?”

Same with parenting, right? Is God’s highest goal for us to be a better parent (or even have better kiddos) OR is it to experience how God can use the process of our parenting and our children to develop us into a clearer image of Christ…to make US BETTER? Ouch! The word sanctification describes this developing process. And moms, remember that in the photography world, it is dark rooms that are used to clearly develop the highest quality film.

So, when the pressures of parenting loom large and overexpose the sin in you or your child, remember that we are in the “process” of God making us better. He is developing our image into a sharper, clearer reflection of Himself.

Finally, high-resolution moms pursue high-pixel parenting. A pixel is an abbreviation for the smallest “Picture Element” present in digital photographs. The higher the pixel numbers, the greater the image possesses the fine detail required for sharp reproduction. Pixels are dots (or squares) of color. The closer these units of color are to each other, the closer the image reflects the original subject it represents.

As you may guess, the high-pixel parenting I am proposing is about us being moms in 2020 who stay as close to Christ as possible. We are here as God’s image bearers. And if, more than any other resolutions, we simply begin each day resolved to face Christ before we face our children, we will see more of the next generation develop the same resolve. In both photographs and families, high resolution is required for best reproduction. God’s heart desires long-lasting reproductions of His glory revealed in those who seek closeness and oneness with Christ above all else.

As high-resolution moms we have this simple (but not easy) goal. We have a focused mission that matters: To know Christ and make Him known. The saying “It’s not WHAT you know but WHO you know that really matters” applies to many areas of life, including high resolution parenting. Paul makes our one resolution clear in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “I highly resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

So, for 2020, other resolutions may come to nothing, but if we live as high-resolution moms who daily know Jesus more personally and passionately, then it will be a year lived for His highest purpose!