Towards the end of this past semester, I had three Safari pages I never closed on my iPhone: the NYU E bus schedule, accuweather, and an article about William Borden.

William Borden was born in the early 1800s as an heir to a huge family fortune. He was a bright student, too; pretty much, he could have been a millionaire and had anything in the world he wanted. But instead, God worked up a storm in this man, and he became a missionary in his campus, his community, and his world.

He wrote three phrases in the back of his Bible: “No reserves”, when he was told that he was throwing his life away. “No retreats” after he graduated from Yale and was given countless opportunities for a wealthy life. “No regrets” right before he died in Egypt at the age of twenty-five.

I remember when I was in middle school, a guest speaker told Borden’s story at a revival I was attending with my youth group. I suddenly remembered it this semester, and when I looked into Borden’s life-story, I was blown away. Starting from when he was a freshman at Yale, he first gathered just a few friends to pray together in the morning. By the time he was a senior, 1,300 students were meeting in groups to pray for their campus. Starting from one man, God moved like wildfire.

I was asked today what my new year’s resolutions for 2012 were. Of course, I’ve been juggling ideas, but I haven’t quite made a list yet. Heh~ considering the title, it only seems right to say “IN 2012, I WILL LIVE WITH NO RESERVES, NO RETREATS, AND NO REGRETS”, yea? My goodness, that’s grandiose; it’s way too big for me. Borden was what I can only describe as, truly, a man of God. He wrote those words when faced with enormous life decisions, and through and through, all he wanted to do was play the background.

I, on the other hand, have made quiiite a few mistakes this past semester alone in a bunch of different aspects. I have so much wiggle room in my faith walk, and it often makes me forget how not to make the same mistakes over again. Mm, I think I’d be wrong to say that I can’t be like William Borden; it’s assuming that God can’t do amazing things, but in my case, it’d be more like a miracle.

Well, New Year’s day seems as good a time as any to begin tightening some screws and getting rid of that wiggle room, yes?! Yes. One thing I try to tell my small group girls whenever we’re sharing prayer requests or goals for the week is to be concrete and specific—to say exactly what and when. So, I guess I do need an actual list of resolutions (which will most likely be for my eyes only hehe). But one thing that rings true in William Borden’s life-story and that I hope will be the focus of my resolutions for 2012 is to walk by faith and not by sight. Maybe, then, I’ll have no regrets.

2012, I AM READY FOR YOUUU!