#1. Put down the ipad, iphone, and whatever else distracts me from my family! You might think this is an oxy-moron since I'm on my ipad right now writing this, however, I want to make sure that my family time, my time in the evenings after work, is not spent on my phone or anything else. I want my children to remember that they had my undivided attention and not that I was always distracted. I want to invest in my marriage and I want my husband to feel like I'm invested...not that I'm giving myself and my attention over to other, lesser things. My plan? I will be on here in the early mornings and late evenings, but you may have a harder time finding out what I'm up to when I'm with my family, and that's okay because it's more important to make memory after memory with the loves of my life than to document all those memories on Facebook!
#2. Spend more time with the most important person in my life, my Creator and get to know him on an even deeper level. After all, He knows me better than anyone else and has invested more in me than anyone else. My hope for this year is that my relationship with him will become stronger than it ever has. My plan to do that is to commit to a one-year Bible Reading plan and continue reading through a devotional. I will continue to be active in my church through various ministries like our children's and women's ministries. I will continue to invest in a women's Bible Study that I'm a part of because growing together in our walks with The Lord is so much more powerful than growing on our own! Last year we began a new ministry alongside our studying the Word, so I want to continue to pour myself out and let Him fill me up by participating and being an active member of something greater than myself!
#3. Become a true prayer warrior. I want to be in a constant state of prayer. This has been my goal for several years and I want to go farther in my journey to accomplishing this. When someone is hurting or is on my mind, I don't want to just say I'm praying for them, I want to be an ACTIVE prayer warrior, someone they know they can count on to be faithful in prayer. And not only that, I want to pray immediately, in the moment with people. I want them to experience God's hand at work because I'm being diligent in prayer. How am I going to do this? Well, the first thing I'm going to do is dig out my prayer journal!
#4. Invest in my children. Go on Mommy, son dates, girl time with my daughter. Take a few minutes to play with my children, help them with their homework, work on the things they struggle with and celebrate the things they're good at, and guess what? If I'm not on my phone and ipad, I can do just that! So I think my plan for #1 will help with this one too.
#5. Be diligent with our money and savings. Keep track of our spending and budget. Focus on the things we need and our goals, and set aside for those things. How do I plan to do this? Well, I'm going to start by reading Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey!
#6. Be a better housekeeper. As long as kids are in the house, this can be so difficult! This is especially difficult for me because I tend to be more of a Mary spirit than a Martha. I tend to spend time playing with my kids, watching movies, reading, writing, studying my Word...but all of these things can be very difficult to do in a messy house!!!!! So my plan will be to prioritize and figure out the things that need to be done daily, weekly, and monthly. Also, give my kids more things to do, lol!
#7. Organize...oh I can't even begin to describe all of the things that need organized, the basement, the kids schoolwork, pictures, bedrooms, my life, lol. I joke with a mentor of mine (who happens to be very good at this) that I'm going to hire her sometime to organize my life! And she jokes that the task would be too difficult, lol! My goal is that if anything out of the ordinary happens to any of us (like a broken ankle that keeps you down and out for 3 months), then the house can still go on! This year, I'm going to focus on one area at a time, so it doesn't become overwhelming.
#8. Eat better and lose weight....we'll see. This is always a goal that never quite gets accomplished. SO if anyone has any ideas, let me know! lol
#9. Know our heritage. This is actually something my husband and I have been talking about a lot. We've been wanting to know our grandparents/great-grandparents stories to pass on to our children. We are actually going to create a book for our kids that has their heritage. My plan? To spend time individually with all of our grandparents asking them questions and getting to know our history. We try to spend time with them every year anyway, so this won't be too much!
#10. Write. Spend time writing. I miss it anyway. I have always loved writing and have a few books started...I've just taken a little time off for various reasons, but I'm ready to get back out there! So, I will make sure I spend a little time each week writing; maybe I'll set aside a specific day each week just to write. My goal is to have at least one of those books finished by the end of the year!
#11. Journal. I started a journal for each of my kids. I've tried scrapbooking...it's not for me. I just can't keep up with it, so several years ago, when I was pregnant with my second kid, I got the idea to start a journal for each of my kids and just write in it anytime I want to. Write advice on life, love, faith, and tell stories, and things they say. It's been awhile since I've written in them, so it's time to pick them back up. Maybe I'll set aside Sat or Sun mornings, just to journal.
#12. Be more than a pastor's wife, but a woman of God. Stop holding myself to standards that I think everyone else expects, but hold myself to God's Word and who He wants me to be. And when I fail, as I will, stop thinking about who's disappointed, but think about how I can lean on Him and allow Him to lead. Be gentle with His people. Try to see through His eyes rather than what I think people should be or how they should be living. Be loving- remember what He has done for me and how He's loved me, and love without expectation or hindrance. Allow myself to be vulnerable and let Him pick up the pieces. Find my strength in Him alone.
#13. Be a better wife. Pay attention to my husband, the things he loves, the places where he needs encouragement, and be cautious of the things that frustrate him. PUBLICLY encourage and respect my husband. Build him up, and when I tear him down (because I will make a mistake and fail at this), then work harder to build him back up. When I say something that indicates that I don't trust him, work that much harder the next time and say multiple things that show I do trust him. Allow him to lead our family and make decisions, even if I think there's a better way. Allow God to break my pride so that my husband knows I trust him and respect him. And show interest in the things he likes- it doesn't always have to be about me! How are you going to do this? Through God alone. Through time spent in prayer for my husband, lifting him up, and through prayer, asking God to do a work in me first.
And #14. Above all, trust in The Lord. Know that I am going to fail, time and time again, but know that He is faithful. And where I fail, He will not. So "trust in The Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding."
Keep running the race. You're going to fall, you're going to slip up. You're going to get to 2015 and look back on all of your hopes and goals for 2014 that didn't happen. But know, that He's not looking back. When you ask, He forgives your past and looks forward to your future. "For I know the plans that I have for you declares The Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." And know that, as my favorite verse says in Luke 1:37, "Nothing is impossible with God."
