Looking ahead at 2012

A new year feels like a nice clean fresh piece of paper waiting to be filled.  What will the page look like on December 31, 2012?  What will fill up your paper this year?     

I've asked my husband to think about his goals for the coming year, and we have talked about these together. 

As I think about the coming year I am thinking of the ways I want to be a better wife and Mom.  I am thinking of what I can do to make a difference in the lives of the people God has put in my life.  I am thinking of some books I want to read this year that are in my "to read" pile. I am thinking of blog posts I want to write regarding some topics that have been on my heart lately.  Also, one thing I did realize that will happen this year is my boy will finish 2nd grade and move on to 3rd grade.  That is weird for me (as a teacher and a Mom) to think of my boy being old enough to be a 3rd grader.  Plus my boy will be at a new campus so that will be new and different for us too.

A couple things I want to do include:
~ scrapbooks... I have one school scrapbook for Caleb.  I have the pictures printed and ready and just haven't put them in yet.  I also want to make a scrapbook for my husband to keep all his articles in one place. 

~ get some more continuing ed hours for my second set of 150 hours since graduation from college.  I can get some hours through online courses or in the summer at the education service center or by reading a book.  I'll probably do all of these! 

~ The main thing I desire is to help my husband reach his goals.  As we talked I knew there were several things I could do to help him achieve his goals so that is where I want to focus this year as his helper and wife. 

~ I thought of one more....try making more things.  I was excited to make a display board for our Christmas cards this year.  It was easy and fun and would like to try making other creative things this year. 
This morning our preacher read this passage-- Romans 13:11-14--"And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh."

He asked us what we ned to leave behind as we move into 2012.   He said we may not have a problem with the sins listed in this passage but what other things do we hold on to that need to be left behind....resentment, unforgiveness, worry, fear, etc. 

Whatever happens in this year, I pray God is honored with how I live and I find ways to serve Him. 

Have a day of blessings!

2011

I see so many blog posts in my list on my Reader tonight looking back at 2011.  I've been thinking about what was on my goal list I made at the beginning of this year and had to go back and take a look.  In the past I've revisited my goal list periodically through the year here on my blog but didn't do that this year for whatever reason. 

So looking back at my goals, I see there wasn't that much on the list and most of it has been accomplished.  I don't know that we are totally unpacked.  There are still random boxes in the garage that need to find a new place.  It is such random stuff and I'm not sure what to do with it so it's stayed in the tubs against the wall.  As far as the SHE system, I started the cards but never got that complete.  I've pretty much kept up with the basic ideas of it in my head.  I don't have a set day that I clean the tubs but I do it regularly.  I had forgotten the goal of finding new places to volunteer.  It has been such a blessing to me to be able to volunteer at Caleb's school and have two areas where I am needed there. 

This has been a blessed year for our family.  We have faced many changes with our move and my husband's new job position.  I feel we have learned a lot and enjoyed the changes that have happened.  I am thankful for the new friends we have made here.  I am thankful for the memories we made as a family, like our fun trip to Colorado.  I am thankful for Caleb's school and the teachers he has had.  I am thankful we have been healthy.  I am thankful for the many answers to prayers we have seen this year both in our family and in the lives of friends/relatives.

As Caleb said tonight before bed Gooooooodbye 2011! 

Have a day of blessings!

Are you making changes?

Hello to the first Monday of 2011! Everyone has been talking about their goals, plans, and resolutions. I find it interesting to read the goals that others make. A new year is a way to make a fresh start on areas you want to improve in your life and make some changes. This may be your physical body, relationships, finances, or spiritual life. As we close one year and turn the calendar to a new one, there is just something about January 1 that feels like we’ve been handed a clean slate. For some reason it feels easier to make changes on January 1 than on May 3 and so many of us do just that.

If you would like to read the rest of my devotional, please visit me over at Laced with Grace. Also, be sure to check out the January scripture desktop provided in the sidebar.

Have a day of blessings!

Looking ahead to 2010....

I didn't get to post my goals for 2010 on the 1st so I am now. I will use these through the years to "check up" on myself.

I have a verse that I want to remember this year and focus on through my days. It is Joshua 1:8,9--"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

I want to focus more on God's word in this year and KNOW GOD more.

Here are my goals, in no particular order!

• Bible Reading--I am going to be reading through the Bible chronologically. I've never done this before. I am not following a "read through the year" program for each day. I am taking it day by day and taking notes as I read. My goal is to know God.


• Prayer--I want to continue praying for others and be more intentional in my prayers. The prayer journal is working well for me right now so I will continue to use it.


• Verses--I will continue to have verses for the week that I will post on Sundays.


• Praise--I want to praise more throughout the day both by myself and with my boys.


• Donate blood--I always said when Caleb started school I wanted to donate blood regularly like I used to do! I have tried a few times and my iron was too low. I want to get back into that habit this year.


• Exercise--I want to have more activity in my daily life.


• Rest--Go to bed earlier (I said this last year too!).


• Declutter/organize--Another goal continued from last year!


• Reading--Maybe this year I will read a classic since I did not do this last year. I plan to continue with my book reviews; however, I am going to be more careful in the books I choose to review so I don't get to feeling like I am behind.


• Family--I want to make sure I take more time to be intentional about doing things with my family. This is something I've done lately, just little things that I do through the day but they make for fun (sometimes funny) memories of something we do together.


• Blogging--In the past few months I have seemed to find a nice balance for blogging. I want to continue this. I hope my posts will be an encouragement to my readers as I seek to follow my mission statement (posted in the sidebar).

That's all I have for now. I wish you a happy, healthy 2010.

Have a day of blessings!

Looking back at 2009....

This is my post of goals I had for 2009. I'm going to look back at these today and tomorrow I'll share some goals for 2010.

--prayer. I've gone back to a written prayer journal this year. This works well for me. I have written many of your names in my prayers this year and am thankful to see God answer!

--Bible study. I have done some word studies at the beginning of the year and read some study guides as well. One was about the book of John. This is an area I want to change and improve this year.

--budget. We completed FPU in 2009 AND paid off our debt except for the house. :)

--book reading. I did complete 50+ books this year! Two of those were audio books which I found out I enjoyed. I did not read a classic as was on my goal list last year. I did read a book for continuing education credit.

--laugh. I noticed more often times to stop and laugh and not be rushed on to the next thing. This has been great to be intentional about laughing and silly times!

--verse memorization. I did well part of the year on memorizing the verses word for word. Some weeks I didn't memorize the verses of the week, just read over them.

--be earth friendly. I've collected so many reusable bags that I normally don't have to use any plastic when I go grocery shopping. I even remember to take them in!! Caleb always tells the clerk (when he's with me), "we have our own bags." I have found a good use for plastic bags though too....we give them to the food pantry and they use them quickly. We put out our recycle tub on Thursdays too.

--organize/declutter. This continues to be an area I need to work on! We made some progress in getting rid of some stuff but we still have too much.

--get to bed earlier. Another area to work on....sometimes we do good and go to bed at a good time, other nights I talk too much!!

Have a day of blessings!

Looking ahead to 2009....

Since I looked back yesterday, today I am looking forward to the new year of 2009 that is upon us. I enjoy reflecting over the past year, but I also value this time to look ahead to a new year. It gives me a chance to think of things I want to do differently and what I want to accomplish. When I think of 2009, two things pop out in my head....first, my husband and I will be turning 30 and second, our son will turn five and go to kindergarten! There are other things I'm excited about...participating in Financial Peace University and attending a Women of Faith Conference.

I would like to share my goals with you here as I shared my goals for 2008.

--prayer. I have found a couple ideas of things I want to do with my prayer time this year. (One is shared at Spiritually Unequal Marriage, you might want to try it too.)

--Bible study. In the past year I've been reading through the Bible. This year I want to do some studies on various words and topics. I have a list started and am excited about doing this. I'll probably do a couple of study books too but really want to try doing some studying "on my own" (without study guides), just me and God's word.

--budget. We will go through FPU this year and are excited to finish paying off the school loan debt.

--book reading. I want to aim for 50 books again this year. This year I want to read a classic that I've never read before. As I write this today I wonder how many books I'll be able to read while I sit and wait in my car to pick up Caleb after school. (August is a long ways off, right!!??)

--laugh. I want to laugh more! I plan to talk about this on my blog too in the coming days.

--verse memorization. I've selected the verses already, and this year they will all be from Proverbs. Also in this category, I want to keep a list of verses I memorize with Caleb.

--be earth friendly. We already recycle and use reusable bags instead of plastic now at the grocery store. I'm going to look for other things to do this year.

--organize/declutter. I want everything to have a place!

--get to bed earlier.

I may add more if I think of additional goals. These are the ones I have on my list so far!

I'm adding this link to Lori's New Year's Meditations. Join us if you'd like!
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"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'" John 8:12

Looking back at 2008....

At the end of 2007 I posted a list of goals for 2008. I have remembered these throughout the year and wanted to post a year end recap for reference for myself.

So here is my list I typed last year with how I did written after each one.
--spend more time in prayer. I have kept a prayer list this year, and this has been beneficial. I also have cards that I pray something different for my husband and son each day. I still want to work more on this in 2009 of praying the Word in my prayers.
--verse memorization with Caleb. We've memorized verses, this isn't something I keep in a list (although that's a good idea!). I can't really say what we've memorized since this time last year!
--read with my husband. We don't read much at night. We did this off and on through the year. Right now we are working through Financial Peace University and do that on Thursday nights.
--read through the Bible. My husband and I have done this. (More on this in another post)
--book reading. My list will come to 45 books read this year. My goal was 50. I did read a book for continuing ed. credit and also read a biography (which I LOVED).
--continue going to the food pantry. Check! We were much more consistent in arriving at 8. We missed a couple times but I was pleased with this aspect of my goal list.
--our budget. I am happy we have stuck with our plan for the most part. Since my husband is coordinating the FPU class at our church beginning next month, we have redone our budget and been recharged in our intensity.
-be faithful in my exercising. This one hasn't happened. I have always struggled with this. I tried different times and different ways of exercising, but I got to the point of feeling like I was dreading it because I was missing something else like time with my son. I didn't like that feeling or feeling rushed and forcing myself to do it.

I will be looking ahead to 2009 later this week.
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"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

How could I forget this happy news!

Actually I know why I forgot to post this! I didn't make the payment myself plus the day it happened I was doing a continuing ed class so posting it to my blog didn't cross my mind till after the fact.

We got the truck paid off last week. Yippee! It was great timing actually. The window on the truck messed up. The front driver's window has broken several times. We've taken it to the same shop each time and they've repaired it under the warranty. This time they used a different brand of part so hopefully it will not happen anymore. Apparently the other brand has some issues because it keeps breaking on us. (I have no idea what the part is called, I just know it snaps and the window will no longer stay in place.) The same thing happened to the back window two weekends ago. Now both are repaired. The cost of the repairs was a little more than the cost we'd been paying towards the truck loan.

The next loan we're adding now to our "snowball" is for my husband's school loans. That one will take us longer to pay off than the car and truck, but I think once we get going, it will decrease rapidly!

It is nice to see progress, and I'm glad we've come so far this year! We're thankful.
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“I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws.”- Psalm 119:30

Check in on 2008 Goals

Since we are to June 2008, I thought it would be appropriate to look back over my list of goals for the year and see how I am doing.

--prayer--This is an area I feel I can always improve on, one of those things I need to always try to do more of. It has been a blessing to have my little prayer requests on notes in my kitchen to remind me throughout the day to pray.

--verse memorization--I am keeping up with my weekly memory verses.

--verse memorization with Caleb--I need to work on this. I did better on this when we were doing lessons consistently but with summer here I slack off in this area and don't plan as much (I think it is my "teacher blood" and my body is on the school calender! lol)

--read with my husband--We go through stages still when we read together and then we won't for a while. I figure we will do more reading since he is done with his class now.

--read through the Bible--We're both keeping up with our daily readings. I have noticed some interesting things from the Word. I need to share those here some day.

--book reading--Somewhere along the way I got behind on my finishing a book a week. I think I'll still meet my goal of reading 50 for the year. I have read a biography and a new author but still need to read my continuing ed. book.

--continue going to the food pantry--June is our one year anniversary of volunteering there. I've done much better this year of arriving by 8. Most Wednesdays we get there right at 8 or a little before. There have been some when we're running late but those are fewer now that I make a conscious effort to be there by 8.

--our budget--It has been so exciting to watch the "amount due" decrease on the truck loan. We'll have it paid off in 3 or 4 more payments, which will be about another month and a half I am figuring.

--be faithful in my exercising--This is on and off all the time. I seem to get on a roll and then have a schedule change and don't keep up.
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"Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards I will live with you forever in your home." Psalm 23:6 TLB

Check in on 2008 goals

Since we are through the first month of 2008, I thought I would do a "check-up" to see how I'm doing on my list of goals.

The things I see I am doing consistently from the list:
*verse memorization
*verse memorization with Caleb. He's so cute saying Psalm 23. He doesn't know it all yet but is getting a little more down all the time.
*Bible reading
*book reading
*food pantry. We have been arriving right at 8 or a couple minutes after.
*budget. Very excited about this one going so well so far.

So the ones left that I still need to work on include:
*spending more time in prayer. I am praying but need to more.
*reading with JMP. We need to pick a book or book of the Bible to study.
*exercising. I do sometimes but not consistently.

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"But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me." Psalm 13:5, NLT

Thinking ahead to 2008....

Recently our church had a series of lessons in Sunday School with a rotation of teachers. Each teacher taught two weeks on their subject. The last speaker taught on maturity. He used Hebrews 5:11--6:3 as his focus.

"We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so."

This lesson and the following week's lesson got me thinking on maturing. We aren't supposed to ever forget our foundation as mentioned in the beginning of chapter 6. We need to mature. These lessons really encouraged me on things I can do to improve and mature this year. I thought the new year would be a great time to post these goals for 2008. Then at the end of the year I can review and see how I did, as well as hopefully post progress along the way. Some of these are physical, some are spiritual, some are just things I want to write down so I'll remember to do them!!

So here is my list:
--spend more time in prayer. I want to be more active in praying God's Word.
--verse memorization. I mentioned this in yesterday's post of my goal to memorize a new verse each week.
--verse memorization with Caleb. Children have such sharp little minds. I want to fill my little sponge with more Bible verses this year.
--read with JMP. We go through periods when we read more together than at other times. I want us to get into some habit or pattern of reading together regularly, whether from the Bible or a study book.
--read through the Bible. JMP is joining me in this. We got a "One Year Bible" to read together.
--book reading. I keep a list of the books I read. I am interested to see how many I finish in a year starting today! Actually I finished on that I had started. I'm going to start a new list. My guess today is that I'll read at least 50 this year. Also in with the book reading I want to read one book for my continuing ed. credits and at least one in a genre I don't normally read. Today I'm thinking maybe a biography.
--continue going to the food pantry. I want to make a conscious effort to get there at 8. I've been lagging behind and getting there after 8 lately.
--our budget. JMP got the Total Money Makeover for Christmas. It was exciting to make our budget together. I'll write more about this another day this week.

Happy New Year to you and your family! I hope you see many blessings from the Lord.
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"Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please." Isaiah 56: 9, 10 NIV

I thought of something else add to the list:
--be faithful in my exercising.