Last week, I shared with you how 2014 went. Part of what helps me to decide what I want
to work towards for the next year is to see how God has worked in my life in
the past year. Then from there I try to
make goals that will guide how I want to live the next year. These goals are flexible and I revisit them
several times throughout the year. They
always change from the beginning of the year to the end as God guides me on my
path.
My goals really fall into four categories each year: God,
husband, home, and health. Could I come
up with more things? Yes, but these are
really the four areas that I want to be intentional about. I will go over each one of the areas, and
then tell you one or two of the many goals I have set for each to give you an
idea. If you would like to do this too,
your categories and subsequent goals will obviously look different, but this
should give you a general idea how to set goals that will work with how God
works and changes your life.
You will also see that many of my goals are not
super-specific. This is for two
reasons. One, I do not find that making
them very specific helps me. I tend to
do better and usually surpass what I had originally had in mind. I know common recommendation is that you’ll
do less, but I find that I don’t try harder when I’m accomplishing them. The other reason is that this is a path that
I want to follow, not something to check off on a list. Most of the things on my list are not
something I ever want to set an end goal for.
Like I said before, these are not resolutions, but more of a conscious
exercise to map out what I want my life to look like in the future. And with each one, I do know how I am going
to go about accomplishing it because most of these I have been working steadily
on for several years now.
First, and most importantly, is God. This includes everything about myself as a
Christian. I will always be intentional
about my life as a Christian. You don’t
grow as a believer and mature without intention. And there are always areas that I can improve
on. I always set a goal for more
personal Bible reading than I am currently doing. Also, this year I need to go back a step and
revisit making a specific time dedicated for prayer. When our little joined us, a lot of things
fell to the wayside as we tried to survive, not that I realized it at the
time. However, this year, I know I need
to be intentional about thriving with little ones. “Surviving” (or more like dropping everything
for the crisis at hand) is not a way to live.
I am also not saying that I don’t pray anymore. Remember we are to “pray without ceasing.” (1
Thessalonians 5:17) I always pray
throughout the day, but I used to have a set aside time of about an hour to
pray each day. I want to get back to
that on a consistent basis.
My second area to work on is my husband. Yes, I want to change him! *laughs*
Just Kidding! Actually, this
category focuses on how I can support and love my husband more. Some areas that I focus on are being more
conscious of the ways that I act, talk, and show him love. Also, this year includes being more
supportive of him and the time that he needs for his new endeavor this
year. And if we have more kids, then
being more supportive and working better together as a parental unit. One other thing is just making sure that I
keep our marriage a priority in my life and taking the time to work to make our
marriage better; this one will never leave my list as long as we live. A great marriage takes intention.
My next area for goals is the home. These focus on everything that is essentially
my job in life. There is always at least
one goal that revolves around food. This
year, I want to make two new recipes each week with about 75% of the meals
being made with real food ingredients (i.e. nothing pre-made or filled with
fillers or preservatives). It also
always includes my plans for a garden and what specifically I would like to get
out of it. Later, this will also include
specific goals if we take care of more children.
Join me next week as I wrap up my conversation about setting
goals to help us achieve what God has planned for us this year.
through His grace alone!
Sarah
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