Looking Forward - 2011

Just like every year around this time, Josh and I have been talking a lot about what we hope the New Year has in store for us.  You know, what we want to accomplish, what we want to work on, who we want to become...little things like that.

It's so funny that we feel like we need to wait until the turn of a New Year to begin things!  For example, this October I felt like I wanted to dive deeper into the Word so I decided that I wanted to read through the entire Bible in one year.  I thought, "Perfect, I'll start on January 1st."  How silly, to wait 3 months to start something that the Lord had laid on my heart to do THEN.  So, I went ahead and began, against all OCD tendencies to begin tasks in an orderly manner. *sigh*  I could of at least waited until the first of a month instead of beginning in the middle of one, ha!

So, I wanted to evaluate how 2010 went and then go from there.

2010 - How Did I do?
1-Getting up early - I can honestly say that 6:30am has become my new best friend.  I can get so much done before the kids get up and it helps with #5 and #6.
2-Getting to bed on time - This was kind of hit and miss.  We did pretty good until this fall.
3-Grow in my prayer life - What a year!  I feel like I have learned so much.  The learning never ends though!  As a matter of fact, you can start your year off right by coming to Journey Church on Saturday, January 1, 2011 from 12-2pm to pray, sing, worship and rest in the presence of the Lord.  Come join us for Set APart!
4-Date Nights - We have mastered the "At-Home Date Nights".
5-More time with the kids - I am learning how to be a better mommy more and more as time goes on.
6-Limiting computer time - I could still use some work on this one, but I'd say I've gotten MUCH better! You'll really have to ask Josh to get a true answer I suppose.  Hey, I even gave it up for a whole week last spring!
7-Start homeschooling - Yup!  We're doing it.  Areyna is reading great so far and Zeke, well he's a sweet boy:)
8-Exercise - ...see what had happened was...
9-Bless my husband - again, you'll have to ask Josh about this one;)
10-Write a family devotional - Check!  It'll be here in just a few short weeks!
11-Try something new - I've gotten much better at doing things out of order and differently.  For example, I have actually looked at menus in a restaurant instead of getting the exact same thing every time.  That counts right?!
12-Give more - Yup
13-Run this race strong - Hopefully I can say that each year I have held strong to the race the Lord has laid before me.

When I thought back through this past year, there really isn't anything more important to me than my spiritual life, my marriage, my children...

So, when Josh asked me what my goals for 2011 were I didn't even have to hesitate.  Here is exactly what I said:

"I want to do exactly what I've been doing, only better."

That's it.  I don't have a TOP 10 LIST of things I want to accomplish this year.  All I want to do is be a better vessel.  I want to be exactly who the Lord has created me to be and get better at it as I get closer to Him!

Which is why I want to - 

 continue to get up to meet with my Lord early in the morning

which means getting to bed at a decent hour

so I can grow in my prayer life

so I have enough energy to get creative on our date nights

in order to love and get to know my kids more

which means staying off of my computer more.

I want to get better at a structured school time for the kids

which will include exercising and being active with them

which will, in turn, give me energy and motivation to bless my husband

and be more in tune to know where the Lord is leading us

in giving and life direction.

Hey, and maybe there's another family devotional around the corner?!

Oh, there is one other little thing I'd like to add to my list...bring our little girl home from Uganda!