New Year's Goals

I know I have said in the past, I don't make New Year's Resolutions. But with the New Year always comes a mental reset as it were with the flipping of the calendar page. We get a chance to look at the past year to see what we accomplished (or didn't) & alter our life path to the direction we would like it to go (or not).

2008 was a challenging year for our family. We have certainly been on 'survival mode.' Financially we have kept our head above water, but just barely. God has been faithful to supply all of our needs but I feel like I'm missing out on the rest of that verse: according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:14). I feel like this year, 2009, God is calling us (Joel & I) to do more than just merely survive; he is calling us to thrive. And I just don't mean financially. I know that God will provide all of our needs; he has promised that in his Word & God can't lie. We can bank on that promise. But I feel like I have been limiting God by expecting so little from him, just expecting him to meet our basic needs & nothing more. "Thank you for the gruel, God"... no I don't think so.

Now I don't mean that I should be sitting on my tushie expecting God 'the all-powerful genie' to grant me my every whim. Not so. But I have decided that my goals for this New Year & for my life should meet God's abilities to do the amazing. Not to let life just pass day by day, week by week, month by month, year after year, doing the same old same old and just expecting mediocrity. What a sad, pathetic existence. I think God created each and every one of us for more. I think he created me for more. I think God created each of us to be amazing through him.

So what does all this rambling mean? Usually I don't share my goals with general public a.k.a. readers of my blog, but I will now. A little accountability is a good thing and maybe getting it out there will help me to keep shooting for those goals. There are some things that have been nagging at me to do and I have been working on them a bit here & there. But I feel if I put them in writing & set smaller goals to achieve these loftier amazing ones will help me on the road to accomplishing them.

1. Draw closer to God. I feel like I've been skimming the surface with God too much lately. I want to be a woman after God's own heart. The first thing I will do there is to get back into his Word every morning. I have been doing it here & there, but it's too easy to skip days, which turn into weeks. I want to miss God when I don't meet with him. Secondly, I'm going to start attending a Bible workshop at my church, giving me a little accountability there.

2. Write a book.I know what you're thinking: "Really? Sounds cliche." I know it does. But I have been feeling this itch to write for too long now & I think it's time to commit to doing something about it. I waste too many hours doing things like watching TV & goofing off online; it's time to translate that to something more productive. So I will be writing every day. Whether it's 10 minutes or 2 hours, I will write something. I love to write and once I start, it's hard to get me to stop. So I will write. Which includes input into this blog.

3. Learn to really use my camera.I love to take pictures, and I take pretty good ones if I do say so myself. But I would love to get past the basic & intermediate settings of my awesome Canon EOS 20D & maybe turn my love of photography into something more. But first, I want to learn my camera, starting off by reading the manual & figuring out what all the buttons do! From there I would like to take a course to better focus (har-har) my skills.

4. Get in shape.Losing weight is part of that, but more than anything I would like to be in better shape. Being in better shape means more energy & stamina which translates into getting more done. How will I do this? By getting off my tushie & onto the treadmill that is taking up space in my bedroom at least 3 days a week: Monday, Wednesday & Friday.

Well, those are them. Just four, simple goals. Ha! I want to start living my life instead of just letting it pass me by. I will leave you with the words to this song by Sara Groves (I love Sara!).

Spending my time sleep walking
Moving my mouth but not saying a thing
Hoping the changes would take by working their way from the outside in
I was in love with an idea
Preoccupied with how a life should appear
Spending my time at the surface repairing the holes in the shiny veneer

There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

I'm going to live my life inspired
Look for the holy in the common place
Open the windows and feel all that's honest and real until I'm truly amazed
I'm going to feel all my emotions
I'm going to look you in the eyes
I'm going to listen and hear until it's finally clear and it changes our lives

There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

Comments

[Mel]

Amen and amen.

Can I copy and paste your post to my blog and just change the name of the husband? (Oh, and I guess I don't have a treadmill in my bedroom, but I could get one. ;)

Seriously though, you so spoke my own heart, and I love knowing that you're processing and committing yourself to these things. The only difference for me is that I'm not quite ready to take on my own dream of writing a book this year, but I would really love to do an article or two.

So let's check in with each other, okay?

[Susan Beth]

How true it is that we need to draw closer to God and not expect him to give us only the bare minimum to survive. We struggle with putting too low of expectations on God here at my house too, and talked about it three nights ago as really being a sign of how little faith we have, or that we don't believe he wants the best for us. I'm not talking prosperity theology, just a recognition that if God is showering us with love we need to recognize it and not feel like we're in the corner drowning our sorrows in that bowl of greul. Oh, you put it much better!