Goals for 2009

A lot of my ideas come from Simple Mom's Questions

I'm not going to share what we are already doing (such as family prayer habits, devotions with kids, Friday night date nights at home, etc.), but rather things I want to begin doing in addition to the things we are currently doing. Thus, my goals:



Homemaking Skills

In 2009, I'd like to plant a garden here at our rental home and learn more about gardening well



I plan to keep better tabs on the paper piles by setting up a Tickler File, something my Aunt Suzee does (I'll blog about it when I see how it works!)



Now that we have the extra space, we are recycling now! Our landlord owns the local recycling pick-up business and offers us free pick-ups weekly.



We got a new computer last week (Yay for a computer that doesn't freeze up all the time!) but unfortunately, all of our pictures got mixed up moving them to the new computer so I have to reorganize photos in folders and weed out the ones I can delete. I love photography and I think it's important to capture our precious babies in photos but my goal is to sort and weed out photos right after I upload them instead of doing it every few months and having hundreds to sort through.

Children

I hope to really work with Ali on Self-Control this year.

Keep Ali busy. When she's not in pre-school, provide crafts, activities, and puzzles/games for her to work on to keep her out of trouble. I have a special shelf in our hall closet devoted to playdough, shaving cream, cornmeal tubs, tubs of beans, coloring books, sticker books, and other preschool-age activities and crafts.


I want to begin instilling in both Ali and Jer a strong work ethic and industriousness even though they are small.


We're going to really work on resolving conflict aka "Quit fighting, screaming, pushing, stealing toys 24/7!" I want them to learn how to play nicely together and remember the book Grammy got them, "Hands are not for Hitting."


Teach my children to give, regularly, of their time and resources.


Take the kids to the nursing home a few times this year to hang out with the residents. The elderly LOVE little children and that's a resource I have!

Become a bit more familiar with homeschooling curriculums since it won't be long until those days are upon us...




Spiritual Life

It has been too long since I read through the Bible in a year. I am following the Discipleship plan, along with Bethlehem Baptist Church. I read about 3 chapters a day out of Genesis and one out of Psalms, Matthew, and Acts daily right now. I often read a few of my chapters aloud to the kids at night after tucking them into bed. I'm also thrilled because I have access to the ESV online (because if buy an ESV Study Bible you get a code to access the site) and can listen to the chapters being read aloud while I fold laundry or clean.



My verses for the year are going to be: Proverbs 12:16-20 "The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult. Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit. There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.



I also want to work specifically on being slow to anger. Those of you who joined me in the Gentle Mothers Support Club last year know I've been working on this for a long time and will continue to do so throughout my lifetime. Interesting how you don't think you are an angry person until you have a two-and-a-half-year-old or two or three kids...



I'd like to possibly do a Prayer Target of the Month thing. I did this in December to pray for my unsaved brother since it is his birth month and having that focus all month really helped me to remember to pray more. Whoever God lays on my heart each month will be my "Prayer Target." I also plan to keep posting "PETS for Kids" on my blog to encourage my blog readers to pray for their children.


Since Aunt Suzee gave me a used mp3 player for Christmas, I hope to download good sermons and listen to them while I do dishes/clean during naptimes or after the kids are in bed for the night


Generosity--times are tough for a lot of people and instead of hoarding things and being stingy in tight times, I want to strive to be generous this year.




Health/Body

Lose the last chunk of baby weight

Do pilates regularly

Go to bed a little bit earlier

Gradually turn over my wardrobe and get some flattering outfits .One of my favorite shirts is about 6 years old, and I bought it used! My one pair of jeans that were 3 years old gave out recently and I'm looking at a lot of my thrift-store buys and thinking frumpy!

Sneak lots of healthy purees into our meals (from The Sneaky Chef cookbook) and continue to fix low-fat, high-fiber meals with plenty of whole grains and veggies and fruits.

Marriage

Seek to encourage my husband in his job and pray for that area of his life.

Take a weekend getaway sometime this year for a date night in a hotel without the kiddoes.

Get godly input on marriage. Whether from books, sermon podcasts, articles, or talking with older folks, seek to always be growing in the area of building a godly marriage.

What seemingly huge or impossible thing do I plan to start praying about this year?

Buying a home

Finances

Since we got our will done (finally) and got life insurance this year (finally) and started saving 6 months worth of living expenses in a money market account we are going to focus on saving for vacations and trips upcoming this year and trying to increase our saving to eventually put a downpayment on a house. We hope to get a Roth IRA going sometime soon for retirement.

Reading

It would be silly for me to post reading goals since that's like saying, "You should breathe this year." Reading is pure pleasure for me and no matter what stage of life I am in I always make time to read! If our budget allows, I hope to get a few books I've been wanting to read for the last year: The 5 Dilemmas of Calvinism, When I Don't Desire God, Do Hard Things, Family-Driven Faith, Shopping for Time, and Praying in Jesus' Name.

Family Trips

We'd like to get to MN in the spring or summer but we'll see how the finances go. We'll probably spend Christmas in MN (but that, too, depends on finances)



Depending on where my brother gets married, I may have to fly to Florida in the early spring. If it's not in Florida, we will still be busy helping with wedding stuff here.



We are hoping to do a vacation in Colorado next August where we will do some camping, site-seeing, and of course the Denver ZOO (my kids can't wait!)



We'd like to do a few little camp-trips this summer on the weekends to places within a few hours from here. King Jo's folks gave us a little trailer to pull behind our van which will be nice for hauling camping gear!

What random thing would I like to try this year?

Join the choir for a church event (like for the Easter service)

Friendships

Seek to encourage and bless my friends, both far and near



Attend 3 of my good friends' weddings this year! Hurray for Heather, Cori, and Jessie!



Prioritize my friendships. Since I know a lot of people, this can be tough but I have to limit my interactions based on the levels of friendship. This means I focus on knowing some people really well and realizing that others will just be acquaintences or neat people I see only at church and that's okay! This means I realize that at different seasons and stages of life I will have different "close" friends. I often like to reach out to new people in town and "plug them in" to some activities or groups where they can meet people, but I have learned I need to then back off and let them take it from there because I can't have 30 "best friends forever." =)

Considering wisely the activities my family is involved in. Exercising the use of the word "NO" when needed but still getting out and enjoying playdates and things the kids enjoy.

Letting go of friendships that are draining. This one is hard because sometimes God calls me to befriend difficult people or uses conflict to grow me. Yet, I think that it is wise and good to have boundaries and sometimes I need to step back from spending time with others who manipulate me, use me, want to take up my family time, don't like my kids, are consistently selfish, etc.



Three parties that are a priority for me to be involved in planning this year:

*Dad's 50th Birthday in January

*Anna's Bridal Shower/reception in ?????

*Shiloh's Baby Shower in June

*Amy's 40th Birthday in September

At the end of 2009, I expect to see:

Jer having been potty-trained for half a year

Justus walking (my baby!!!)

Hopefully some kind of swingset in the yard for the kids

Ali recognizing all of her letter sounds and doing pre-reading stuff

The kids having memorized a lot of Scripture through repetitive reading

Myself to have memorized the Scriptures and questions from my "Wise Words for Moms" calendar which charts out things to ask when kids are needing discipline/training.

The economy still struggling and probably doing worse than it is currently doing

Us getting a real (not artificial!) Christmas tree for our house for the first time in all of our married life!

How would I like our home to be described in the coming year?

*A consistent, Christ-centered, training center

*A simple, restful haven

*A place where many friends, new and old, have found fellowship and hospitality