A new year, a fresh start...
I really like the ending of an old year and the beginning of a new. It feels like a fresh start, a clean slate, and a time for some reflection and goal-setting for the new year.
As I wrote last year, I prefer to set goals, not resolutions, for the new year. Resolutions often seem like unattainable propositions which often only last for a few days or weeks. Setting Christ-honoring goals for the year, on the other hand, provides direction and keeps me from aimlessly wandering from year-to-year accomplishing little.
My husband and I sat down this morning and made up a list of goals for 2008 - goals for our family, goals for us personally, and goals for our business and finances. It is helpful to make these together so that we are both on the same page for the direction of our family and also so that I can have the input of my husband for what he wants me to focus on for the next year.
Here's a quick rundown of some of my goals for 2008:
-Read through the Bible. I'm planning to do 3 chapters every day and 6 chapters on Sunday reading straight through the Bible in a year this way.
-Get back on track with a disciplined household schedule. I've fallen off the bandwagon with this in the last few months and am determined to get back on track with our household schedule, cleaning schedule, and utilizing my home management binder. (I plan to chronicle this journey in my Getting Back on Track series starting this week.)
-Incorporate more educational and spiritual nurturing activities into our schedule. My goals for Kathrynne this year include her learning to recognize all letters and be able to sound out short words, be able to recognize letters 1-20, memorize all the verses in her ABC Bible verse book, and learn one hymn per month. I also plan to read to her for at least 30 minutes every week day and read through one larger book per month.
-Read and review at least one book per week. I love to challenge and stimulate my mind by the reading of good books and I hope to share some my reads in reviews here this year.
Those are some of my goals for this next year. What are your goals? I'd love to hear!
Oh and just a random question on a somewhat-related subject that I had to ask: Am I the only person who didn't stay up until midnight last night? I considered it, but then decided that sleep sounded better. Tell me I'm not the only one!
As I wrote last year, I prefer to set goals, not resolutions, for the new year. Resolutions often seem like unattainable propositions which often only last for a few days or weeks. Setting Christ-honoring goals for the year, on the other hand, provides direction and keeps me from aimlessly wandering from year-to-year accomplishing little.
My husband and I sat down this morning and made up a list of goals for 2008 - goals for our family, goals for us personally, and goals for our business and finances. It is helpful to make these together so that we are both on the same page for the direction of our family and also so that I can have the input of my husband for what he wants me to focus on for the next year.
Here's a quick rundown of some of my goals for 2008:
-Read through the Bible. I'm planning to do 3 chapters every day and 6 chapters on Sunday reading straight through the Bible in a year this way.
-Get back on track with a disciplined household schedule. I've fallen off the bandwagon with this in the last few months and am determined to get back on track with our household schedule, cleaning schedule, and utilizing my home management binder. (I plan to chronicle this journey in my Getting Back on Track series starting this week.)
-Incorporate more educational and spiritual nurturing activities into our schedule. My goals for Kathrynne this year include her learning to recognize all letters and be able to sound out short words, be able to recognize letters 1-20, memorize all the verses in her ABC Bible verse book, and learn one hymn per month. I also plan to read to her for at least 30 minutes every week day and read through one larger book per month.
-Read and review at least one book per week. I love to challenge and stimulate my mind by the reading of good books and I hope to share some my reads in reviews here this year.
Those are some of my goals for this next year. What are your goals? I'd love to hear!
Oh and just a random question on a somewhat-related subject that I had to ask: Am I the only person who didn't stay up until midnight last night? I considered it, but then decided that sleep sounded better. Tell me I'm not the only one!
Labels: Faith, Homemaking, Mothering
posted by Crystal Paine at 3:34 PM
44 Comments:
you're not alone....=)
My hubby and I decided that leading up to Christmas and throughout the holiday we were up to midnight more than we cared to be...so we decided to start the year off right by going to bed early and getting up early to spend time with the Lord!
Glad your Christmas and New Year's Day has been wonderful.
We had an early night too!
Claire
you should check out Jonathon Edwards resolutions - very interesting and very challenging
http://www.reformed.org/documents/Edwards/index.html?mainframe=/documents/Edwards/j_edwards_resolutions.html
Definitely not the only one. I was in bed before midnight although not yet asleep. Which is probably just as well since the neighbors setting off fireworks would have woken me up if I had been sleeping.
You've got some very worthy goals. I also love the new year and the fresh start it provides. :)
I slept thru midnight as well.
I conked out way early. I don't think I even made it till 10pm!
Trailing behind with everyone on here as I usually never make it to midnight. That's ok though as I felt rested not groggy puching myself to stay up. New year new start to goals sounds better then having it set in stone then if you don't go by that list it doesn't seem so disappointing.
Have a great day!
Renee- Mama to four
We stayed up until 11:00 (Central time zone)to watch the ball drop in New York and turned the lights out at 11:01. I think the last year we stayed up past 12:00 was 2000.
No midnight for me - unless you count the fact that I made a trip to the bathroom at 11:50 pm (waking from a 1.5 hr sleep)...and then somewhere around midnight I heard some gun shots and other New Years Eve revelry.
Ever since I had kids - I've treasured sleep more than staying up late.
We went to bed around 11:15. Just 45 minutes away from 2008 but we just couldn't do it. I had an early morning the next day. A friend of ours from Chicago was at my In-Laws house and she was going to be making pierogis all day. I just had to get my hand in that process!! One thing I learned...don't plan on making pierogis with a little one under foot. ;-) But, now we get to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Mmmmmm. Gotta love good Polish cuisine.
I stayed up! I can't believe I'm alone here. :)
We HAVE TO stay up for New Year's because we have to start our year off with a kiss. ;)
-jen
You're not alone! LOL I went to bed THIRTY MINUTES before midnight! LOL We were with some cousins and everyone stayed up but me, but I was just so tired and figured 2008 would come whether I was awake or asleep! LOL
You're not the only one, Jen! We also stay up for our kiss. :) I don't see that tradition changing any time soon.
Here are my goals for January: http://xanga.com/bellclappersgarden/634733969/the-big-girl-challenge--january.html
I did stay up late NYE, lol.
Amy Jo
Dear Crystal,
I've been to your site several times the last year and really enjoy it. I have always been very intrigued about how you budget and buy your groceries. As much a I would love to do the same, I live in a small town with two stores that don't do coupons like some of the places you go to. My husband works for a local chain of grocery stores, so I usually have to go there to support the business. They are priced a bit higher, and while I can use coupons, they never let you double them or have special deals besides 'buy 10lbs of apples for $10' which isn't too frugal to me.
Anyways, does your e-book apply to all 'situations' regarding budgeting, or do you mostly rely on coupons etc. to get your grocery bill down? I have tried and tried, and the only we could eat for less than $50 per week is just eating beans, rice, pasta, canned foods and unhealthy items. (we are a family of 5- three little girls ages 5,4 and 22 months)
Thanks!
Jessica
Here's a great link to several "read the Bible in one year" schedules. You can choose whether you want to read it straight through, or chronologically as the events occurred in real time, or in the order in which the books were written, or NT then OT, or some from OT and NT each day. Then you can choose which version you prefer. After you finish reading, it crosses it off the list for you so you know where to start the next time.
http://eword.gospelcom.net/year/
Not the only one at all! My girls still wake up at the same time, no matter when I go to bed, so I was in bed by 10:30
I blogged about this topic and easier goal setting on today. Stop over all of ya'll ladies if you get a chance. Just click on my above name and it will take you there.
Happy New Year!
We stayed up reading as we planned, but I almost didn't make it. Bed was sounding very good.
I prefer to set goals instead of making resolutions too. I've tried to set simple goals for this year since I want to actually accomplish them.
Grow spiritually--I have lots of new books from Christmas to devour that will encourage me in Biblical Womanhood and my relationship with God. I want Christ to be my #1 priority this year and to make sure that if nothing else gets done during the day with the kids, at least I read to them from the Word and taught them something about God.
Survive! (My hubby is looking for a new job, we will definitely have to move to a bigger place, we may have to move to another state 1,000 miles away, we will need a larger vehicle, and we will be having #3 in August! Yikes!)
Do more educational activities with my daughter who is almost 3. Like Crystal, I want to do even more than I'm doing right now since 3 is an age where they take even more interest in learning the basics.
De-clutter and containerize more. With the prospect of another family member and the fact that our families dumped loads on each child this Christmas, I am becoming more of a de-cluttering maniac than ever.
Keep Life Simple-as sad as it is to deal with change, the fact that I can't do as much while pregnant and moving and chasing two toddlers has caused me to prioritize more and realize that some of the fun activities and/or ministry things I do will have to go. I may need to cease publishing my monthly newsletter I've been doing for 21/2 years or turn it into a blog to make it simpler for me to manage. I may need to step down from some of the stuff I help with at church. I will for sure have to cut out some of my shopping/errand-running and playdates for the kids might be fewer and far between! This is okay and a necessary part of life as we go through different seasons.
Just a comment for AnnetheHeart:
Depending on where you live, it really isn't possible for most people to live off of $35 a week unless they kill their own meat and grow enormous gardens. I'm in a food co-op and shop bargains like crazy and I still would not be able to provide enough food for my family to survive and be healthy for under around $60-$75 a week. Those who can do it for half of that are very blessed, but when you don't have stores that double coupons and don't have stores that sell close-dated stuff or mark-downs, it can be tough. I think it's more important that you have a budget set for your personal family that allows you to buy good food than to try to imitate someone else who may have fewer family members, different stores, smaller appetites, etc. It sounds like you are very frugal so keep up the good work!
I like the word "resolutions". It makes me think of steadfastness and tenacity. And for my goals...I need to be resolute! :)
We just got home from a visit to the Central Time Zone. Since we were visiting family, the adults stayed up pretty much until 11/12 every night talking. Also, the kids went to bed later, so that when we got home, they were going to bed at about 10 because of the time change.
So, staying up til 12 was actually easy and it will be really hard for us to get back on track. Thank God for homeschooling!
To take a look at my resolutions go to:
http://kristinas-soapbox.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-years-resolutions.html
Happy New Year1
Jessica: Check out MoneySavingMom.com - my other website dedicated to the subject of frugality. Especially this section:
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/search/label/Saving%20on%20Groceries
Hopefully you'll find lots of helpful info and ideas from myself others there.
1. Spend time with God and his word every day
2. Make my husband a priority
3. Lose my baby weight and then some (after the baby comes, of course!)
3. Read one good book a month
4. Learn to SEW!
5. Live much more frugally this year... especially in the areas of clothes and beauty products!
I like your list of goals. I am sure you will accomplish these with God's hand.
Chrissy
Those are some great goals. Mine are very similar.
Wow, I can't believe so many ppl went to bed on New Year's Eve. You all are so disciplined! I stay up till 1 or 2am EVERY night!
I did have to awaken my husband with our midnight kiss. He didn't mind ;-)
We did not make it to mid-night either! As parents to young children who will be up at the crack of dawn no matter what time we made it to bed, we decided to get some sleep instead. As my grandpa always says..."It will still be a New Year in the morning!". Such wisdom! Great goals for 2008. I am sitting down today to do the same!
Looking forward to your new series on the blog, I will take all the encouragement I can get.
I didn't stay up till midnight either but woke up when our silly neighbours started shooting off their shotguns.
I like the idea of having goals instead of resolutions, it reminds me of Anne Ortlund's notebook and her lifetime and one year goals!
I was in bed at 10:30!
I stayed up till about 15 minutes after midnight reading a really interesting book.
By 2009, I want to have read through the entire bible. That is the only goal I have set for myself so far.
Gracie
Some of our family stayed up until... 4 a.m.! :-) (We were watching a good movie and couldn't stop until it was finished!)
May the Lord richly bless you and your family in 2008!
We did not make it here as well, but something woke me about 12:30 and I leaned over and kissed dh and said "happy new year" he mummbled the dame thing and we went back to sleep.
This very pregnant person had no intentions of staying up until midnight but the 2.5 year old daughter has chicken pox and never went to sleep the WHOLE night. So needless to say, I've seen much more of the new year then I cared to.
~Jennifer K.
I was in bed well after midnight. 2am to be exact. We host a church get together in our home which include testimonies, singing and fellowship.
My goals were actually started late last year as that's when I felt the need to go ahead and start. They included keeping on my exercise schedule (I've been posting my reviews of my 20-30 minute workouts), revamping our household routines, and streamlining my online business so as it doesn't take over my duties to my family (so easy to do).
I've found teaching our 2 year old to be great fun. She is such a sponge that I went ahead and purchased the Little Hands to Heaven last year for her. She already knew the alphabet and her numbers to 10 so we focus more on the Bible stories and singing. She loves to sing to the Gaither videos which include many of the old hymns you don't hear anymore. Reading her the Bible stories has helped both hubby and I delve deeper into the Bible. I've decided to use that as my plan for reading. I probably won't make it through in a year but the journey is fascinating and wonderful.
We have your Supermarket Savings which has helped us work on streamlining our grocery bill. We're attempting to streamline an organic grocery bill which is a little harder since the coupons are hard to come by.
We'll be making some big changes this year (adoption and moving) so getting things under control and making sure we know where our help comes from (The Lord) is key.
Happy New Year Crystal!
Your goals sound great! My husband and I spend every New Year's Eve taking a look at what we accomplished for the year and making goals for the next - it's fun and brings us together.
I didn't make it to 10pm. Then again I'm in the first trimester and lucky to stay awake much in general. I've been reading back through your morning sickness suggestions. Thanks for the good ideas as always.
I was thinking I would not be up to midnight, but had a feverish three year old laying on me, got up to help my nine year old take a shower to help him breathe better so we were up at midnight.
Good goals, mine is very simple this year.
I stayed up, but I do that a lot. Thew night befor I stayed up reading and last ight I stayed up watching football. NOw that's school started back I'll stay up late a lot just cause i have too.
Crystal, I would be very interested to hear how you manage to read so much? How do you fit this into your schedule? I thought I was doing good reading one book a month, but was blown away to hear your goal of one book a week. Please fill me in!
Our goal is to keep our home more organized and to work more together on home projects.
It felt good to start this new goal and I have already completed one organizing project this new year. I posted my efforts on my blog.
Thanks for encouraging goal setting.
MP
I am another before 12am girl!
I am presently working on a plan for the new year. I want to have goals to work toward. I always accomplish more if I have goals, even if I don't accomplish all that I planned!
So far I have goals realted to . . .
*learning hymns (I've written out a list I want to learn)
*reading
*cooking
*cleaning
*Bible study
I plan to make these into monthly goals that I can work towards. Further categories may include . . .
* writing
* teaching
* church
* pro-life ministry
Well, I did make it til midnight. Hubby and I went to bed about 2 mins. after. I am also working on goals as opposed to resolutions. I started out writing down a vision for what I want my life to look like and then pulled goals from that vision. I'm breaking those big goals into monthly goals or daily steps. My main goal is to glorify God in these 7 areas: relationship with Him, marriage, children/homeschool, home, finances, health, and business. That pretty much includes every area of my life, I just really want to go deeper in my relationship with God, know Him and His word better. I believe that will spill over into every other area and help me meet my goals. I started a series on my blog this week.
http://biblicalmotherhood.blogspot.com/search/label/Intentional%20Living
I'm not one to make resolutions, but after thinking on a few things in my life, I thought it was best to set goals, which is why I'm a week late in getting to this. I had to sit down and really re-evaluate some things in my life. I finally came up with a list that will work for me and I listed them on my Xanga blog.
I wanted to thank you for the blog on setting goals. It was really helpful.
I know that this won't be read by many, if any, but I spent my new-years eve bringing a new life into the world. My third child, and second son was born at 9:09pm. Of course I was up until mid-night. Who can sleep after such a wonderful gift is given.
Adrienne
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