We are officially one month into the New Year, and in order to help keep myself accountable I’ll be keeping track of my progress toward reaching my 2008 goals with a monthly “goal” post. (Get it? “Goal”post? Goalpost? Oh, never mind…)
Goalpost #1: Creativity
The results on the calendar speak for themselves: an average of more than 4 days per week for blogging! As far as scrapbooking goes, I’ve remained disciplined and have been “mostly” on target for the month of January: 24 completed pages (out of a goal of 31), 10 layouts completed (out of a goal of 12) and 1 album completed (out of a goal of 1).
Goalpost #2: Spiritual Growth
While we haven’t yet joined a church, we have committed to visiting churches faithfully and carefully evaluating them with regard to our family’s needs, wants, and beliefs. We have finished our “first dates” with all the churches on our list, and will be heading back for a “second date” with one church beginning this Sunday. Our family devotion time continues to develop: while I haven’t been as faithful as I’d like, I am happy to report that we are having family devotions on average 4-5 nights per week. The kids have been excited about their personal devotions and we’ve been able to start their day with a quiet time 3-4 mornings each week. We haven’t yet gotten back into the routine of Scripture memory, and my neighborhood Bible study hasn’t started up yet, but things are definitely moving in the right direction.
Goalpost #3: Physical Health
Despite beginning the year with sick children, I’ve been able to get back into going to the gym more faithfully. We switched our membership over to Express Fitness, which is closer to home, more convenient, and works better with my schedule. I’ve been able to get back into Pilates, which is so good for my flexibility and back issues, and they have several circuits and cardio machines which allow me to do my own “Body Blaster” class. I’ve seriously reduced my intake of Diet Coke and chocolate and have been eating far more fruits & vegetables and drinking water. Small changes, but the scale was kind enough to record an 8-pound loss for the month of January: double my goal for the month! It’s going to take a long time to get where I want to be, but the positive reinforcement (whether actual or not) is enough to keep me motivated on my goals!
Goalpost #4: Mental Stimulation
No books finished, but I have actually been to the library. Twice. Checked out books even. And renewed them. And read about 7 chapters in my current read, Searching for Johnny by James Gibbins. I’ve read over 100 pages, and still haven’t figured out if I like it. I have started being more active in my online piano teacher forums again – after a couple of years of feeling like I didn’t have much to offer – and am trying to incorporate the collective wisdom of the groups into my studio’s policies and practices. So, maybe not as much progress here, but the effort is definitely there.
So there it is. It’s definitely a challenge to stay focused on reaching these goals, but I know in the process I’m making myself a better person all around. We read a verse in our family devotions a week ago that has since become my mantra in moments of discouragement: “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and self-discipline.” DISCIPLINE. Yeah, that’s what it’s gonna take. And with God’s help, I bet I can get there.