2015 Goals!

I loved finally getting to this step! After reviewing what worked, what didn't, what I want to say YES to, what I'm going to say NO to, what my radical thing is going to be, highlighting, crossing things out, finding themes, and praying, praying, praying, I wrote out these goals. Answering why and seeing many of these things commanded in Scripture adds a lot of motivation to work at them. They are good goals because they have really good reasons behind them, and that's the heart of why I want to do them. SO, here they are:

1. Rest my soul. Whether that's being outside, going on a friend date, praying and being in God's Word, writing, etc. Set aside time to be still, to be alone, to rest. 

Why? Because I thrive in all the areas God has put me in when I do it. Because when I don't, I do things from a heart of duty rather than love. I shift to auto-pilot.

There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Hebrews 4:9-10

2. Spend time intentionally and wisely. Specifically, nap time and evenings with Andy after the kids are in bed. Planning on Sunday night helps my time with the kids during the day to be super intentional. 

Why? Time can never be given back or done differently. Wasting it comes from a lazy and entitled heart. 

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16

3. Invest eternally in people outside my home. The friends God has given me, the people in my home group, the neighbors God has put around me, etc. Be for them, be a slave to them. Encourage, support, build up. 

Why? It is my reason for being where I am- God has placed specific people around me and He has plans for how I am to serve them.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

4. Say YES and try new things. With the Lord, this means laying down my yes to whatever he calls me to do, even in new situations, in the uncomfortable. With my family, this means saying yes as often as I can. Just do! Done is better than perfect. Plan new adventures once a month throughout the year. 

Why? For pure joy. To follow where God wills. To love my people well and be a servant to them.

Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:26-28 

5. Have a grateful and content heart. Learn to be happy in the day to day. This will include media free weekends, not complaining, preaching the gospel to myself in order to change to a true perspective. 

Why? It puts my hope fully on God and not the things the world has to offer. 

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 

6. Be present and happy with my family. Limit the phone, plan fun, and just do. Smile a lot. :)

Why? I love them and this shows it best. This is love they can feel. 

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

7. Root your emotions. Do not let them be swayed by circumstance. Have a perspective built on my unchanging God, specifically in the daily details of life. 

Why? It is truly believing the gospel. And because I am moody and it negatively affects those around me. 

According to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

8. Posses a tender heart. Specifically to God, Andy, and the girls. 

Why? With God, so the Holy Spirit can lead and teach me. With my family, so I can be gentle, without a biting tongue, because it loves well. 

All of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing...let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. 1 Peter 3:8-9; 11-12

I am sitting outside in the sun as I type this, breathing in fresh air, with a cool breeze on my face, enjoying 75 degree weather in February. God is good. These goals are good, and they are for my good. I could argue they would be good for anyone, but they are specific to my weaknesses and who I want to become in the strength of the Lord. These are the areas that He has revealed need the most changing. I anticipate that they will not be easily won. I expect a fight from the enemy. Imagine the damage he would endure if all of these goals came true. If my soul was healthy and strong from being rested, and I was busy at work for the Kingdom, not letting hours or even minutes slide by, investing in the souls of people, laying my yes down to follow God wherever he leads, lacking nothing, without distraction, loving my family with fervor and tenderness, and standing on a foundation of stone rather than shifting sand. That is a person who is dangerous to the devil. That is the person I pray God makes of me. 

{I wrote these goals as I am working through Make it Happen, after reading Interrupted, and before going to IF:Local, where these goals were affirmed, specifically by the teaching of Christine Caine, Ann Voskamp, and Jen Hatmaker.}

the big picture

I am still working through Lara Casey's 2015 Goal Setting and am loving how it has made me stop to dream (and plan) a really intentional year. I don't want to cruise through this year on auto-pilot and miss out on all that God has for me. Going "big picture" has been hard for me, because I'm so type A and just want the details of what to do. But thinking and thinking until a vision for the year began to form was really good for me. But first, here's a little bit of where I'm coming from:

When looking back over 2014, I felt like a passive agent, just living the life that got dealt to me that year. And in some ways, that's true and good- we are not in control. We are called to faithfully live the life that God has for us. But somewhere along the line, faithfully living slowly warped into living life like it was one big task to complete. Everything was a chore physically: giving baths, doing laundry, playing on the floor with my kids, going to the park, vacuuming. But then when my body healed, those day to day things still felt like chores, which is fine if you're doing laundry, and not fine if you're doing school with your daughter.

I don't think that's the kind of life Jesus was talking about when he said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep...If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." So if Jesus, my Good Shepherd, came and died so that I may have life abundantly, then that life needs to look different than doing chores. (And can I be really honest and say that there's a way to do dishes and laundry and vacuuming and even cleaning the toilet that doesn't feel at all like a chore?)

So that's where I'm coming from. Because I'm still going to vacuum, do school, dishes, play on the floor, clean toilets, etc. But how I do them is what needs to change. Thank you God for not being satisfied with a completed to do list. Thank you for wanting my whole heart! Because duty gets the job done, but love does it right.

What is the big picture? If I were to live out my most purposeful year in 2015, what would that look like?  It would look simple and happy. It would be me being present and content in the here and now; taking joy in what is and not looking to what might be; serving rather than being served; being FOR others in a tangible way that pushes comparison out the door. It is self-forgetfulness. It is marked by peace.

When I'm 80, I want... to have watched my children and grandchildren chase hard after the Lord, letting Him take them where He wills. To have been someone who was wholly there, even in the little moments, in the mundane, investing in eternity.

Define your radical. This year, my radical act is to not complain. Not from my mouth. Not from my heart. Not looking to how things could be better. Having a grateful and content heart with what I have and where I am, even in difficulty.

Will you help me? My lack of a filter gives way to complaining easily. It goes like this:
Anyone: Hey, how have you been?
Me: Uh...ok. Blah blah blah blah blah...(I somehow don't have the instinct to say "fine" or "good." I just give the real truth and follow it up with too much detail.) And those details can easily become a list of complaints. So if you happen to be the "anyone" in the above scenario, and you hear a string of complaints (or even just one) come out of my mouth, would you gently encourage me to change perspective? Would you remind me of the blessing?

One of the reasons I have loved going through this via a blog is that it's out there. I feel like once I write it out and post it, there is no going back. It is set in stone and there are people who are going to read it and (please) hold me to it. Because it's what God wants, so it's what I want too.