New Year prep!

The New Year is fast approaching. I love welcoming in another year. For me it is a chance to evaluate my routines, challenge myself and start fresh again. I know people have mixed feelings about making resolutions, but I find them helpful. I think of it as setting goals. If I don't put any thought to how I live, things will probably stay the same and I won't be living to my fullest potential. Some people don't like to stick to a list. They feel it doesn't allow for spontaneity. Well, I know from experience, even with things like menu planning, if I don't plan, we eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch every day. How boring is that? (Don't get me wrong, I do love a good Pb&J sandwich!) My point is, without a plan, you are less likely to see your progress in a certain area and less likely to change.

This week I stumbled across a blog that is providing challenging questions for various areas in our lives. There are a lot of good suggestions which I am going to apply to my own life. You can check it out here: http://groceryshrink.com/blog. I would love to hear what resolutions/goals you make for the New Year. One of my first will be posting more regularly on my blog!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Year after year I stay up to welcome in the New Year and find the next morning I feel like I've been run over by a truck! Not the best way to tackle resolutions like: wake-up regularly before the kids to have my quiet time. The yearly New Year's Eve bowling is paying its toll! But after the kids went to bed my hubby and I did have a wonderful time thinking about the last year and discussing our hopes for the year to come. It was the first time we welcomed the New Year with no TV blitz!

For 2010 we want to focus on three big goals:
1. Establish family devotions.
2. Get by with less and enjoy the things we have more.
3. Establish a workable budget and stick to it.

For family devotions we plan to:
1. pray through the Global Prayer Digest each day (it's a great way to introduce missions, and learn about various countries and cultures).
2. sing a hymn or praise song
3. read a portion of scripture and work on our Fighter Verse
4. close in prayer

I love that the Global Prayer Digest focuses on one topic for the whole month rather than one or two days. I hope to carry over the topic into other areas: bedtime reading of missionary biographies of those who served in that country, typical foods you eat and maybe a craft.

I'll be posting in the coming days on how we will tackle the other two goals. If you want some excellent questions to help you think about your own New Year's goals, click on SimpleMom and you can even find a free Pdf worksheet!