Year-End Review

We have arrived at the end of 2016! I have worked on specific goals all year and am excited to have the ability to make new goals for the coming year. If you want to read about previous months' successes and failures, click the appropriate month:  January,  February,  March,  April,  May,  June,  July,  August,  September,  October,  November.

1. One arts and crafts time with the kids each month

  December always seems to be a crafty month for me because of the Christmas holiday. I joked with a friend on November 30th that my daughter would ask to do a craft for 80% of the month of December. Three days in and we were sitting at 100%. The first day we did not do a craft because I could not think of anything at all. The second day I remembered that her great-grandmother had sent her home from Thanksgiving with a beaded wreath ornament craft so the three of us completed that one. On day three I got her set up to make a bracelet or necklace with another kit her great-grandmother had given her as an early Christmas present. She ended up making a bracelet for her best friend (I love that most of her crafts and projects become gifts to others. They other day she took a cardboard box out of the recycling bin and turned it into a guitar of sorts and gave it to her brother.).
  Jackson wanted something to do as well so I gave him paper, markers and stamps and he went to town making a picture of bad guys (his current passion). The requests slowed down after that but we still managed to get in quite a few artsy, crafty, and/or baking activities to celebrate the holiday season.

 

  We made candy cane reindeer for the kids to give away to their friends. It was my planned craft for December and the kids were excited about it. They, of course, wanted to eat them (my husband has gotten them addicted to candy canes) but they gave most of them away to friends.

 

  Kaitlyn asked to decorate my chalkboard for Christmas. I agreed and Jackson even got in on the action. It was supposed to be Christmas-themed but, of course, Jackson drew a T. Rex (the long thing starting from the lower left corner).

  We invited friends over to decorate sugar cookies. I definitely consider that an art activity as they are allowed to be as creative as they want to be with them. I also enjoy decorating the cookies and seeing what I can come up with. Along with those we made a variety of other cookies and even rice krispy trees which was fun.

  A friend gave us a kit to make origami star ornaments and I helped Kaitlyn with those. They were a lot like the paper stars we made in November.

  Another friend asked if I would bring a craft for our kids to do together because one of hers is like Kaitlyn in that he would do crafts all day if allowed and she is like me in the craftiness department. I tried out a dyed snowflake craft with Kaitlyn to make sure it would work and then took all of the supplies over to her house. Kaitlyn and my friend's son were the only kids that wanted to participate in the craft and they were so gung ho, making five or more snowflakes apiece. Definitely a success!

  I am glad that I made this one my goals for the year. It helped me to spend more quality time with my daughter. Now that she's in school and participating in various activities, it's nice to have some fun one-on-one time instead of just doing homework, practicing piano or driving to dance class. She is a creative person and this definitely tapped into an interest that I want her to develop even though I don't share it.

2. Blog at least twice per month

  The beginning of this month I continued to wrestle with my feelings of loneliness. After writing about my feelings, I had a few conversations with others that helped get me in a more positive mindset so that I could see my blessings and choose to focus on those. God is really working in my emotions and thought life. I am excited to see how he continues to grow and change me as I seek him more. I also wrote some thoughts about a book I had the privilege to read and review before it's official release in January.

  I am also glad that I worked on writing this year. It is a passion of mine and something I want to be more consistent in. Setting the goal helped me to be more purposeful and gave me a chance to explore various topics. I learned more about creating graphics (when I realized that you have to be careful about using others' photos without expressed permission). I hope that I can continue to grow in consistency and skill.

3. Grow in gratitude, contentment and generosity

  All three of these attributes are related. As I express gratitude for the good things in my life I grow in contentment of where I am and what I have. This contentment and gratitude combined gives me a desire to serve and give to others out of my blessings. December with it's season of love, joy and hope tends to increase the desire to bless others in meaningful ways.

  Continuing to express my gratitude in written form has benefited me. Writing is always a great way for me to really understand my thoughts and feelings. Journaling the things I am grateful for gives me a positive outlook on my life and God's love for me. I plan to continue with this practice of Immanual Journaling.

  Last month I admitted that I was struggling to feel contentment in my relationships. God has given me insight as I've wrestled with my feelings and I am feeling more appreciative of what relationships I do have as well as considering what my life might look like if God did give me what I think I want. I pictured a busier, more stressful social life with less time to continue to deepen the good relationships I currently have. My trust in God's plans and timing has increased which has helped me to feel more content in where I am and what I have.

  There were many opportunities to be generous to others in December. My family and I took advantage of some of them and also created our own opportunities. I really do think that I have grown in significant ways in using my resources to serve and bless others.

  I was concerned that such an intangible and immeasurable goal would be a real challenge but I am glad that I set it and worked on it throughout the year. I think it's good to consider qualities you would like to be a solid part of your character and look for opportunities to grow in them.


I was quite challenged by my goals this year but am proud for having made progress in most of them. I know I stopped memorizing scripture partway through the year. I aimed high and did not achieve that one but that's okay. I'm giving myself grace and acknowledging that I set more goals than I could manage. 

How did you do this year? What goals did you set and how did you do? Have you chosen a goal for 2017? Share it with me and we can encourage one another next year (once I figure out what my new goals are)!

October Goal Review

October is over. It is the gear up toward the holiday season. It can be a lot of fun but also quite stressful. Let's see how my goals fared this month. If you want to read about previous months' successes and failures, click the appropriate month:  January,  February,  March,  April,  May,  June,  July,  August,  September.

1. One arts and crafts time with the kids each month

  We went to the beach last month and gathered quite a few shells during our week on the beach. My mother-in-law mentioned she might like an ornament of shells as a memento of our beach trip together. I thought it would be a great idea for our monthly arts and crafts time. The kids and I each made a personal ornament after creating a very special one for Grammy. Kaitlyn decided that shells were needed on the outside of the ornament as well as inside so I followed her instructions. I think they turned out well. It'll be nice to put the ornaments on the tree and remember our trip to PCB each Christmas season. (Side note: I love having ornaments that commemorate trips and special events/occasions. It's a fun trip down memory lane.)

  At a later date, the kids requested more art time so I pulled out a bunch of supplies and let them have fun. In addition to some marker drawings, Kaitlyn used felt and buttons to make a couple of pieces.

2. Blog at least twice per month

  I bit off more than I could chew last month with all of the blog posts. This month I managed to get myself into a busier-than-desirable schedule which has sent writing to the back-burner. I had a post that I had written awhile ago about my grandparents that I published later in the month. However, I just couldn't get motivated to write something new in October until the last day. I wanted to get some thoughts jotted down and figured I'd share it as well. I barely achieved this goal but barely is better than not, right?

3. Grow in gratitude, contentment and generosity

  This month I continued my gratitude journaling. I did not do it as often as I previously have, probably averaging once or twice each week. Every time I do it I wonder why I don't do it every day. It is so encouraging and a great way to feel more connected to God. It helps my perspective of life to remember everything I have to be grateful for in my life.

  My family is in a bit of a transition right now so at times it's hard to feel content when I don't really feel settled in some parts of life. When I make time for expressing gratitude, I do feel more content with where I am. I am appreciative of all that I do have.

  The kids and I put together two Operation Christmas Child boxes for children in other countries who might not otherwise receive gifts. It has become a tradition to put together one box for a girl about Kaitlyn's age and one for a boy about Jackson's age. It makes it easy to have the kids pick out gifts they would love to receive at Christmas themselves. This year Kaitlyn was given a page to fill out about herself and where she lives to include in the box. I helped Jackson fill out his and we included a family photo in each box as well. I like being able to include the kids in service and generosity toward others.


So that's been my month. How has yours been? Are you already stressing out about the holiday season and how it might wreak havoc on your goals? Or is that just me? 

September Goal Review

We are officially into fall and it's once again time to check in on my goals for the year. You can read about previous months by clicking the links: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August.

1. One arts and crafts time with the kids each month

  I wanted to do something fall related as I love the season but I didn't have a lot of time to come up with something. I decided it might be fun for the kids to make leaf rubbings so I gathered some leaves from around the yard. While they waited for me to get set up they worked on creating additional pictures. They seemed to enjoy leaf rubbing but it did not keep their attention long. .

I think J's favorite part was removing the paper from the crayons.

Self-portrait!

2. Blog at least twice per month

  For the month of September I decided to participate in all of the Friday Five writing prompts given over at MrsDisciple. I had fun writing about quitting as well as women and men I admire. The bookmarks post was fairly easy and did not require as much emotional involvement. The crying prompt, however, was challenging. It took me a bit to figure out what to write about. I am glad that I gave myself this challenge. I don't know whether publishing a post once per week is too much with all of my other responsibilities. I'm still working out all of my responsibilities and time management. I do enjoy writing and sharing I just don't want it to take away from my family. I also wrote a post about a great book I read recently.

3. Grow in gratitude, contentment and generosity

  I do feel like I have a more thankful heart toward God this month. I do still have negative mental rants here and there but it seems that a lot of my prayers include thanksgiving toward God for who he is, his faithfulness and his provision. I have written in my gratitude journal at least once per week. I am trying to appreciate the people in my life and the ways they bless and help me.

I love that my fall decor helps me to remember gratitude.

  I do feel fairly content with where I am. I am in a bit of transition at the moment but I am confident that God will bring me through and the result will be positive. I have what I need and appreciate what I have.

  I have been trying to continue to be generous to those around me with time, thoughtfulness, gifts, and encouragement. I could grow in the generousness of my grace and in thinking the best of those I come in contact with. I need to continue to believe that everyone is doing the best they can and that, if I am witnessing unkindness, then they must be having a bad day and the behavior is an anomaly. That's the kind of grace I would like to receive. I am not usually purposefully unkind or ungracious to others but I have bad days and bad moments.

  My verse memorization has fallen to the back burner. I love God's word and am encouraged by it but keeping this on my plate would be more stressful than helpful right now. Verse memorization tends to come in spurts in various seasons. I know I'll get back to it again for awhile and then take another break. I still know a lot of verses by heart that encourage me.


September's a wrap. How did the month go for you? Did you start a new goal? Let go of an old goal that is just too much write now? What did you accomplish or start in September that you're excited about? Tell me!

August Goal Review

We have officially completed the first month of school! It's once again time to check in on my goals for the year. You can read about previous months by clicking the links: January, February, March, April, May, June, July. Without further ado, let's get to it!

1. One arts and crafts time with the kids each month

  I realized we hadn't used paint in awhile so I suggested it for this month's activity. The kids really seemed to enjoy having a blank piece of paper, a plate of paint and free reign. They both painted two papers. K asked me to participate on the second one as she was working on creating "a gallery of artwork".

This was God watching over a sunset and some sheep.

The rainbow and hearts were my contribution. Paint is not really my creative sweet spot.

The finished (or nearly finished) paintings.

    When they were finished with the paint, my daughter asked if she could have supplies to decorate a cardboard box she had. I found some dinosaur stencils I thought J would enjoy. I helped him draw them on the paper and then he chose to decorate it with the same supplies K had for her box. They had a good time.

  Sometimes I feel like there isn't much of a point to these random arts and crafts time. However, I am understanding more and more that we all feel good when we are able to create something and express our creativity in some form. While a number of creations will eventually end up in the trash/recycling (shhh, don't tell the kids), I know the kids are proud of what they create and enjoy the opportunity to control what they make and what materials they use. My daughter always talks about how much fun it was. She would probably do it every day if given the opportunity (and I have to fight my guilt that we don't).

2. Blog at least twice per month

  Last month I posted something new three Fridays in a row. It felt good to have a regular schedule so I thought I would try to continue the Friday posts this month as well. I started with a post about five things I want to learn, the topic coming from a blog link-up I thought I'd try out. The second week I talked about my least favorite household chore because it was on my mind. The third week I started the week off with a post about a book I recently read (along with a book giveaway) and ended with a post about the challenge that is parenting children for their first three years of life. My final August post was a celebration of my 100th blog post! I successfully blogged each Friday in August which is a big deal for me. I'm already feeling overwhelmed at the thought of there being five Fridays in September and one week being on vacation so I'll go ahead and give myself grace not to post every week.

3. Grow in gratitude, contentment and generosity

  This month I got back into the habit of gratitude journaling most days of the week. It's very encouraging to think about blessings and joys and express my appreciation to God. It helped that we started a new schedule with school and I get a few hours without the kids three days per week.

  I struggled a bit with contentment this month. I am content in some areas of life but not all. But I believe my main area of discontentment has been a prodding from God to spur me to action to change the circumstances. I have been wrestling for months, waffling between decisions, unsure what the proper path is. I have made a choice but am nervous about embarking on this new path. I will trust God and ask him to lead me to a place of contentment in this area.

  My heart has been growing in a desire to be generous. I am more open to opportunities to practice generosity with various resources - time, things, money, prayers. I do still have stingy and self-serving thoughts but I know I'm a work in progress and will never be perfectly altruistic and others-focused. Any step forward ought to be celebrated.

  I did not memorize any new verses this month. I have been reading the Bible and receiving encouragement from specific scriptures but memorization did not make it on this month's to do list.


So, that was my month. How was yours? Did school start for someone in your household this month? Did it change your ability to work on your goals? Are you good at giving yourself grace when you fall short?

Sometimes Chasing Your Dreams Requires Learning New Skills

  I am on the precipice of diving deeper into the world of writing and blogging. I have been reading Do Over: Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work, and Never Get Stuck by Jon Acuff because I feel like this adventure will be similar to a job transition. I've been a SAHM for the past six years and, while I will continue in that role, I will also be trying to focus my free time on learning and growing in the writing world. One section of the book talks about our skills and the importance of keeping our current skills sharp and honing new ones. I assessed my current set, considered what skills I would need for the new endeavor, and thought about general life dreams. I compiled a list of skills I'd like to learn or improve.

1. How to use Create Space (and the e-book equivalent) to make my book available on Amazon.

   Four years ago I published a book, Between Us Girls: Navigating College Life as a Christian Woman, using a self-publishing company. About two years ago it went out of business, leaving me with my manuscript and about fifty paperback copies of my book. My goal is to update and/or revise the contents and then republish it by early next year so that people who could benefit from the information have easy access to it. Create Space seems like an excellent avenue for my plan but I haven't ever used it before.

2. How to speak conversational Spanish comfortably.

   I was a double major in college and Spanish language was one of them. I studied abroad twice to increase my fluency. I think I did fairly well if I was able to write a ten page paper and perform a group skit in my classes by the end. However, with language it is very true that if you don't use it you lose it. I have a number of neighbors that are from Spanish-speaking countries and could easily have conversations with them but I am too concerned about sounding terrible. But I will until I get into the habit of speaking regularly. I have downloaded the Duolingo app but have not even opened it. That needs to change.

3. How to navigate Twitter.

   I have an account. I think I created one so that I could enter some contest Ellen DeGeneres was doing on her show several years ago. I don't understand re-tweeting and tagging people. I think I understand hashtags from their presence on Facebook. I am sure it could be a useful platform for my writing and blogging but I need more knowledge. I'm sure there are plenty of people I know who are fluent in tweeting and could give me a beginner's course.

4. How to play the piano.

  This is another skill that I have some knowledge and understanding of. I took two or three years of piano in elementary school. It is a skill I regret not continuing. I thoroughly enjoy music and like being able to recreate a song I've heard before but don't know the actual music. Thankfully, my daughter expressed interest in learning the piano and received a full-size keyboard for Christmas. She is going to start lessons this fall and I am hoping having the keyboard in the main living area will encourage me to sit down and play at it. Maybe I'll seek out some advanced beginner music to help me practice.

5. To be more generous.

   If you've been reading my monthly goal review posts, you are familiar with this already. One of my goals this year has been to grow in generosity. I tend to focus on myself and my family and it's really challenging for me to use resources (time, money, etc) on others. I have seen more growth in this area and can see that I am more generous than I thought (or maybe the goal has helped). In Do Over, Jon stressed the importance of being generous when working on a goal/dream/hustle. Being generous affects all areas of your life positively and I am all about more joy and goodness.


There's my list. It's quite ambitious. I'm not planning to start on all of these right away, but it's nice to have it somewhere visible. It will remind me of these learning desires and, possibly, cause people I know to ask me about them which would help create accountability to actually move forward on them.

Is there anything you want to learn or relearn that you could benefit from sharing with someone? Please share in the comments and I will do my best to encourage you to work on them.

Seventh Month Goal Review

We are now in to the second half of the year. Seven months is a long time to work on goals. How have I done? I've recorded each month's summary. Below is July's record. You can read about January, February, March, April,  May and June on the linked pages.

1. One arts and crafts time with the kids each month

  I have been trying to clean out unnecessary items since returning from vacation. The craft closet was waaaay out of control so I wanted to get in there and organize/declutter. I put together a bin of miscellaneous arts and crafts supplies and let the kids go through them to make their own creations this month. I thought J would want to use the paints. He started with Dot paint markers but quickly switched to glitter glue and pom poms when he saw his sister using them. It was nice giving them practically free reign to see what they would come up with. They seemed to enjoy their craft time. We also were able to use or throw away a few things as well. Win-win-win!

The finished creations

   I overachieved (sarcasm) this month and we had a second crafting day where we played around with string and beads. Jackson strung some together for about ten minutes before he became bored. Kaitlyn and I each made a bracelet and a ring. I was impressed at her creativity.

 

K made the pearl bracelet

2. Blog at least twice per month

   I am glad that I cut my very ambitious initial goal of weekly posts in half (per the suggestion of Jon Acuff when I did his 30 Days of Hustle group) before officially declaring my ambition because I would be failing more months than succeeding (thus far I have had four or more non-recurring-type posts only twice in seven months and I doubt they were posted once per week). I have not gotten into a regular writing rhythm yet. I tend to write spontaneously rather than use prompts, which perhaps I should be doing to increase my discipline in writing. I am hoping to be able to write more once both of the kiddos are in school at least part-time in about a month. I enjoy writing and I want my posts to have meaning for me and my audience. I'm sure the quality of my writing would increase with more frequent practice but right now I'm doing what I can.

  Anyway, in addition to monthly and reading reviews I blogged about my self-care epiphany, what I have learned from my 3-year-old about building community and thoughts from ten years of marriage. If you have any suggestions for topics I ought to write about, please leave them in the comment section.

3. Grow in gratitude, contentment and generosity

   I am definitely grateful for my family, our home, my husband's job, etc. I have not kept up with my gratitude prayers this month. I have spent more regular time in prayer journaling and reading the Bible, which definitely includes some thanksgiving.

  Now that I'm back home I have been focusing on decluttering and getting rid of things we don't need. I've done most of the craft closet, the bathroom cabinets, the kids' rooms, our downstairs closet and multiple side table drawers. I've thrown out at least three trash bags from this effort and have a full Goodwill bag. I participated in a consignment sale to get rid of things the kids don't need anymore. I had them go through their clothes and remove things they thought they wouldn't wear anymore. I'm enjoying the process. There's still quite a bit more to go through - my clothes for the second round, pictures and keepsakes, books, whatever's in the attic - but I feel like real progress is being made. I'm trying to make more of an effort to put things back in their newly designated spots so I don't have to root around for them later.

  I believe I mentioned doing some yard saling out west. I didn't buy much at the sales (turns out not a lot of people are around to sell things over the 4th of July weekend). Nothing of note. I did do some shopping at the outlets with my aunt and purchased some clothes for my kids. I feel like I was much more contemplative of potential purchases than in the past.

  We purchased school supplies for our kids and for a church event. I tried to be more purposeful about being flexible with my daily plans/schedule, allowing for suggestions from the kids and opportunities to spend time with others. This is a big challenge for me as I like to push through my agenda (which tends to be me-focused). I'm slowly seeing changes and growth here.

Monthly Verses:

  I have had Ephesians 5:1-2 on the chalkboard in my kitchen since May. I am leaving it up there in the hopes of ingraining it deep into my heart. I could stand to grasp the concept of loving others better.

Ephesians 5:1-2 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.



What goals were you working on in July? Have you added new goals as the year has progressed? Have you completely dropped any goals started in January? Have any suggestions for blog post topics?

Fourth Month Goal Review

April has come and gone and it's once again time to check in on my goals for the year. You can read about January, February and March if you'd like. Without further ado, let's get to it.

1. One arts and crafts time with the kids each month

I wasn't sure what the kids and I would do in April. They both had their own ideas so I went with them. My daughter had received a Sofia the First sun catcher to paint in her Easter basket and wanted to work on that.

My son also wanted to paint and used the dot paint set we had to create a picture.

When those projects lost their interest my daughter decided she wanted to get out the art set she had received at her birthday and create a picture. My son had received a Paw Patrol coloring book at Easter and chose to color in that for a bit.

Finished creations

In between assisting them I decided to work a little on my photography, attempting to create images I could use on the blog.

2. Blog at least twice per month

I managed to achieve this goal again this month. I blogged four times. One was a book review for a launch team I was on. The others were just feelings and struggles and thought processes.

3. Grow in gratitude, contentment and generosity

A new friend introduced me to interactive prayer journaling this month. It is an opportunity to more clearly hear God speaking to you. It starts out by sharing your gratitude with God. My journaled gratitude has ranged from family and friends to medicine to the beauty of nature. It has helped me to remember that I have so much to be grateful for and, I think, has given me a more grateful attitude and heart.

I participated in a spring cleaning challenge in April which I thoroughly enjoyed. It helped me to clean out parts of the house I have been meaning to but kept putting off. I was also motivated by our neighborhood's yard sale at the end of the month. I cleaned out a bunch of clothes from my wardrobe, unused toys and too-small clothes from the kids (We decided the kids could keep the money earned from selling old toys and would use it as an opportunity to introduce the "give/save/spend" idea with money. Neither really understands the value of money yet, but perhaps it's at least a helpful start for the six-year-old.), baby things we no longer need and other miscellaneous things from around the house. Anything I couldn't sell in the fall children's consignment sale was dropped off at Goodwill after the yard sale. It felt really good to purge so many things from the house.

I didn't receive any feedback about whether sharing specific instances of giving went against the verse posted so I will once again be vague. We did give in addition to normal giving this month. I probably could benefit from increasing generosity with my time, specifically giving more undistracted time to my children.

Here are my verses for the month:

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ~Galatians 3:26-28

I only ended up memorizing the above verse but it was technically three verses so I guess it counts. ;-) It was hard for me to get this one firmly in my memory.


So, tell me about your goals this month. What were you trying to do? Did you achieve it? Are you going to try again next month? Try something new? Fill me in!

Third Month Goal Review

March has come to a close and I am back here checking up on my goals for the year. The first month I was pretty strong. February was also fairly solid. Could I keep steady three months in a row? Let's dive right in!

1. One arts and crafts time per month with the kiddos

With St. Patrick's Day, Easter and the beginning of spring all occurring in March, it seemed pretty easy to find something crafty to do with the kids. I gathered materials to make Easter wreaths and fingerpaint crosses. I really want to make sure the kids understand the spiritual aspects of major holidays, that it's not just candy and gifts but has a deeper, richer meaning for our lives.

And then the kids had no interest in doing either craft. My daughter received art supplies for her birthday and wanted to make a St. Patrick's Day picture to give to her teacher.

Here's the finished product.

My son wanted to draw with crayons and cut. So he did.

I worked on an Easter banner while supervising.

We have talked throughout the month about Jesus, his death and resurrection so the craft was not to be the only Easter-associated thing we did. Funnily enough, my son did the cross project in his preschool classroom at church on Easter.

And I ended up making the wreath craft one day while my son played with (homemade) playdough.

And, of course, egg dying!

2. Blog at least twice per month

This month was much more challenging than previous months. I managed to get my two written for the month but I was sweating the second one, writing it four days before the month ended. It was the accountability of reporting my success or failure on here that helped me push through my writer's block. If I hadn't publicized my goal I probably would have let it slide.

3. Grow in gratitude, contentment and generosity

There is a young woman in our church who has babysat for us off and on the past three years. She spent a year in Laos that ended last spring. She has decided to return again this fall for a two year commitment to teach English and share Jesus with her students. When she left the first time we gave her a one-time donation. We decided this time that we want to sponsor her monthly and began that process this month. We will miss her but we know she will do wonderful things abroad!

I also purchased items to help with various ministries' needs this month. I have been reminded of Jesus' words about not publicizing your giving and feel like this section kind of contradicts that. I do want to grow in generosity but I also don't want to brag about it. So I am not sure how to balance that. Perhaps being more vague in my give, such as noting that I did use resources for others' sake.

"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."  Matthew 6:2-4

What do you think, dear reader? Is sharing progress on this site the same as announcing it with trumpets?

Here are my two verses memorized for this month:

Deuteronomy 6:5-9: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

1 Peter 5:8-10: Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, stand firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 


How are you progressing on your own goals (yearly, monthly, just decided on, whatever)? Can I encourage you in any way? Please let me know!

Second Month Goal Review

We've completed another month of 2016! I started out the year strong. How did I do in February? Let's review my goals and find out!

1. One arts and crafts time per month with the kiddos

Since it's February, I knew we could do something Valentine's themed (as long as I could get everything organized and together before the second Sunday of the month. My daughter's class was passing out valentine's and she had decided that she wanted to make her own so that made the decision of what to do quite easy. We gathered up supplies and she got to work.

Meanwhile, we needed something fun for my son to do. He likes stamps and stickers so I thought he could make his own valentines with those supplies. He also wanted scissors since his sister had them so I obliged.

My daughter enjoyed personalizing each valentine for her classmates. Some had stickers. Some received stamps. She drew special designs and wrote specific phrases for others. She seemed to have a blast and was proud of her completed projects. 

One of her completed valentines

My son's valentine was quite colorful

I decided to also attempt a Valentine's craft to make our home a little more festive. Our house has decorations for Sept-Dec but the rest of the year it's fairly plain. I think it turned out lovely.

2. Blog at least twice per month

I am trying not to use my monthly reviews as counting toward my twice per month goal or it would be too easy. After posting my January reviews I was struggling with something to say. Thankfully the holiday gave me something to write about and helped restart my brain's idea center. I ended up with three non-review posts for February! My latest one was reaaaalllllly long and I was a little concerned that people wouldn't want to read so much. But I reminded myself that God will do what he wants with my posts and I'm just to trust him with my story.

3. Grow in gratitude, contentment and generosity

This month I participated in a mug swap with a Facebook group. It was fun trying to find fun things to send to an unknown woman that she'd enjoy. Last year I would have been more concerned with spending money on someone I didn't know but I focused on it being an opportunity to show love to another person. Each participant also donated money to one of the group member's adoption fund. Of course, it wasn't completely unselfish because I did receive my own package from a thoughtful woman. Steps, right?

Jen Hatmaker had a "Share the Love" event where people could register themselves or someone else to receive a free copy of her latest book, For the Love. After the registration period, other people could pay for one or more copies of the book to be shipped to one of the registered people. I chose to send out a book. The exciting part is that 2250 books were sent out - one to everyone who signed up for one!

This month was also the first children's consignment sale of the season. I thought one way to grow in generosity was to use any money made from selling our old clothes, toys and books to bless others however the Lord leads. Ten percent will be given to our church and the other ninety will be used for opportunities the Lord provides. I struggle off and on with spending money because I don't earn any as a SAHM. I try to focus some on saving money but that seems different than bringing it in. With this little bit of extra, I hope that I will feel freer to give.

I worked on memorizing two more scripture verses this month. They are below.

Matthew 11:28-30 - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Psalm 68:19 - Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.

I am continuing to try to avoid impulse purchases for myself. I know I really don't need anything so if I can focus on enjoying and appreciating what I do have, that will be progress. My mother-in-law decided to get rid of one thing from her closet each day for Lent (I assume clothing closet) and I think that's something I could do as well. I haven't started but removing forty things would definitely be a bit of a challenge and an opportunity to be grateful for and content with what I already have. I'll report back next month and let you know if I did this.

How are you doing on your goals for this year or month? Are you participating in Lent? If so, are you giving something up or did you add something?