January

I've finally had a bit of down time and been able to come up with some goals for this month. Let me start by saying that I don't usually (anymore...I used to) make New Year's resolutions. This year isn't really any different...as I mentioned before, I much prefer this monthly goal bit. But I do have a couple of things that I'll be striving for this year. Mainly I want to focus on living a more disciplined life, especially in the area of time management. I think that by doing monthly goals for the last few months I've gotten a good start on this, but I want to really step it up a notch. I'm working hard on getting to bed early so that when my alarm goes off in the morning my only excuse for not getting up will be pure laziness, not lack of sleep. One of the first things I did in 2011 was clear out my blog subscriptions. I deleted every blog that I don't love to read or that's not written by someone I know personally. I won't be turning on my computer until I've spent time in the Word and in prayer. I'll use time during Lane's nap to do dinner prep: chopping veggies or cooking meat, shredding cheese, stuff like that.

I'm not calling these things resolutions because I know I won't do them all the time. Life happens. They're not goals, per se. They're steps I've identified that will help me to lead the kind of life I want to. My life isn't going to get any simpler, so I need to stop procrastinating on these kinds of things. I almost decided not to read through my Bible last year because I thought it might be too difficult with our crazy year. But I decided to do it anyways, and guess what? I finished. This year I've decided to do it again, following a different plan, but doing it all the same. I'm also going to add in more in-depth Bible study time, which I tend to skip over when I'm reading through the Bible in a year since it's so time-consuming. But even if I only do 5 minutes a day of deep reflection and study, I'm going to do it. I need to start now.

So there you go: the closest thing to a New Year's resolution that you'll get out of me. Do you want to join me in picking an area of your life that you'd like to become more disciplined in? Do you want to spend less time on facebook and surfing the internet but don't know where to start or who to ask to hold you accountable? Do you want to get up earlier each day but lack self-control in going to bed early? Send me an email (scarbroughfare@gmail.com) and I'll be a partner for you in this! I need accountability too, which is why I'm posting this for the world to see. Keep me accountable. Give me suggestions in areas you see I'm weak in. Help me set goals in areas I seem to neglect. Help me as I strive to live a life I'm not ashamed of.

Thus, my goals for this month are:

In relation to God:
1) Memorize Psalm 1:1-2. Yup, stepping it up with 2 verses a month this year instead of just 1. We'll see how it goes.
2) Read my Bible daily in order to finish it by the end of this year.
3) Spend at least 5-10 minutes each day studying and reflecting on a passage of Scripture.
4) Listen to 1 online sermon.
5) Make a monthly prayer calendar. Or at least get the calendar printed, even if it's still blank.
6) Finish "Shepherding a Child's Heart."

In relation to my family:
1) Have a date night without Lane.
2) Take Lane outside every day for at least 15-20 minutes unless it's raining or too cold.
3) Take a 2-day vacation to see some friends.
4) Do something touristy.
5) Get fully settled and unpacked in our new apartment.
6) Be in bed, lights out, by 10:30.
7) Throw Lane a bang-up 1st birthday party.

Personal goals:
1) Make our bed every day.
2) Get my pajama pants fixed.
3) Offer Shannon a back massage every night.
4) Try 1 new recipe.
5) Order photos for Lane's scrapbook and find someone to bring them over.
6) Get out of bed by 6:00.
7) Start reading the owner's manual for our new camera.

I've tried to keep my goals for this month kind of light since we're moving to a new place and Shannon will be gone for a week.

Care to join me? Leave a comment or send me an email!