I originally posted this on January 1st. I have had reality temper my outlook (QUITE a bit), so instead of just updating the older post, I rewrote most of it.
(I said this in a previous post, but I am not using the phrase 'being mindful' to address the popular mindfulness exercises...I am literally talking about stopping, taking an honest look about where I am, and then charting a course forward)
This is a long post, so feel free to skip it.
Although nothing magically changes when the clock inches forward and we bid goodbye to one year and say hello to a new one, it feels clean, pristine, and uncrinkled by life. Fresh hope and joy bubble up, and you think maybe, just maybe this will be the year.
The year where it all comes together. But, the truth isn't in the circumstances, it's in what God has already done. Colossians 1:17
The year where peace reigns higher, louder, more forcibly than chaos, fear, and hard days. But, even when your heart is full of fear and anxious thoughts, remember. John 14:27
The year where I lose the weight, save the money, clean the house, go on that trip...you can make all the plans in the world, but God has the last word. (really the entire book of Proverbs...but) Proverbs 19:21
The year where I check off more boxes than I leave blank, lay good habits down like railroad tracks...you get the picture. The hope that brims in our hearts on New Years *at least for me* is often rooted in the possibilities of what I can check off/achieve. Instead, may I anchor my hope in Him. Hebrews 6:19. Because NO matter what does or does not come together in 2021, God is the great I AM. He has given us all we need for life and godliness. 2 Peter 1:3.
This year I picked consistency as my word. May I consistently seek Him. May I consistently plant habit seeds, and surrender the harvest to Him. May I consistently seek faithfulness as a wife, as a mom, as a homeschool mom, as a home keeper, as a steward of my time and finances. May I consistently choose to drink the water, eat the veggies, and do the exercises when I would rather have hot chocolates, eat junk food, and not exercise. May I consistently cultivate gratitude and contentment. Those two things are essential for combatting the defeating thoughts of self-pity, the ever cancerous "I wish I hads...", and the anxious ridden "what ifs" - all three of these lines of thinking combine to create a hamster wheel of chaos. (Incidentally, I have found out that I can't entertain what if thinking when I am thanking God for what actually is. And I can't get anxious when I am laying it in His hands and reminding myself of who He is and who I am not. - ex, I am not in charge, He is. Isaiah 41:10)
In looking forward:
I separated my goals into categories :
Disciplines - my walk with God
Fit - my plans for fitness
Tidy - my plans for decluttering the house
SMAUG - financial fitness
Pedagogy, Reading, & Teaching - I want to grow and learn and be able to be what I have so often hungered for - a voice that shares where we have been, what we have learned, where we are going, and what we are learning.
I am choosing a ninety-day goal from fitness first. This is what Grace Goals referred to as my personal Jericho. For me, as my mouth goes, so does my heart, my thinking, my body (energy, mood...etc;). What I mean by that is this: when I am disciplined in my eating and exercise...everything else sort of just lines up, that discipline and consistency spills over into all areas. When I am careless and using food as an escape/crutch to limp through difficult seasons...everything else follows suit. So, for the next 90 days, I am focusing on tracking and moving. If I bite it, I write it (which also helps me monitor my water intake) and continuing my Streak (11 minutes of cardio & strength exercises that I can do multiple times a day - I set up an app and chose my exercises and it literally takes like 11-15 minutes per session. BONUS: keeps me consistent with the knee strengthening).
For me, when I am writing down and tracking what I am eating (& drinking) every day, it makes me want to make better choices, to get more bang for my buck so to speak. I don't want to waste 250 of my calories on candy and I surely don't want to have to write down and admit I had fast food again for dinner.
For 2021:
Fit - first 90 days
Disciplines - second 90 days - prayer
Tidy - third 90 days - 40 bags, 40 days challenge
SMAUG - all year long - tithe first
Pedagogy, reading, & teaching - I am meeting with someone 1 hour each month for the next three months to help steer our ship & establish some ideas so that we can finish this journey well. In the meantime, I will post my reading list next :). Teaching will have some overarching goals for each girl I am sure, but the main thing is this : I show up consistently and plant the seeds, trusting God to bring the harvest (*in HIS way and in HIS time)
Fourth 90 days : what did I not get done? This segment of 90 days is set aside for that.
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