2019: Resolutions and Goals

2019: goals

1. Consistent Bible reading. 

Read my Bible 4-5 days per week. I’ll be using the She Reads Truth Bible this year and I’m going to use some of its reading plans for the books of the Bible. I am thinking I will start in January with John. 

2. Read 120 books. 

This is more than double last year’s goal, but this year I want to count all the children’s books that I read, too! I tend to read to my nieces and nephews a lot and I thought it would be fun to keep track of the children’s books. 

3. Consistent prayer time.

Along with my Bible reading, I want to get back in the habit of daily, intentional prayer.I still need an intentional plan for this.

4. Have monthly goals.

Something along the lines of trying something new each month or at least having a new goal each month. This didn't work well for me last year, but I am going to try again!
Some ideas:
-Do a skirt/dress challenge (wear skirts/dresses for 7-14 days).
-Ride bike 3-5/week (during the summer).
-

5. Keep track of the projects that I complete in 2019.
I love creating things and I thought it would be fun to keep track of what I am making. In December 2018, I kept track and it was fun to see that I had completed 5 knitting projects!

Word of the Year: EMBRACE  
For more on this, see the last post!

Happy New Year! Share some of your goals in the comments! I’d love to hear them!

2019: Word of the Year

 2019

Word of the Year: EMBRACE

This word started coming to me back in November. If you read my post on "being awkward," you will understand this word just a little more. Life is hard and we really don't have control over things, so why not just embrace what comes to you. I don't want to be discontent. I don't want to live in regrets. I don't want to live in the "if only" and "I didn't get my way." I want to embrace life. I want to embrace each part of it, the good and the bad. I want to embrace Jesus and all He has for me!

My Three:

I considered a couple different words, including "be" and "awkward" (again, see the post about it). Then I started thinking more and more about the word embrace. And I kept hearing it over and over again. About a week before Christmas, a friend and I were having a conversation and she asked me if I had picked a word for 2019 yet. I told her the first two options and said I had one other one, but I couldn't remember it right then. She then asked me about the word "embrace." I was like "That's the other word I was thinking of." I love how I couldn't even remember it in the moment, but God used her to remind me of the word that was already written in my notebook on my list of words for the year.

If you want to read the original story that got me started thinking about "embrace," check out this post.

The final determiner was a sermon I heard on the last Sunday in December. I felt like it was written just for me. Remember my post on what we deserve? Well, I felt like that theme rang throughout the sermon. And then over and over again, I heard the word "embrace." At the end, the one line that stood out to me was, "Embrace Jesus." And that is when I knew for sure I was going to embrace the word embrace!

I just love how God uses situations in our life to guide us! I think it is so important to be on the lookout! Look for those God-sightings!



The Dictionary Definition
(Merriam-Webster)
: to accept readily or gladly 
 She is always ready to embrace an opportunity.

:to avail oneself of 
(avail:  advantage toward attainment of a goal or purpose, : to make use of : to take advantage of )
 
Here is a start to my list of embracing.

Embrace awkward. Embrace Out-of-Control. Embrace hard things. Embrace the little things. Embrace life. Embrace Jesus.

(A great blog post from Boundless on embracing out-of-control.)

Bible Verses:

...a time to embrace...
Ecclesiastes 3:5
 

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live... 

Deuteronomy 30:19  
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