2021 - Goals and Looking Forward

It is almost the end of January and I am finally sitting down to share some goals for the year. I hesitate to make any after last year, but in the end, I think it is better to make them and not succeed, than to not make them at all. 

So here are some goals for 2021:

• Listen to the whole Bible Chronologically. 
• I am using the YouVersion Bible app for this and am really enjoying it. I actually started it mid-December am already 32 days in. I am not doing this quite every day, but when I do listen, I tend to listen to a couple days at a time. I have already listened to Genesis and Job and am now in Exodus.
• Read the Prevail daily devo book by Susie Larson. 
• Again, not doing daily, but trying for 4-5 days a week.
• Write in my 5-year Gratitude Journal.
• Goal: 4-7 days a week!
• Pray for my nieces and nephews (and other family and friends).
  
• I believe the best thing I can do for my nieces and nephews is to be a praying auntie. I was reminded again this week how important it is to lift up people in prayer. (Go watch War Room!) I also was reminded how prayer changes you first and then the people you pray for. 
• For practical purposes: I wrote all my nieces and nephews names down on index cards and I plan to pray for a couple of them each day. I will pull out a couple random names form one jar and put them in another jar until I get through all the names and then I will start over. 
• I will also be using the book Pray for Me by Tony Souder.
• Read 60 books this year.
• 48 fiction (about 4 per month)
  
• 12 non-fiction (at least 1 per month)
• Get back to exercising more. 
• 3-4 times per week.
• Just being intentional to move and get my heartbeat up for awhile!
• Be intentional about encouragement, gratitude, and being there for people. 
• After a year of not having enough connection, communication, and just time with people, I want to be intentional about reaching out to people. Not sure how this will look yet, but it is on my heart. I want to intentionally reach out to people and be authentic and real.
  
• Some ideas:
• Thank you cards
• Notes of encouragement
• Texts
• Showing up for people (when not expected)
• Bringing someone baked goods or meals
• ... 
• Fun Goals
• Wear a dress or skirt each week
• I love wearing dresses, but I don't much in the Winter because I don't like all the layers. This goal is to help me overcome the "I don't like wearing dresses in the Winter" and just doing it anyway!
  
• Bake bread each week (Try new kinds)
• Also have my sour dough starter going again!
  
• Work on my graphic design skills!
• And sharing my designs.
  

My goal is to break all of this up into monthly goals!

Word of the Year update: Short answer is I don't have one yet! I don't want to settle on one to just have one. I want to wait until I know that God is showing me a certain word. I have a list of them, but not sure if any of them are right. I am still praying about it and will post here when I have one for 2021!

Looking back at 2020

Ahhh, 2020 is over. In some ways, it is a relief, in others, I am sad that a whole year has flown by. 

Let's take just a minute to look back before going forward. 

Last year, my word for the year was PEACE. It was exactly the word I needed in the midst of chaos and a trying year. God knew the word I needed.

Looking into 2020 last January, I didn't want to make a lot of resolutions because I thought other things were going on. (There was, but not what I thought! Or anyone!).

 Here is what I wrote last year when I chose my word and thought about making resolutions:

In 2020, we have many commitments including politics, campaigning, helping with the local homeschool co-op (I am also teaching this semester), hosting a reader's retreat, VBS, graduations of close friends and family, a major election, work, family, to name just a few.

Looking back, this how that turned out:

In 2020, we have many commitments including politics Yep, 

campaigning Looked so different this year, 

helping with the local homeschool co-op (I am also teaching this semester) Until we cancelled in March due to Covid, 

hosting a reader's retreat Postponed to 2021, 

VBS Postponed to 2021, 

graduations of close friends and family Happened, just different than we would have guessed, 

a major election Again, looked so different this year, 

work Thankful for my job, looked a lot different this year, 

family Time with family also looked different, to name just a few. 

Funny how our expectations vs. what happened last year were so vastly different. Most of the above did not look like I would have expected. But somethings were even better. There were definitely things to be thankful for in the midst of 2020.

Here are a couple of the things we listed on our Christmas card this year:

•  A new niece born in January
• Family vacation in July
• My sister getting engaged and married
• Fall family camping trip
• Seeing "Noah" at Sight and Sound in Branson 
• Lots of produce from our garden (1st time in a long time!).
• Technology
• Friends and Family
• Jesus!
  
• And so many more.  
  

Looking back on 2020 will always be hard, but I will try to find the joy, the blessings, and give thanks for all them. I will remember that God is always good and was and is with us always. 

I think it is good to look back on the things we grieve (write them down and release them), but then to also write a list of things to celebrate and give thanks to God for how He is always working in our lives. Look for those God sightings! You might just be surprised!

Book Review - Timeless Treasure by MaryLu Tyndall

I have been reading MaryLu Tyndall's books for over 10 years, but out of all of her books, I really like the books that are set on pirate ships, as this one is! This book was particularly interesting to me because it was a time-slip novel. Tyndall did an excellent job of maintaining the present-day story while "slipping" back in time to the pirate's story. I really appreciated the craftsmanship of the story and the way you jumped back in time through reading letters, just like the characters in the book were doing! I also liked finding out that the story was based on a real pirate and that the author stayed true to his story. What a fun way to learn more history!

The story was woven so beautifully. I believe you will fall in love with both the present-day and the historical stories in this book.

Lastly, I love how so many of Tyndall's books weave a thread of redemption throughout the stories. This book has a truly beautiful ending. I hope you will take the time to pick up this story and discover what the Timeless Treasure is all about!

 (I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author/publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)