{December Goals}

"I'm choosing not to get stressed. I'm just managing blessings."
{Lysa Terkeurst}

December Goals

☐ Celebrate Christ’s birth through meaningful reflection and activities

☐ Work through PowerSheets for 2-0-1-6!

☐ Cut down our very own Christmas tree (it’s a tradition now!)

☐ Listen to as much Christmas music as possible

☐ Make mini gingerbread houses

☐ Host an Eggnog + Cookies party

☐ Update Maddie’s baby book   

☐ Finish reading From Anger to Intimacy (I'm still reading this one! Really soaking it in).

What are your goals for this month? I'd love to know what your aim and focus are set on!

{October Goals}

October Goals

>> Continue studying Aimless by Ange Smith
>> Commit new verses to memory
>> Finalize plans for our 2-year anniversary trip (YAY!)
>> Decorate our home for fall (with the help of my ever-growing inspiration board)
>> Try a new pumpkin or apple recipe each week (already doing this - yum!)
>> Finish reading From Anger to Intimacy
>> Take a daily walk with Madison, weather permitting
>> Reach out to designers for LMP rebrand
>> Review our budget and plan for November

What are your goals for this month? I'd love to know what your aim and focus are set on!

{September Goals}

"There's 0% chance, 100% God."

A couple weeks ago, we had the privilege to hear one of the members of our church share about his journey with a brain tumor. He so boldly spoke of his trust and full reliance on the Lord in the midst of getting his diagnosis, how he and his wife had come to answer the ever-so-common question, "So what are your chances of surviving?" with 5 small but powerful words: "There's 0% chance, 100% God."

Wow. That hit me like a punch to my stomach.

Here I am, tumor-free, and am I actually trusting God to the full extent of my brother and sister in Christ who are actually experiencing a situation that makes it difficult and challenging to trust Him? Does my faith prove weak and futile in the time of trials, let alone in the good, easy times? Instead of figuring out the chance of this or that happening, what would my life look like if I surrendered it all to God, knowing that He is sovereign over it all?

I'm praying that God would continually remind me of my need for Him, every day. In good times, let us lean on Him and praise His name. In the tough times, let us praise Him still.

"Lord, I need You. O I need You. Every hour I need You. My one defense, my righteousness. O God, how I need You."

September Goals

>> Study Aimless by Ange Smith with a girls' small group
>> Commit new verses to memory
>> Plan for our 2-year anniversary trip (YAY!)
>> Spend a week in Florida with my family
>> Finish reading From Anger to Intimacy
>> Take a daily walk with Madison, weather permitting
>> Lovingly serve our LMP clients
>> Reach out to designers for LMP rebrand
>> Review our budget and plan for October

What are your goals for this month? I'd love to know what your aim and focus are set on!

{August Goals}

"There is no life like this life. There is no hope like this hope.
There is no God like our God." {Dr. Owen Strachan}

In what & in whom do I have my hope? Where am I seeking to find my life? What does God want me to be about? These are the questions I ask & want to continue to ask when thinking of each new day, week & month ahead. Fixing my eyes on the Author & Perfecter of my faith, faithfully running the straight & narrow path He has laid before me.

"Christ crucified & raised for our justification is intended to unleash us, embolden us & put us to work. Christianity is much more about serious adventure than sentimentalized safety. It is much more about faith in suffering than ease in prosperity. It is much more about death - death to sin & self - than it is about personal affirmation & precious moments."

August Goals

>> Study & journal about an attribute of God
>> Commit new verses to memory
>> Love, serve & respect Dean well
>> Enjoy a schmancy dinner date out with Dean
>> Be an intentional mama & point Madison to the Lord
>> Take a daily walk with Madison, weather permitting
>> Eat no sugar - refined or natural (For anyone interested in IQS, Sarah Wilson has great tips & recipes here)
>> Join a local MOPS group
>> Lovingly serve our LMP clients
>> Attend a coaching session with Cheyenne Schultz
>> Order new LMP equipment
>> Treat others with an abundance of kindness
>> Review our budget & plan for September

What are your goals for this month? I'd love to know what your aim & focus is set on!

{July Goals}

'Be a branch snapper off-er in a world where people are in the thick of the woods."
Carrie Grace

Earlier this week, I read an incredible encouragement email from the wonderful creator of The Kindness Box, Carrie Grace. It's so like God to have His perfect timing, right? These past few weeks I've been struggling with feeling & showing love & kindness to others. This often-tired new mama was trying in my own strength, & on my terms, to love others...& not quite getting it right.

Then I read Carrie's email:

"Perhaps that is why we aren't called to go at this life alone. Maybe God & others who reflect Him to us are tiny branch snappers...I think we are called to make getting out of the woods easier for one another. That we are supposed to speak truth in love as a means to get others into the clear.

Talk about a change in perspective! In the midst of being in what I'll call an un-kindness rut, God met me where I was & reminded me of the bigger picture - it's not about simply doing kind things or speaking with kindness toward others, it's about snapping those little branches off for those He's put in my life. It's about being willing to walk through the woods with them. As Carrie put it, "It's about staying when the woods are dark & cold & being willing to sit in the hard waiting period with others. And it's also about refusing to let someone stay."

Snap, snap, snap.

July Goals

>> Love & respect Dean well
>> Be an intentional mama & point Madison to the Lord
>> Commit new verses to memory
>> Road trip to Nashville!!!
>> Read The Best Yes & go through the Bible study at church
>> Take a walk with Madison 1x a day
>> Review our budget & plan for August
>> Lovingly serve our LMP clients
>> Treat others with an abundance of kindness

P.S. A first family photo with our little girl Madison! Taken by Casey Edwards Photography. (See My Fairweather Baby posts for more).