A new year and a new decade! I read the following last year on a blog and was determined to make it my New Year's Resolution for 2009:
" I want to strive this year to be intentional in the things that I do. I want to be present, rather then distracted. I want to enjoy, rather then watch. I want to trust, rather then worry. I want to make the memories, rather then fuss over the mess. I want to be intentional in parenting my children, rather then just getting through the day; I want to mold them and teach them about our Father, rather then passing them off. I want to learn more and more about my First Love, rather then just merely attend a Sunday service. I want my life to represent my words, the words I say and the words I type here. I don’t want to preach it unless my character is truly reflecting it, or attempting to anyway. I want to water relationships and serve others. But I can only do any of that with planning and prayer and following through. I don’t want to walk through life just riding the waves as they come. I want to create the waves; rather I want to be open to allowing HIM to create waves in me."
I realized quickly that this was more than a resolution... it is a complete way of life... a complete way of attitude.... a complete way of changing. Since I'm still on this road to being intentional, I've decided to ditch New Year's Resolutions and embrace 101 in a 1001 which I hope to be the perfect solution to helping me be intentional in my roles while still allowing for the flexibility of life.
Begin Date: January 1, 2010
In Order to be a Godly Woman/ Grow Spiritually:
1. Find a church small group that we like.
2. Complete Breaking Free by Beth Moore again.
3. Memorize Proverbs 31:10-31.
4. Fast at least once when/if I feel led to do so.
5. Make a habit of praying before each meal.
6. Make a list of Bible Verses that pertain to my roles as a wife, mother, and friend.
7. Memorize the verses on that list.
8.
In Order to Be a Wife of Noble Character:
9. Establish a date night.
10. Pray for our marriage while making our bed each day.
11. Attend a marriage conference.
12. Write down our love story.
13. Create a Marriage Prayer Journal.
14. Finish Love Dare.
15. Read at least 3 books regarding marriage each year. (0/9)
16. Plan a trip to celebrate our 5 year anniversary.
17. Take Devin to an away football game.
18.
In Order to Raise a Godly Child:
19. Write Finley a letter each year on her birthday. (0/2)
20. Continue my Bible with notes to Finley in it.
21. Complete The One Year Children's Bible.
22. Find a MOPS group that I like.
23. Find a Mommy Blog of someone whose Godly parenting style I wish to emulate.
24. Create a prayer book for Finley.
25. Pray daily for Finley, for her salvation, and for her future spouse.
26. Complete our Songs for Saplings CD collection.
27. Read at least 3 parenting books a year. (0/9)
28. Create Finley's Hope Chest.
29. Take a Mommy & Me dance class with Finley.
30.
In Order to Be the Keeper of Our Home:
31. Create a Grocery Check-list in Excel and once finalized have it copied and bound.
32. Become a serious coupon clipper and save us more money on our grocery bill.
33. Deep clean our house once a month. (2/33)
34. Implement FlyLady techniques to organize and maintain our home.
35. Redo our bathrooms.
36. Surround and ground our home with meaningful and appropriate bible verses.
37. Organize iPhoto.
38. Transfer all pictures to Flickr, Shutterfly, or other online storage site.
39. Organize loose recipes.
40. Create an Idea File with ideas for birthday parties, invitations, cards, bedrooms, decorating, family pictures, etc.
41. Organize the documents on my computer including my bookmarks.
42. Clean out the attic.
43. Buy a dining room table that will serve as the perfect gathering place for our family for generations to come.
44. Set up a mail organization system.
45. Set up a receipt organization system.
46. Clean out email account.
47. Find 5 new recipes that can be easily frozen. (0/5)
48. Find 5 new recipes to entertain with. (0/5)
49. Write our will.
50. Go back through Keeper's study and implement 10 things in our home. (0/10)
51.
In Order to be a Faithful Friend and Family Member:
52. Continue to make my annual girls' trip with Beth a priority every year. (0/3)
53. Surprise Adam and Nathan with an ice cream date after school with Aunt Chelle and Finley.
54. Keep Adam and Nathan for at least one weekend each year. (0/3)
55. Send 5 cards a year to family and friends for no reason. (2/15)
56. Write thank you notes for every Christmas and birthday gift we receive.
57. Read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman and make a list of which language predominately describes my family and friends and utilize it to love them according to how they need to be loved.
58. Entertain on at least 5 occasions utilizing above entertaining recipes. (0/5)
59. Send someone flowers "Just Because".
60.
In Order to Be a Servant:
61. Make something for CraftHope.
62. Do 12 Random Acts of Kindness each year. (1/36)
63. Volunteer through Habitat for Humanity, Infant Crises Services, or another organization.
64. Volunteer to read with kids at Central.
65. Prepare all 5 of the frozen meals from above for someone who has just had a baby, who is recovering from an illness, etc. (0/5)
66. Send a care package to a soldier.
67. Give money to help Katie.
68. Donate 10,000 grains of rice through Free Rice. (0/10,000)
69.
In Order To Reach Generations to Come Through Family Traditions:
70. Take Finley to Utica Square at Christmastime.
71. Collect 25+ Christmas books.
72. Make or Buy an Advent Calendar.
73. Implement a Thanksgiving "I'm Thankful For..." tradition.
75. Find an Easter tradition that is meaningful to our family.
76.
In Order to Treat My Body as a Temple:
77. Drink more water... drink an average of 5 glasses a day by end of challenge!
78. Fix at least one new healthy meal a month. (2/33)
79. Run a 10K.
80. Begin planning and/or complete the 2 Day Breast Cancer Walk.
81. Actually run the Remember The Ten race instead of backing out each year!
82.
In Order to Be Emotionally & Intellectually Fit:
83. Pay for a professional makeup lesson.
84. Buy 6 new sewing patterns a year. (9/18)
85. Take a photography class.
86. Watch/read 10 online tutorials each year to better my knitting, photography, technology, crafting, or sewing skills and put tutorial into practice! (4/30)
87. Buy a pair of jeans that cost the majority of my allowance.
88. Make accessorizing a priority.
89. Buy 5 quality, non-sale wardrobe items a year. (0/15)
90. Sew something for myself that I'm willing to wear in public.
91. Find the perfect hair color.
92. Visit my mom's grave for the first time.
93. Make and maintain a list of things I remember about my mom.
94. Take Finley to Mother's Day Out in my pajamas and come home and go back to bed.
95. Attempt to sell something I made on Etsy.
96. Find a theme song.
97. Take a knitting class offered at SWAK.
98. Find a signature scent.
99. Make a habit of changing into real clothes before ever coming downstairs in the morning.
100. Buy something off HSN or QVC.
101.
End Date: September 12, 2012
Italics: Started/In progress
Strikethrough: Completed
Normal: Haven't started
Normal: Haven't started
Some Things to Know:
1. I left a space in each category blank so that I can fill it in as I come across new goals and ideas.
2. I plan to edit these each year. 1001 days is almost 3 years, and I'm aware that some of my goals may change. It is very possible that things that are important to me now may not be in a year and a half, and I don't want to feel committed to a goal that no longer matters to me.
3. I'm not going to use #2 as an easy way out! There are quite a few silly things on the list above, but there are also ones that I will need the full 2.75 years to gain strength to accomplish.
