TUT: Being Intentional! 2010 Goals (Link Up!)

I mentioned that this tiny little quote issued a big challenge to me.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Making it SMART

The idea of smart plans came from a review I did on an Epicure product. Who’d have thought it would have such an impact on me. A SMART goal is one that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. In order to maximize our chances of success, each goal should cover most of these areas.

A Word

Tricia mentioned last year that she chooses a word for the year. After much thought, prayer and having come across this idea so much in the past few weeks, my word for 2010 is INTENTIONAL.
More specifically, being intentional about:

• Growing in the Lord
• Nurturing my marriage
• Raising, training and teaching my tots
• Reaching out to others with the gospel

A Verse

“And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men.” Acts 24:16
I discovered this verse a few months ago and it has crossed my mind so often! I want this to be the focus of 2010. As I have meditated on this verse, the Lord has brought many thoughts to my mind and reinforced that He has chosen this verse for me.

• “And herein” – A declaration of intent! A statement that from this point on… or a resolve. This is a great way to start the year

• “Do I exercise myself” – It won’t all come naturally. It will take work, determination, will-power, reliance on the Lord.

• “To have always” – Consistent!

• “Conscience Void of Offence” – When you first read this, you may think about not offending God or man but the more I’ve thought about it the more firmly I realize that this verse isn’t about not offending men. It’s about having a conscience void of offense. When we are doing right, standing up for right and proclaiming right, someone is bound to take offense. But if my goal is to have a clear conscience, then I will strive to do the classic WWJD in all circumstances. Note: the more Christ-like we become, the more the Holy Spirit convicts and fine tunes us.

• “Toward God and toward Men” – My primary and first goal is to be void of offense before God and a natural by-product of that will be that I will have one before most men as well. I know that often we can have the attitude, “I don’t care what other people think”  but I believe that while we can’t govern our actions by what others will think, their opinions of us are important! It should be Christ they see through us.

A Plan

SPIRITUAL: Since the Lord ought to be my first priority, He should be at the top of my list. I admit that sometimes it is easy for me to jumble priorities and when that happens, chaos ensues.

• In 2010, I will strive to put him first in all areas, my day included. One of the books that I read this year and loved was Passionate Housewives Desperate for God. In it, they dispel the myth of “perfect” morning quiet/prayer time for those of us with littles, which was liberating to read. At the same time though, it shouldn’t keep us from striving for it, but rather free us from the guilt for those times that we can’t.
• I have never read the whole bible through. It seems like everyone has but I haven’t. Though saved at a young age, it wasn’t until the Lord drew me back to his side (after a difficult miscarriage), that I really began to get serious about my walk with Him. Alas, losing Isaiah, then having Chloe, then John, I have to say that I never seem to have time. This year, I am going to read through the NT. I know that the whole bible is too large a goal for me but if I read two + books a month, the NT is a do-able goal for me!

MARRIAGE: is the next most important thing to me. And you know what, sometimes I get that mixed up too. When the littles are so, well, little, they require so much extra attention and sometimes I forget that DH needs my attention too. We do welcome daddy home (most days) but I need to do more. Our marriage is wonderful but filled with many areas that need a little work.

• Miscommunication is something that I believe will always be a bit of a struggle. While we rarely ‘fight’, we certainly can get snappy at each other sometimes and most of the time it has to do with miscommunication. We have talked about it in the the past and agree that ‘subtle’ hints are not the way to go for us. We both need to clearly (and kindly) speak about what is on our minds, and what we are thinking. Listening more and talking less often may be the solution.
• Expectation is another key area that goes hand in hand with communication. I’m not sure that DH struggles with this as I do but it is something to work on this year. In many cases, we need to lower our expectations of ourselves and our spouses. I know often I expect him to do something, know something or say something and he has no idea. This frustrates me and I feel like a need isn’t being met and I get grumpy or snappy.
• If we can communicate expectations and listen more and clarify to help avoid misunderstandings, 2010 will be a great year for our marriage!

PARENTING: Loving, teaching, training and disciplining my tots is the third priority in my life and one that is filled with joy, delight, frustration and challenge. Though I could list a million areas that I need to work on in order to better raise my littles, keeping it simple and attainable, I’ll just list two:

• Depending more on the Lord for PATIENCE to respond in a kind and loving tone when dealing with an attitude or action for yet the millionth time. Patience to explain when necessary, to love when I don’t feel loveable and to give myself wholly when it costs.
• Being CONSISTANT in rules, consequences, discipline and in love.

FINANCES: are something I seldom touch on here at Beautiful Calling because I am in no way qualified. I will say that this year I read Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover and was amazed.

• I hope to re-read it with my husband in the New Year and talk about how we can implement it into our lives.
• As of January 1st, I will be an epicure consultant and hope to contribute to our finances through that.
• I am thankful that we both share the same desire: me to be at home raising and training our littles. We are still learning to work as a team when it comes to finances and everything else.

COMMUNITY: I hope to be more involved in our community in the coming year.

• The biggest thing that I want to work on is sharing the gospel. Sure, it is easy to share with someone who expresses an interest first but sharing my faith with someone I don’t know or who hasn’t brought it up first? Nope, that is scary. To just hand a tract to someone you don’t know? I’ve never done that. Ever. Door to door knocking to invite people to church? Never done that. Ever. This year, I want to try (Lord, give me courage) to be more bold for Him.
• In 2007 I sent out quarterly letters to seniors and shut ins but 2008 just got so busy. I think I sent out one. I know that snail-mail is a fun surprise and can be a real blessing. It is also a super easy ministry to do with the littles. I want to sent out at least once card per month to someone who could use a snail-mail {hug}.
• I also live very close to a nursing home. I often drive by it and think, “Oh, one day we’ll drop in and visit someone” but never do. Once the weather is warm again where we can walk that far without freezing, I would like to try get that visit in to some new friend just waiting to be met.

• Visit Happy Housewife for more 2010 Goals!