2012 - A New Year!

"God is clear: we must exercise self-discipline in all matters. Self-discipline is not simply a proven way to get ahead; it's also an integral part of God's plan for our lives. If we genuinely seek to be faithful stewards of our time, our talents, and our resources, we must adopt a disciplined approach to life."

Did this quote ring a bell with you? It did with me! I've started spending a few minutes a day reading this devotional book and in specific prayer for God to better me...more of Him and less of my selfish ways.

So, I'm a total time WASTER...you name it, I can waste time doing it. I rarely finish projects at home, can spend way too much time checking my email and on facebook, and can make 30 minutes of what could have been productive time totally useless. So the 'faithful steward of time' part really spoke to me. God calls me to be better about this and I have to be disciplined and intentional to break this bad habit. I'm sharing this with you so you can hold me accountable...if you know my goals, maybe I'll do a better job meeting them! You can also pray for me if you want! :)

My goals for 2012...cheesy I know, I don't generally like New Year's resolutions, but this just happened to be "Day 3" in my devotionals, and why not go for it! ;)

• Read to Claire and Henry every day! (We do this mostly, but I want to spend more time with books.)
• PLAY with Claire and Henry every day! (I'm already good at talking to them a lot and interacting with them, but I want to be the fun mama who actually sits down to spend quality FUN time with her kids often...doing a puzzle, playing kitchen or dress up, pretending to be a customer, etc. This may mean that the house is always a mess, but I'm okay with that as long as it's not unbearable.)
• Laugh with Matt every day! (We did this a lot tonight. I need to lighten up and see the humorous side of everything.)
• Spend MUCH less time dinking around on the computer! (My biggest time waster! Today I only checked facebook three times and it was quick log in and log out a few minutes later...seriously that's not much for me! I have people in my life whom I love and who are RIGHT HERE...I don't need to have superficial relationships with my hundreds of friends!)
• Eat right and exercise! I know, I know, EVERYONE has this as their resolution...guess I'll join the bandwagon! These last two weeks (after my unplanned detox...thank you, flu!) I have been eating more fruits and vegetables and MUCH fewer sugars and refined flour foods and I already feel better...I want to continue that. (And I was eating A LOT before, just for the record!) I also want to make time to work out and/or stay active several times a week. This is something I'm going to have to gradually work into my schedule...go figure I'm already pretty busy...but it's my goal to start this month, less frequent at first, then more frequently. You can hold me accountable on this too...when you see me go for the fourth cookie (which of course won't be happening now, but happened almost daily in the past) you can stop me and chew me out!

So, that wraps up my personal goals for 2012...if I can be disciplined enough (I'll need your help on that, God) for 365 days, I'd say they'd develop into habits and a lifestyle change by then! If I can pray for you about anything specifically, please tell me...I already thank God for you daily! :)