Tuesday, January 01, 2013

2013

As the New Year is rolling in, I looked over my goals for 2012. Of the eight that I set, I kept one faithfully, two semi-faithfully, and the rest I failed miserably. It's easy for me to get discouraged in this area of my life. I have lots of plans and a system to institute them. It isn't usually the right way to execute a plan, but at least I recognize that I do this.

This is how I work. I make a plan and set about it wholeheartedly. Then after a period of time I'll miss a step. I might give myself a little pep talk and get back to it. Then if I miss another step or two, I'll start thinking things like - it was a dumb plan anyway, or the plan was too ambitious. I may even try to tweak it, but I usually get too discouraged and give it up.

Proverbs 16:9- The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

Praying through my goals and trying to make sure they aren't too ambitious is the first place to start. For example, if I make running a marathon a long term goal, then I shouldn't start off by committing to running four hours three times a week. For me personally, in my life,  with small children, thirty minutes of exercise three times a week is reasonable and running a marathon is a very long term goal.

One of my goals for 2012 that I failed miserably at was to do book studies with my family. I don't know if I even tried to start that or what that was supposed to look like. It sounds good on paper, but who knows what I was thinking. I guess I didn't pray through that one enough.

I have been praying that God would show me things in my life that He would change. I'm sure better spiritual disciplines would be on the top of the list, but that's too vague. I will have to get more specific to be able to accomplish that. There are other issues that I would love to see settled this year that I know only God can fix. As I pray and plan, I will try to change my usual course of setting a plan in motion. Hopefully, God's truth will be the light that directs my path.

And the 2012 goal that I did so well on? It's going back on the list again, to make it a better habit and to give me the extra encouragement at the end of 2013:)

1 comment:

shereflects said...

thanks for sharing. :)