February Goals

Perhaps I will be a bit more punctual when posting my March goals, but here are my February goals even though the month is already half over.

Monthly Goals

- host a fun birthday party for Rory

- Read His Needs, Her Needs

- Read a parenting book (Give Them Grace)

- Begin the whole30!

- have a one on one date with each of my girls

Weekly Goals

-post on the blog weekly

- do a random act of kindness for a friend or stranger

- check in and build community on the Influence Network

Daily Goals

- get up at 6 am everyday to have quiet time before the girls get up

- read the Bible to the girls every night before bed

- List a gratitude every day (at least one!)

- Say one nice thing to someone else

- complete the daily prompt for the Spark Your Creativity online course I signed up for

As I mentioned in my earlier post, this month's focus is on love and some tangible ways that I have decided to do that this month are bringing a treat to share during fellowship at church on Sunday, baking cookies with my girls to share with a couple of my friends, and leaving a note ( or two) in my husband's lunchbox for him to read (and probably get embarrassed over in his lunch room).  Another goal I had was to set aside a few hours one morning before Lent started to really pray over where my heart was/is during this time and asking Him what resting in Him and abiding in Him really looks like.  I am participating in the She Reads Truth lent study, as well as some journaling and prayer exercises as I am wrestling with where God is calling me and what my kingdom service should look like.  I am thinking about writing a separate post specifically about that.

my anti-goals

So I am not sure if anti-goals are really an accurate word to describe these, and it certainly does make this post sound more dramatic than it is meant, but I am talking about things that are the opposite of goals that I had last year.  Things that I thought were important and life-giving, ended up having the opposite effect on me, and this year I want to do the opposite of these goals, they are anti-goals if you will.

Last year I really wanted to become a blogger, but soon realized it wasn't a gift of mine.  At least not at the time.  I already wrote a whole post about this back in October so I won't go over it all again,  I just bring it up as one of the anti-goals for this year.  I want to use my blog to my advantage in 2016, as a sounding board, as a platform for my thoughts, and I don't want to worry if even one person reads it, because quite frankly, no one probably will.  And I want that to be okay.

Another thing that I cared a lot about last year was instagram followers.  I am actually ashamed to admit this, because there is nothing to gain by having one or one thousand followers.  I guess if you have a business (which I kind of do, but that will be discussed in a later post) it is really good to have exposure to build your business.  However, there is all that stuff about target markets and things, and so you could have 4568854332 followers, but if they aren't your target market then you really don't have any advantage to have all those followers.  I have heard it said that having followers on instagram is like monopoly money - what does it really do for you in the long run?  Anyway, it still used to really bother me when I saw the numbers go down.  I am also really ashamed to admit this.  I remember I posted something ( cannot for the life of me remember what it was, but it wasn't anything controversial, and I like to think that I don't post any really crappy pictures) and I noticed like seven people un-followed me within the next few hours.  I asked myself what I might have done wrong and I ruminated on it for the rest of the afternoon.  However, I soon reminded myself of the above truth - that followers don't equal success or that you're cool, or worthy, or anything.  That is not to say that I am not appreciative of my followers, because of course I am.  I love interacting in the comments, and I love to see the likes that certain pictures of mine receive.  I just mean to say that my worth is not defined by how many people follow me on social media.  I am a child of God and THAT defines me.  So another goal for me in 2016 - don't even look at the numbers.  They don't matter.  What matters is that I use social media as another platform to voice the words that God gives me and to share the pictures that I consider beautiful or meaningful or having purpose.  My anti-goal for instagram in 2016 - ignore the numbers.  Post what matters to me.  End of story.

The last anti-goal that I have is something that I plan on writing a separate post about.  However, since it is relevant to this post, I will share a little bit here.  I don't want to worry about having a business this year.  Last year I ate, slept, and breathed ideas for a business that circulated inside my head constantly.  Ideas would come and go, and nothing seemed right until I settled on grace&canvas.  I have learned a lot through this experience, and my biggest take-away is that it is not for me to worry about right now.

So as I similarly shared on a recent instagram post, I want 2016 to be a year of stepping back and evaluating what truly matters and not allowing comparison to be my yardstick, but instead focusing on the things that God places on my heart.  I look forward to sharing more when the time is right and when the words are there, and then when the words don't come and life presses in, silence is perfectly okay.

tools to use when planning your goals

I talked in an earlier post about how I begin when I set goals for the year.  Even though January is already more than halfway over, I thought I would also write a post about the tools that I use as I create and implement my goals throughout the year.  I have used Lara Casey's powersheets for over a year, and I strongly recommend them for anyone who would like help with intentional goal setting.  I use them every month, and they make up the bulk of the resources that I use for setting goals each month.  However, I wanted to go into detail a little more about the other tool that I started using this year, and that is my three-ring printables binder.  I absolutely love free printables because (well, free) but also because I love when I am organized and there are some great resources out there to help with this.

When you create a printables binder, it is of course most helpful to have tools that are specifically geared towards the goals/themes that you want to incorporate into your life this year.  The first section in my binder is a devotional planner.  I wanted to make sure that I spent more time in the word each day this year.  I printed out a monthly calendar here to use as I plan my devotions for the week/month.  Right now I am going through a seven-week devotional that has five days of reading each day, so I planned each week day to consist of reading one section from that devotional.  On Sundays I pick out the scripture that I plan on memorizing for the week (one of my goals this year is to memorize more scripture) and Saturdays are "grace days" where I don't have a specific reading, but pray and journal and write out my verse for the week from memory.

The next four printables that I have in my binder are from Emily Ley's printables library.  There are so many and you should definitely go check out all that she has to offer.  The first one that I am using is the monthly calendar.

 I talked on my instagram about how I use this along with my powersheets to help me keep my goals visible throughout the month as well as help me to be more intentional in carrying out my goals by actually scheduling goals onto the calendar to ensure that they get done instead of just pushing them to the side as each day goes by.  I schedule the monthly one-time goals like date nights or a girls night with friends, and I also schedule the day each month devoted to working on my next month's powersheets.

I use the weekly calendar for the same reason as the monthly calendar (to keep them visible, and to schedule them intentionally into my day) but I schedule the weekly ongoing goals here, such as read a book ( I break down the book into chapters and schedule a certain amount of chapters to read a few times each week) or tend a relationship ( for example, Tuesdays and Thursdays are the day that I have set aside during the month of January to intentional focus on relationships like texting a friend, or sending them a note that I am thinking of them.  This may be too structured for some people I realize, but for me it works because I always know each day what I need to accomplish, so that I can look back at the end of the month and have completed all my goals.  It also helps me by breaking down a large goal into bite-sized chunks ( such as the book example I just mentioned).

Another tool that I included in my printables binder is Emily Ley's health and fitness tracker.  Since I wanted to be more health-focused this year, I included this to plan out my daily workouts and meals, as well as to keep track of the water I drink.  I do use some apps for this as well, but I am still very much a paper person, and I keep this tracker in my planner to refer to as the day goes on.

The last printable from Emily Ley that I included in my binder is her gratitude journal.  I taped one copy to my wall to list them throughout my day/week and it helps to keep it visible to me and not just inside the binder.  When it gets full, I will return it to the binder and put up another one.  Also connected with this is the last printable in my binder from Ann Voskamp which is her joy dare printables where she encourages you to list three gratitudes each day and gives you prompts to help you think of them.

Being such an organized person, I really like having a system when it comes to planning and setting goals, and this just seemed to work for me.  I encourage you to create your own if this sounds like it will be helpful for you, and if you are a creative person, it is always fun to create your own dividers for this project.   If you are not very creative, or love to shop at office supply stores, it is fun to peruse the aisles to look for some fun dividers and a pretty binder to use for your own library.  

My January goals

I finished my monthly goals for January, but am a little late in posting them.  We started the new year with a sick kid, and so I am feeling a little behind.  It is all a reminder that January 1st is just a day, and that God's plans are always sovereign over mine.  So here's to a year of trust and truth, of pause and reflection, and of letting Him direct my steps.

Monthly Goals

- Host a fun birthday party for Charlotte

- Call State Farm re: life insurance

- Breakfast date with Forrest

- Have a redbox date with Forrest one night after the kids are in bed

- Have a coffee date with a friend

- Start my personal bucket list - maybe create a pinterest board for it!

- Make a scripture list for the girls to memorize a verse each month

Weekly Goals

- Memorize a new passage of Scripture each week

- Complete a week of "Open Your Bible" study by Raechel Myers and Amanda Bible Williams

- Read one part of Make it Happen book by Lara Casey

- "Tend" a relationship (complete something on my relationship tending page each week)

- Check in on Influence Net one to two times a week

Daily Goals

- Have quiet time with the Lord each morning

- Drink 64 oz of water

- 10k steps

- Count calories for the day ( keep it to 1300 max)

- Workout for 30 minutes (aiming for this at least 3-5x a week)

- Pray with the girls each night before bed ( this would be a good time to go over the scripture for the month as well)

- List at least one gratitude daily ( this usually flows into several!)

My goals for 2016

This process took a lot longer this year than it did last year, because I learned a lot of what to do, and what not to do from last year, and so I was a lot more intentional and focused with my goals.  I tried really hard to capture small, specific, realistic, and physical steps for my goals, as Lara suggests in the powersheets.  She has room for ten, but I only came up with eight - room to grow I guess.

1.  Love my husband well.  Some of the action ideas that I have are: monthly dates ( both having time out of the house just us, but also planning some nights-in as well), Reading a marriage book, praying for him daily, and making sure I treat time with him as a priority and not just fit it in where and when I can.  I am also thinking about maybe attending a marriage conference together.

2. Cherish my kids and invest in them and their future.  Pray for them daily, help them to memorize scripture, pray with them every night before bed, create and implement a chore chart to teach them responsibility, and spend time with them monthly, one on one.

3.  Keep God at the center and grow deeper in relationship with Him.  Have early morning quiet times, memorize a new passage of scripture each week, journal what I am reading, complete "Open Your Bible" study that I got for Christmas!  I am also praying to become part of a small group or about staring an accountability/prayer partnership with one of my friends.

4.  Practice healthy living and make positive choices for my body.  This includes working out for thirty minutes 3-5 times a week, drinking at least 64 oz of water per day, counting my calories and trying to stick to my goal of 1300 daily, trying to get in my 10k steps a day!

5.  Have a gentle spirit.  List gratitude(s) daily, memorize scripture, read Putting on a Gentle and Quiet Spirit by Elizabeth George, and starting each day with prayer and time with the Lord.  This also includes other things that aren't translated well into actionable items, but I am going to try to work on yelling less when my kids aren't behaving, also simple things like smiling more, giving people the benefit of the doubt, and seeing the positive in things.

6. Invest in others and be in community with them - Share the gospel in word and deed.  I want to pray daily for my friends, make time for relationship each month, pray for opportunities to share the gospel with them if they don't know Him, or just encourage and be a light to others, reach out more - even if it is a quick text to say hello, get involved in the community- maybe volunteering my time, get more involved in the Influence Network. 

7. Take time to rest and recharge.  Lara includes a page dedicated to this each month, but I wanted to make it one of my goals, because I am not good at being intentional with rest.  I want to make sure that with all my goals and ideas for 2016, I am creating margin and allowing myself the freedom to do things that I want to do this year.  This includes making a bucket list of things that I want to accomplish this year (even little things like making macaroons!), reading books on my 2016 reading list ( I currently have 21 books on there!!), and balancing time with friends with time alone.

8.  Invest in the future.  This means that we need to create an actual working budget and stick to it, get life insurance, and being a savings plan for a house one day.  ( Lord willing!)

What goals do you have for 2016?

My themes for 2016 and how I begin the goal process

Every December I get so excited about setting goals and creating a vision for what I want the next year to look like.  I love getting out all my tools like my planner ( the simplified planner is what I am using for 2016!), my favorite pens, markers, washi tape, and most important - my powersheets !  I have mentioned these in the past, and while not essential for goal setting, I wouldn't begin without them personally.  They have helped me so much and it makes the process meaningful, but also fun!  She is actually sold out of these right now, but may get more in the spring.  

After I have all my tools, I start writing five themes or areas of focus that I have for the next year.  You can read my posts about this last year here  and here. This year I decided I wanted to focus on GRACE (giving it to myself and also others), PURPOSE ( making the moments count, being present, and making what matters happen), HEALTH (make good choices, more water and exercise, work at my step goal!), GOD-CENTERED (put God first, let Him build the house), and LOVE (for my family and friends, and share God's love with others.)

The next thing is I dive into my powersheets, and being the goal-setting process.  I have an idea of some goals that will flow out of my themes, and so I start writing down all of the ideas and steps that I would like to take to make realistic goals out of my themes for the year.  This is definitely not an easy process, and if you are taking it seriously and being really intentional about your goals it can take several days.  I try to set aside the week after Christmas and before New Year's to really focus on this, but starting earlier is good too!  I try to lift up my thoughts about goals in prayer for a lot of December, because I know that if they aren't in His plan for me, then they aren't the best goals for me.  It takes time, prayer, and listening to really accomplish the goal-setting process.

Another helpful thing is making a mood board or vision board on pinterest.  Lara talks about this in the powersheets, and is one of the steps she suggests for goal setting (if you don't want to make a pinterest boad, you can make one right in your powersheets if you want to cut and paste out of magazines, etc.)  I find the pinterest board idea really helpful, because I can pin ideas and resources to help me with my goals.  For example, I want to focus on health this year, and am thinking about completing the Whole30 Challenge at some point (possibly for lent) so I have pinned a few helpful tips and lists to refer back to if I decide to do this.  I pinned some motivational quotes from Jillian Michael's (health) as well as some inspirational pictures from She Reads Truth ( God-centered).  I really encourage you to create a vision board for 2016! It is really helpful as a visual way to capture your goals, and it is really fun!  What are your themes for this year?

welcome 2015!

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been thinking a lot about my themes for 2015. I wanted to share the five that I want to invite into my life for this year.  I really believe that these are themes that He wants me to focus on over the next 12 months (and beyond) and I want my goals for the next year to flow out of them.

THEME #1 - Trust Him fully

I want to trust Him more every day, allowing the Spirit to lead me where He would have me go. I want to trust that He will provide, that He will sustain, and that He will hem me in behind and before.( Psalms 139:5)

THEME #2 - Keep my eyes on Jesus

photo credit - shereadstruth.com

I want to keep my eyes on Jesus, each day looking to build His kingdom, not my own.  I want to go through each day with eternity as my focus - my purpose lies at the foot of the cross and that is where my past can be laid down, and my future can be found.

I plan on continuing to spend time in His word each day because that is how I can grow and learn more about what it means to be like Jesus.  I have found such encouragement and blessing in the SRT community, and I encourage you to check out www.shereadstruth.com if you haven't already!

 THEME #3: Grace upon grace

Grace. What an amazing gift!  Deserved by none, and yet so freely given by our Father.  This year I want to fully accept the grace that is mine through Jesus and let it be enough.  All my broken and messy places are nothing compared to the grace that has been given to me.  I am such a perfectionist, but I want to let that go.   I want to be who I am in Christ - imperfect but redeemed.  He is MORE than enough!  I want to remember to give myself grace when my goals go unmet or my plans seem to fail.  I want to let His grace wash over me when I don't love like I should, or act like I should.  It's about looking to Jesus and starting over in Christ - NOT feeling like a failure.

THEME #4: Nothing is impossible with God

This year I dare to dream God-sized dreams and then watch what He does.  I believe that even if my dreams aren't realized in the way that I anticipated or hoped for, that He will do even better, and that my life will forever be changed.  I want to let God be God, and watch him work in my life however He chooses. 

THEME #5: Love one another earnestly

I want to love my family more deeply and whole-heartedly.  He has given me such blessings in my husband and two little girls. I want to put them before myself and love them as Jesus loves.  I want to think about what it means to love earnestly!  I want to devote more time to them and say Yes! to them even when it means saying no to something else that I might want to do.  Thank you Jesus for these three dear people. and please help me to love them well!

All of these pictures are on my 2015 vision board on Pinterest, and you are welcome to pin them to your own vision board if you would like!

:: starting 2015 well ::

I am beginning to get so excited for 2015! How about you?  Every time a new year approaches, it feels so fresh and white and well, new.  January starts and you feel like you can do anything, go anywhere, make anything happen.  

Then March begins and you don't even remember what happened over the last two months.  Before you know it, it is June, and the kids are getting out of school and you aren't sure how you even got here.  What happened to those great ideas you had? Do you even remember what they were?  I don't want this to be me in 2015.  I don't want this to be me ever again.  It is time for intentional goal planning - not resolutions, but goals that are prayed over, well thought out, and assigned actionable tasks that can be used to measure progress throughout the year.

First,  I picked up a set of Lara Casey's powersheets and I am so ready to start using them.  If you haven't heard of Powersheets, you need to click on the above link before we go any further and read about them.  They are awesome!  They are a great way of really looking at where you have been and where you want to go.  I am a planner/list-maker/dreamer by nature, but sometimes those big picture goals seem really difficult to break down into small actionable tasks and Powersheets are designed to help with this.  They are a great resource for all women who want to make time for what really matters in their life, so if this sounds like something you could use - go grab a set right now (before they are sold out!)

Next, I spent the last few days really thinking about the past year and what God has taught me over the last twelve months.  He has brought us through a lot this year, both good and bad.  We had  major car trouble resulting in having to buy a new one the next day (stressful!), and were blessed with an almost week-long vacation in Florida for a friend's wedding earlier this spring (blissful!).  We experienced the loss of one income at the beginning of the summer (super stressful!), but my husband had the opportunity to spend the summer at the lake with our two little girls almost every day, and they will all cherish those memories for years to come.  Through the big things and the little things, God has worked a lot in my heart - especially in the areas of trusting Him to provide, and learning to be content in the place that He has me.  I know I will never fully grasp these this side of heaven, but I do feel like He has grown me a lot from where I was a year ago.

Now, I am beginning to think about what I want 2015 to look like - what themes I want to carry with me throughout the year.  Using inspiration from Jess Connolly's blog on setting goals and planning for the new year,  I have decided to make a Pinterest board that reflects this.   Thanks Jess for the great idea!  I am planning on adding to this board a lot over the next couple days as I think a lot about my vision for 2015.

After I complete my Powersheets and have a list of goals for this next year, I am planning on blogging about them.  I am excited to share these with you ( and excited to find out what they are! ha!)  I would love to hear about your goals or themes for next year as well!