2014 Personal Priorities

Last year I shared some of my New Year’s goals with you. This year, I’m taking my New Year’s goals a step further by joining an online accountability group my sister started. About once a month, we will update our goals and share our progress. Anyone is welcome to join in, sharing their goals and progress either on her own blog or in the comments section here. There will be a “link-up” for any other blogs participating.

Several ladies had so much to say that they already began writing last week about their personal priorities in general. That’s as far as I got last year, besides a separate article on my intended reading list for the year. This year I will try to flesh out those personal priorities with more specifics and incremental goals.

I feel that New Year’s Resolutions are important. I know that they’ve sort of fallen out of popularity because it is so hard to be disciplined at a new and perhaps difficult habit for a whole year; but if we do make resolutions, then at least for that short while, we examined ourselves and attempted to conform more to Christ’s image. And if we can stick with them, then we have grown in grace and in the spiritual disciplines.

A new fad the last few years is also to have a WORD for the year that kind of defines your goals and gives you a more fuzzy feeling to the old stark black & white goals’ list. I don’t think I’ll try to come up with a word every year. But for this year, I have one!

Seth and I have been talking a lot about meekness, as Seth is preaching through the fruits of the Spirit on Sundays. We read together portions of The Quest for Meekness and Quietness of Spirit by Matthew Henry and were convicted at our lack of meekness in so many areas. This word, along with the accompanying ideas from Matthew Henry, will be my theme for the year, and I am going to try with the help of the Holy Spirit to exemplify this virtue more in our home.

Here are some of my personal priorities for the year that I threw into some categories for easier reading. In general I would like to show a lot more consistency, initiative, organization, kindness, and meekness.

Ministry

1. Take more initiative to show friendship or support to fledgling Christian women. Practically, make a plan for calling or sending SMS’s to them and think about how to visit them.
2. Continue pursuing business possibilities for our church to raise money for its building project. Practically, I can do no more on this point until January.
3. Use my spiritual gifts (learning to be content with them and prizing the gifts God has given to others.) I will have two teaching opportunities in 2014–one weekly and the other monthly. I need to direct my time and energies there before other personal hobbies.
4. Host white friends from town once a month or bimonthly. Call or write to encourage white friends in Johannesburg area.

Marriage

Be more consistent in helping my husband through prayer, affirmation, initiative, thoughtfulness, gratitude, a teachable spirit, reading and investigating subjects he loves, and thinking about how to meet his needs. Practically, there are several points I can improve in and will elaborate more specifically later.

Children

1. Be more consistent in discipline and prayer for them.
2. Be willing to leave the computer (and “me time”) for them.
3. Do the “fun stuff” and play more games with them.

Homeschooling

1. Plan the upcoming year, both individual subjects and yearly and daily calendars/schedules.
2. Make some more “busy bag”-type activities for the toddlers.
3. Revisit my philosophy of education to remind myself of my ultimate goals; think through how this year can help me get there. Evaluate last year.

Personal

1. Be consistent in daily Bible reading.
2. Pray more for the children, my husband, and our people.
3. Try to exercise at least three times a week. Log my daily diet regularly online.
4. Organize the home: make a plan for cleaning and a general menu. Try more freezer cooking this year. Specifically, there are still unorganized spots of clutter from our large shipment. I want to tackle one or two per weekend.
5. Ground my emotions in Scripture. Know who I am and what I’m gifted to do for God. Be content with that knowledge, and praise others for their strengths.
6. Keep up current correspondence (mostly through blogging, which I would like to write 3-4 times per week), and initiate with 1-3 other ladies.

Self-Education

Because of homeschooling, I feel that there are many  areas that I need to grow in right now in order to teach my children well later. I have a list of books that I want to read eventually, so this year I will make another reading plan to try to knock some of them out. Some people do a 52-books in-a-year plan. I’m not sure if I can keep up with that, but we’ll see if I can get half that. 🙂 I also have some lectures to listen to. Here are some categories I am thinking of reading on this year:

• Education in general, specifically Charlotte Mason philosophy
• Writing
• Literature
• Logic

I’ll write out some more specifics in the New Year. What are your goals for this coming year? Do you go with the word-for-the-year idea or make a list?