January 2014 Goals

It’s time to get specific and outline my goals for this month! I already mentioned that 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.

I have some general goals for 2014, but I decided to be SMART and try to plan how to accomplish them practically.

So this week I’ve been making lists, schedules, and organizing our yearly calendar.

Below is my original list of 2014 goals, and in blue are my SMART goals for January. If you already read the original priorities, you can skip them. In fact, this whole thing is probably incredibly boring and self-absorbed to anyone else! 🙂 I’m just doing it for accountability for this group, and any of you are welcome to jump in and share your own SMART goals.

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. I made a list of women to contact or visit and scheduled one or two per week for the whole year. This month I have 5 ladies that I want to encourage either through a text message or home visit, probably on Saturdays.
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. Next week, I will check with some companies to see if they have opened yet after their holiday break to order materials. I am hoping to make lip balm to sell!
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. I made a flexible weekly schedule to prioritize translating my children’s Sunday School lesson every week and see when I could fit in preparation for the women’s lessons. I tentatively scheduled the dates for the women’s group, which will begin meeting in February, on our 2014 calendar. Mid-January, I will plan what topics to teach for the women this year.
4. Host white friends from town once a month or bimonthly. Call or write to encourage white friends in Johannesburg area. I made a list of friends, and one family is coming over this Monday night. 🙂 Tomorrow I will try to obtain a few missing phone numbers for friends in Johannesburg.

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. I came up with a list of 23 practical things I can do to be more loving and communicate respect to my husband. I’ll do one a day! If you have any ideas, please send them my way!

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.

I don’t know how to make these “SMART,” but when I get some materials from the States, I will make the Child Training Bible and Virtue Training Bible to help me base our discipline in Scripture (and to help myself when my emotions aren’t biblically based!) Also, that flexible weekly schedule I mentioned–I only have so much time for lollygaggin’ on the computer. This year, I put down one day a month where we try as a family to go out of the village on an activity or “field trip” (as much as can be done in Africa!)

Homeschooling

1. Plan the upcoming year, both individual subjects and yearly and daily calendars/schedules. The yearly calendar is already done! I need to finish daily schedules and subjects. I’ve been researching online homeschool planners this week to see if any of those would be helpful–or just extra headache.
2. Make some more “busy bag”-type activities for the toddlers. I made a list of potential toddler activities we already have, and I don’t think we have an urgent need for too many more. I may make some more in a month or two, but not this month.
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. I will do this soon, in the next few weeks, if not tomorrow.

Personal

1. Be consistent in daily Bible reading. So far so good, for the last week. I got my study Bible back from my husband’s credenda and put it next to my bed to read first thing in the morning. I want to read one chapter a day plus study notes.
2. Pray more for the children, my husband, and our people. When I do my daily “show-love-item” for my husband, I’ll pray for him as well. I will try to pray for one child every day of the week after my morning Bible reading. Prayer for “our people”–not sure exactly how to schedule this, but at least when I contact/visit one lady a week, I will also pray for her.
3. Try to exercise at least three times a week. Log my daily diet regularly online. Already trying! Did great on exercise this week, but only logged my diet a few days on My Fitness Pal.
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. OK, I made a list of all the clutter spots, and will clean one every Saturday. This is doable! For January, I need to do 4, or at least 3 spots. (Going on vacation the last week hopefully, so I don’t know if the cleaning will happen that week!) I haven’t gotten into freezer cooking yet. Maybe I’ll tackle that in February or March when I see how much time I have for these other jobs.
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

Here’s my tentative reading list for 2014. This week I want to finish Ruth Beechick’s Three R’s. This month I want to finish up to page 81 of Quest for Meekness. While on vacation the last week of January, I think I’ll read Betrayal.