New Year, Fresh Start (better late than never)

I realize this post is quite late, but better late than never.  I wrote it at the end of December, but never got around to posting it.  I thought about just trashing it, but changed my mind and decided to share it anyway.  Maybe we can just use this as a reminder to stay on task and not to forget the resolutions or goals we set at the beginning of the year.

We hear the sayings every year: “New Year, New You,”  “Tomorrow is the first day of a 365-page book,” and many more.  I am not sure why a new year is a chance for new goals, resolutions, and dreams, but it is.  Who first came up with this grand idea?  Why do I let myself get drawn into this trap?  Whatever the reason, I find myself each December looking forward trying to figure out what the New Year will hold for me.  What do I need to change?  What do I want to accomplish?  What old ways do I need to leave behind?  What does God have in store for me?  How will I be a better version of myself?  Then there is the usual stuff like: how am I going to lose all this holiday weight I have put on?  Luckily for me, Plexus has made that last question obsolete this year—but this is another blog post for another day—stay tuned.   All of that seems like a lot of pressure for a simple change of the calendar year, and yet I do it every year anyway.

There are three ways I prepare myself for the upcoming year. The first thing I do is set goals.  In our family, we make yearly goals for our family as well as individual ones.  I sit down with the kids and help them find reasonable and meaningful goals for themselves, we brainstorm together what God would have us do as a family in the next year, and I spend time alone in prayer trying to figure out mine.  I enter them into the computer; print them up in special fonts and colors, then, frame them.  I hang them in places that we will frequently look so we can be reminded throughout the year what we are to be working toward.  At the end of each year we go back over our previous goals to see if we have met them, and which ones we missed.  I keep the past goals in the same frame behind the new ones so they can be compared each year.  Sometimes our goals are met, sometimes not.  I find it both humbling and inspiring each year.

Second, I have added something new this year, a vision board.  A vision board is full of pictures and sayings that represent what a person wants to accomplish.  I am doing this two ways: Pinterest and a poster board.  I have started my Pinterest board, but I haven’t started my poster board yet.  I would love to get together with some ladies, a bunch of magazines, some scissors, and glue and do our vision poster boards together.  This will just be another reminder of my goals and callings for the next year.

Last, Steve and I start each year with a family motto.  This idea was birthed after a particularly rough year that left us feeling worn out, beaten down, and defeated.  We decided we needed a fresh start.  It was then that Steve said we needed a fresh 2014, and there became “Fresh in 14.”  I even made a small sign to display in our home as a reminder of our fresh start.  As 2015 was approaching Steve revealed what he thought should be our 2015 motto; “Faith in 15.”  This year is going to test our faith as we patiently, or not so patiently, wait upon the Lord for baby girl’s adoption.  Plus, when we do adopt her, “Faith” will become her middle name.  I look forward to being able to share all about her adoption with y’all this year and be able to show everyone picture-after-picture, as we have not been able to share any of her yet.  Please join us in believing!

There are a lot of ways to start off a New Year on the right foot.  For me, I am a list maker, so goal lists, vision boards, and family mottos are what I need to keep me on track.  I also make other lists for projects to accomplish and of course my daily to-do lists.  I just love the feeling of checking my list/s off and the feeling of accomplishment that accompanies it.  I would love to hear from y’all.  Do you make New Year’s resolutions?  Do you set goals like my family?  What do you do to prepare yourself for the upcoming year?  Whatever you do, I hope all your goals, hopes, dreams, and resolutions come true for you this year.  Now let’s get out there and make this our best year yet.

 Here is my "Faith In 15" project that I still haven't done (yes, I am aware that it is the middle of March).  I have faith that I will get this done before 2016!