2012 Goals...

In my last post, I talked a little bit about setting New Years' Resolutions for 2012.  I was really encouraged to learn that a couple of my friends also set goals for the up and coming year, that I'm not the only one!  Anyway, one of my friends is going to do a program called 'One Little Word'  ( http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/onelittleword.php ) in which she's selecting one word to focus on throughout the year, meditating on it, reflecting on it, and journaling about it regularly.  I'm definitely not explaining it very well nor very thoroughly, but have provided the link if you'd like to take a look at it.  All that to say, though I'm not signing up for the Workshop itself, I've selected 4 words to focus on throughout the year for myself... Grace, Love, Joy and Kindness, not necessarily in that order.  My plan is to pray on, memorize, meditate on God's Word, and journal on my 'One Little Word'. 

The rest of the goals:
Prayer- the Lord has strongly convicted me of my responsibility to pray for my husband and children, so I've selected a couple of areas in each of their lives to center my prayers around
Bible Study- this year I'm going through the Bible in a year chronologically; the boys and I are going to begin the year studying 1, 2, and 3 John...
Reading- I have a running list of books that I'd like to get through- I make it a point to read a marriage book, parenting book, and homeschooling book each year. 
Marriage- Oh where to start.  I've been really slacking on encouraging my husband, leaving him notes and the like... at least once per month is my goal- sticky notes on the bathroom mirror, notes in his lunch, etc...  :)
Family-  My weakness in family-life/homemaking is the 'Fun Department', so I'm going to make a concerted effort to 'schedule in' fun  and do more in the way of gaming (we have always done family nights, but I think I can up the fun-factor a bit).  I also want to seek out specific ways to create a warm, inviting, peaceful, and joyful atmosphere for my family.
Hospitality- this is an area God has recently brought to my mind and heart that I would like to work on... I'm not sure just what this will look like, I'm thinking once per month, maybe once every 6 weeks depending on the time of year.  I have on my heart (and I think my dear hubby does too) to open our home to couples we don't know well to get to know them a little better... I'll probably update at different times on this.
Household- Getting on and staying on a good cleaning schedule has always been difficult for me... but I'm going to give it a whirl again... I've come up with what looks like a good weekly schedule... do-able, that's what I'm working for.
and last but not least:
Health- What New Year's Resolution/Goal list would be complete without the ever-popular 'eat less, exercise more' goal?  This year I've had some noticeable changes in the way my body processes food, specifically sugars and unhealthy carbs... My energy level is very low- which ends up affecting pretty much every aspect of our home life including relationships.  Soooo, yes nutrition is at the top of the list, along with making it a point to go to the Y and exercise 3 times per week- which should be easy since the boys will begin their classes next week...

Wow, that looks like a huge overwhelming list!  But the fact of the matter is that much of this is a carry-over from previous years, the only completely new thing on this list is the One Little Word concept...

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You and may His face shine upon you in 2012

W