Goals and Dreams for 2013

 For some reason I seem to be having trouble uploading new pictures on this blog. I am not sure what is going on but hopefully it will be resolved soon. I have trouble posting without pictures!

 But I shall persevere..... (smile)

I have been wanting to write about some of my dreams and goals for this year... both here on the blog and in our home life (which basically go hand-in-hand). So this post will contain my jumble of thoughts for this new year and hopefully as I write them out I can kind of get them organized too!

  There are a couple of sayings that I have long appreciated and tried to apply to my life but this year they are going to get even more thought and attention. They are:

 

    "Use it up ,    

    Wear it out,    

     Make it do    

 or do without."  

 

And

 

    "Have nothing in your homes   

 that you don't know to be useful  

      or believe to be beautiful."       

I have been thinking a lot about simplifying, using our money more wisely (to help us be better prepared for the future and also so that we are better equipped to help others), being more organized and about concentrating more on the people (including my husband and children) around me in simple ways with the goal of encouraging everyone that I am around to walk more closely with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

  As I think about the things that I want to work on in my life they seem to just intertwine and work together which is a blessing but it also makes it feel challenging to write about them in a short and concise way. Oh well that has never been my gift anyway!

Simplifying...

  Some of the things we are working at in simplifying is to have less stuff. We have been, and will continue throughout this year, working on getting rid of things we don't need whether it is by giving them to friends that can use them, donating them, throwing them away, bartering them or selling them.  Another way that we are working on having less stuff is by not buying things. This is something I have long worked towards but I have challenged myself to step it up a notch in this area this year.

 

  Another way we are striving to simplify is be going less. I have never been one of those "soccer moms" that is constantly running their children to some event or another but it is still pretty easy for our homeschooling family to find reasons to run around as well. I am challenging myself to see if I can limit my motor vehicle trips away from home to an average of 3 per week. I am not sure how this will go as we have 3 church services a week most of the time (though for the winter months we have only 2) but this past Sunday we walked to church (it is a mile and a half) and we are hoping to do that more as it was pretty fun. In the Summer we like to bike places. The benefits of driving places less is that we save money, we save time (if we simply go less) or we have fun making an adventure of our outing and get some exercise and have some quality time together if we walk or bike. The three trips a week (on average) is a goal that I am shooting for but if I feel that I can minister to somebody in some way and I need to drive to do that I will not let me no-driving goal stop me however a trip to a store can definitely be put off. :-)

 

Organizing....

This also goes along with simplifying. I have been finding as I get more organized (something I have been working on more seriously this Fall/Winter but haven't blogged about yet) my life feels much simpler as well.

 

  In our organizing we have been doing things like creating habits like washing the dishes as they are created, keeping my e-mail inbox cleaned out and keeping many of our flat surfaces cleaned off and more (and I have more that I still want to work to created) which has been wonderful for having a less stressful life!

 

 I have also been working on being more consistent with my menu making and I have been working to revamp our chore lists.

 

 I am also trying to be more organized concerning taking care of our health and learning and using natural remedies.

 

  I am looking forward to share more about my organizing journey with you throughout this year.

 

Money Management....

 We have always tried to be careful with our money. I don't like to spend much and Ken is good at budgeting. We do have room to improve however. Sometimes we have not been all that great at communicating about money but lately we have really done much better at discussing money issues and that has been very nice!

 

  One of my dreams has long been to get rid of our mortgage and be completely out of debt. Over a year ago we were able to refinance our house and turn our 30 year mortgage into a 15 year one (and save a lot in interest!) but I still had dreams of paying that off early. Ken didn't really get all that excited about that idea but is willing to humor me but he thought that first (and rightly so - it just doesn't seem as exciting to me) we should have a fully funded emergency fund (3-6 months living expenses) so this year that is our big goal to both save money and earn extra money so that we can get that taken care of and then... on to the mortgage!

 

 That is where the "Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do or do without" really comes in. This year I plan on doing this like never before. It is my goal to buy ONLY things that we need this year - no wants. (except the debatable emergency preparedness items that we are working to get at our house like a wood stove, a hand pump and other things of that nature.) This does 't mean that I won't buy things until we need them (like not getting more oil until I run out) as financially it makes more sense to stock up when I find a good deal but it does mean that I won't be buying clothes (I have a lot to wear already- though I will look for better winter boots for Mara as hers are getting small and those are rather needed here) or any other unnecessary items. I am hoping we can pretty much completely avoid going out to eat.

 

I have a lot of fun project and post ideas concerning things that I will remake or "make do" in some way. Stay tuned if repurposing and saving money interests you!

 

I also have lots of ideas for family fun that don't cost any money that I am looking forward to blogging about.

 

  My homesteading hobbies like gardening, beekeeping and wild food foraging I believe to be very helpful for money saving. As usual I will be blogging about some of my adventures here throughout the year.

 

Ministering to others.....

 I often struggle with being so caught up in my own life that I don't really pay attention to others the way I should. Part of my goal for this year is to slow down so that I can see the needs of others whether it is my child or somebody that lives on the others side of the world.

 

  God has been so good to me, I want to share that love with others.

 

One area that I believe we can minister to others is through hospitality. I am hoping that this year I will finally do the series on hospitality that I have been thinking about for a long time.

 

  My series that I just started on building up my (and your!) marriage goes along with this theme of my year as well.

 

 Teaching my children at home is another of the ways that I can minister to others (my children) and I am very passionate about doing that. I hope to share some of my thoughts on homeschooling throughout this year.

 

  In order to minister to others in any way I need to be working on my own relationship with God. I believe that prayer and Bible study are critical tools for growing in that relationship. I will continue to share some of my thoughts on scripture each Sunday.

 

Those are some of my Goals and Dreams for this year. I hope you will join me! I so enjoy hearing from you and sharing ideas and thoughts with you.

 

 May God Bless you throughout 2013 and whatever it might bring!



Encouraging each other to have Godly Marriages

  Some time ago I remember hearing that the 7th and 15th years of marriage (I think there was some statistical proof to this - but I am not sure) were the ones when many people struggle. I remember when I heard that I thought back to our 7th year and thought "That sounds right to me" as that had been a harder year for us. Anyway whether there is truth in that or not and no matter what year of marriage you are in (whether it is your first or you fiftieth!), I think we should always be working on building up our marriages.

  Last month Ken and I celebrated our 14th year of marriage so we are in our 15th year - so I thought this would be a great year to really focus both in our personal life and on this blog on ways that I can grow in my role as a godly wife and that I would concentrate on working on my marriage. So I have planned to do a weekly series throughout the whole year that will include ways I am challenging myself and you (if you are a wife) to grow in your marriage.

My Challenge for this week -actually for the year!

Make a list of the things about your husband that you are thankful for. Every day add one.

My goal is to add one thing each day for the whole year (365!) I am going to try to make each one different. I think there are probably 365 things about Ken that I can thank God for.

 

 

  I feel very strongly that focusing on thankfulness (rather than negatives) can really be super helpful in many, many areas and I think it can work wonders in our marriages.

 

 

  I know there are times when I have had down days and things don't seem to be going very well and I am truly feeling grumpy and then if I start to make a list of things that I am thankful to God for my day and my attitude will often very quickly make a turn-around. Whether you need a big turn-around in your marriage or if you are doing pretty good (but we can always do better, can't we?) I think it will be beneficial to thank God for your husband!

 

 

  Will you be joining me? I would love to have you....

 

I am hoping to share some of the other dreams I have for my life and this blog this year soon. I am excited about 2013!

 

Also if you have an idea for a shorter more concise title for this marriage series I would love to hear it! I have trouble with being too wordy! As far as this series goes I will be posting on it every Wednesday, Lord willing.

Let's Sing!

 
"After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives" (found in both Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26)

 Do you have as much fun imagining this as I do?

 I absolutely love music (with singing being one of my very favorite forms) and I love the sound of men singing together. Here we have Jesus and His disciples singing together during a very challenging time.

I wonder....
Did they sing in harmony? Was somebody of key? What was the song like?

Those questions aren't that important but I do find them fun to think about.

  What I am realizing though and really noticing is that this happens right at the time that Judas is off betraying Jesus. This is (or at least could have been) a very stressful time for Jesus especially and all of them to some degree. Yet they stopped to sing.

 Did they find singing encouraging and uplifting? I know when I am stressed, tired or in some way feeling emotional (sad, angry, joyful, etc) music is always good!

 For me this is a very neat thing to notice about Jesus' life. If you haven't been the type to enjoy singing - I hope you will give it a try!  It is so fun to sing songs about how great God is, or songs that can encourage us to live more like we should.

Merry Christmas

This graphic was made using MyMemories Suite v4 a software which I am holding a giveaway for currently.

Enjoying holiday times!

 One thing that I find very fun about holidays is how we will often set aside some of the things that keep us busy (schoolwork, going to work, having work come to us and housework) and we spend more time just having fun doing things together. Now don't get me wrong - I really like to work and I think it is good to spend a lot of time doing that but a break is also good (God even set that up that the Israelites would have a break each 7th year and then also on the 50th as well as the various festivals and Sabbaths).

  We have been enjoying a little different schedule this past week. Here are a few photos that capture a bit of what we have been doing....

Making doughnuts for breakfast.

 Going over to some friends for broom ball, fellowship and food.

 Enjoying the simple and pretty decorations that our friends had like candles in the windows.

 Getting apple braids ready to take and share at church.

 Having company over for lunch a couple of different times. Using pretty winter napkins that a friend gave us.

 Attempting to ice skate on the swamp- it was pretty low this year though so the report is that ice skating isn't very good.

 Working on a new rag rug. It is wool and I am really having fun with it!

 Finishing up some last minute gifts.

 Playing games a lot. We are enjoying a lot of Settlers of Catan.

Taking pictures. A friend gave Mara a new camera so the kids have been very much enjoying using it.

I didn't take a picture but I have also been enjoying reading. My sister Martha sent me some new books and I am enjoying one of them.

I hope you are enjoying the change of pace at your house as well!

Scripture on our tongues

 As we read in the Bible about Jesus, something that is easy to notice is that He knew the Bible. When I read in Matthew chapter 22 (check out verses 23-46) He is questioned by the Sadducees and then a Lawyer of the Pharisees and each time He was able to anwer their question by using scripture. 

I love this part:

"But Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God." Matt. 22:29

In my journey to try to walk like Jesus I want to study God's word so that I will know the answers to the questions that come my way too.