I have been meaning to get these out into writing, so I would remember and I have had no time to focus this first week of January. My mother in law was here and then trying to start homeschooling back up, take down Christmas decorations and get the house back in order. And then on the 6th my barn collapsed from all the weight of the snow, on top of my horse's hay. I had to shovel off the camper and broke a sky light in the process, of doing so. It has just been a crazy week, and has left me no time to do anything but what I have had to do. So, I have had no time for reflection, and contemplation....basically no time to even think. Plus, i am so physically exhausted that it is almost impossible to even focus on anything but making it through this time. I will definitely have to post a picture of the barn....thankfully Hope was not in it when it collapsed and the shelter that is attached to the barn stayed up and she can get under that. It is just a pain to get to my hay, and it got wet in some places from all the rain we got. One good thing, though...about a foot and a half of snow melted with all the rain. Before the rain came we only had about 6 inches of our T-posts on Hope's fence visible, and now about 2 feet of them can be seen, so I know a lot of snow melted. :)
With the warm temps, our house was about 75-80 degrees and the other morning I was wearing a t-shirt. I was standing in front of my mirror and lifted my arm to brush my hair, and I discovered a lot of arm muscle (from shoveling snow) that I have never had! Whoot! :) I am impressed, since I am so scrawny! :) What will I do at Ft. Lewis with no snow to shovel all winter? I doubt the gym will get me the muscle, as well, as real honest labor!
Anyway, here are some of my musings on goals for this year...I admit, I am not even that focused right now....I have so much on my to-do list today, and I can't think of anything else......
#1 in importance.......start tithing....even if it is just $25.00 a month. I have a bad complex with tithing, or any type of giving in general...I am so worried about money all the time and I know that part of the reason that we are never blessed financially and that we are in debt so badly due to the business mess we have made, is because we have never as a couple given our money over to God, and trusted Him in that area. We also didn't go into the business deal that we got into in 2006, with clear motives, didn't pray about it, and my husband was very impulsive about it. So, we are barely scraping by right now, but God has extremely laid it on my heart to start tithing SOMETHING, and trusting Him, and letting Him guide us financially. Dave Ramsey and his debt-free program, is not enough. I want God to be in control, and it is hard to do so, but I need to try!
#2 Take out 25.00 a month (or a less amount than what I have tithed), and put it in our safe for our Christmas fund. With 25.00 a month we would have 300.00 to spend at Christmas time....with 50.00 a month we would have 600.00 to spend....but like I said, it HAS to be a lesser amount than what I have tithed.
#3 Read 24 or more books for myself, and 12 aloud to the children (they have to be chapter books....we read picture/story books all the time, but the kids are old enough now for Little House on the Prairie, etc). This month we are reading Charlotte's Web aloud and the kids are loving it!
#4 Concentrate on my Fruit of the Spirit of the year. See my other post, titled My Fruit of the Spirit Update (on http://rachellephipps.livejournal.com )to know what I am talking about!
#5 Gain Weight....I so want to get up to 105 lbs, but we'll see....so far it has been a discouraging road. I did weigh myself last night and I was 99 lbs, which I haven't been in months, so that brought a smile! I hate weighing less than before I was married. It sucks and I am trying so hard, but I am also working so hard, so I doubt I'll gain it until my husband is home and we are settled in WA.
#6 I really want to read my Bible through this year, but right now I cannot get up early enough to get it done, because I am so exhausted. Sometimes I don't even remember turning my alarm off. My husband calls me at 3 am so I can restock the woodstove (it is 8pm for him, so it is perfect), and once I didn't even hear him call me, and the phone isn't that far from my room. This is very significant because I am usually a very light sleeper. Mornings are the only time I can really read my Bible....I could read it at night but I am usually too tired to focus on it. It's sad that my Bible reading is number 6 and my other books are number 3. It seems easier to read fiction at night, because it doesn't require much concentration...but it's not right, so I either get up early to read my Bible or forget the book-reading at night!
#7 One on one with each of my kids....a good idea that James and I came up with is to give Sheldon February, Abigail April and Zane, June. These are their birthday months and they could do something special with dad and something special with me that month. We could also do their half- birthdays in the same fashion. Sheldon would have August, abbie would have October, and Zane would have December. This leaves January, March, May, July, September, and November for James and I! :) Our birthdays are both in May, so that would be perfect! :) Only problem is that our Anniversary is in August, so maybe we could give Sheldon July instead and take August for us. I think this is a great idea and it is a great way to schedule time for each child and plenty of time for us as a married couple! Being in the Army might make it difficult though....with stuff coming up, and all....we'd have to adjust it, and that's the only downfall.
#8 Ride my horse a bit more! :) And continue to teach the kids to ride.
#9 Scrapbook
#10 Serve the Lord, serve my husband and re-connect with him, and serve my family....enjoy life and take nothing for granted! :) Work on becoming debt-free, and take it more seriously! :)
These are the books I have read in 2009...my goal this year is to read 24 or more books. I want to have a better assortment of history and political books, but still read the Classic Literature, modern fiction, practical and spiritual books, that I normally seem to read! :) We'll see how I do! :) This list I will have to remember to add to! :)
~ The Shunning by Beverly Lewis ( I am still reading this)
~ Emma by Jane Austen (this one is in the line-up)
1 comment:
What great goals! I have to tell how much tithing has blessed our life. I'm not sure if you know but it is a requirement for Latter-day Saints to pay a tenth of our income in order to be worthy to enter the temple. What a blessing it has been. Even when we have struggled financially, we have always felt at peace knowing that Heavenly Father is looking out for us and is mindful of us. Whenever we have hurt for money, we give even more to the Lord and we have found we get so much more in terms of tangible things in return and our testimonies always grow. Good luck with your goal. I know you will be blessed! Love ya!
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