I am big on lists.
Maybe it's oldest child syndrome or my OCD/organization craziness.
Whatever the reason, I love them.
They help me stay sane.
I like to have a master list filled with variety. Life changing things that will take time and smaller things that are more goal oriented. I love Elsie's posts on goals, not that I follow them exactly, but they are a good jumping off point. I've realized that I work best when I have final goal in mind. Whether it's a reward at the end, or something that I want to see changed in my life. A bad habit broken or a good one encouraged.
Last year I decided that I wanted to get in shape and be able to run the Color Run.
I started running. I needed the kick in the pants of having something to train for. It was amazing and doing the Color Run was a big, big highlight for me. I loved every second of it. And, goodness knows, I need a goal or I won't work out (see: present day laziness).
2012 also included a daily challenge of taking 1 photo each day with my iPhone and posting it to Instagram. It was a big goal and one that I was incredibly intimidated by. It challenged me in my photography and in my discipline to complete a task every single day. The day I posted my 366th (leap year challenge) photo was a fun, fulfilling day. I did it. Now I can look back on an entire year in photos. I learned a lot about discipline and even more about goals.
My challenge for 2013 was to read the Bible through in a year. It's something that I hadn't done since college. It was one of those goals that seemed entirely overwhelming, but in a good way. I know that time in the Word never returns void. When I chose this challenge for the year, I had the goal of being more consistent in my time in the Word. It was something that I had been being lazy about. And it was a habit that I needed to get back into.
Honestly, with less than 50 days left in my reading, I will admit that reading the Bible in a year is not my favorite way to read the Word. For me, it is much too rushed. It feels like the old college days when I crammed for finals. I much prefer to take one book at a time and become immersed in it, reading it slowly and taking the time to let it soak into my heart.
That being said, I love that it has created good habits. I am back to reading the Word every night before bed. Most mornings, I read a Psalm before I even get out of bed. There have been days (weeks too) that it has felt like a chore and so very hard. But more often than not, there have been weeks and weeks of sweet conversation with the Lord.
I was surprised to see how much I enjoyed certain passages like building the Temple and some passages of I & II Kings. Things that can seem very detail oriented and dry were suddenly alive and breathing to me. God's Word is alive. And it felt alive.
I used the ESV Study Bible Plan in the YouVersion app. It was incredibly convenient and easy to use. I did really miss my physical Bible though. Instead of saving bookmarks in the app for favorite verses, I started taking screen shots after I had highlighted verses that spoke to me. Now I have a photo album full of scripture that encourages my heart whenever I flip thought it. Love that.
This coming year of 2014, I have a new challenge/goal for myself. I have noticed that I don't write as much. It's obvious if you have read my blog in the past, that I don't blog as often (actually hardly ever) as I used to. I also don't journal very much any more either, which I don't like one bit. My writing has all but disappeared and I am not okay with that. It's something I want to change.
About a year ago, this journal popped up in several different places. I kept noticing it in stores and on blogs and it was suggested to me on Amazon. I thought about buying it, but never did. It definitely stuck in my brain though and I knew I wanted to do something similar for my yearly challenge. I don't think one line is the best thing for me, as I can tend to ramble on when I get going, but that's my starting point. One sentence written down each day. It can be more, but it can't be less.
I'm on the hunt to find a journal with no lines (my favorite way to journal). Mostly likely, I'll use a few of my favorite journals. I want to make it easy, but challenge myself to write more than just what I ate that day or what the weather was like. I did a similar challenge for myself when I did my sabbatical for 3 months and really loved it.
A new list. A new challenge. New goals and habits to create. I'm excited to begin!
What about you? Any goals/challenges for the new year to come?
