Saturday, January 1, 2022

Planners, Priorities and Choosing Well



Happy New Year!

I always love the fresh start of a new year, and I enjoy the process of assessing and resetting. Part of my New Year routine is reconfiguring my method of schedule-keeping and thinking about how I want to keep our family calendar organized.

I tend to try out different personal planners for each year, and the last few years I've used the Day Designer Weekly/Monthly planner. I bought it again because it's my go-to and I want to have it on standby. 




However, I also found myself buying this Whitney English planner along with her notepads. I couldn't help but fall for her beautiful branding! 





As I've flipped through the planner and started filling it out, it almost seems like too much space for list-making (can't believe I'm saying there is such a thing). I like her concept of HEART goals in theory (an acronym that stands for Help Yourself, Empower Yourself, All Your People, Resources & Responsibilities and Trade), but I already find myself wanting to tweak the acronym to better fit my outlook. For instance, instead of "empowering myself" (I don't like that phrase), I would rather have an entire category geared towards spiritual growth with that as the heading. I'm interested to see how I feel about this a few months in. 

Another item I bought several months ago with the new year in mind is this weekly notepad. Several years ago I used the Lara Casey Power Sheets and really saw positive outcomes from a daily habits standpoint. I think the successful aspect was the habit tracker. I'm not in a season where I have major goals that would require a full notebook, but I wanted to see if I could replicate that habit-tracking mechanism. I found this notepad on Amazon and I'm going to give it a try as well. 



From a family calendar aspect, I LOVE the Family Plan Calendar from Family Teams. It's large and we hang it on the wall near our mud room. Some weeks I don't get this filled out and I always notice that things run more smoothly when I do. The biggest way we use this is filling in who is packing a lunch each day for school. The kids just reference the calendar and they know if they're packing a lunch or not! It also helps the kids to see the meal plan for the week and at-a-glance activities. I've just noticed that they tend to do better when they have an idea of what's going on, and I realized that I'm not the only one who can benefit from a calendar! 




With so many products available and so much talk about goals and checklists and personal growth, I often find myself feeling super motivated at the beginning of the year. But, like most people, habits and motivation can easily taper off when "life" starts to happen. Even though I'm aiming to utilize a checklist system of some sort (probably using some combination of the above products), this year I'm keeping things very simple and I have ONE daily goal: to spend time with the Lord. If I do nothing else but that, I know without a doubt that I've done something of value that will transform my thinking and create heart change (as well as renew my mind). 

Of course I have other things I'm aiming for as well. Here's a little snapshot:
  • Daily Bible reading using The Bible Recap plan and corresponding book 
    • This is my goal each morning. I've been using the Bible Recap for several months now and it's been a good guide! I love how the author points everything to God and His character. Note: This is not a commentary but a good synopsis to look over AFTER reading the Scripture passage. It's important to not use the Bible Recap as a substitute for the actual Scriptures. 
  • Daily devotional reading each morning from Alistair Begg's Truth for Life
  • Deeper Bible study using Knowing the Living God: The Doctrine of God by Paul Washer
    • My sister and brother-in-law sent this to Kurt for Christmas, and I immediately wanted to do it too! We love Paul Washer and his humble and unapologetic preaching of God' Word and his passion for sound doctrine. This Bible study is in a series about foundational truths of our faith. I aim to do this most days of the week during nap time. I can devote a little more time and I'm not as tired as I am in the evening (I'm looking at my tendencies and trying to develop better habits based on when I'm most alert).
  • Try some scenic bike rides
    • I gave Kurt a Nordic Track bike for Christmas, and I chose Nordic Track specifically because of the reviews about their scenic rides. You can "ride" almost anywhere in the world! I tried Pilates last year and really enjoyed it. I want to try something at home and see if it's a good fit for me.
  • Following an "Intentional Time" challenge with my friend Erin (follow on Instagram: @resslererinm)
    • Erin successfully completed the famous "75 Hard" challenge last year. While discussing it together, we started talking about how different and truly transformed people would be if they applied that same dedication to spiritual growth and intentional time with others, as well as taking significant time off from social media. She decided to make it a challenge for people to do together, and I'm excited to take part in it! 
  • Scheduled date nights and time with friends
    • I want to be more intentional about relationships this year and making sure it's a priority
  • Grow Well Chosen in a way that honors the Lord and also keeps me thinking creatively 

Something I've been dwelling on a lot is the DAILY aspect of following Christ and taking up our cross; the DAILY discipline of making the right choices in the (seemingly) small things and serving the Lord in mundane routines that don't feel significant. I've also been thinking about Mary and Martha in Scripture (found in Luke 10) and how Jesus said that "only one thing is needed" (verse 42). Mary made the best choice when a lot was going on around her. I'm the first to feel overwhelmed when a lot is on my plate and I feel paralyzed about all that I need to do (I have always related really strongly to Martha!). But I want to focus on eternal things in 2022 and continue the spiritual growth that really started for me back in 2020. No amount of lists, goal-setting, soul-searching or dreaming will fulfill me or get me to "where I want to be" (and that phrase itself should give us pause - "where I want to be"). Where does HE want me to be? When we get that right, everything else falls into place. 

I am hopeful and humbly grateful to God looking into this new year. The best is always yet to come when we are in Christ! I am praying that I "choose well" this year and that we can discuss and learn here together! 


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