From Our House to Yours
New Year’s Resolutions… Past and Present
I love the start of a new year! New beginnings offer new opportunities for change, and ladies, change can be good! Around my mid-November birthday, I start pondering my New Year’s resolutions. Before I look forward, I like to look back. If I reflect on the current year while I’m still in it, I tend to have more clarity. I pull out my journal and jot down my thoughts on what was good and what was not. No year is perfect! I am not perfect. However, it helps for me to look at my roles in life: Christian, wife, daughter, mother, homeschool teacher, sister, aunt, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, and now even great aunt! Also on the mental list are employee, friend, and church member. Whew! No wonder we are sometimes weary as women trying to be the best we can be!
Long Past New Year’s Resolutions Still Living On Today
I have made New Year’s resolutions for many years. Some have been on the list for awhile. Others are just a natural part of my life now. I do them without thinking. I date my husband once a week. Every time I drive to Sioux Falls, I call my mom. The first of each month, I balance the budget. Weekdays, I set aside time needed to homeschool. Chores are posted and done before breakfast. I have set school breakfast and lunch menus we rotate through. At the start of each homeschool year, I make a calendar. I make and print homeschool schedules for each person. Exercise is a real part of my life. Bible quiet time is the way I start my weekdays. Many of the positives in my life today are the result of New Year’s resolutions that became habits, one year at a time.
New Year’s Resolutions for 2021
What New Year’s resolutions do you have? Last year I read through the Everyday Living Bible. This 2021, I’ll start reading the Battlefield of the Mind Bible following a 3-year reading plan. I plan to add a short devotional each day as well. I also have a goal to read a book from my ‘wish pile’ each month. Another goal is to lose 25 pounds and to try one new exercise. For homeschooling, I am planning on giving my all to helping my youngest son have a strong start to HOD’s high school. Likewise, I’m planning on helping my middle son have a strong start to college. Additionally, I’m planning on helping my oldest son finish college strong. I want to plan a 50th birthday vacation, with a focus on outdoor adventures. I hope to get better at sending birthday cards using a monthly birthday card sorter. And the list goes on!
What New Year’s resolutions are you excited about this 2021?
So, what New Year’s resolutions are you excited about this 2021? Dream a little! Write them down. Will you meet all of your resolutions? Probably realistically not. However, even if you meet one, that one new resolution could be a habit for the rest of your life. If you do one resolution a year, in 25 years, you’ll have 25 new awesome habits! What New Year’s resolutions would most impact your homeschooling? Try your hand at one or two! How about your marriage? Your relationships? Your health? Give some new resolutions a try! If we have no goals, it’s tough to see if we met them. Life is meant to be lived today! Remember, Jesus came that we may have life, and have it to the fullest. Taking steps to live a full, joyful, Christian life is a way we can say thanks!
In Christ,
Julie
