Blank Slate

Tomorrow the last of my 3 students returns to school.  And with Isabelle's return to school I will find myself home alone 7-1/2 hours/day.  My adjustment to working from home this summer has been good but, finally being able to concentrate without interruption, without worrying or wondering how my daughter is spending her summer days, not thinking about all that my son has to do and wondering why he is choosing x-box over those tasks, I am excited this day has come.  To spend a whole day focused on working and business building.  Tomorrow is a very big day.

As I have mentioned once or twice or a million times here on this blog, I love to plan and set goals.  The chalkboard in our kitchen is the place where I put scripture, quotes and other notes of inspiration driving us toward those goals.  But today as I erased the board to prepare it for some new inspiration I had nothing.  Blank.

As I think about this year, in many ways it isn't a new year but a continuation of last year.  There will be differences; I have a new job and Jake is gone.  Those may seem like big differences, but at the end of the day we are working toward the same goals this year as we were last year.

The word of the year here is discipline.  I just think all 4 of us are horribly lacking in this skill.  And while I have come to the conclusion that I am only in charge of myself when it comes to being disciplined, that doesn't mean I can't encourage the rest of my family to consider what that word means in their life.  And actually, I am still in charge of Isabelle too.  But, her discipline training only comes with my own discipline to teach her.

There are a lot of ways to look at discipline but, for me, for this year, it is about the daily habit.  I am great at the big vision but not so great at the daily long term tasks necessary to get to the goal.

So as I looked at the blank slate on my wall wondering what to fill it with I wondered if maybe today wasn't the day that I finish the chalk board.  Maybe it needed to be filled one day at a time, one week at a time throughout the year as we accomplish our goals and develop new healthy habits.  A place where we see our progress, and identify where we have fallen behind and need to catch up.  We are a visual lot here at the Hardacker home.  And seeing those days and weeks that go by while we aren't being disciplined might be just what we need going forward.

Tomorrow we begin the school year.  And we begin not with a bunch of stuff already done, we begin at the beginning.  We begin at zero.  Ready to put one foot in front of the other each day and march toward the next goal, accomplish the next task.

Can't wait to see how God will fill our board this year.  One day at a time.