Daily Discipline

Ever since I was a teenager I loved to make goals.  I remember one time asking to use the neighbors typewriter so I could type up my goals.  I was very proud of them until someone pointed out that instead of typing "eat healthy snacks" I had actually typed "eat healthy snakes".  (Thank goodness for spell check or you might still be catching stuff like that.)

As long as I can remember I've always had a similar goal pattern.  I would want to eat healthier, exercise more and have a daily quiet time.  Then I would focus on the exercise or healthy eating for a while but get board and quit and I would try to have daily time God but fail.  It was a constant pattern of up and down with health and exercise and lackluster attempts to spend time with God for years.  But I am the eternal optimist and always created a new goal certain this would be the year it would happen.

I did eventually find my way to a healthier eating pattern after feeling sick for a number of years and I did get into a routine of running regularly and I found my way to spending time with God on a somewhat regular basis but I didn't really develop the concept of discipline in my life until I read through the bible one year.

I had never read through the whole bible before, I  had started many times, even got to Job one year, but I had never completed the task.  It was a big task, consistency for an entire year, read something every day.  If you don't keep up it quickly would become a monumental task to catch up.  But in 2008 I decided to make it happen. 

It is easy to get overwhelmed by the task but I just focused on one day at a time.  And I decided I didn't have to do anything else that year, just read my daily portion.  I wasn't in a bible study that year, didn't try to read a devotional, didn't tell myself I had to even have a deep thought on what I was reading or pray afterward.  Just had to read every day.  Some days I would have a deep thought worth journaling about but most days I just read and moved on.  I remember the day I finished Job and knew I had read further than I had in the past.  It was a mini victory that kept me motivated to continue.  Occasionally I would have to find time for a little catch up work but for the most part I read my daily portion quickly each morning and moved on.  And getting an overview of the whole bible that way, not studying each verse but just enjoying the story, was wonderful.  You get to see God's presence and his hand in the wholeness of the story.

Finishing the reading on December 31st felt great and was the perfect way to end the year.  I was very ready to move on to other ways of reading the bible that next year and have done different things in the years since but spending that year developing the habit of daily time with God has been something that has stuck.  They say you develop a habit in 28 days but maintaining it for 365 days really creates a pattern, something so comfortable you always want to fall back to it.  I definitely look back at that experience as something that has shaped my view of discipline and my understanding of what I can accomplish if I put my mind to it and keep walking forward one step at a time.

A Simple New Year

I love the new year, a new season, start of school, Mondays...any time that marks a new beginning, a moment to start fresh and go forward improving yourself in some way.  I wrote last year on my love of resolutions...twice.  As talked about in last years second post, 2009 was a theme year, the year of Africa.  I hadn't really done a theme in the past but it was a special year.  Of course in reading about creating goals many people suggest having a life goal or some over arching concept that guides all other goals you make.  As I wrote out some of my goals this year I found myself writing at the top of the page, "Simplify in 2010" (I did spend some time trying to think of a way to make that concept rhyme but couldn't come up with anything.)  I am also turning 40 this year and so am thinking about how I want to end this decade of my life and start a new one. 

Actually 39 could sort of be a parallel to today...This is the last day before we go back to a new routine and official launch into life in 2010.  My plan for today is to finish up a bunch of loose ends and then go to bed early so I am ready to launch into my life and discover all the new things I will learn and adventures God will take me on.  If today is that day for 2010, this year is that for my 40's.  Finishing up those last minute projects of my 30's and preparinto enter my 40's ready for all the new life experiences that next decade will bring me.

I actually just came up with that thought as I was sitting here typing this up but interestingly most of my goals for this year do revolve around finishing up or improving things I am already doing.  Crafts and home projects that have been filling up my closet for years, solidifying a consistant work-out schedule, continuing with a second year focussed on prayer, finally figuring out a system to put dinner on the table for my family every night... 

These are also a reflection of my desire to simplify my life.  I don't want to run around trying lots of new things, making lots of changes or reinventing myself in any way.  I want to simply go forward in this new year continuing to grow and become the woman God created me to be.  Some years are about change and big happenings, 2009 certainly was, but some years are about stepping back and simply living your life, taking stock of how God has blessed you and reveling in those blessings.  That is what 2010 will be for me.

One of the things I continue to work on is my health and healthy eating habits.  As I am being challenged by my sister to begin the year with a detox, an extreme healthy food week to jump start my commitment to healthy eating, I have decided I am also going to detox from electronics in my life, no spending WAY too much time on my computer emailing, blogging, reading blogs, playing solitare, etc.  Time that could be better spend working on those neglected crafts, maintaining my home or simply enjoying my children and husband.  So for the next week I will be keeping my thoughts to myself, or sharing them in person.   I will be checking my email as I have created a life where all communication comes through it but won't be responding unless absolutely necessary.

I am going to try one new thing, I am going to try to write a blog post and schedule it to post in a couple days.  If it works out I could bang out all my thoughts once a week for you all rather than spending WAY too much time contemplating them each day.  Just another way I am thinking of simplifying my life in 2010.  As a teaser...you can look for a post on what Simplicity means to me later this week.

Happy 2010.  Let the Games Begin!

ps I have a new set up from blogger which I mostly like but can't seem to find the spell check button, I count on that button to make me look more intellegent than I actually am.  If anyone knows where it is please tell me, in the mean time, ignore the spelling errors.

The not so big 3-9

Tomorrow I turn 39. Really 39 not "and holding" or "forever 39". I will not be staying put, I will gladly move to 40 next year. I enjoy aging, it gives legitimacy to all my bossiness. Ha ha. Anyway...This age has me thinking about 40. I remember when John and I were in our mid 20's and 40 seemed like a life time away. We would talk about goals and say, "by the time we are 40 we will...". With so much time to accomplish whatever followed how could we not reach that goal? All the big things in life fell into this category.

So that has me thinking about some of those things we wanted to accomplish, what can I still do in the next year (or 6 months for John), what have we already accomplished and what do we need to move into our new "by the time we retire..." conversations.

What we didn't accomplish...

Pay off our house. We moved into this house 7 years ago and owe twice as much as we did when we dreamed that dream. Clearly moved backward on this goal but have a plan and will definitely own by the time we retire.

Buy a cabin. If you live or grew up in MN this is likely on your dream list. Considering the prices and responsibilities of cabin ownership we have gone back and forth about this and made some modifications to this dream. None-the-less we still dream it and have moved it into the "in our 40's" conversation.

Be able to pay for Jake's college. Now technically Jake has 2 years left of school and we will be 41 when he graduates but the goal should be in reach by the time we are 40. I like to think we have enough to get him through a couple years at community college but if we don't see alot of excitement in the stock market soon I am not even sure of that. I always thought I would just get a job when Jake graduated but then our little mid-life crisis came along and I will be busy with a 1st grader as Jake graduates and not likely to want a job to pay for his college. We are abandoning our poor son to the world of scholarships, grants, public education and a job. (we are discouraging loans in favor the 7-10 year graduation plan.) Actually he is planning to get into ROTC so we are good. That will be like we accomplished the goal only the government will pay for it. Which I guess is still us...

Could still accomplish by 40...

The non-specific "financial stability". (I didn't say we had made well thought out, clearly defined goals) While our 30's started off in the right direction somehow, even before this unfortunate economic time, we got off the path somewhere. John's work that was going great seemed to get derailed for a time during what I call the "mid-life crisis" of his career which ironically occurred amidst adopting the mid-life crisis. Now finally doing something he enjoys and is doing well at I can actually see a light at the end of the tunnel. Plus we took a personal finance class a couple years ago so we now actually know how to accomplish our goals and have set some specific ones. If we stay focused I feel confident that I will be able to check parts of this one off by this time next year.

Things we can check off the list...

Go to Africa. Actually this goal was "before Jake graduates", another defined time frame we didn't think would ever come. This one goes with "travel more". Although I wouldn't say we have done a ton of traveling over the years, unless you count visiting my sister in Atlanta probably 20+ times, we have done a few things and definitely with this trip have seen the vision for prioritizing travel/vacation in our lives. Already I am thinking of a trip to France "before Isabelle graduates from high school". Will that day every come?

So in conclusion...I am a goal setting nerd that actually finds all this really fun, exciting and motivating, even the stuff I didn't accomplish. I am excited for this next decade of my life. But more than just another decade it is another whole stage. If I am now in "the stage before 40" then next year I will enter "the stage before retirement". So this next year as I am 39 and enjoying these last years of early adulthood I will be busy getting my life in order to launch into my retirement planning years with gusto. Yes I am weird, move on.

Interestingly as I look at the list I see that so many of our dreamas have been financial. While most big goals do require money I am thinking that maybe I should work on some non-financial goals for my retirement. How about...Run/walk a marathon, this is one I am considering for my 40th birthday. Have a greater understanding of theology and various biblical philospophies. Write a book or magazine article or...something, get published. Encourage other women. Learn and grow, stay open to the plans God has for my life. Give more.

There is one more thing that we can check off my dream list, phase one of a very fun remodel project at our house. Tomorrow or Monday will be the big reveal of something very exciting that has been going on at our house. John is working hard today to finish up my birthday present. Can't wait to show you! I love being married to a remodeler! OK, you want a hint. Here are a couple peaks...




And here is the color I am painting the walls...Painted Turtle.