January 1, 2021 - Friday (88/365)

Day 88 of my 365 Photo Journal

So...the photos I took last night turned out terrible. 😬 I'm using these ones instead, which kind of illustrate one of my New Year's Resolutions for 2021. I've thought long and hard about these an I think I'm ready to get them written down. My main focus for 2021 is JOY, which leads into my first one...

1. Spiritual: I've really let myself back off from daily studying and prayer. There is nothing as important in my life as my relationship with God, but I can't seem to spare a minute to spend with Him regularly. Therefore, my first resolution is to start my days with God, by reading the Bible or a Bible study and spending some devoted prayer time with Him. I know that this will be difficult for me. My days (especially mornings) can be really crazy, dealing with meals, school stuff, and cranky little ones. But I feel like it needs to be my first priority. 

2. Marriage: My relationship with Ben is good. Great, even. I'm so happy being his wife and I believe he's also very happy to be my husband. We have deep conversations and make sure that we spend a lot of time with each other, connecting, laughing, and pursuing shared interests. We watch out for each other and back each other up when we're feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or sad. However, if I'm being honest with myself, I know that I don't put my relationship with Ben in the place that it should be, which is first among ALL others, besides God. "ALL others" means kids, friends, family, fellowship, and even MYSELF. 😳 YIKES. So, my second resolution is to keep my relationship with Ben where it belongs, to put him before myself and my children, to give him time that is undistracted and not rushed, and to serve him in the ways that I should. I'm still working on actionable goals towards this, but I have a few ideas. 

3. Personal: This is ridiculous, but my third resolution is to go outside every day, even if it's just for 15 minutes. I know, I know. BUT. I never go outside. I hate putting on my bra and I hate getting myself presentable to be around other people. I barely leave the 1st floor of my house, honestly. I want to be less like this. 😅

4. Health: My fourth resolution is to work out somewhere between 3 and 5 days per week. This resolution requires no explanation. I am nearly 100 pounds overweight and I have absolutely no stamina. I want my body to be healthier and I want to have more energy. We recently got an elliptical that's really nice and that will be my main workout machine, but I'd also like to throw in some yoga, pilates, and hiking. 

5. Parenting: My parenting resolutions are a little more vague than the other ones. The main thing I'd like to do better is to enjoy the time that I have with the kids more than I currently do. I am right near the breaking point almost every day and I really don't want to feel like that. My children are some of the greatest gifts that God ever gave me and, yet, I feel like I treat them like they're keeping me from my life. But what life? What was life before I had them? Did I enjoy that more? The answer is no. I was able to be lazier and had less responsibilities, but life was not better. No, my life is full of love, and energy, and affection. My life is colorful now. It's so good. So we've come full circle to JOY. And I believe that each of the other resolutions above will help with this one. Closeness with God brings me peace, happiness, and true joy. Having a stronger marriage will make our whole family stronger and healthier. Going outside every day will result in me spending time with the kids outside. My getting healthier will give me more energy and hopefully time to burn off some of my frustrations. 

And we're done! Most of these resolutions have goals to go along with them and I'm also letting myself have one big project per quarter of the year to work on, which I'm pretty excited about. I kind of love this phase of planning and thinking about the year ahead. Looking forward to the upcoming year and I'll be ready with lots of grace for myself when I need it! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Including this bottom photo, because Clem lost a tooth on NYE!

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