I did that this morning, but mine weren’t all that funny. Here’s the basic gyst:

1. Lose 10 pounds. —————Okay. I lost 3. Whatever, I will take it.
2. Motivate my unmotivated son.——–He is WAY more motivated now, but that took getting Dad and teachers and virtual school and growing up all involved. I cannot take credit for this.
3. Help the boys more with school work.………………….Dear Lord, I did not mean I wanted to home school again. Let me be more careful about what I say…
4. Publish 1 post on the blog/week……..I was doing well with this until October-November I think.
5. Publish Israel ebook. HEY! I actually did this one! Hurray!
6. Learn to play piano. I can now do basic songs, to include Greensleeves, Home on the Range, and some simple Bach and Brahms arrangements. I can even play two different things with both hands at once, and this took a lot of work.

But what about this year? Are goals a good idea in 2021?

Should we tempt fate in this way? If 2020 took our toilet paper and our schools from us, what could happen this year???

I mean really, there are no crazy thoughts anymore. These are all reasonable concerns. Ha! We try not to get carried away, but 2020 has left us changed.

What do you think? Troubles or no troubles, we still have to have something to reach for, right?

This morning I pulled off the miraculous stunt of having coffee in a quiet living room. It was rainy, and the boys all slept in. Alan was busy doing his thing, and behold! Quiet!!!

Normally, there is far more talking and people asking me questions. I am thankful for this too because I love my family, but the constant activity here makes one especially grateful for the moments of silence too.

We are not having Sunday school this morning either, so I had extra time to do quiet Bible study in my cozy sofa recliner. My coffee was hot, and the reading was straight from the words of Jesus. It just all felt especially wonderful today.

The verse that hung in my mind after I had said my morning prayers, eaten my breakfast, and headed back up the stairs was this one:

Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

Matthew 16: 22-23

“You are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

Peter was worried about the physical well being and survival of Jesus. Maybe he still thought Jesus would be a political leader instead of a spiritual one. Jesus did not come to be King of Palestine or Rome. He came to be something far greater than that, an eternal savior for all mankind.

But how do we do concentrate on the things of God rather than the things of men? I mean practically, how do we do that exactly?

Those are the thoughts that I am currently chewing on. I want this to guide my goals.

What comes to mind for you when you think of the “things of men?” I mean currently, the things of men are largely about the corona virus and POWER. Man, does everyone want the power! So many headlines today are about the election. I thought the presidential election was over two months ago, but all that hoopla is still going on.

Those are things of man. They may be important, but they are neither eternal, unifying, edifying, or spiritual. What about the things of God?

The things of God concern people’s souls.

This is what DOES last from generation to generation. The things of God are what matter most–

–making sure you are doing your God given work.

–Taking care of your children, your spouse, and your parents.

–Looking out for other people you see in need.

—The good news of the Gospel: You don’t have to live in guilt and shame. Jesus came and paid the price for our sins, so we can be forgiven and at peace with God and man.

I feel like the Bible’s list of the fruits of the spirit is a great indicator of the way that is worth living:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22

Ever since I read that verse the first time, as a child, I have loved that last sentence. Against such things there is no law. You will not get a ticket for being loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and having self-control.

So my goal this year is to continue focusing on fostering a love of God in my children and my Sunday school class.

I still want to be a better wife and take better care of myself too.

Last year was BIG. I went in thinking it would be a “duller year” because we would not be moving, for once. But oh man, was I wrong about it being dull, and I am glad I was. THREE of our four boys were baptized in 2020. THREE!!!

Hallelujah. That is exciting.

It was such a HARD year though. Why is it that the best spiritual things tend to happen in hard times? I don’t know. We are reminded of our need for God maybe? And in a rich country like America, sometimes this is what it takes.

I hope all of you have had a restful Christmas break. The real world gears back up tomorrow (Monday) for most of us. It is easy to dread going back. The break was needed so extremely badly this year. But I am just reminding myself that often it feels good to get back to “normal” once you get going.

I hope all of your weeks prove to be fruitful and blessed.

God loves you. He is always there when we call on him.

The post What’s Worth Focusing on in 2021 appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Christmas 2020 finds our little family smack dab in the middle of our Maryland chapter of life. We have been here a year and a half now, and according to Alan’s orders, we have one and a half years left. Of course, with the Army, you really never know.

What about you? What chapter are you in? Sometimes it helps me feel less overwhelmed when I remind myself that whatever is going on is simply one chapter of a thick book. Things may look bad now, but circumstances are always changing.

Did any of you manage to hire a photographer and send out photo Christmas cards for 2020?

Spoiler alert. We did not. With everyone hiding in their own little huts, I did not have time to meet any photographer people. I may still send out paper cards, but I have not decided yet. There is only one week before our Christmas trip, so time feels kind of short.

But you can call this my Christmas letter. Here we go….

January: Four out of six of us had the flu.

The Army keeps Alan vaccinated, so he was safe. Joshua was protected by the grace of God, that’s really the only explanation. Ironic that we started the pandemic year with the flu. It was a haze of fevers.

February: JD and Daniel played War (with a deck of cards) obsessively. I won “most beautiful cookies” in a valentine cookie contest, and per J.D.’s insistent begging, we added a second basketball goal….

which he NEVER plays with.

I dragged Alan and the boys to Valley Forge in freezing temperatures so we could get the full experience. That is one of my favorite memories.

March: My Israel book was published….

…just in time for no one to be allowed to travel…lovely. Travel books do not sell as well when people are not travelling.

Oh, and yeah, the world fell apart. Schools sent the kids home on the 13th and still haven’t taken them back. (lol)

Actually, at this point virtual school became the over arching them of the year for us. 2020 was all about computer school and learning to deal with it. It was a major adjustment.

April: We started getting 20 school emails/day, and we had Easter service in our pajamas.

May: We embraced swimming in creeks.

June: After one thousand days of warning us, the printer finally ran out of ink.

Also, I finally learned how to use Power Point. I know this is something I *should have* learned twenty years ago, but I managed to dodge it until third grade computer school.

July: I took off for a mom vacation in Florida in the middle of the surge.

Look, sometimes you just gotta do what you just gotta do. It was bliss.

We also took the family to Ocean City, Maryland for the first time.

August: We packed up all the boys and drove to Alabama for two weeks.

September: Virtual school began again. I spent most of September stress paralyzed.

But Joshua got baptized, so there’s one good thing!!!

October: Caleb had a beard, Daniel was a Fortnite dinosaur, and John David was a Creeper.

November: I began to accept my new life as a virtual home school mom.

Yes, it only took me eight months, but all of a sudden–BAM!– I am there! Acceptance achieved.

December: Going to see our families for Christmas again– so long as we can stay healthy. So far so good!

The boys got to open their presents twelve days early, but that is not so unusual for us. You have to celebrate early when you travel on Christmas. It has to be ridiculously early if they want to have time to play with their new toys before Christmas, so they opened gifts yesterday.

The thing about early Christmas was that it felt impossible to be serious about school and work this morning. “Who cares! It’s Christmas!!!” But we buckled down and went to class anyway.

All in all, 2020 was not a total bust. Many good things happened here.

Our family had more time THAN EVER with Alan. Normally, he takes a ton of trips. This year he never left town until November. Plus, he is still working in our room. His office is closed. We see him all the time.

One of my biggest goals for 2020 was “Teach the boys more responsibility.” I had no idea it was going to be such a hands on lesson. Thanks to virtual school, they have definitely made large strides in the responsibility department.

Now maybe for 2021 we will work on “staring at screens less.” I make no promises, honestly.

We made it though, friends! 2020 is all but finished. Time to have turkey and pies again and hope enough of our friends take this vaccination so they will let us back out of our cells!! Ha!!! Wahoo!!!

Merry Christmas, y’all!!

The post 2020 in Review: From the Flu to the Lockdown appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Have you heard of these vision boards? I just heard about it this year, reading Girl, Wash Your Face, by Rachel Hollis. I never finished the book, but the vision board idea was an intriguing one. In my mind I was picturing a vision board as a bulletin board, by my closet with visual reminders of the goals that I have.

At first, I figured my board would be just photos stuck to my closet door. I can think of a grand total of one thing to put on it: a picture of myself, twenty pounds thinner. This is almost humorous because I am honestly not doing much to achieve that goal. I want to though!

And what do we do when we need ideas?? Well, it is 2020, so we go to Pinterest.com. Of course. I was admittedly a bit disappointed. I wanted to just look at examples of other people’s vision boards. Alas, instead I found a bunch of how-tos. How to? Really? It doesn’t sound that complicated. Make a collage of what you’re hoping to accomplish. Show us. We don’t won’t to do all this reading.

So I dug hard, and here are some photos for ya, so you won’t have to dig as hard as I did.

I like the lights, the simple design, and that it is pretty. I do want more specific things on my own vision board. “Do more of what you love,” might be good for me too, but “Make it happen” is too vague for me. Plus, I am definitely going to need a photo of skinny April on there. Oh! Also, now I realize that a pretty board might be better than photos taped to the wall (my initial instinct).

Look how organized this one is! This would definitely help me focus. I don’t think I have this many categories of goals, but I could do one with four.

This one is neat. It is on a door, and it has several different boards clustered together. I like how there is a progress counter and a wipe off board with reward goals. Nice idea.

Okay, the photo above is not actually a vision board, but it is a site with all of those inspirational print-out posters for free. I might actually use the “Just start” or even the “Let love be your highest goal.”

Oooo. I like hers. In fact, I think I like her. This is both practical and fun and a little bit outrageous, if meeting Oprah is for serious. But hey, why not? Cherish365.com also had this idea, which kind of got me excited:

Anyone want to join me for this!?? I would love to throw one.

Say what?? A vision board party! You mean have a party with your friends where you build a crafty poster of goals together??? What a fun idea. Now I want to do this. Who’s in?

Ahhh. My eyes like this one the most. I think I have a lot in common with Norine here. I feel like she’s living my life and doing it better than me. Can I just copy this one? I will trade out her family photo with the skinny April picture. Actually, would it be more motivational to take a profile shot of myself looking my absolute worst? What do you think? My board will probably not turn out as pretty as this one, but it is pointing my brain in the right direction. Excellent inspiration here.

Her blog goal is 100K per month! Whoa. I am miles away from that goal. 10k a month is dreaming big for me. That is definitely going on my board.

Okay, Pinterest time over. Now it is time for me to make my very own vision board.

First, I gathered what materials I could find. I had to forego a family photo because I couldn’t find any. Ugh. My desk seriously must be addressed soon because I ordered photos, and they are on that desk somewhere. Have I ever mentioned I strongly dislike admin work?

I started out with this stuff, but I ended up adding a couple of other things. I found that marker board with pin-on bottom at Walmart in the office section, along with those sparkly alphabet stickers. Everything else is just stuff I happened to have in my house.

Each item on the board means something to me, but it isn’t really done in complete sentences. It’s more like symbols.

Here’s what I ended up with:

See the piano key strip?

I cut that off of a book Alan got me with my new keyboard. This year I am learning to play the piano, just as I have always wanted to do. I am using a beginner book that also has video lessons. You can find that here, but that’s a topic for another day. It’s going well so far!

Everything on the board represents something that I want to accomplish this year. The weight loss bit is obvious, and that’s a photo of my goal, certainly not my current situation. That photo was taken in 2012.

“Show love”

I put that on there, along with the Proverbs 31 Bible verses because I want to be a better wife. Mushiness does not come easily for me. Performing acts of service I do naturally, but all the others I need to work on, literally all of the other ways of showing love. Showing love is so important.

The other things on my board are pretty self-explanatory, except for maybe the “Feed my sheep” heart. Every person and group listed on that heart are people I feel responsible to serve well and teach the love of God. I got the “feed my sheep” line from John 21:17.

“The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

John 21:17

Oh and good news!

I procrastinated this project for about two months, but when I sat down and did it, the actual work only took about 20 minutes, if that. Crafts intimidate me. This was probably the first big craft like this I have done since the school supply cake, cookie baking aside, of course. So don’t be like me. Be fearless. It can be done quickly.

If you do build a vision board too, be sure to tell me about it. We’d love to see yours!

The post How to Create a Vision Board, with Examples appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Do you ever listen to podcasts? This morning I was listening to Crystal Paine’s (of MoneySavingMom.com) New Year’s podcast, and she was talking about goals.

Crystals’ goals were for the week and not for the year, as she is a foster mom now. Plus, she’s also giving birth this year, so she decided it was better not to make year goals for such an unpredictable year. That is usually my life too: so much going on.

The talk about goals started the hamster wheels in my brain a turning though. I had not even thought about goals for 2020 or even this week, and here it is January 6th. Ha!

Suddenly, I began to think about what the year ahead of us here at the Testosterone House looks like. This SHOULD be a happy, not so crazy, kind of year.

1. We are NOT moving this year. Cue the confetti. Praise the Lord. We are so tired of moving. Don’t even get me started.
2. We will send our oldest son to his first year of high school this year. When I say that out loud, my mind goes blank. I can’t even get past, “What???”
3. The putting down roots process should probably be worked on. I have participated in almost zero activities since we got here. That’s so unlike me, and yet it is true.

Really that’s it. That’s all the big plans we have for this year. Hallelujah though man, we’ve had way too much upheaval for the past 6 years. We are overdue a duller year.

Now you know since I’m sitting here saying this year is going to be chill, something huge or horrible will end up happening, and I will rue the day I wrote this post. But how can anyone know the future?

So without further ado, and only a tiny bit of thought put into these, here are my goals for 2020:

#1. Lose 10 pounds.

Stop laughing. I am serious. Yes, I need to lose 20, but I can’t even seem to lose 5, so we’re going to go with 10.

#2. Find a way to motivate the son who does not care what his grades are in school and doesn’t try very hard.

#3. Help the son who does care but is having a hard time at this particular school to make As and Bs because it will make him so happy.

#4. Be such a consistent blogger again that I’m publishing at least 1 post /week and also have my Israel ebook published.

Plan of action

For the 10 pounds: Intermittent fasting, set a sugar cap for each day, weigh myself every morning, exercise 6 days/week…..Eat more salad.

Motivating the unmotivated: Build his confidence by praising his successes in school. Continue star chart but change it to reflect study time. Study with him 10 minutes/day.

Helping the motivated: Check his math homework daily. Study with him 10 minutes/day. Build his confidence with praise.

For the blogging: Read 5 blogs/day. Write 1 hour/day, 6 days/week. Pin 5 posts/weekday.

This Week’s Goals

#1. Re-lose those 2 pounds I lost last week and then gained back this weekend. Y’all, I really wish I were joking.

#2. Exercise every single day, with one day off. Do not go to bed until this is done.

#3. Keep a food log on 3 days.

#4. Intermittent fasting Tues.-Fri. and Sunday.

#5. Study with each boy about 15 minutes/day.

#6. Mail Mom’s calendar to her. I accidentally shipped it to my house.

#7. Cook dinner every week day and Sunday lunch.

#8. Clean house 1 hour/day.

#9. Get 10,000 steps/day most days, for a total of 70,000 in 7 days.

I think these seem fairly reasonable, especially since we only have 2 nights and Saturday morning with extracurricular activities right now. That’s so nice. Winter is quieter, and I love that.

Do you have any goals for this week? Do you tend to make way too many or forget to make any at all? I go back and forth with doing both of those things. I’ve been good lately about putting only 6 things on my to-do list each day, but then I do something odd. I will do all sorts of other things and not do numbers 5 or 6 on my to-do list. Ah well. Life is a learning process.

“And he [Abraham] believed the Lord, and he [God] counted it to him as righteousness.” Genesis 15:6

The post My Goals for 2020 and for This Week appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Starting a new school in a new land is harder than I anticipated, but I felt like day 2 actually went very well for all the boys.

School started back yesterday. 

This was an exciting event that I’d finished in high gloss and framed in my mind as a victorious day ushering in a new era for me.

Without a single pre-schooler following me around I will have a spotless house, serve gourmet dinners, volunteer at their school, and run wild and free through grassy meadows.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

High expectations. I love to do that to myself.

Three years ago, my heart began to give me trouble, so I saw a cardiologist, and she told me not to exercise until we’d figured out what was going on with my heart.

We’ve never fully figured out what is causing my v-tach episodes, but they gave me back my freedom to exercise. Phew!

That lasted for about 6 months, and then my general practitioner took away my exercise again. “Only exercise in water. Otherwise, your joints are going to get worse and worse.”

Limitations. I hate them. Who doesn’t?

Anyway, am I not too young for such physical limitations and too old to have silly, unrealistic expectations?

For two years, I did not exercise. Occasionally, I’d rebel, suffer the pain of it, and reform. Meanwhile, my weight packed on at lightning speed.

I’ve come to see myself as this overweight, tired lady with a ticking-time-bomb heart and deflated dreams.

Lovely, eh? That’s disgruntled, disappointed, low self-esteem at its best.

But this hope of having a whole 6.5 hours/day to accomplish things alone drove me.

“I can lose the weight.”

“I can walk so much and do so many weight-bearing exercises (with small weights) that I can’t possibly mess it up with chocolate chip cookies.”

“Alan will love how clean the house is, and he will be impressed with me.”

“My blog will thrive again because I will have so much time to pour into it.”

“The sky’s the limit! I can do anything I want!”

“I’ll finally go get that MRI I was supposed to get a month ago and show the cardiologist how good my heart is doing.”

Some of these thoughts are healthy, I think. You gotta have drive to get through life, ya know?

And yet, you know what is inevitable with hopes of this sort? Disappointment. Problems. Unmet expectations.

Back to school day one wasn’t even over before Daniel developed strep throat. So guess who isn’t at home slaying all these accomplishments today? Me.

Daniel said, “No, I just want to sit in here with you, on the sofa.”

For 5 hours, I basically just sat with Daniel and cuddled on the couch. We watched Ninjago and Peter Rabbit and looked at old family photos of vacations at Legoland and the beach.

I still enjoyed it, but normally I would’ve cherished it so much more because I wouldn’t have had all these unmet goals in my head.

So no, today I did not impress my husband or anyone else for that matter. I have no idea what we will be eating for dinner. I actually fell asleep in Daniel’s bed around 1pm and woke up to see a giant block tower with farm fences built beside the bed and Daniel downstairs playing the x-box.

If I don’t get strep throat myself, it’s a miracle. Plus, I’m playing chauffeur tonight, which I rather despise, so I’m dreading that.

But God knew this all along, didn’t he? He knew my freedom would have a brief interlude. He knew I’d make grand plans that would fill me with disappointment when they came crashing down in front of me.

It’s actually serving as a good reminder to me, though it doesn’t feel like anything “good,” because I so desperately wanted to be wonderfully productive this week.

The thing is life isn’t about accomplishments, exercise, to do lists, or gourmet meals. Life is about love and people. That’s what life is about.

Yes, you heard it. I am DEFINING life right here on my little, low-traffic blog!!  And I dare you to argue with me. Ha! Because this time I’m right. (Maybe just this once, okay?)

Life is about love and people, so when you look at it this way, perhaps I am a smashing, unexpectedly amazing success after all because that is exactly what this day was about. Love and Daniel, and he is a person.

Just look at your life through that lens when it feels like you don’t have an accomplishment to your name. What’s success anyway, if it isn’t about love?

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.    1 Corinthians 13: 1-3

You might think, “No, April. Love and God.”

Well, yes, but if you love God then you must love people. You SHOULD love God most of all, but you should display that by loving his people. How can any of us love God, who we can’t see, if we don’t love people, who are right in front of us?

After all that’s what the Bible teaches:

Thus I am reminded to be content, no more like empowered, to show love and maybe only achieve 1 or 2 things from my list, or maybe none at all. I can work on this list any day at all, but Daniel needs me TODAY.

I hope you’re having a good day too, loving God and people. I’ll bet you’re way more of a smashing success than you think you are!

The post Disappointments and Limitations: Starting a New School in a New State appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Happy 2018, friends!!!! I’m so excited to introduce y’all to my friend Amy Lloyd today. We met back in 2010, when we were living in Washington, D.C.

Back then, Amy was busy with two little ones just as I was. Even then she was singing, which is her passion. But here’s a little known fact: Amy used to be a staffer on Capitol Hill. Her background is actually in writing. She was working on the Hill the day of 9/11…y’all help me convince her to share that story with us next! (You can do the convincing in the comments section below.)

Psst! Also check out the links to amylloyd.net to hear her beautiful voice!! (What Child is this is my favorite!!!)

Today Amy is here to talk about our New Year’s goals and the more satisfying, encouraging way that she has found to plan out her year and keep her focus straight.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions

guest post by Amy Lloyd

 I have a love-hate relationship with the New Year. I love the fresh start and the excitement of a new chapter waiting to be written. Oh, the possibilities! However, over the past few years, I have found the New Year’s goal-setting process to be extremely counter-productive. I stress over priorities for the coming year. Then I become irritated with indecisiveness. And, finally I rehearse each failure from the previous year as I write that same goal once again.

I think we all agree time is a gift to be used wisely, and I still believe that setting long and short-term goals is a great tool to help live a life intentionally. I won’t go into how to set goals here. There are plenty of other blog posts with those details this time of year. (And if you cannot find something free to read, there is a billion dollar self-improvement industry pushing products and services to help you.)

What I am here to say is that Providence does not always work on a calendar year, and you don’t have to either.

What if your current season in life or profession does not move on an academic or calendar year? I am a mom and a singer. Although there are some aspects that work with a calendar, often both of these occupations require a lot more patience than a calendar year to see results.

Or, what happens when God’s plan is to turn your world upside down with some kind of trial? In the last four years I have had a major surgery with lengthy physical therapy, we have relocated to Indianapolis after living in the Washington, DC area our entire adult lives, and my husband has worked four different, very demanding jobs.

A year ago, I had almost given up on the New Year. In an effort of self-compassion, I decided that I would wait until February to do my annual goal setting…or possibly not make them at all. Then, on December 29, while scrolling through my Facebook news feed, I saw the headline of a post by my blogging friend Moriah that read: I DON’T DO RESOLUTIONS. I was curious. Her blog introduced me to #oneword365.

Moriah explained that she picks one word that she applies to all aspects of her life for the entire year. Simple. Profound. Game-changer!

I decided I was going to try this. While being incredibly indecisive on picking my one word for 2017, on January 1, my teacher Peter posted on his blog that he was not making resolutions. Instead, he was making “renewals.” That’s it! My word for 2017 was renew.

I loved that the word renew reminded me of Bible verse that says: But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31, NKJV)

I needed to renew my strength in all aspects of my life so desperately. I was determined to apply my one word, so I wrote it as a reminder every day in my Panda Planner. Consistently writing my one word was key. Although I highly recommend a written journaling planner, the same concept works for a pocket or wall calendar. After a year of writing my one word again and again, I can look back at 2017 and be encouraged that the word renew permeated my life.

So, what did I do with those long and short-term goals? I renewed them, which helped me prioritize and gave more purpose. My goals are long-term fixtures that are evaluated as needed as God guides and directs my life.

As I wrap this up, you might be curious as to what word I have chosen for 2018…my new word is steadfast. I started with “discipline” (too harsh), then debated upon “consistency” (too boring), then I was reminded of a book I read, A Steadfast Heart by Elyse Fitzpatrick. Steadfast means abiding, determined, enduring, persistent, relentless, resolute and unwavering. I am looking forward to studying this word more and applying it in 2018.

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody! (Psalm 57:7, ESV)

Maybe you set goals but want to try one word to help your focus. Maybe goals are not your thing, but one word is simple and something you can do! The #oneword365 blog says: Remember – Your one word is intended to be your guide, not your harsh standard. It’s not about doing more, but about being who you were created to be.

If you choose a word for 2018, I would love to hear about it! Comment below, on Facebook, or send me a message through my website. Happy New Year!

Amy Lloyd is an Indianapolis-based worship artist. When she is not driving her daughter to ballet, she is driving her son to tennis. True to her central Illinois roots, she is a St. Louis Cardinals baseball fanatic. For bookings and to check out her music, go to www.amylloyd.net. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @lloyd_amy_.

The post Why I Don’t Make New Year’s Resolutions appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

And today is New Year’s Eve. Time to pick a goal, a resolution, a plan!!! Or as my adorable little boys say, “It’s time for our New Year’s revolution!” That makes me smile every time.

I may not have daughters, but I have adorable nieces.

So did you set goals? I have goals in mind, but this year I’m focusing more on this word: persistence.

For me, that’s about persisting in what I know is the right thing to do, even when I’m not seeing immediate results. I’m often guilty of throwing in the towel when results aren’t as big and quick as I want them to be. I get bored with a thing and move on to another. That’s not a highly productive way to live.

Fishing takes persistence too. The boys enjoyed fishing this Christmas, but they didn’t catch anything this time.

I want to be more persistent:

-With Bible reading and prayer

I have found this to be most effective when done in the morning, and mornings are rough when you are raising children. One thing I am working on is getting up earlier to get this done before the morning rush, but when I fail to get up early, Bible time has to move to 8am, and that’s okay. Late is better than not at all.

-As a wife

The hardest part for me sometimes is just being “nice.” Bahhhh. Niceness. But niceness is extremely important in a marriage, in any relationship. I want to be right more than I want to be nice. I actually need to stop being so persistent about being right!

-As a mom

The hardest part for me is sticking with a plan. I’ll assign chores, and I’ll make sure everyone’s dong their assigned chores for about a week, and then I start to slide, especially about the “kitchen helper” chore. They need to do it. It’s good for them. I need to persist in making sure they are there to help me with dinner and not be lazy by doing it myself.

Yes, sometimes simply doing it yourself is actually the lazy way out. Training a tot to do a job is much more work than just handling it for them.

I need persistence with discipline too. It’s such a drag, but the kids are so much more pleasant to be around when you do it consistently instead of hit and miss.

-As a blogger

There should be a schedule. Posts should come out like clock work instead of so very mixed bag. I know there should be a schedule. I can’t promise a schedule, but I will make one. I can’t promise to stick to it, because I am a scatter-brained, free-spirited mom of four.

-As a writer

I’m hoping to enroll JD in part-time pre-school a couple of days per week. This will help me get more writing done, and I can start going to the dentist again.

-With my health

I’m using a Fitbit Charge II to help me get into better patterns this year, and I’m loving it.

-With my house

I’m good about getting dinner cooked each night, and Alan has now taken over the laundry. That goes a long way. However, I need to be more persistent about spending an hour or two  each day cleaning house. Yes, in our phase of life it requires that.

So who’s ready for 2017? What would you like to accomplish this year? Do you have a word? Our pastor gave us a list on Christmas day of words we could pick from. It was a helpful list. I lost that list, and I can’t remember them all. Persistence was on there. I think it had several fruits of the spirit, so I will do my best to re-construct the list:

Words to Focus on for 2017:

faith

hope

love

faith

persistence

joy

peace

goodness

self-control

kindness

Happy New Year’s! I hope it’s a happy one! I’d love to hear about your goals.

Did you blog about your goals? Link up below. We’d love to read it!

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