Last week Joshua encouraged me to think about this coming year and make a list of goals. In this way I can be working towards something and Joshua better knows how to encourage me in what I want to learn. Here's the list of what I have come up with, in absolutely no specific order:
1) Begin to learn Spanish. I've been listening to an Italian CD on the way to work every morning, but Joshua has decided to learn Spanish for work, so I figured it would be best to be learning together.
2) Continue to read through the Bible each morning. We began reading at the beginning of December in a "Read thru the Bible in a year" program. Since we came in at the end, we will start back at the beginning in January and be finished in the end of November. For the last few weeks I have really enjoyed waking up early, having my coffee, and having that quiet time with the Lord. I want to be diligent in continuing this practice all year.
3) Do yoga every workday morning. It isn't easy for me to get up at 5:30 and then spend the whole day at work, but I know my body will appreciate getting exercise more regularly and it will help my back pain tremendously (I am too young to have back pain, so I want to be thorough with this goal).
4) Be a better listener to both my husband and others. I have recently noticed how often I forget what people say to me soon after they say it. This is not a quality I want to foster, as I know it has hurt my husband numerous times.
5) Be more selfless and giving in my actions. I have a tendency to notice when someone might need help and become self conscious about whether it is appropriate to offer my help, or care for them. I want to have better eyes for noticing need around me. Which ties in to the next and last two goals:
6) Learn to care only for God's good pleasure and then my husband's. I care far too much about what other people think about me. While I have prayed, worked, and talked through this with my husband many times over the past 7 months, I still need to grow in some pretty big ways. It is especially important to me that by the time we have children I am secure in knowing who God has created me to be, so I can be focused on raising them and helping to mold their character. This goal also has a lot to do with how I share the gospel with others. I need and want to be very unashamed of the gospel as I am at work and involved in life.
7) Have a firm understanding on where most all of our products come from. Recently we watched a documentary on the gold market and how much of our gold comes from basically slave-like colonies in Africa. I was appalled at how little these people were paid for the hard work they do. One point that really got me was when a man said that he really didn't care if he lived or died, his whole life was to mine gold, just so he might be able to feed his children. My life is so blessed that it is easy for me to not even care where my gold, clothes, household goods, etc, might be coming from.
8) Buy more local food. Similar to the above, as well as tied to many other things I have learned through nutrition, economy, and research, I want our meat and produce to come mostly from local farms. This goal I know probably won't really be able to happen until Joshua and I move and are settled for his job, but I want to keep it in the forefront of my mind.
9) Lastly, to end on an odd number, be more comfortable being quiet with myself. I believe a lot of hearing from the Lord comes from being quiet, and I'm just not good at it. I also want to be able to serve my husband by knowing when to speak and when to be quiet--there are many times I could wait to say what is on my mind, but it isn't easy for me to still my mind and let Joshua continue to do what he is doing.
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