and the thing I find most amazing in amazing grace
is the chance to give it out - maybe that's what love is all about.
In the lead up to 2013, I came up with six goals I wanted to achieve during the year.
I didn't share these goals with anyone, but I wrote them down in my notebook and revisited them a couple times over the year. The idea was to focus on a few things that would be attainable, but also challenging.
Now that 2013 has come to an end, I'm ready to share both the goals and my progress.
Six Goals For 2013
1. Save money
2. Buy a car.
3. Figure out goal weight and reach it
4. Finish draft of writing project and start editing and revising it.
5. Be more social
6. Make more time for Jesus.
There were three goals I didn't achieve, but made progress on. I didn't reach my savings goal, but I did start rebuilding my emergency fund. I spent my money in a more responsible way and I relied a lot less on my credit cards than I have in the past. I didn't figure out what my goal weight is (which means I didn't reach it) but I did improve my strength, endurance and co-ordination. I also had mixed results in terms of being more social - I didn't go out as much as I thought I would/should, but I think the time I did spend with friends was a lot more meaningful and I did a much better job keeping in contact with long distance friends.
Of the six goals, I completed two. I finally bought a car and I finished the first draft of the writing project I started and began the process of revising it. Having a car has been stressful (and expensive) but despite the headaches it's caused, I'm pleased with the purchase - the convenience factor outweighs the negatives. On the writing front, I'm not totally satisfied with the story I wrote but I have ideas for changes to make and hopefully it can be developed into something that I can share with others in the near future.
The final goal was the most important of them all and without question, the one that challenged me the most: to strengthen my relationship with Jesus and grow in my faith.
I had a lot of ups and downs in this area during 2013 - there were moments where I felt rooted and connected to Christ, but there were also times when I felt completely hopeless, lost and adrift. There were times when I poured myself into studying God's word and there were times when I'd go a week without picking up my bible or praying.
I stressed about money and my car and my career and the future. I tried to do things on my own, to create my own plans, and found myself face down on the ground. I failed and fell short daily.
But every time I pushed God away, he pulled me back in. Every time, he showed me his mercy, his grace and his goodness are everything that I need.
you are everything that I hope for, everything that I breathe for
everything that this heart will need.
everything thing that I hope for and everything that I crave.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14
The six goals I set for 2013 weren't bad goals and I'm hoping to keep working on the ones I didn't complete this year, but coming in 2014, I've only set one goal for myself: to keep growing in Christ, to let go of my need for control and learn how to love and trust him more.
Because it's nice to have a car and money in the bank and single-digit numbers on the labels of my skirts and shirts, but none of those things matter that much, not in the eternal scheme of things.
