Goals for 2015

This year, I will be turning 40.  Even though 50 is probably the new middle-age, I still think of 40 as being middle-aged.  As I approach 40, I notice that I'm perpetually tired, no exhausted is more like it. I forget things a lot, like entire conversations, just ask my husband about it.  I also lose my keys and my phone all the time.  My muscles ache and creak and seem to prefer the state of rest over motion.  2 Corinthians 4:16-17 has become more meaningful to me: So we do not lose heart.  Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.  It's getting harder and harder to set goals when the new year approaches because I just don't have the mojo I used to.  So, it is only by the grace of God that I hope to accomplish the following goals in 2015! 

1. Run a half marathon.  I recently started a training plan that should get me to half marathon distance in another eleven weeks! The tricky part for me is pacing myself slow enough on my long runs to avoid injury.  I'd ideally like to average 10 minute miles, which I think is doable given my 10-K pace is just under 9 minute miles.
2. Potty train Matthew.  Matthew and I made an agreement that he would try again in January.
3. Paint the interior.  No, I'm not going to paint the interior; I want to pay someone else to do it.  The builders used flat paint when they painted our walls, not ideal for our family.  
4. Read through the One-Year Bible.  I'm convinced that the best thing I can do as a mom is to draw strength and encouragement from the Word every day.
5. Pray specifically for my children's salvation each day.  When I had a miscarriage, I was very comforted with the thought of my unborn child being ushered into the presence of God.  This made me want to pray more earnestly and fervently for each of my living children to be saved!
6. Make more of an effort to reach out to the younger ladies at church.  I am not going to use the big "D" word 'cause that's too formal, official, and should be reserved for women of more noble character than myself. But, I do want to make myself more available and approachable to the younger ladies at church.
7. Read If I am a Christian, Why am I Depressed by Robert Somerville.  The author's wife, Mary, came to speak to the ladies at our church this past year, and I bought this book there.  I could relate with much of what Mary related about Bob's experience with depression.
8. Help out in the evenings more so that David can have more meaningful devotions with the kids.  After a day of feeding, napping, and homeschooling the kids, I'm usually ready for a break when David comes home.  My desire for a break, though, is preventing David from having meaningful devotions with the kids.  He's doing them consistently, but the time could be more meaningful if I wasn't so lazy!
9. Make Marquis Old-Fashioned Cream Pie.  I like to bake.  I like to try new recipes.  This is one I found in Better Homes and Gardens and saved (old-school method: I tore the page out and have it waiting on my dresser!)
10. Come up with a plan to teach California state history.  Mary will officially be a fourth grader in the 2015-16 school year, which means it's time to teach her California state history.  I am looking forward to this, since I know so little about California state history myself and it seems like there are lots of local hands-on activities.
11. Watch at least one of Mary's soccer games.  This is seriously the hardest thing I do as a mom, so I try not to do it very often.  More often than not, I stay home with the other kids or take Maggie to her games.
12. Have another baby.  PSYCH!!!!  Five is enough!