New Year, we meet again. I have a lot of love for this holiday because I love goals, lists, fireworks, and confetti. There is something freeing about the start of a brand new year. One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of the year is write down my BIG 5. This can be five things you are glad you did, wish you did or five accomplishments, obstacles, and/or five goals for the upcoming year. So here it goes…
5 THINGS YOU ARE GLAD YOU DID:
1) Monthly thankful lists. This is another great idea I stole from a good friend. Each month we hang a piece of paper on our fridge so that we can write down what we are thankful for. These can be big things like people making spiritual decisions or little things like Oreo Balls (because they are a gift from heaven’s door). The fun part is, anyone can add to it. So if you are over for dinner sometime, feel free to add to the list! It is a great reminder to give thanks at all times.
2) Said “yes” to the vault. This is a group of high school girls I meet with on a weekly basis. We walk through scripture together, talk about life and laugh A LOT. This group of girls have reminded me on so many occasions why I do ministry. They have also taught me what words like “cranking” mean. Their pursuit for God and His Word are refreshing. One day I will tell you all I have learned from them. For now, I am just glad I said yes.
3) Saw Thomas Rhett in concert. I know, haters gonna hate, but TC and I saw Thomas Rhett at the Wharf in May and it was perfect. Maybe because we took the whole day and went to the beach by ourselves, to dinner, and then to the concert. For a day I felt 17 again (without all the bad parts about being 17) and it was perfect.
4) Measured. Last year I decided to write down some goals in this blog and go after them. I decided to keep track of my progress by writing down how many miles I ran and how many times I went to work out on my mirror in my bathroom. It has helped me see my progress and know that the daily grind was making a difference.
5) Weddings. This year was the year of weddings. TC got to officiate some of our favorite people’s wedding this year. Most of these were former students, which just makes me misty eyed thinking about it. I can remember years ago our Pastor Chris Bell told us that student ministry is hard because you don’t always see the fruit right away. Then he said, “but if you wait 5 years or so you will get a call to go to their wedding or be a job reference or something like that and you will see the person they have become.” This could not be more true. We are so proud of them!
5 THINGS YOU WISH YOU DID:
1) Anniversary trip. We did a lot of traveling this year for weddings and conferences and other things so our annual anniversary trip just didn’t happen. THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.
2) Prayed more. I have realized this year that sometimes the pace of my life eliminates prayer. I don’t like that. This year, I am going to do something about that.
3) Read more books. I think I always want to read more books. I love books.
4) More mentor time. I wish that I would have intentionally invested more time in meeting with people who know more than me and love me. We all need a little help.
5) Taken our kids to Disney when we were in South Florida. One of the weddings we did this year was in the Orlando area. We ended up staying at a Disney hotel for the night but we didn’t go to the park. Crazy, I know. I wish we would have just done it.
5 ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
1) I placed 3rd in my age group in a 5K this year.
2) Writing the first edition of a high school girls devotional called “High School and Heaven”.
3) Filling up our high school girls retreat this year! We are going to need a bigger place this year. LETS GOOOOOO!
4) Paid for vacations before we went on them. NO NEW DEBT in 2019!
5) On Mother's Day, I was asked to teach in “big church”. This is somewhat terrifying in its own regard but I was asked to speak on losing my Dad and how God helped me through that. The day that I was asked to do this my heart sank. My heart sank because there were parts of this journey that were so deeply personal that I had not even told TC about. There were parts of this journey that I could barely talk about out loud because God had just been so incredibly good through the whole thing that it brought me to tears. My heart sank because I would be letting they whole church in on my journal entries, my prayer life, and my raw and honest thoughts. My heart sank because I knew the answer was yes, I should do this. So I did. Honestly, it was one of the most healing things I have done in this whole process. Sometimes good and hard can occupy the same space.
5 OBSTACLES:
1) Grief. I think this will always be on the list. Once it's a part of your story, it doesn't go away. Every sweet moment has this tiny twinge of sadness because you mourn what could have been. This year we took our first extended family vacation without my dad. Though it was good, it was really hard.
2) Moving into a new building. The past few years at 3Circle have been transition years. We have been building new buildings which is AMAZING, but it comes with its own form of crazy. WE ARE ALMOST DONE!
3) Ministry. Ministry, to me, is the most fulfilling job on the planet. Sometimes it's just hard, though. Sometimes you are faced with tough situations you don’t have an answer for and it is just hard.
4) Rhythm. Honestly this was a pretty crazy year. We had A LOT going on with work and building projects, TC in school, and a crazy summer that led to a crazy fall and right into a crazy holiday season. This year we are working to bringing some order to our chaos.
5) Our waterslide we purchased for 200 dollars last year and have used for approximately a dozen birthday parties has a hole. WE WILL SURVIVE THIS.
5 GOALS for 2020
1) To bring order. This year I want to bring order to our new space at church. I want to bring more order in our home. I want to bring order to our finances. I want to bring order to our rhythms.
2) PLAY MORE. Now one would think that my word for the year would be “order” after reading that last point. However, my word for the year is PLAY! I want to bring order to things so I have more space to play. I want to say “yes” to fun this year. Remember what you loved when you were 12? It is okay to love it again!
3) Write more. I want to write three more devotionals this year.
4) Don’t over complicate things. I am an enneagram one. I like to spend way too much time making sure things are perfect. LET IT GO.
5) Place in another 5k // complete two 10ks // contemplate a half marathon.
CHEERS TO 2020! Let's do this…
Just for fun....
Favorite Books of 2019:
Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hunard // BEST BOOK I READ ALL YEAR.
Gay Girl, Good God by Jackie Hill Perry
Tell Me More - Stories About The 12 Hardest things I am Learning to Say by Kelli Corrigan
Favorite TV shows of 2019:
This is Us
Yellowstone
A Million Little Things
