If you were still on track with your New Year’s goals last weekend, the Super Bowl just might’ve been the final straw to giving up on your great plans. Even for those who don’t care much about the battle over the pig skin (that would be the ball), it seems to entice most everyone to indulge in treats like queso, chips, and more that I won’t tempt you with. But plans for the year aren’t just about food and health, they’re also about remembering our greater purposes in life and getting ourselves back on track with what matters most.
Before we launch into February and I tell you how I want to spend the rest of the month, I want to recap where we were in January and give you something new. I don’t know about you, but it was SO GOOD for me to force myself to slow down and walk an intentional path of Reflection, Simplifying, Dreaming, Focusing, and Planning how God wants me to use my limited time and energy. All of that boiled down to 3 weeks of ASKING God to show us what He wanted us to see and then 2 weeks of taking AIM based on what we saw.
My January was enlightening, and I think I’m walking out the rest of 2012 with more focus than I would have if I just rushed on into the year. Part of what’s driving my “get serious” approach about my planning is that our oldest child, JoHanna, will be leaving for college in … SIX MONTHS! That means my time with her as I have known it is RUNNING. OUT. This has thrust me into “choose wisely” and “make the most of it” mode. I’m on the threshold of a big transition in my life, and I want to do this right. I needed to spend some time ASKING God to help me AIM well.
2NEW Steps to Plan for a Great Year
ASK: Reflect
ASK: Simplify
ASK: Dream
AIM: Focus
AIM: Plan
And here’s a secret I didn’t tell you yet … You can start this anytime. If you ate your weight in nachos last weekend, maybe now is the time to walk through the 2NEW Steps to Plan for a Great Year.
And if you planned well and need some encouragement, I want you to have that too. I know I’ll need it. After all, we’re all good at growing tired of doing the right thing! We need someone beside us, cheering us on and shouting, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
Print out this Card #6, the Encouragement card, and use it to let the Lord and maybe a friend AFFIRM God’s work in you! You will be so encouraged, and we need that. In fact, print out 3 of them. Use one now, one in April, and one in July. It will also provide ACCOUNTABILITY for you to stay on the path God has shown you.
Thankfully, God is more concerned about our progress in His plans for us than we are. He won’t let a plate full of nachos stop Him! “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Whew! Now THAT is encouraging. God’s plans are not only not all ABOUT me, it’s also not all UP TO me.
Use 2New as a Mentoring Tool
And did I mention that these 6 Cards would be an excellent tool to use in mentoring someone? A teen girl? A younger woman? A friend? In six session together, you can have conversations that will change your year … and maybe your life.
Linked up to Wifey Wednesday.
Very important topic. So important that I am very careful when and how I speak to this. If you want to contact me via my contact tab by email, I would be open to hearing more about your ministry and your “filter” for speaking to important matters in marriage like this one.