I have a sweet friend who has gone through a myriad of changes in her life this past year. With that in mind, she has decided that rather than making new years resolutions she would break down her goals and have short term goals that change each month. Her January goals include: leaving work 30 min. earlier and cooking at home more (and healthier meals). Small steps toward a happier new year.
When she told me about this, I was relieved! I had decided that I would exercise everyday this year, but on Jan. 2, I had to rationalize that moving some boxes was exercising! But, thinking about exercising
I'm thinking that for January I'm going to add to my exercise goal - encouraging my husband everyday. He beams when I brag on him. Maybe if I compliment him for the 25 days that are left, it will become a habit. I hope so. So what are you're goals for this year?
The Christmas Breakdown
Breaking down our Christmas decor is quite the sad few days at our house. My Christmas tree is still up, garland is hanging outside...We love Christmas which makes it a drudge to take our decorations down! Some of you are wondering what is wrong with me because you moved on to the new year on the 26th of December! But for those of you who feel my pain, here are a couple of ideas to make "undecorating" a little more fun:
1. Play "I Spy" with your tree. We have a bazillion (I don't think I'm exaggerating!) ornaments. So I started saying, "Find the ornament that we got in Gatlinburg. Find all the ornaments with pictures in them. Find all the drums. I sat on the floor and wrapped everything like I wanted, and my 9 and 11 yr. olds had fun playing "Find the Ornament."
2. I've shared this before, but I think it is worth sharing again. This was our mom's tactic to get us to eagerly help with putting away the decorations. She always saved three presents (one for me, Laurie and our brother) that could only be opened when the decorations were stored. Talk about some eager helpers! I have no idea what was in those gifts, but rather than just having one more present that we opened on Christmas morning, these sat there waiting on us. It helped take away the sting that Christmas had come and gone.
As we start this new year, I pray that we, moms, will see God in the everyday things and that we won't miss when He is working in our lives. "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18
Happy January!
