Resolutions/Goals/Plans for 2008

I’ve been doing some thinking lately about New Year’s Resolutions for 2008, and I’m thinking that posting at least a quick outline of what I’m hoping to accomplish (as the Lord wills) on the blog could help me with accountability and tracking.

I’ve been inspired by what two other women have done on their blogs. If you want to check them out for inspiration, too. See this blog and this one. These two women live very different lives, and they have different approaches to resolution lists, but they both inspired me to get going with my annual list this time.

One thing I’ve found helpful in the past when I’ve made lists like this is to keep my goals quantifiable. Vague goals are easier to make, and sometimes also easier to keep, but for me they’ve also seemed easier to ignore. So the following list is just a start of my Quantifiable Plans for 2008

1) Read through the Bible in a year again. This is something my church encourages, using the Navigator’s Discipleship Reading Plan. Instead of going through the Bible one page and chapter and book at a time, we use four bookmarks to read four different parts each day. One part is from the beginning of the Old Testament. Another part starts with the Psalms, another works through the Gospels, and the fourth starts with the Pauline letters and works through to the end of Revelation. This keeps me motivated, and it gives me a variety of passages to consider during my prayer and devotion time. Also, since others in my church are doing this, it is encouraging to hear the same Bible passages that I’ve just finished reading mentioned in conversation and prayer.

2) Spend more time thinking and praying about what I’m reading in my Bible, and check cross references when possible.

3) Be more intentional with my prayer life. Set up and use a schedule so that I remember to pray more regularly not just for those in my immediate circle, but also those who send me prayer requests from the mission field.

4) Do something fun with my husband at least once a week, beyond our usual nightly reading and prayer time together. Brainstorm with him about things we could do that would be easy and refreshing.

5) Exercise 5-6 times per week for an hour or more per time when possible, but at least do something when I don’t have a full hour available.

6) Play the piano during my “spare moments”, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Ideally, I’d like to do this several times a week.

7) Complete one smaller sewing project for myself or our house per month, or at least make significant progress on a larger project each month.

8) Make a workable plan for birthday gifts I need to make this year.

9) Make a workable plan for Christmas gifts I need to make this year.

There are definitely areas of this list that need to be fleshed out in more detail, and I'm feeling like it should include intentionality with regard to friends and family, too. Like, for example, we've been making a point of visiting my father up north at least one weekend every month, but I don't have any real plan for incorporating others on a regular basis in our lives. That either seems to happen, or it doesn't. And while I don't want to schedule too much, because I know that we need margin for flexibility (and even spontaneity?), I do know that there are people we will never spend time with in 2008 if we don't make an intentional choice to do so.

How about you? Have you made any resolutions for the new year? Or, if you don't like resolutions, are there goals or plans you've been dreaming about for a while?