Last week I explained that I was struggling to make headway on my goals.  I felt like my week’s were flying by and I wasn’t accomplishing what I had set out to do.  I am excited to say this week went much better!  I kept my goals at the forefront, writing a to-do list each morning which included things from my goals that I needed to do for the day.  This really helped me to see the little steps I need to take each day to accomplish my goals.

Last Week’s Goals:

1.  Exercise 5 times this week – Didn’t get to exercise, a bug is going thru our house, I wasn’t feeling well at the beginning of the week, then I was weak for a couple of days after that

2.  Start reading through the Old Testament with the younger kids

3.  Make a complete grocery list for the week – I had a list all ready to go that would be for the whole week, but getting ready for the convention threw us off schedule and I only had time to do a quick shopping trip.

4.  Continue doing a Bible study with the girls

5. Be a better listener to my kids – This is a hard one to judge, not really something you cross off and move on to the next thing, it’s something I need to continually be analyzing and making sure I am seeing progress in.  I felt like I was more intentional this week and it was on the forefront of my mind.

6. Reread Tell Your Time  by Amy Lynn Andrews – Read this book and a couple of others this weekend!  We are down to one computer in our house right now, our 3 month old brand new computer got water spilled on it and is in the shop. 🙁 So, this weekend Jim needed to take the computer with him and therefore I was without a computer for 3 days, which felt very strange.

But, it turned out to be a great opportunity to get caught up on some much needed reading, writing and planning.  I decided I need to plan to do that more often. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you don’t have the internet vying for your attention!

This Week’s Goals:

1.  Pray at lunch time – Last year, before I my latest pregnancy, I started spending an extended time in prayer before I ate lunch.  I find it hard to stay alert enough in the mornings to pray for very long since I’m usually up in the night with a baby or other young one.  I really felt burdened to spend a longer period of time in prayer, especially now that it is easy for me to “get away” to my room and have the older kids watch the younger ones.  I got out of this routine when morning sickness set in last summer, so I want to get back to it.

2.  Exercise 3 times this week – I really want to do 5 times but, thought aiming a little lower might be more realistic, especially since I have some kiddos feeling under the weather.

3.  Start going room to room getting rid of all the clutter –  I can’t stand having clutter sitting all around the house, I purge everything once in a while then it some how creeps back in.  My plan is to do a room a day.

4.  Continue reading through the Old Testament with the younger kids at lunch time.

5.  Go up and talk with the kids at bedtime – For some reason, as kids get older, night time is when they like to talk.  In our house, maybe it’s because the little ones are asleep, thus it is quieter.  Whatever the reason, it seems to be a great time to go up to the girls room and spend time talking with them and listening to them.

Again, started this last year before the pregnancy, and have gone up a few times since the baby was born, but I need to be more consistent. It’s hard though, when I am ready to collapse in bed right about the time they are ready to talk.  However, I wouldn’t trade those nights for anything, they have been such a precious time and a great opportunity as I seek to know my children, invest in their lives, and cultivate a close relationship with them.

6.  Set longer range goals – So far my goals have primarily been weekly ones, now I am going to really get out of my comfort zone and start setting long term goals.  Like I mentioned in my first goal setting post, I like to talk about long range goals and maybe even write them down, but actually working to achieve them has been another story. Setting long term goals is a big stretch for me, but I am excited to dive in and do it!

I decided not to add “going to the grocery store only once this week” to my list again until next week.  Seeing how our week is shaping up, I think that will be a goal better saved for next time. 🙂

Have you set goals for the week? The year? Do you have special times of the day when you spend time talking with your children? If so, let us know in the comment section.