2019 – Word of the year, Gratitude

A year ago on new years eve, my husband and I sat down to discuss goals for the upcoming 2018 year. We started with long list of ideas of what we wanted to accomplish, but landed on 3 goals, for us this was focused and achievable

1. Family Time – spend more time as a family, focus on the season of life we are in, and slow down. A huge part of this was being intentional with our time, not saying yes to everything, what would be important to us as a family and what would benefit us. This sounds simple, but was actually the most challenging goal for us as a family. Making the decision to slow down, but still be connected, is a constant balancing act; not to mention work, church, and other commitments that are always pulling at our attention. Weekly we would sit down, or discuss via phone call (you will learn, Thomas and I are not the best communicators, but spend a bit of time commuting to work, so do a lot of discussing on the phone, sounds very odd, but it works for us) what our priorities are for the week. We have had weeks that things don’t go well and we have to revisit and re-focus, we call it pulling our lives back together, but each time it is a reminder of how easily things can run away from you. We started our family almost 12 years ago when we got married, but I never realized the amount of effort it was going to take to build in time for our family to just be our family. Having kids has added layers of complication, joy, laughter, tears, and has made us a better family. Through all this we have had to make the decision to put our family first. My heart is to share our journey with you in hopes that it helps you connect with your family or friends, to slow down and enjoy the precious moments we have.
2. De clutter – this is a constant uphill battle for us. I don’t like living in chaos and clutter, this creates a lot of distractions. These challenges continues to be a work in progress for us, but will share throughout the year ways we have found to be more organized and reduce the clutter in our lives.
3. Saving Money – a goal of ours as a family to put away money for college, rainy day…etc.

Reflecting on the past 12 months 2018 was a wonderful year for us and we made huge strides in our goals throughout the year. We didn’t have specific measurements for each goal, but I would say they are all a success. For us to be constantly working towards our goals as a family, is the most important part for us. Not every week or day is perfect, we have papers piled on the kitchen island right now, the laundry is not done, and Thomas and I have not talked about priorities for the up coming week. We will reset and refocus, but at the end of the day, having these goals brings us back to the place we want to be and want to focus on.

2019 – our goals will continue to be the same as 2018, you may think we are taking the easy way out and not creating new goals. That maybe true, but our goals still are as important today as they were a year ago. I feel more bullish about these goals this year than I did last year, and making them work even better for our family. I have never been one for making new years resolutions, or if I did, they were always broken within the first couple weeks – goals work much better for us. It is about the journey and how to get there verses the destination for our family. I hope you tag along this year to hear how slowing down and being intentional with our time has blessed and made our family stronger.

2019 – We are going to have a word of the year, this is something new for us, but I have had a few conversations with friends and family recently about having a heart of gratitude and it has left me with a lot to think about and challenges me to be more grateful. We are going to strive this year to live into the spirit of Gratitude. This will change throughout the year, but I do want to challenge myself to see gratitude in the everyday interactions and be truly grateful. I have a tendency to glaze over, or speed through the every day tasks that seem mundane, but to be grateful and share the heart of gratitude is my hope for the year.

Happy New Year!

-Amy