goals, goals, and more goals

Remember when I told you that Luke and I set some goals? In February? Better late than never, I say. Last night we finally sat down to put those goals on paper. Or phone rather since he sent them to me via text after our conversation. Technology is a wonderful thing. Until it's slow, freezes, or dies. Nothing makes you feel more isolated than realizing you can't access your contacts list, therefore; you cannot communicate with the outside world because WHO MEMORIZES PHONE NUMBERS ANYMORE?! 

Anyway, we committed to a few goals. And by a few, I mean the text message looked like Austin and Brooke's Christmas list for Santa: long. I felt the same way last night as I did when I received their lists: overwhelmed. 

True story: when my sister was little, she thought it would be a good idea to cut her own bangs. So she did. And then hid the evidence under her dresser, because it's not like my mom would notice that her bangs were 2 inches shorter and cut at an angle. It took weeks for her bangs to grow back to an acceptable length, and even longer before either of us was allowed to do any sort of craft involving scissors. Since then we've both had bangs and then waited for them to grow out. Now we both have bangs again. Go figure.

And you better believe we know better than to try to cut those bad boys ourselves. So if my mom can wait a sweet forever for Britt's bangs to grow back, then I suppose I can commit to a few goals and stick with them. Even if it gets ugly. Oh, who am I kidding?! When it gets ugly. 

Here are a few of the goals we agreed on: 

1} Pray together everyday. If there's one thing the our family needs, it's a lot of Jesus up in this house. Hallelujah. Amen.

2} Read the Bible everyday. Again, we need A LOT of Jesus up in here. Strong-willed child, career changes, and life in general. You get the idea.

3} One date night per week, and we alternate who plans it. I can't say for certain, but I have a strong feeling that several of my dates will involve comfortable clothes. 

4} At least 4 dinners at the table together per week. I mean, who doesn't want to look at these faces while they eat and try to talk to us at the same time. See-Food: it's what's for dinner. 

Side note: Brooke looks so little. However, she still tries to talk and chew at the same time so not everything is changing.  What a relief. 

4} One family activity per week. We took the kids to see Paddington last weekend. It was our second attempt to go see a movie with Brooke. The last time was full of hope and promise...

...and then she ran up and down the aisles for half of the movie. Moral of the story: sometimes hope and promise isn't enough. Thank goodness we were the only ones in the theater. God's gift to us that day for sure. Luckily, she did much better this past weekend, which means we can now add "Movies" to our list of approved family activities. 

5} Get healthy. This is where I suspect things could get ugly.

6} Save money. I wish I could say that I was the one obsessed with saving money in our marriage. I'm not. In fact, I've contemplated jumping on the Coupon Train but the whole process totally stresses me out. I will never need 20 tubes of toothpaste at one time. Ever.  No matter how big the savings are. I mean where do you even store that much stuff if you don't have some kind of Armageddon closet?! So basically, I'm just really going to miss Target...

Nothing worth doing is ever easy right? At least that's what I tell myself every time I take my strong-willed child to time out. For the tenth time that day. Luke and I feel like for the last couple of years we've been in Survival Mode, and that's not the way we want to live our lives. Don't get me wrong. Some days Survival Mode is the only thing you're capable of doing, and that's okay. We just decided that we want that way of thinking to be the exception instead of the rule. I'm not gonna lie, I get overwhelmed pretty easily. {see above comment about couponing} I think it's because I tend to focus too far ahead when I should just be taking things one step at a time. So this is my new motto:

{via}

Sure, I want to get to swimsuit season and not feel like a beached whale every time I take the kids swimming. However, I'm not one that can look that far ahead and feel more motivated about achieving my goals. I'm the type that will think to myself, "You know, I've been wanting to try a cleanse. Maybe I'll do that the last week in May." Bad idea. On so many levels. 

Here's the thing we should remember when we set goals. This is our chance to dream bigger, live better, and reach our full potential. It's not easy. Everyday we have a series of choices to make, but, I believe that with God anything is possible! Let's face it, defeat is not in our DNA since we were created in His image. In fact, the Bible is full of stories in which God did the impossible just because He is that good. So let's not be afraid to set big goals and ask God to do not just what is possible but what is impossible! He is able to do more than we can ask or imagine...so ask BIG!