It’s that time of year again. Time for planning. Time for resolving. Time for new beginnings.
You probably don’t know this about me, but for the past 2 years I have been in survival mode. Well, its probably been more like 3 1/2 years. A little over 3 1/2 years ago, I went from being the mother of 1 precious boy to being the mother of THREE precious boys. All in about 6 weeks time. This was an amazing time for me as a mom and it required a lot more energy than I ever thought I could have. I imagine it was a lot like having twins. And then about this time 2 years ago, I found out I was expecting a fourth child. Wow.
The growth of our family has been an amazing journey. I stand in awe of how God has made me, the barren one, the mother of 4 amazing sons. With all that said, life has been crazy! My days have been filled with babies and toddlers and cleaning and cooking and, and, and…………..While it has been wonderful, it has stretched me. And as Papa Train knows, most days have been just about surviving. Making it to bedtime.
Well, I am to the point where I’m ready to do more than survive. I want my “little” family to thrive! It occurred to me the other day that I have a large family. We aren’t the Duggars, but I do have 4 small children. And the way I have been doing things isn’t really working. I can see that we need some routines; for morning time, and meals, and bedtime. I need to stop letting the baby be my alarm clock. I need to get up and be ready before my sweeties wake up. I also need to be getting to bed earlier so that I can get a good night’s sleep. I need to be spending daily time with God.
So, here is a list of the things that I want to work on this year to help us THRIVE.
Faith
*In the evenings, the family will listen to the Bible Experience cd’s.
*Set aside a time daily for quiet time with God
*List 1000 gifts
Family Routines
*Create routines for morning time, meals, bath/bedtime, rest time, and cleaning/chores
Good Stewardship
*Create a monthly budget and track our spending more closely
*Work on saving for our emergency fund
*Buy less processed food/make homemade snacks
*Trim the grocery budget
Health
*Lose 20lbs
*Make time to exercise alone 2-3 times a week
*Continue Fluffy to Fabulous(F2F)!
Homeschool
*Begin some preschool work with G & J
I’m ready to THRIVE!!!
~Mama Train
Love it!