Write Down Your Goals…Journal!

This year has been amazing for us!
I started this blog in August, which is a huge outlet and voice for me. Ben has gone full time with his web design business, Epoc Designs, and Emily and Anna of course are the most precious things in our life. They are always growing, and the source of laughter in our life.

In January I had written down some goals for 2006, and have not seen them until just a few days ago. (Ben found them while cleaning out his office.) The goals included a certain dollar amount for Epoc designs to make this year. (In January ’06 Epoc Designs was a “side” business, Ben worked for Kennesaw State University, and it was an insane number to ask for out of a “side” business.) Now we have surpassed that number. I wanted to start a website for moms and all women. (I had no idea what that would look like, or what the heck a blog was.:) ) And then there were several personal goals I wanted to fulfill, all of which has at the very least taken huge leaps toward the end result.

I tell you all this to say: As you approach the end of the year think about the goals you would like to set in 2007. Dream big! Add the things you can’t imagine seeing in a year’s time. Talk with your husband about what the two of you would want for the year. Set financial, personal, and family goals. Write them down, pray over them together, and if you would like, simply stick them in a drawer. There is power in writing things down. I had totally forgotten about what I had written down, and didn’t even really think we had accomplished much this year. But when I found the list, I was encouraged to see that all I had asked for had happened! It was a huge faith builder of what God could do in my life, and it causes me to dream even bigger. “You have not because you ask not.” (James 4:2)

Make it a habit, even if only once a week, to journal! Write down your thoughts, questions, and feelings. Anything and everything. When you look back on your journaling you will find questions that have been answered and feelings that have been resolved. You will find that you can read the things God has done in your life, to lift you up in the difficult times. Isn’t that all David did with the Psalms? He would write about how discouraged he was because his enemies surrounded him, then the next verse (or next time he journaled) he wrote of how his enemies had been destroyed and God had rescued him from the hands of the enemy. Not only was his journal a way of encouragement for him, but thousands of years later it continues to encourage others of God’s promises. I can not explain it. I guess it is simply a law of the universe, but there is power in writing things down!

Might I suggest, The Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude“. It asks that you write down five things a day that you are grateful for. In two months you have a totally different perspective on your life. It has beautiful text on gratitude, and is a great way to kick start this new healthy habit!