Family Goals

Recently, I read a post from a friend's blog about her kids setting goals for the upcoming school year. That post inspired me to talk to my own kids about their goals for the new school year and my husband and I also decided to make a few of our own to make this a positive family endeavor. Each of us came up with three to five goals that are measurable. Each of us could make these goals about anything we wanted, but we did encourage the kids to spread their goals amongst the categories of spiritual, personal, and academic. Last night at supper, we talked through our goals, wrote them down, and we plan to revisit them often throughout the school year to check our progress. My son, being very much like me wondered what would happen if we failed to meet the goals (because we do not like to fail)! That was a good opportunity to explain that if we don't meet a goal, that will give us the opportunity to re-assess the goal and ask questions about what prevented the goal from being achieved. We also found that the kids had a hard time coming up with goals that were measurable rather than just hopeful statements, but in the end, we walked them through it and came up with some good items for our lists. Another challenge was limiting it to three to five goals. Some of us could have made a list of 100 while others of us were content with a few. It was a lesson in being realistic and not letting life overwhelm us. So, without further adieu, our goals are:
Husband:
1. I want to decrease my A1C. (If you don't know about diabetes, this is a measure of the three month average of blood sugars)
2. I want to have devotions a minimum of 4 times a week.
3. I want to lose 12 pounds.

Wife:
1. I want to lose 12 pounds. (If you are wondering why we both chose this number, it is because one pound a month over a year is VERY realistic. If it's more, great. If not, 12 is the goal!)
2. I want to read a minimum of one book per month. (I LOVE to read and rarely make time for it with our busy schedules. It is important to me to have this down time)
3. I want to complete the chronological Bible.
4. I want to develop more meaningful relationships with others.

Son:
1. I want to learn to lead a Bible study at school in a humble and wise way.
2. I want to qualify for the spelling bee and get better than my previous 3rd place.
3. I want to maintain/improve my academic success.
4. I want to have devotions a minimum of 3 times per week.
5. I want to stop arguing as much with my sister.

Daughter:
1. I want to understand math more.
2. I want to have self-control over my temper and argue less with my brother.
3. I want to eat healthier.
4. I want to be a wise steward of my allowance.

So, now that you all know what we are working on, feel free to ask us about our progress. There's nothing better than a loving community to keep us accountable! :)

We will also be deciding on a family Bible verse to claim for the year, so we'll let you know about that soon!