In light of this halfway point, I wanted to do a little check up on my 2011 Vision Board, which I originally posted about here. To be honest, I have been suffering from some MAJOR excuse-atoryitis. It's a good thing I'm making myself write this post, because I really need it to light a fire under my butt!
1. Siesta Scripture Memory Challenge: (If you don't know what this is, check out this post from Beth Moore's blog.) As of July 1st, we are on our 13th memorized verse out of 24, but I could probably only tell you 4 from my personal list of scriptures to memorize. That is not OK. I am enlisting the help of Kyle (and maybe even Ashley--yes you seester!) to keep me accountable to this challenge for July through December. No more excuse-atoryitis.
And just a little anecdote before I move on to the next goal: In college, I took a communication law class and for one of our exams we had to memorize the First Amendment. No biggie, right? Wrong. Not only did we have to memorize the words, but we also had to get every capitalization, comma, and semicolon correct or the entire question was counted wrong. And writing out the First Amendment exactly as it appears in the Bill of Rights was worth 50% of our grade on that particular exam.
Now why don't I approach memorizing the Scripture, the precious and powerful word of GOD, in the same fashion? Why don't I pay that level of attention to detail to it? I'm not saying that memorizing capitalization and punctuation is absolutely essential to the purpose of memorizing Scripture, but I do think there is significant weight to studying the original translation and considering verb tenses, etc. Why did my professor require us to know the exact syntax of the First Amendment? Why wasn't he satisfied with us just knowing the words? Because it made us really pay attention to what the First Amendment was intended to communicate. I don't just want to gloss over the Word of God, I want to break it down and dissect it, really treasure it in my heart, which in turn could make the Scripture resonate more powerfully in my life and in others' lives. The way God originally intended it! Anyway, leading to my next point...
2. Believing God Bible Study: I love Beth Moore Bible studies because her passion for the Word is so contagious! She likes to dig down deep and asks you tough questions, which also means her Bible studies are very time-consuming. But hey, no excuses! I have about three weeks of the study done, which means I have the rest of the year to complete the remaining seven. I think I can do that!
3. Marriage: Well, seeking to be a godly wife is one goal that is never-ending. While looking for some resources in this area, I came across a few gems that I thought I would share with you. The first is an article from The Resurgence titled Being a Wife Is All About Jesus. I couldn't say it better myself. The second is a prayer calendar from Inspired to Action titled Praying Daily For Your Husband. Each day is accompanied by a Scripture, which I really like about this prayer calendar. For the rest of the year, I am going to print this out every month and fill in any PT exam dates or other prayer needs that might come up for Kyle.
4. Baking a pie: I have yet to bake a pie this year, and I think I've just been waiting for the right occasion to make it. Seeing as two hugely pie-appropriate holidays have already passed by, I just need to get it together and make one! I might wait until our trip to North Carolina later this month when I can get some fresh peaches and blackberries, but goshdarnit I will make one this year.
5. Taking better care of myself: Err, can we not talk about this? Exercise is where that major excuse-atoryitis kicks in. Granted, I am doing better with exercise since Kyle and I try to walk Doc in the evenings as much as we can. But in my mind walking is not going to cut it. I need some intensity! That's why I'm going to try the Couch to 5k running schedule and see how that works. Oh and two things: if you're looking for a Biblical perspective on health and exercise, read this and this. When you think of exercise not as a means to make yourself look better, but as a means of worship, it will completely change your approach. I know it did for me!
6. Menu Plans and Couponing: I am getting better at this! I am not exactly where I want to be, and I know forming a habit of making menu plans and couponing takes time and trial and error. Next Monday hopefully I will share with y'all our Menu Plan for the week. Since you are dying to know, I'm sure! And in the meantime, here are the two main sites I check for coupons that also have helpful tips for beginners: Southern Savers and Hip2Save. Check 'em out! And last but not least...
7. Photography: I'd say I made major progress on this just by getting a DSLR camera! I am still learning how to use it, and have only used it on manual once or twice, so I just need to get over my fears and take that sucker off auto! I really want to attend a photography workshop, but for now I am following a few photography blogs and soaking up any tips they offer. I am also now trying to save up for editing software. Just trying to take it one step at a time without overwhelming our bank account. Learning and listening to God's direction.
So there you have it, my progress on 2011 goals thus far. Here's to a productive second half of the year! I will close with this quote from my original Vision Board post, a great reminder for us all:
It’s been said that we overestimate what we can do in a day, but underestimate what we can do in a year.
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