Looking Ahead to 2012

Our family at the start of 2011...

And at the start of 2012... One of my favorite things about the start of a new is a chance to look back at what we accomplished in the previous year and to look ahead and make goals for the new year. I think goals/resolutions are very important. Without something to shoot for you will just wonder aimlessly. My desire is to set realistic goals that focus on making our family more like Christ.

I think first and foremost our desire this year will be to "know and follow hard after Christ." That will involve getting to know Him better through study and prayer. We will continue our weekly family worship time and also personal time with God. We also desire to follow hard after Christ. We don't yet know exactly what that means but our desire is to be right in the middle of His will. Our prayer is that this year we can do exactly what He desires for our family.

There are several other personal goals that I am setting for myself. We have lived in our house for 5 years now and there is stuff all around so I want to work on organizing the house. I am going to do lots of research on organizing with the goal of getting our house really organized. I am also going to set a goal of reading 12 non-fiction books (1 per month). I love to read fiction books but struggle with non-fiction so I am going to make a goal of reading more. I also want to work on spending quality time with my kiddos. I saw a challenge of going outside for 15 minutes a day and really focusing on spending quality time with them. I think I am going to work on that. I can't believe how quickly they are growing up and I want to make sure I treasure every minute with them. Last year Matt and I set a goal of one date a month. I am pretty sure we met that goal so I think we will shoot for that again this year. It is a great way to make sure we focus on our marriage.

We have our big Disney World trip planned for March. We are so excited!!!! We might also do a beach and/or mountain trip sometime during the year.

I always like to have house projects to work on. Finishing up the breakfast room is a top priority!! We also plan on getting new carpet and turning Kate's room into a "big girl" room. There are also some plans to work on our outside porch area. It should be lots of fun!

I can't believe Ben is going to be 5 this year!! I guess his big thing for the year will be going to kindergarten. It seems crazy to think of him as a kindergartner. I am so excited for him! Kate has big plans to potty train and sleep in a big girl bed (ok these are my plans for her). They will seem really grown up this time next year.

Wow! 2012 is going to be a great year for the Eckleys. We can't wait to see what God has planned for us. Stay tuned, I am sure it is going to be exciting.