December/End of the Year Evaluation

Spiritual

• Read through the entire Bible in a year following a chronological reading plan- By God's grace I caught up and finished the Bible today! Excited to read through it again. I cannot get enough of God's Word these days!
• Memorize a verse a week (for full disclosure I am starting with verses that I have previously memorized but have lost full memory of)- I really did not meet this goal as I had intended, but I am still working on Scripture memory with the kids and memorizing with them
• Spend 30 minutes daily concentrated on prayer and Bible reading- I did a little better this month and was back and forth all year. By God's grace I will grow more in this next year
• Continue to record daily blessings to cultivate thankfulness (Goal is 10,000 things)- Still doing this you can see this months blessings here, here, here, here and here Hoping I will get to 10,000 by tonight. 
• Praying throughout the day for specified things (still developing lists and plan for this)- I have really fallen behind in this due to laziness. I did it about half the year and am still developing a plan for it. 

Personal

• Read a book a month apart from SWI matrerial- I have been on a bit of a reading frenzy this month. I read The Secret Thoughts of and Unlikely Convert, Where's Mom? and finished What Did You Expect? I also have been reading on a few other things that I hope to finish soon
• Journal 5 days a week- I journaled more than in the last couple of months, but not this frequently. 
• Write (working on books) 5 days a week- I did not write 5 days a week, but did write a decent amount this month
• Finish my first fiction book- Yes! By God's amazing grace I finally finished my first book. I am excited to see what God does with it from here
• Write 3 blog posts a week- I didn't do that quite this month, but overall I am pleased with how I blogged this year. I am hoping to plan better for 2014
• Continue to meet once a month with writing group- Yes! Love this group. We only failed to meet once this year. God is so good to us.
• Have one day a month for personal retreat time to pray, read the Bible and write- Sadly no
• Complete Level 1 of Rosetta Stone Russian- I have been working on it this month, but was unable to finish for multiple reasons this year. I will complete it next year, by God's grace
• Begin working on a Christ-centered prenatal/delivery/postnatal education- Had my first class in September and starting to plan for the next as well as a book and blog. I am planning the next class for the end of January

Marriage

• Go on a date once a month- Yes! 
• Go on one overnight trip away- Done in May
• Read together for 30 minutes once a week- This did not happen this year
• Discuss and plan the week to come on Sunday afternoon- Yes

Kids

• Take each child on a "date" once a month- This did not really happen this month, or this year as I had hoped. This is an area I really hope to grow in next year
• Spend individual time with each child at home once a week (at least 20 minutes)- Sometimes
• Work on memorizing Psalm 23 with Jamey and Lillian- Yes! Both have it memorized as well as Psalm 67 with most of Proverbs 31:10-31 and Psalm 1. We are now working on verse with the school curriculum
• Finish current Pre-K curriculum with Jamey and Lillian- Plugging away with K curriculum
• Continue going to playgroup on Tuesdays- Yes
• (I need to develop more educational goals, so I guess a goal for this year will be learning to do this for next year)

Homemaking

• Begin a garden planting at least tomatoes (hoping to do more)- The garden is now dead, but it was fun to have one this year
• Try 1 new recipe a month- We tried 1 or 2 this month
• Keep up with cleaning calendar- No
• Develop general cleaning schedule- Decided to just get another cleaning calendar and will adjust it when needed

Health and Fitness

• Exercise for at least 30 minutes 3 days a week- I did not do this or water aerobics this month. 
• Lose 30 lbs- This is on hold until May, but striving to maintain my weight in pregnancy

Ministry

• Continue hosting Women's prayer once a month- Yes, still praying for more people to pray
• Email workers once a month- I contacted some
• Send 2 encouraging notes a month- No, hoping to incorporate this next year, but not sure 

December ended up a vacation mode month. I slacked off far more than I had hoped, but God has shown me much this month. I have realized and repented of just how lazy I am and how easy it is to slip into laziness. I am tired of it as mine is done in the guise of "resting". I am looking forward to growing in discipline in the year to come.

This year has been amazing and God has blessed it so much. I really am blessed far more than I deserve, but that's what makes God amazing. He has grown me in many ways and is showing me areas where I need to continue growing. I look forward to 2014 and will be writing those goals soon!

How was your December? Your 2013?

May God bless you in the New Year!