July Evaluation

Due to circumstances this past year, I'm not really changing my goals. Some will go that are not top priority, but I'm keeping the ones that fit with the overarching goal of having a God-centered life and the things I see Him leading me to right now. So thus far this is how it goes:

Spiritual

• Spend at least 10 minutes praying daily- Yes, I'm working more directed prayer into my day
• Spend at least 10 minutes reading and reflecting on the Bible daily- Yes! 
• Memorize verses with the kids - Not doing real well with this right now, a little hear and there
• Memorize Scripture- Not much

Marriage

• Go out for a date once a week- Yes
• Go on a night away once this year- Yes we went away for our anniversary!
• Read 3 books together this year- Have started 2 books this past week
• Discuss plan weekly on Sunday Saturday afternoon- Doing much better with this on Saturdays and have begun making weekly schedules.

Kids

• Spend 30 minutes of one on one time with each child every week- still need to work on this
• Go to playgroup each Tuesday- I think we made it to all of them for at least a little while
• Write in individual journals at least 3 times this year- Staying on top of them
• Finish Jamey's 1st year Scrapbook- Finally went through some of the stuff and looked at what I need to do with what I already have, nothing additional

Homemaking

• Keep up with cleaning schedule- gotten off on this with adjusting to the newest one
• Keep up with my calendar- Much improvement and continual scheduling
• Being fully present when with my family- Getting better at this, but still struggling

Ministry

• Continue sending out Prayer List- Yes

Personal

• Read a book a month for myself- I've made it half way through "War and Peace" and read "Very Funny, Elizabeth" with Lillian
• Journal 5 days a week- Yes! God has really been giving me opportunity to do this in the morning
• Write (books) 3 days a week- Did not work on this 
• Edit novel to prepare for publishing and research publishing options- No additional work on this during the month
• Finish Rosetta Stone Russian level 1 - Have not worked on this
• Continue to meet once a month with writing group- This did not happen this month
• Blog 3 days a week- Between both blogs this happened

Health

• Go to water aerobics once a week- Not able to do this post-partum
• Maintain weight until birth- Did well with this, still gained some but far better than other pregnancies
• Lose weight after giving birth- Have started this, but it's slow

June 28th we welcomed Nehemiah into our family, which was a joyous time. July has been adjusting to having a new family member. When in transition, many of these things go to the wayside temporarily. It has been a challenging month in many ways, but has also helped us in growing as a family. God is teaching us so much as we transition to a family of 8. I'm still working to keep up Childbirth Conversations  and seeking what else God would have me do in the months to come. Mostly we are seeking what God wants our family to look like and how He wants us to spend our time and resources. God has been so good to us as we work through things. We still have so many questions, but daily God is helping us to overcome and figure things out.

What was July like for you?