July Evaluation

Spiritual

• Spend at least 10 minutes praying daily- God has definitely grown my prayer time this month, some days have more prayer time than others, but every moment praying is a blessing
• Spend at least 10 minutes reading and reflecting on the Bible daily- Most days this happened
• Memorize verses with the kids - working on this during school time
• Have extended prayer times 4 times during the year- Jim has had 3 and I have had 3
• Read Christian books (Jim- 1 (not school related), Emmie- 3)- 1 for me so far and started "Mission of Motherhood" this month

Marriage

• Pray together daily- YES! 
• Go out for a date once a week- I think we actually accomplished this this month
• Go on a night away once this year- Yes! We were able to get away for 2 whole days for our Anniversary! Big thanks to Becca, Shannon, Julianne, Victor and Ariana who made this possible for us! It was wonderful
• Read 3 books together this year (read one day a week)- No and is not likely to happen at this point
• Discuss plan weekly on Saturday afternoon- A little better but still needs improvement

Kids

• Spend 15 minutes of one on one time with each child every week- All got some time but not sure how much
• Special Outing Alone twice during the year with each child- No individual dates this month
• Family fun activity once a month- We got to meet up with my parents, niece and nephew in Lexington for a couple days and go see the Ark Encounter! That was a blessing!
• Write in individual journals at least 3 times this year- I am caught up! God is good! Ready to write about the birth of our newest one when he/she gets here
• Finish Jamey's 1st year Scrapbook- No work was done on this, likely will not happen at this point

Homemaking

• Keep up with cleaning schedule- Still struggling with schedule
• Keep up with my calendar- A little better than before, but still need improvement
• Being fully present when with my family- Struggled more with this this month
• Try 12 new recipes this year- (8) Still at 8 for the year
• No TV 2 days a week (watching)- Nope It's gotten hard with being really pregnant and heat
• Begin gardening in the spring- This is not likely to happen and obviously not in spring since we are well past spring

Ministry

• Continue sending out Prayer List- Yes

Personal

• Read a book a month for myself- I finished "Les Liasons Dangereuses" with my classics challenge (review later this week)
• Jim read one fiction book- Yes! He finished "Eragon" and is well into "Eldest"
• Journal 5 days a week- Yes! God is gracious
• Jim Journal 3 days a week- Yes
• Edit novel to prepare for publishing- No work on this
• Book Club once a month- Yes! Love these Sisters
• Continue to meet once a month with writing group- Yes! Such a great time of encouragement and fellowship
• Blog 1-2 days a week- Yes! God has been gracious in this

Health

• Mild Exercise twice a week- Got some in, but not as much as I would have liked
• Maintain weight until birth- Definitely gained this month, baby is growing a LOT!
• Lose weight after giving birth- 

I'm not really sure where July went! It has been a hot and busy month. We are prepping for baby #7. We finished up the current school year with the kids. We had the blessing of going to the Ark Encounter and teaching our kids more about God through that and got to explore some of Lexington. We have been striving to find a good routine while we wait and seek what God would have us to do right now. I'm working on building the Childbirth Conversations blog with the help of a sweet Sister! We are also working on building our Norwex business and loving how God has worked in it this month with 3 parties! God provides! Our biggest thing now is waiting for baby to come and attempting to not go insane. God continues to show me and teach me that my life is His not my own and that He is doing exactly what He wants with me. It is growing our relationship and teaching me to cry out as well as listen. It is also HOT so staying cool has been a huge challenge.

Please pray for our baby to come soon! We're so excited about meeting our precious addition!

How was your July?