October Evaluation

Spiritual

• Spend at least 10 minutes praying daily- At the beginning of the month this was a struggle, but as the month went on this grew and I believe I have been doing this, though I really want to be more intentional in my prayer times
• Spend at least 10 minutes reading and reflecting on the Bible daily- By the end of the month I have been able to do this. Really working to maximize my pumping time in the morning
• 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" 

Marriage

• Pray together daily- YES! 
• Go out for a date once a week- By God's grace I believe we actually managed 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)- Crossing this off because it's not going to happen. Maybe next year when we're forced to for School of Missions
• Discuss plan weekly on Saturday afternoon- Did not happen 

Kids

• Spend 15 minutes of one on one time with each child every week- This is still a struggle, really working on scheduling the next month
• Special Outing Alone twice during the year with each child- No outings this month. It's been a struggle to plan extra outside activities
• Family fun activity once a month- We went to Mulberry Farms to play, do a corn maze and pick pumpkins with some friends from church. It was a great time!
• Write in individual journals at least 3 times this year- Got caught up on 4 journals! Huge blessing!
• Finish Jamey's 1st year Scrapbook- Got things moved around and organized a little better so I might actually get some work done on this before the end of the year!

Homemaking

• Keep up with cleaning schedule- Honestly we need to make a NEW schedule, talking through the best way to do this
• Keep up with my calendar- Still struggling to use it well
• Being fully present when with my family- Still struggling, but getting better as we get more normalized
• Try 12 new recipes this year- (10) We tried mini meatloaves
• No TV 2 days a week (watching)- Still using the TV a lot. Working on finding a better rhythm to prevent just turning it on because
• Begin gardening in the spring- Another that just did not happen and isn't going to, but that's OK!

Ministry

• Continue sending out Prayer List- Yes

Personal

• Read a book a month for myself- Still working on "Don Quixote" hoping I can finish my classics challenge this year but doesn't look like it
• Jim read one fiction book- Yes! He finished "Eragon", Eldest", and "Brisingr"
• Journal 5 days a week- I got close
• Jim Journal 3 days a week- Yes
• Edit novel to prepare for publishing- No work on this
• Book Club once a month- We didn't meet this month :( 
• Continue to meet once a month with writing group- Yes! It was a short meeting but so thankful for time to meet with these Sisters
• Blog 1-2 days a week- Yes! 

Health

• Mild Exercise twice a week- Nope, really need to work on schedule/routine/rhythms
• Maintain weight until birth- This did not happen, so I have extra work to do now
• Lose weight after giving birth- I'm basically stagnant at the moment. Hoping to get cracking on this soon. I need it and I need the energy!

Good-bye October! Where did you go? This month has been very crazy, busy and I'm not even sure why. Maybe it's like time and the more months behind the faster the year goes? All I know is it is at an end and I'm not sure where it went. Except for a quick weekend trip to GA we have been doing school, co-op, Jim has been working. It's basically been "normal life". But right now it is still a struggle. We are still settling in to being a family of 9. This transition has shown us how intentional we really need to be. We need structure and self-discipline so that the days don't just drift by unchecked. So here's to November that will, by God's grace, be more productive for us all, and most of all be what God wants it to be!

How was your October? What is God teaching you?