December Evaluation and Year End Reflection

Spiritual

• Spend at least 10 minutes praying daily- Thanks to morning pumping this is happening most days!
• Spend at least 10 minutes reading and reflecting on the Bible daily- Again pumping has really helped with this
• 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 The end of the year got to us and lack of planning kept us from completing this goal
• Read Christian books (Jim- 1 (not school related), Emmie- 3)- I only did 1. Again planning kept this from being as successful in this

Marriage

• Pray together daily- YES! Growing in more directed prayer times together as well
• Go out for a date once a week- This happened and my parents gave us a planning day as well! December was a blessing
• 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- Did a little better with this this month and still growing in scheduling our days and weeks to be intentional with each child
• Special Outing Alone twice during the year with each child- No outings again this month. It's been a struggle to plan extra outside activities with getting organized
• Family fun activity once a month- Celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah! Lots of yummy food and playing dreidle 
• Write in individual journals at least 3 times this year- Yes! I got this done! Such a blessing to be completely caught up!!!!!
• Finish Jamey's 1st year Scrapbook- Once we get organized there will be dedicated time for this. Too lofty a goal for this year.

Homemaking

• Keep up with cleaning schedule- We are finishing the year with massive cleaning and organizing so hopefully we will get this made for next year
• Keep up with my calendar- Been prepping it for next year, so been looking at it more
• Being fully present when with my family- This is back and forth depending on how overwhelmed I'm feeling, but still growing in this
• Try 12 new recipes this year- (12) Jim made chocolate cake and blueberry cream cheese icing for Gabriel's birthday and it was DELICIOUS! So we have also met this goal!
• No TV 2 days a week (watching)- Doing much better but still too much TV
• 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- Finished "Don Quixote" and "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" 11 of 12 classics read this year. Not too bad since I thought I'd only get through half
• Jim read one fiction book- Yes! He finished "Eragon", Eldest", and "Brisingr"
• Journal 5 days a week- This month was a struggle with this, new year will return patterns I hope
• Jim Journal 3 days a week- Yes
• Edit novel to prepare for publishing- No work on this
• Book Club once a month- Yes! Such a fun gathering! Love these Sisters!
• Continue to meet once a month with writing group- Again, Scheduled it, but ended up with a meeting with God, which was just as useful
• Blog 1-2 days a week- Think I got 5 posts in this month only because of the classics challenge

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!

As we come to the close of December we also close 2016! What a year. It's been hard. It has stretched Jim, me, our family. We have grown and learned more about God. We are growing in being more like Jesus and still daily reminded how far we have to go. December ended up off with me needing to have a tooth removed putting me out longer than expected. And with holidays we had extra family time, which is always special and a different productive than what western culture says is productive, but so important, took from some goals but helped with others.

We've strived this month to find order for our home and are continuing to work towards order in the physical home as well as in our time and in our hearts. As we order our home we find God ordering our hearts. It's difficult, but very much needed. It has been good and for the first time I feel really ready to begin a new year, not because I have everything figured out, but because God has given me so much grace to trust Him more than I ever have before. He is Sovereign and my life is following His plan for me even when it's hard and not what I want. I know it's His best for me.

We have plans and goals for 2017 that I will share at a later date, but ultimately we will accomplish what He wants us to accomplish and more importantly what He wants to accomplish in us. I'm so grateful for 2016, which, even with the challenges, I think has been the best year of my life. And now I look forward to 2017 and what it holds for our family, the easy and the hard, because God is my God and He holds my life in His hands!

How was your December?  What did you learn in 2016?  What are you hopeful for in 2017?