Goals for 2012

I will start off saying I have been thinking about this blog post, and been meaning to write it for about 3 weeks now. I was walking on the treadmill (my New Year’s resolution that lasted only a couple of weeks), had a wonderful thought—in fact, the words were flowing through my head very easily while I was walking about what I would say. It seems like I have my closest moments with God while walking on that treadmill. It may be the plain fact that I’m just stuck there on the machine doing something I do not like to do (exercise). Or maybe the endorphins are really released when you’re walking and my thought pattern really takes flight. I have a feeling it’s the endorphin theory (which means I need to get off my backside and start exercising again).
Towards the end of 2011, David was really feeling convicted (and was challenged by our small group leader) to set family goals. I, well, was not. I am not a goal oriented person by any means. He was determined, so I took it in stride and agreed to set goals, thinking along the way that once we set them/had them in writing that I would “conveniently” forget about them. I was sure he’d forget, and I sure was never going to bring it up again (especially after setting some of the goals). Something odd happened, though. All throughout December I thought about those goals and how we should tackle them. In fact, I couldn’t shake them out of my mind. I kept thinking it was “bad burritos” (as our pastor says), but the fact that they seemed to sit on my shoulders and hit me on the head all day long told me that wasn’t the case. Maybe I was being convicted too.
Come January I pulled out the goals, and even emailed them over to David one day so he would have a copy on his work computer. He has since revised a few of them as we have already fallen short. Anyway, I just wanted to share. I feel like if we post them for the world to see, that maybe, we will be more accountable to keeping them. Sometimes I feel if you just throw something out there for the whole world to see that it creates somewhat of an accountability “partner” for you. Maybe not. We’ll see. Here are the goals for the Whichard family for 2012:

What is most important to us in life?

Family
Faith


Spiritual
Rebekah-- Renew/reinvigorate my prayer life
Rebekah-- Seek God in praise and worship with choir
David-- Discover what it means to “love my wife as Christ loves the church”
R&D--Participate in January fast with Seacoast Church
R&D--Read through the New Testament in one year
R&D--Begin memorizing scripture
R&D--Begin reading Bible with Kathryn
R&D—(Continue participating in) Bi-weekly small group

Family/Relational
One “date night” each month (without Kathryn/ away from house)
One “date night in” each week (after Kathryn asleep)
One mini-vacation “just the two of us”
Whichard/Richardson vacation to OBX

Social
Invite friends for dinner or recreation (at least once/3 months)
Invite neighbors for dinner (at least twice/yr)

Volunteer
One family volunteer activity/month
Rebekah—continue volunteering on IRB

Physical/Recreation
David-- Run, etc. twice/week
David-- Run the Awendaw 9-miler and another race in Fall
David-- Limit soft drinks to 12oz/day
Rebekah-- Reach weight loss goal
Rebekah-- Walk/run 3x/wk
Rebekah-- Run a 5k
Rebekah/Kathryn-- Outdoor activity - at least 3x each week

Financial
Tithe
Give additional 1.5%
David-- Manage the budget
Monthly “budget review”

As I’ve mentioned, David changed a couple (I’m not sure which ones), but at least this is a starting place. It’s something to work towards as a family.