Don’t you love the beginning of a new year? It is as if the slate of the past year has been wiped clean and the pristine slate is ready to be filled with new possibilities. It is energizing…hopeful.

The reason I’m so excited about this year is because I have completely turned my life upside down. The first of December I gave my notice at work at the elementary school where I was secretary. I know it probably is ridiculous to do so since the money was good, but sometimes it is not about money. It’s about quality of life.

So my plans for this year center around the One Word I have chosen for 2018.

CULTIVATE: prepare; grow and maintain; to try to acquire or develop; tend

VERSE for 2018: “You see, God blesses the ground that drinks the rain and then produces a bountiful crop for those who cultivate it.” Hebrews 6:7 from The Voice

I love having a word for the year that envelopes everything I choose to do. It forms my decisions and helps me to focus on what truly matters. This year I want to cultivate my life in a way that honors God and others.

I want to cultivate: 

• spiritual health: read through the Bible, pray (really spend time listening), Bible journaling
• relationships: spend quality time with husband, kids, family, and friends- date night, 1 night a month having friends over, reaching out to family and friends I’ve neglected
• self-care: eat well, move every day (walk, yoga or dancing where no one can see me!), rest (reading, Netflix), play (1 afternoon a week to do something fun for me – see a movie, go to the library or museum, read in the park)
• home and garden: Simplify (get rid of stuff I don’t need, use or like anymore), cleaning schedule, create beauty inside and out (huge plans for flowers in my neglected garden)
• finances: budget, spending freeze, research Amazon store?
• writing: write 2 books this year, bog 2 times a week, keep up the newsletter, write some short stories and submit, query agents
• lettering/art: create something at least once a week, learn digitizing, possible Bible journaling course?, open Etsy store again?