Happy New Year!

First of all, Happy New Year to each Smooth Stones Academy reader. My hope is that 2008 is a year of great joy, great growth and great devotion to our spouses, our children, and most importantly our wonderful Savior!

I have been thinking about resolutions for a few weeks now. This past year seems like a whirlwind; actually the past three years have been closer to tornadoes. No wonder, I've had two babies 18 months apart (one of whom suffered from constant ear infections and for the first 10 months of life and was unable to sleep more than 30 minutes before waking up screaming - ohhh so painful to think back-the exhaustion, the tears...did I mention the exhaustion?) and started homeschooling an ADHD child right in the middle of that chaos, too! So today when I read Heidi's post about "One Little Word" something clicked. The word I have chosen for this year is Intentional. It seems a little boring but as I have reflected all day on what this past year was and what I desire for next year it's the word that keeps coming to mind. It's been difficult to be intentional about much of anything with two babies in the house but we are coming, albeit slowly, out of that phase and intentional is what I want to be!

Here are my goals/thoughts for 2008:

1. Physical

• lose weight that's been creeping on since summer
• exercise more and be more active in general
  
• eat less/eat healthier (will be aided by our going casein-free and gluten-free)
• drink more water
• take vitamins, calcium, aspirin and fish oil regularly
• Get 8 hours of sleep most nights
  

2. Emotional

• Be a better model of a healthy (emotional, spiritual and physical) life for my kids. This will be much more easily accomplished if I am meeting my physical goals above. It's hard to be patient and kind when I have no energy due to not exercising, lack of sleep and junk food (oh why oh why can't diet coke and dark chocolate m&m's be a food group? Lol!) I love the quote on the header of Rachel's new blog,
  

"My children! My darling, precious children!
What I want them to become I must become myself."

- Elizabeth Prentiss, Stepping Heavenward

• Take time for myself each day- even if it's only 10 minutes to paint my toenails or call a friend on the phone. And continue to get away from the house every week for my Mommy's Night or a date with dh.
  
• Invest more deeply in my friendships.

3. Spiritual

• Spend more time in the Word. Get back to a consistent daily time of really soaking in the word...not just taking little "spit baths". This is more of a possibility now that I am not up all night with insomnia (common in my pregnancies) or needed by a nursing baby!
  
• Finish reading Taste and See by John Piper for my devotionals (this book is amazing and if your budget is stretched too tight after the holidays, look at Desiring God's Whatever-You-Can-Afford Policy) and then follow up by reading/studying a New Testament book - possibly Ephesians or Galatians.
  
• Focus on reading the Proverbs this year. I have been drawn to them the past month and so I identified with Jessica at Trivium Academy when she said, "God has given the gift of knowledge to me this year and I pray that I he will present the wisdom soon." I am in great need of increased wisdom in my life. I possess lots and lots of knowledge but somehow too often feel lacking in wisdom.
  

4. Mental

• Get back to reading - even in snippets. I know this will be a slow process for sure because Beckett is so young and needy so I am starting small. Here is my book list for '08:

1. Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver (Personal/Spiritual)
   
2. Pleasing People: How Not to be an "Approval Junkie" by Lou Priolo (Personal/Spiritual)
3. When Sinners Say "I Do" by Dave Harvey (Marriage)
   
4. Christian Beliefs by Wayne Grudem (Theology)
   
5. Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay Clarkson (Education)
   
6. The Out-of-Sync Child by Carol Stock Kranowitz (Education/Parenting)
7. I will refer frequently to my favorite parenting books as well: Making Children Mind without Losing Yours by Kevin Leman, Creative Correction by Lisa Welchel and Parenting with Scripture by Kara Durbin.
   
8. It would be a HUGE bonus if I got to squeeze in a little fiction - one new book, David Baldacci's Stone Cold and one classic, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
   

If my goals seem a little long take a look at Jonathan Edwards' 70 resolutions written when he was only nineteen years old. I conclude with a quote from him:

Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat Him by his grace to enable me to keep these resolutions,
so far as they are agreeable to His will, for Christ's sake.