I had spent the time between Christmas and New Year’s evaluating my life and my work. I did some reading on goal setting and planning and after spending time finally reading articles I had pinned on Pinterest, I came across Intentional by Design. This site by Leigh Ann Dutton is a wonderful resource and her free ebook Planning 101:How to be Intentional with your Time was exactly what I needed. I know how to plan and organize, that is in my DNA, what my planning was missing was, purpose.

I do a lot of things and most of them are good. I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, aunt, and mother-in-law. I run 5 small businesses. I volunteer at church in both music and kids ministry, and anywhere else they need me. I “do” a lot, but especially in my businesses, I’m not seeing the results I should. The reason I’m not seeing results is that I have lacked purpose, I’m often spinning my wheels, not growing or learning.

Purpose-the reason why something exists. What is your purpose?
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Not any more! 2016 will be a year of asking “Why am I doing this?” Is this advancing God’s kingdom? Is it providing for my family? Is it growing my community both online and off? I have already started learning more about ways to improve in my 3 top businesses. Soon my longest running business will close and another is teetering on closing as well. I am fine with doors closing. My plate is full and there is no room for new adventures with old stale things still on the plate. As an entrepreneur, it might help a ton to learn details such as the great business electricity guide by About Manchester.

There will be changes around here too. I believe most of them will be for the better and I know, if you don’t like them, you will let me know

When I shared my verse for 2016, I shared it from the New Living Translation. I also really like the way it reads in The Message Bible:

“So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.” Ephesians 5:15-17 The Message

What does the Master want? Figure that out and do it!

Happy New Year!

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Church is new. If you are a regular reader you know we have always been very involved in the life of our church. We spent 19 1/2 years at one church, my kids were raised there, we were all in various forms of leadership there, and I was on staff there. Last year was a tough year at church, on many fronts. I’m not going to go into detail because I don’t think it is appropriate to do so. In many ways we were becoming uncomfortable with decisions that were made and changes that took place. We met with the pastor to discuss our concerns and we were told that our thoughts and opinions were divisive to the church! In October I prayed a prayer of desperation. I told God He had to either change the situation or He had to change me because I couldn’t live with the stress, anger and hurt anymore. In that moment He told me we were released, but, we had to finish out our commitments for the year. I went outside to my husband’s workshop to tell him we needed to have a serious talk that night and he said, “I know, God told me we were released, we just need to finish out our commitments for the year.” Talk about confirmation! So, since the first Sunday of January we have been visiting churches in our area and asking God to show us where “home” is.

Work is new. I have worked part time at the church as Connections Director (social media), Membership Secretary and Volunteer Co-ordinator. When we left the church, I left my job. I applied for one job, which I thought I was a perfect fit for but i wasn’t chosen. Now every time I get online to search for a job I hear the Lord tell me to stop, so I do. So, right now I am waiting on Him. I am also praying about finally starting my own social media management company, which has been on my mind for years. It is very tough without my income so hopefully the right door will open soon.

Home is new. No, we haven’t moved, why would we, our house is paid off! The “feel” at the house is new. Jordan, my 18 year old was home from the mission field for November-January. It was wonderful having him home. Now he is back with his team from The 99, currently ministering in Harlingen, TX. Summer, age 19, is working full-time teaching pre-school and talking college classes online. Aaron will be 21 on March 4th and he is working 5 jobs in IT, Audio Engineering and Radio Production. Aaron and Summer are seldom home and when they are they are often in their rooms. The nest is beginning to empty, the house is quieter and this is a new season of life for Ron and I.

My schedule is new. Without having to leave the house for work and weeknight church events the only regular things on my calendar are my Tuesday & Friday morning chiropractor appointments, the Monday 5pm piano lesson I teach and our Sunday evening get-together with our friends. Being home so much, I could easily get distracted and not accomplish anything. I have worked out a schedule for Bible study, exercising, blogging, social media work, housework and unplugged time so that I stay focused and don’t spend all day watching movies on Netflix.

The verse above has emerged as my verse for 2014. His mercies are new every morning. I have walked into the changes of 2014 enveloped in the steadfast love of the Lord and prayerfully asking Him to guide my steps.

I know some of you are here as part of the Commentathon from Blogelina. If you’d like to read some other posts here are some easy recipes, posts about Disney World and my weekly giveaway linky. Please feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed, follow me on Bloglovin’ or any of my other social networks, my badges are in the sidebar. Thanks for stopping by.

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2012 Blog Goals

• Finish the re-design-I need to get my header fixed and I accidentally deleted some important badges from my sidebar that I need to reconstruct
• Engage my readers-There are a lot of you out there, and for that I am very thankful. Unfortunately, very few of you respond or leave comments-unless I’m running a giveaway. Leaving meaningful comments on blog posts is how readers tip the author. When you interact with posts I write and topics I cover, I know you are interested too. I’d love to know what subjects in the realms of parenting, homeschooling, family entertainment and family travel you would like to know more about so please, leave a comment on this post letting me know.
• Crack the 1000 subscriber mark. I know it isn’t all about numbers, but I have been hovering in the mid-900s for a very long time.
• To complete the 2012 Blog Dare (I’m already behind-this is actually the post for January 1st!)
• To attend Blissdom, Reviewer’s Retreat, Type-A Parent Conference and BlogHer12. If you or your company would like to sponsor me you can check out my Sponsor Opps page.

Social Media Goals for 2012

Twitter: To be more active. My Twitter usage declined the second half of 2011.

Facebook: To get more conversations going on my Facebook page.

Google+: To learn the best way to use this tool and to set up a page for my blog.

LinkedIn: To learn how to use this more effectively.

Pinterest: To finally get my invitation so I can check this new hot spot out.

I am excited for another great year here in my corner of the blogosphere and I can’t wait to share it with you!

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