My Priorities
1. Have a strong and meaningful relationship with my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. My goal is to spend an hour each day, five days a week, in the scriptures. I am currently studying the New Testament, along with the church's manual, "The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles." This is a fairly new goal in my life. Before I had both kids in school, I was happy if I even opened my scriptures each day. However, I have now entered a new season of life, and am taking full advantage of my quiet house during the day, absorbing all I can from the scriptures. Along with scripture study, my goal is to fulfill my church calling and serve others in need.
2. Love my husband, fiercely and unconditionally. I have an incredible husband. My goal is to show him every day, through words and actions, what an incredible man he is. Together, to keep our marriage strong, we try to spend each and every night alone. We put the kids to bed at 7:30 and spend the remainder of the evening one-on-one. Sometimes he is watching a movie, while I am cuddled up next to him reading a book. We are doing two different things, but we are still together. This requires a conscious effort to not "work" after we put the kids to bed. I must leave dishes in the sink or laundry in the dryer. Those things can wait. Our time together is more important. It's our "date night" every night.
3. Love and teach my kids. There is no where else I would rather be in the world than in my home with my kids. I feel like my time with them is short and I must take full advantage of the time I have been given. My Patriarchal Blessing says, "You will have the opportunity to marry a righteous priesthood holder, to have children in Zion, and to find great happiness and joy in your marriage and family. It will be through this union that you will receive your greatest joy in life." My goal is to be worthy of this blessing, so I can receive this joy. Our children are our greatest joy in life. We want to give them the love they need and teach them all we can about that love, so they can have this same joy with their own families in the future.
4. Keep a clean and organized home. This may seem a strange priority for the number four spot on my list, but I truly believe a clean and orderly home invites the Spirit. I also work best in an organized environment. If my home is orderly, my life is orderly. My goal is to tidy my entire home at least once a day, and deep clean it once a week. I haven't reached perfection in this area yet, but it is my goal.
5. Have a financial plan. Like a clean, orderly home, clean and orderly finances make me happy. Together, Mark and I regularly make financial goals and work hard to maintain a "cash" budget. The joy I get from living within our means is indescribable. It may seem silly, but I am happiest when our life is financially in order. Our goal is stay financially "fit", so we can help others when needed.
6. Blog. I enjoy blogging. Like I've said before, my blog is my journal, and keeping a journal is a priority in my life. My blog also helps keep my family and friends up to date on our life here on the East Coast. My goal is to stay up-to-date on my blog, including printing it out for posterity's sake.
7. Scrapbook. Like my blog, my scrapbooks are journals to me, and a priority. My goal is to get my scrapbooks up to date.
8. Bake. I am surprised baking made my list, but when I really think about it, it is a priority in my life. I love to bake. I am not great at it, but I love to do it. I love the smells and warmth it brings into my home, and the smiles it brings to my family's faces. It truly brings joy into our home. I especially love being in the kitchen baking with my children. It is one of my favorite places to be and a place where many memories have formed. My goal is to regularly bake with my children.
9. Improve our home through home improvement. That sounds funny, but I've enjoyed making our home our own, and there is still much we'd like to do, so it is going on the list. Our goal is to improve our home solely using cash.
10. Stay healthy and strong. This is my last priority, and in all honesty, it is a hard one to put on my list and make a priority. When it comes down to it, I love to eat and I don't love to exercise. However, I do want to stay healthy and strong as I continue to get older, so I can live a good, long life. It is on the list, and I will try my hardest to keep it a priority. My goal is to eat better foods and exercise five times a week.
So, those are my priorities. What did not make my list of priorities?
- Gourmet meals
- Freezer meals
- Gardening
- Canning
- Clothes (I am totally content wearing jeans, a t-shirt and my Cons.)
- Shopping (Ugh. I don't enjoy shopping. I know that doesn't sound very girl-like, but it's the truth.)
- Crafting
- Sewing
- Couponing
- Multiple extra-curricular activities for my children (They choose one each.)
3 comments:
That is such a great idea! I love it. I really helps you focus on what's important and it's not at all discouraging. I might have to do this :)
I love it, you guys are doing such a great job. I'm very proud of you
I will definitely have to sit down and do this as well. Last Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church I started thinking about keeping a journal. I said to myself that I'd probably have to cut out all TV if I wanted to have time each night to write in a journal and read my scriptures...and all this got me thinking about priorities. And do you know what our lesson was on in RS? You guessed it, priorities. It's definitely been on my mind, and then I see it on here! It must be a sign that it's something I need to work on.
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