2020 goals
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2020: Week 10 — Remembering
Do you take the time to remember milestones in your life? How do you mark them so that you don’t forget them? Some people, like me, are journalers. For others, photos mark their milestones. Maybe it’s a collection of something else. Whatever your method, I think it’s important to reflect on where we’ve been as we look forward to the future. This week, I finished up reading Numbers and started reading Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy opens with Moses recapping the past 40 or so years to the Israelites who are preparing to enter the Promised Land. As he describes how they got to that point, I can’t help but notice God’s faithfulness…
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2020: Week 8
This week’s personal Bible reading ended Leviticus and started Numbers, so it focused more on the law and the census. In my small group, we studied Hebrews 4:14-5, which discusses Jesus being a better high priest. I studied the laws for the high priest at the same time I studied Jesus being a better one. It shouldn’t amaze me when God lines up my studies, but it does sometimes. Much of my focus this week has been on God’s faithfulness to His promises and His mercy for my weaknesses. In the ’90s, Steve Green released a children’s album with songs that came from the Psalms. It was probably my favorite…
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2020: Week 7
This week’s theme has been gratitude. Take a minute and think of five things for which you’re grateful. I don’t think it will be difficult to do. The first five things that came to my mind are eyesight, warm robes and blankets, relationships, shelter, and food. I know I cheated counting robes and blankets as one, but they’re working together to keep me warm right now, so I couldn’t pick between them. This week’s Bible reading brought me to the end of Exodus and a little more than halfway through Leviticus. While I am not proud to admit it, this is the part of the reading plan where in years…
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2020: Week 6
If you’ve stuck with your New Year’s resolutions for these six weeks, let me be one of the first to say that I’m proud of you! We’re more than 10% through 2020, and I hope you’ve been able to see some growth. This week was a lot of fun. My Bible study group began our study on Jen Wilkin’s “Better,” which is an in-depth look into the book of Hebrews. We had our first week’s discussion Sunday night. The week had focused on Jesus being better than the angels. The author of Hebrews makes that argument in the first two chapters, so that was our focus Scriptures. At the same…
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2020: Week 5 (sort of)
This week is a little different because we’re now officially in February! And February is Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) Awareness Month. I think it’s been three years since I was diagnosed. The timeline is blurry in my mind because my retina specialist monitored it for about a year before RP became official. I’ve written about it before, so I won’t bore you with the details now. I don’t have any updates about my RP because it’s holding steady, praise God! I ask that you say a prayer for me, though. I’ll have my next appointment in March. I haven’t noticed any vision changes, which is a good indicator of little to…
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2020: Week 4
Is anyone else surprised that January is almost over? Where did it go?! It’s been a lovely month, even with back-and-forth weather. I like to say that the only predictable thing about Alabama weather is that it’s unpredictable. Just a few updates as we round out this month. I don’t want to be afraid to wrestle with God. I’ve always loved children’s ministry and the challenge of explaining biblical truths to them. Now that I’m teaching middle schoolers, the questions they ask are deep. Even when I don’t have the answer or the answer is difficult to understand, I encourage the kids to keep asking questions. Keep seeking God’s truths.…
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2020: Week 3
I feel like time passes quicker when you’re tracking it and that tracking it makes you more productive. I’ve accomplished much more in 21 days than I would have if I weren’t intentionally recapping them. Hopefully, you’re making good progress, too. Here are some of the past week’s highlights. God knows the world in ways we never will, and that’s a good thing. I finished up Job this week. Those last few chapters are powerful, and they leave me in awe of God as Creator. He knows intimately every process, function, and cycle of each being or thing on Earth, and that’s amazing. That’s a God worthy of praise and…
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2020: Week 2
Hey, all! How has your week been? Meeting those goals? My week 2 was a strong one for the most part, but it was also challenging. I quickly realized my music theory skills are quite rusty; however, I did good on the quiz, so with some practice, I’m confident I can pick it back up. Here are some goal check-ins, as well as some revelations or moments of pause that I experienced throughout the week. I don’t get to dictate how someone else grieves or for how long. Job was struggling, and I think his friends were helping him most when they were sitting with him and letting him be.…
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2020: Week 1
We made it through the first week of 2020. What have you accomplished? I don’t usually set New Year’s resolutions; however, I do practice goal setting. I often set a few for the beginning of the year and update them as my priorities change. A couple of my goals started on Jan. 1. In 2020, I want to read the NIV translation of the Bible chronologically and deepen my music theory knowledge. To read the Bible through, I’m following Tara-Leigh Cobble’s The Bible Recap plan and listening to the short podcast episodes associated with each day’s reading. The episodes are super helpful for digging deeper into God’s Word. I chose the NIV…