Way back in my early days of blogging, I shared some personal goals partnered with scripture. I felt lead to post them again. Partly to keep myself accountable, and partly to perhaps inspire one of you.
Here they are, in no particular order:
1. Completely eliminate consumer debt by July 2008 (excluding mortgage, cars, and student loans). Mission: accomplished! We are down to one car payment and the student loans.
“The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously” (Psalm 37:21)
2. Continue to build emergency savings fund, replacement fund, and gift funds.
“In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but [the] foolish… devour all [they have]” (Proverbs 21:20)
3. Live simply, seeking moderation and contentment with what I have, and avoid waste as much as possible.
“Beware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own” (Luke 12:15).
4. Increase giving, by sharing with those in need and supporting our church.
“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share” (1 Timothy 6:18).
5. Strive to be the best help mate I can be to my husband.
“She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life” (Proverbs 31:12)
6. Cultivate a steward’s mindset in regards to my home. Keep it in order and presentable as much as possible.
“She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks” (Proverbs 31:17).
7. Make menu planning each week a habit and priority, in order to save money, avoid eating out, and reduce stress.
“Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed” (Proverbs 16:3).
8. Focus on my children’s spiritual growth.
“Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deut. 11:19).
9. Find new and creative ways to live frugally and reduce spending in all areas of my life.
“Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread” (Proverbs 30:8).
10. Make good choices about my diet, exercise and overall health.
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Cor. 6:19)
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I do not intend to change these goals, since I constantly strive to live by these words and I am far from perfect. I do have one to add.
Recently, much to my surprise, readers and some bloggy friends have reached out to me with questions about my faith. Why me?
I realize that at first glance, it may seem like I must be this super spiritual person with extensive knowledge of scripture. But I am not. I am simply your typical housewife who loves the Lord and wants to serve Him.
I stumble. every. day. I do not have all the answers about God. But I do know that He is my redeemer, strong tower, my portion and deliverer. Simply put, He loves me, imperfections and all.
When I do hear questions about my faith, I struggle to find the right words. I ask God to speak through me, because I know I don’t have all the answers.
But maybe, just maybe… it’s making a small difference in someone’s life.
So here is my new goal to add for 2009:
11. Share my story of finding faith openly and honestly with others.
I know there must be a perfect scripture to add here, which I will update later today. Of course, if you have a suggestion, please feel free to share in comments.
This goal will not come easy to me by any means. But through Him who strengthens me, I can do all things.
Excellent goals and a very good practice of reviewing them to hold yourself accountable.
Beautiful goals! Here are two scripture for you:
Romans 1:16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…
1 Peter 3:15
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…
Great goals…thanks for sharing!
Congratulations on your new goal, Alyssa! It is a wonderful one, and one that I share with you. It’s not always easy, but it is important.
Thanks for doing what you do. I’m encouraged by your site.
God bless you.
1 Peter 3:15 was going to be my suggestion, too, but Rachel beat me to it!
As for sharing your faith, God has put you in this high-profile position so that you can make a difference not just here and now, but for eternity. Just keep your eyes on him and your priorities in check (which it seems like you are doing), and like you said, let Him do the talking!
Pray, pray, pray! I think most of us feel inadequate to share the good news of Jesus, but it’s something he commands us to do, so in obedience, we offer Him our best and He can work with it, to accomplish the saving of many lives! It’s amazing to see what God can do when we are obedient!
Thanks for sharing the link to Lori’s story…that’s SO awesome!!
love it and I’m so thankful to have run across your blog now that I’ve gotten into couponing….your blog name is perfect. I hope to be a good and faithful steward with what God has given to me…..HE’s sooo good!
Here is a chapter that helps me. 1 Corinthians 2 http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_cor/2/4#4
When I think about sharing my testimony, I worry about my weaknesses and my lack of knowledge, but I often forget that it is by the power of the Holy Ghost, and through the love of Christ that people are converted and their hearts turned to Christ. Like you said, through Christ, I can do all things.
Yes, 1Peter 3:15 is a great one. Also, Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
It is an awesome goal, one that I too am trying to uphold. I have a mother and sister who read my blog…they are unsaved. I pray that my blog may be another way to witness to them!!
julie@KingdomKlipper
It’s kinda ironic, I just posted “Train up a Child” on my blog before I jumped over to yours. If you have time, I’d love to know what you think??http://kingdomklipper.blogspot.com/2009/01/train-up-child.html
Your site is new to me but the name is what attracted it to me. This is the first time I have read your goals and was very impressed with them. I had scripture to suggest but it seems all of the ones I had are in the above comments. When the Holy Spirit speaks, He speaks the same scriptures to all. This is just confirmation. I love your site and you are an inspiration to all who come here. God Bless You and Yours!
I was thinking Romans 1:16 right away too.. 🙂 but also Romans 10:9-10 ..
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
God Bless you and your baby!! Thank you for your Stong testimony of our Lord Jesus… to HIM be all the glory forever and ever Amen!
~Jill
Rev 12:11
“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
Simply put, just share what God has done for you.
blessings, Penny Raine
http://pennyraine.com/blog
great list of goals 🙂
blessings, Penny Raine
http://pennyraine.com/blog
Hi Alyssa.
I am a lurker here and generally never post on blogs. I am so proud of you! We were just speaking about this very thing at church on Wed night… that sometimes we (I!) hesistate to share the gospel, etc b/c we feel if we don’t do it “well” then we will not be doing “well” for God and in some way will “discredit” and take away from the awesomeness of Him. In reality, in and of ourselves . . we cannot do anything well anyway . .. Just tell your story. We all have one. God’s plan is being worked out through your story . . with this little blog . . to bring Himself Glory. And that, dear sister in Christ, is worth so much more than all the dollars ever saved or ever will be saved in any deal!! I am sooooo proud of you!
Oh you sweet thing. I definitely think you have this gift to inspire and I truly believe that you are part of why that small bit of faith, that was buried down deep, came peeking out.
I can see by the numerous comments already that you have such a loyal following and I’m willing to bet it all that your faith has everything to do with that:)
Thanks for being there for me Alyssa.
Oh you sweet thing. I definitely think you have this gift to inspire and I truly believe that you are part of why that small bit of faith, that was buried down deep, came peeking out.
I can see by the numerous comments already that you have such a loyal following and I’m willing to bet it all that your faith has everything to do with that:)
Thanks for being there for me Alyssa.
Oh you sweet thing. I definitely think you have this gift to inspire and I truly believe that you are part of why that small bit of faith, that was buried down deep, came peeking out.
I can see by the numerous comments already that you have such a loyal following and I’m willing to bet it all that your faith has everything to do with that:)
Thanks for being there for me Alyssa.
Oh you sweet thing. I definitely think you have this gift to inspire and I truly believe that you are part of why that small bit of faith, that was buried down deep, came peeking out.
I can see by the numerous comments already that you have such a loyal following and I’m willing to bet it all that your faith has everything to do with that:)
Thanks for being there for me Alyssa.
I never post on blogs, but I too admire your goals. I love Romans 10: 13-14. This is from the King James Version so the wording will be a little different in your Bible, but this helped me out when I was a missionary in a far country where people didn’t know much about Christ.
“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”
To me these verses really capture the essence of sharing the gospel and reflect the humility of sharing. Some are without the blessings of Christ in their lives simply because they do not know Christ–they’ve heard of Him, but do not understand what He did for them and how much He loves them. But all the blessings of Christ are there for them and the preacher is no better than the hearer, just that some are kept from the joy because they have not heard the good news of the gospel. May you have joy in sharing your witness.
I am going to have to Copy/Paste that and print it off! My 2009 goal was simplify in a fitness acronym. F ~ Family, I ~ Intelligence, T ~ Teachable, N ~ “N”come, E~ Exercise, S ~ Social, S ~ Spiritual. You can check it out on my blog if you’re interested. Your scriptures to go along with it are awesome!
Alyssa, You have chosen an outstanding list of goals. We would all do well to follow your list. I pray you will realize a great deal of success in reaching these goals. Blessings…Lynn
Alyssa,
You’ve received some great scripture suggestions…here’s one more:
Philemon 1:6 (NIV)
I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Lori E (NW MOPS)
i love this post! i love ho you have found a verse for your goals. i need to do that. i found the link to this post on twitter! how cool is that.
When I’m not sure the exact words to say to others who ask questions about my faith I remind myself what the blind man said when asked in John Chapter 9 verse 25 “….one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.” What a great place to start!