Week 1 Review and Week 2 Plan

So, since yesterday I finally posted my goals for this year, today's post will report on my week 1 successes and failures and my plan for the week ahead. I will be honest in that week 1 was definitely a mixed bag.

Week 1 Review:

House: My ultimate decluttering goal fell to the wayside this week. Too many evening activities combined with multiple other issues resulted in a whole lot of nothing being accomplished.

Health: This week I was reminded that if I am going to exercise I have to make the effort to get up and do it first thing in the morning. Alas, I was unsuccessful.

Family: I was much more successful in this area. On Monday, Stephen and I played several games together. On Friday, Sarah and I went out to eat and then watched a movie together while the boys were out doing their own thing.

Spiritual Life: The One Year Bible and I are zipping right along. Operation World has been a bit more spotty, but I'm working on it. The first book of the Bible in my study Search the Scriptures is the book of Luke. I completed background reading and study.

Learning: I rediscovered this week that a lack of opportunity to read even just a little bit on a daily basis results in crankiness and frustration. So, Friday and Saturday I indulged by reading Standing at the Horizon by Doris Morris, a local author.

Beyond my stated goals above, I had the privilege this week of completing the Hour of Code with the 7th and 8th graders at my my children's elementary school. We have to reschedule the 3-6th grade due to a weather-related school closure.

Week 2 Plan:

House:This week my plan is to tackle the entry way. Hopefully, I can obtain cooperation from all family members in relocating their shoes and other possessions. If that goes smoothly, the kitchen is up next on my list.

Health: As I indicated, this past week I didn't hit my four sessions of exercise. My plan is to get up before the rest of the family to enjoy some time with the treadmill or a favorite exercise video. Doing this along with intentional eating should result in good readings this week.

Family: This week is my husband's birthday so even though we had a birthday luncheon today along with the children, I'm planning a date night and/or a date lunch this week. Hopefully, we can manage both.

Spiritual Life: I will continue reading The One Year Bible in the mornings. While I certainly pray every day, this week I'm planning to book-end the beginning and end of my day with concentrated prayer time. I'm planning to spend time with Luke during at least three evenings.

Learning: I'll finish reading the book More or Less by Jeff Shinabarger this week. My other non-fiction reading is predominantly focused on my upcoming mission trip right now. I plan to mix in some frivolous fiction reading as well.

2015 Goals

I spent my days off around Christmas, like many others, reviewing 2014 and thinking about what I want to accomplish during 2015 and the years to come. While doing so I utilized a variety of resources I had collected at various times from numerous bloggers including Living Well Spending Less, The Peaceful Mom, and The Passion Planner. I had hoped to publish my goals last week, but life interfered with that happening.

Using The Peaceful Mom's Inspired Word of the Day and Joyful Life Planner I selected GENEROSITY for My Inspired Word of the Year. The dictionary defines generosity as 1. readiness or liberality in giving and 2. freedom from meanness or smallness of mind or character. I want to be generous with my time, talents, money, and possessions to others, my family, and my self. The definition reminded me that being generous includes my thoughts and being non-judgmental and affirming to others. I considered several other words but found that generosity will allow me to pursue the other words or qualities I want to embody as well. Practicing generosity will provide more joy and peace, require me to be present to those around me, and mean less for me so that I can give more to others.

Both The Peaceful Mom and Living Well Spending Less provided resources to help readers contemplate the past year, envision their dreams for the years to come, and focuse their goals. I enjoyed working through the suggested exercises of envisioning life in five years and creating an inspiration board, life portrait, and other exercises. While doing multiple exercises may seem a bit overboard, these resources helped to confirm my plans. The Passion Planner took a bit of a different focus in asking to users to envision what you would like to do in three months, one year, three years, and a lifetime and then return to the list to pick the one thing under each heading "that would have the MOST positive impact in your life." This slight twist helped me to focus on both immediate and long-term goals. So below are my 2015 goals:

House: I will minimize (AKA declutter) our possessions significantly. The house will be clean enough to be able to have feel comfortable having friends over which is my three month goal.

Health: I struggle with several health issues as I like to eat and enjoy tasty foods. I will control my diabetes by eating healthy and taking my medicine. I will exercise at least 4 times a week. I have a certain weight goal in mind which is my one year goal.

Family: I will spend one on one time with each family member at least once each month. We will also continue to spend time as a family pursuing activities together both inside and outside of the house.

Spiritual life: This year I am using the One Year Bible to read through God's Word and praying with Operation World, Patterns of Prayer, and other resources I've collected and found. I also located my copy of Search the Scriptures and am embarking on it's three year study through the Bible plan for my three plus year goal. I envision it may take four years though after I subtract time for mission trips, vacations, conferences, and other times where a more in-depth daily study is not possible.

Learning: I like to read and learn so of course a reading goal has to be on my list. This year I plan to read, or re-read, classic literature as well as read non-fiction on a variety of topics. I also like to indulge in just for fun fiction reading as well which I find is important for my well-being. Goodreads challenged me to set a reading goal for 2015 so I optimistically set my goal as 52 books.

Lifetime goal:Using The Passion Planner, one of my lifetime goal's is to visit all 50 states and each continent.

Each month will see more specific short-term goals of how I am going to fulfill these goals as well as reports on how I am meeting or missing the mark on each one. I must admit my first week back to work was tough in accomplishing everything but that's another day's post.

2015 Adventures: Besides the goals listed above, 2015 is going to be a year of adventures. In February I am traveling to a country in West Africa for a mission trip. While there we will be learning about the country, encouraging our partners who live and minister in that country, and praying for a specific unreached people group. As this trip is coming up very quickly, much of my time these next few weeks is devoted to preparing for the trip and having everything set up for my family for while I'm gone.

Governess of Highland Hall

Carrie Turansky has a winner with her book The Governess of Highland Hall. I had not read any of her novels before but the description of this novel enticed me to try it out.

Julia Foster seeks a governess position to help support her family who had been missionaries in India until her father's failing health forced them to return to England. As governess she is charged with the education and training of four children including two young children whose mother has recently passed away and two young ladies preparing for the coming out season. The two young ladies feel they are too old for a governess and resent her presence and her lack of experience with high society. Julia also find herself at odds with the other house staff who resent her being taken into confidence by William, the master of the house, as well as his sister, Sarah.

The Governess of Highland Hall does a wonderful job of portraying the ins and outs of the differences between the various tiers of society in pre-World War I England and how those tiers are beginning to break down. Highland Hall shows not only the titled class but also the titled class without wealth and the servants. Julia finds herself caught in the middle as the educated but penniless governess. As you may imagine, several romantic relationships ensue between various characters in this novel which cross the appropriate social lines. Adding to the plot is the fact that William must find a way to pay the inheritance taxes on Highland Hall or lose the family estate and that a wealthy marriage seems to be the only way to obtain the needed funds.

To tell anymore would give away the ending of this charming novel. While predictable in the outcome, there are multiple twists and turns in the execution which keep the reader guessing until the very end. Downton Abbey fans will enjoy The Governess of Highland Hall as will other fans of clean historical romance.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Blogging for Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Can Jimmy's Christmas be saved?

In Ace Collins' book The Christmas Star, Jimmy Reed doesn't want anything to do with Christmas. This year the community is excited about Christmas since everyone is home from the war--everyone except Jimmy's dad. Jimmy's dad had been killed in action and now his Congressional Medal of Honor was the only star on their Christmas tree. Feeling angry at the world, Jimmy was headed downhill fast. Looking for a quick buck. Jimmy tangles with the wrong crowd and doesn't think he can find a way out. Fortunately for Jimmy several individuals take an interest in him specifically the school bus driver Calvin and Audrey, a cute girl at school.

Calvin becomes an unexpected mentor when he takes Jimmy with him to deliver Christmas presents to the less fortunate. In the process, Jimmy learns more about his father and the impact his father had on their community. As Jimmy discovers the true meaning of Christmas and what kind of person his father would want him to be, he tries to get out of the hot water he is in without causing himself or his mother to be hurt. Several twists and turns result in an unexpected resolution to this issue which the proceeds to precipitate several additional surprises which cause this Christmas to be extra special for Jimmy.

The Christmas Star by Ace Collins is a warm enjoyable tale for the Christmas season. This particular tale appeals to both men and women. Individuals of all ages ranging from young people to the elderly will enjoy this story. My own pre-teen daughter can't wait to read it, and I look forward to passing my copy on to my own father as well. The Christmas Star is a 5 star story but don't take my word for it! Watch the trailer or start reading today!

I received a complementary copy of this book from Abingdon Press in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Not Just Any Quilt

I don't know about you, but Christmas and quilts just seem to go together as do babies and quilts. And when I think of quilts, I think of the Amish who are known for their quilts. So the title The Christmas Quilt jumped out at me. It was particularly excited to find this story revolves around not only a Christmas quilt but also a baby quilt.

When I began reading The Christmas Quilt by Vannetta Chapman, I was excited to find the characters are those first introduced in A Simple Amish Christmas. Thus I felt like I was catching up with old friends when I began reading. While familiarity with the characters was helpful, author Vannetta Chapman provides sufficient details so that readers just meeting these characters will have no problem following the story. Chapman begins the story by introducing Annie and Leah who are sisters-in-law and both expecting. Annie is excited to begin making a special quilt for Leah whose baby is due around Christmas time. Unfortunately, she has difficulty finding the time to sit down and work on it as Annie also is a nurse and assists her community quite often. Her nursing training comes in very handy when Leah experiences complications with her pregnancy and needs to be moved to a high risk unit at the hospital where Annie was previously employed.

Often Amish fiction with very few changes could just easily be historical fiction set on the frontier. An enjoyable twist to this particular work of Amish fiction was the very 21st century issues the characters faced. Too often it seems that characters in these books deal mostly with who is going to be married to whom or whether the young adult child is going to remain Amish or become an Englischer. Although there is tangential hinting of a romance between two minor characters, the main issues in this work are very similar to those non-Amish readers experience.

The Christmas Quilt is a very enjoyable piece of fiction just right for reading during the Christmas holiday or at any other time of the year. Begin reading this book now with this excerpt. The Christmas Quilt is part of the Quilts of Love series published by Abingdon Press. While this particular title is set in Amish country, not all of the books in this series are. I look forward to reading additional titles from this series.

I received a complementary copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Have You Blessed Someone Today?

"Blessed to be a blessing" is a phrase oft repeated in Christian circles. While meant as an encouragement, too often the idea of blessing others becomes another chore to check off a to-do list. In the seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas, when we often spend more time considering our blessing and how much we have to be thankful, many feel encouraged to bless others, particularly those we term "less-fortunate" in a variety of ways. While always appreciated, the idea of blessing others is not limited to specific times of the year. Gerrit Dawson, in his book The Blessing Life: A Journey to Unexpected Joy published by InterVarsity Press, changes the idea of blessing from something to check off our list or another things to do during the busy Christmas season into a joyful response to God for every day no matter the season.

Dawson's book is divided into three parts which are titled Receiving Blessing from God, Returning Blessing to God, and Reflecting God's Blessing to Others. However, before delving into part one, begin by reading the introduction where Dawson sets the stage for his book. From the first page, Dawson makes it clear that the Blessing Life does not mean "a peachy, everything is all right" existence but "a vibrant relationship with the triune God who loves us utterly" (13). With the relational view in place, Dawson begins to discuss the variety of ways we receive blessing from God. He spends an entire chapter addressing the topic of blessing in the midst of suffering and emphasizes that these concepts are not exclusive of each other.

Part 2 Returning Blessing to God takes a slightly different format. Chapter 5 introduces the concept of blessing God emphasizing that blessing God can be practiced and learned. The subsequent chapters in this section each focuses on a picture of God and leads readers through meditating on that picture. These chapters deserve a slow and careful reading. Turning to part 3 Reflecting God's Blessing to Others, Dawson emphasizes a variety of ways Christians can bless others including those who persecute you and the importance of blessing through forgiveness.

Throughout the book, Dawson provides multiple examples from the lives of Christians showing that The Blessing Life is possible. The book also contains numerous scripture references and other citations. Dawson expertly combines stories of blessing, scripture, artwork, and music references into a book which inspires readers to not only go and bless others but to realize the ability to bless others is rooted in receiving a blessing from God. While reading the book, the children's chorus "the blessings come down as the prayers go up" frequently came to mind.

While a wonderful book by itself, Dawson also has a forty-day companion book titled A Guide to the Blessing Life which contains scripture reading and prayer corresponding to the book. I have not personally seen or used the companion guide to comment on its content yet although I plan to do so. The Blessing Life, with or without the companion guide, would make a wonderful resource for personal or group study. With the companion guide, it is well-suited for a church-wide study.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from InterVarsity Press. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Not your usual Amish romance

Having previously read and enjoyed the first three books in Barbara Cameron's series Quilts of Lancaster County, I was excited to have the opportunity to read the most recent addition to this series Annie's Christmas Wish. This book picks up with Annie the daughter of Matthew and Jenny the main characters in the previous novels. We are also introduced to Aaron a young man from their community.

The title of this book originates from Annie's wish to see New York City at Christmas time. This dream has been field by a snow globe of the city given to her by Jenny as a child. Her wish comes true as her family has the opportunity to visit New York City. The book focuses on situations that put the anticipated trip in jeopardy and the adventures they have while in the city. As one would suspect, a definite culture clash occurs between Annie's Amish family and the experiences they have in New York City. These clashes open their eyes to benefits from living in their community and also provide unexpected opportunities for Annie.

While definitely Amish "bonnet fiction" the issues with which Annie struggles in this book are similar to those faced by many you adult Christian women but amplified due to her Amish heritage. Specifically, Annie desires to write and to have a "career" like her Mamm Jenny. Yet, she also wants to follow the traditions of her community by being married and having a family. This struggle causes relational difficulties with several other main characters. In particular, Annie's opportunity and the assumptions Aaron makes about what those opportunities will require creates quite a sore spot. Fortunately by the end of the book, the situation has been resolved quite satisfactorily.

I have greatly enjoyed Barbara Cameron's Amish fiction as her characters interact with Englischers frequently and struggle with the same issues as modern readers. The interaction between these different worlds sets these books apart and makes them less predictable than other Amish fiction. Although part of a series, Cameron includes sufficient background on the characters that reading the previous books is not necessary to enjoy Annie's Christmas Wish. Find a copy, a cup of your favorite hot beverage, and a cozy chair by the Christmas tree and enjoy!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Abingdon Press. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”