TWO THINGS...

Two things today...

First, this quote from Lydia Brownback, shared by a sweet friend on Facebook yesterday: "All too often we mistake what we do for who we are. But our calling (job, marital status, etc.) is not our identity. Look at how the apostle Paul defined himself:  For me to live is Christ (Phil. 1:21). Christ was Paul's whole reason for living, his entire identity. Our only lasting identity is Jesus Christ, and if we seek identity elsewhere, we will never be satisfied, since nothing else has the ability to define us indefinitely. Let's define ourselves by Jesus."

Thank you, Lydia Brownback. Thank you, Betty, for sharing!

Second...

That moment when a lifelong friend takes your face in her hands and says, "Look at me. Listen..." And you look into your friend's eyes and you find that you are not looking into your friend's eyes at all but into the eyes of Jesus.

And another dear friend reaches across the miles through the magic of the interwebs and takes your face in her FB Chat hands and says, "Look at me. Listen..." And once again, you find that you are not looking into your friend's interweb eyes at all but into the eyes of Jesus.

Which is what the Lydia Brownback quote was about in the first place, wasn't it? About Jesus, saying "Look at me. Listen..."

So...

Not two things today.

Only one!

I'M NO APOLO OHNO

We had beautiful weather here in NW Tennessee last week: six inches of snow blanketed our little corner of the world in crystalline loveliness. It erased the gullies in the driveway and, with the help of the wind, turned even the junker cars out back into fantastic snow sculptures.

Four days later, the snow has melted away. The house is once again surrounded by dead grass and squelchy mud.

Short-lived magic.

Sunday morning, as I headed out to take care of my one lonely chicken, I skated down the snow-packed back steps in my big rubber boots. Apolo Ohno has mad skating skills. Me? Last time I went skating - oh, 12 or 13 years ago - I came off the ice rink with a broken wrist. This time, I ended up at the bottom of the steps hugging a limp forearm and fairly confident it was a repeat performance.

Steve splinted my arm and asked if I wanted him to take me to the Emergency Room. Since it was Sunday and since I knew the drill (We're just going to splint this for you until the swelling goes down. You'll need to see an orthopedist early this week.), I told him I'd rather wait until Monday and try to get in to see my regular doctor. I piggy-backed ibuprofen and Tylenol, defrosted several bags of frozen peas on my arm, and generally moved very slowly about the house the rest of Sunday.

Yesterday at the doctor's office, Kim (the nurse) told me my blood pressure was a little high. "That may be because you're in pain," she explained. "Pain can elevate blood pressure." Or, I thought to myself, my elevated blood pressure may be because my fearless sixteen-year-old has been driving me around on not-quite-yet-clear roads today, to school and now to my doctor's appointment!

Long story short:  the wrist is not broken, only badly sprained. Hallelujah! I have a sporty stabilizing cuff to wear for a couple of weeks, and am continuing the ice pack/ibuprofen regimen.

I am thankful the wrist is not broken. I am thankful this spiffy support cuff allows me to use my fingers, which means I can work at the keyboard - I have a couple of days of writing to catch up on! And I am thankful for my awesome family.

Helen has taken over meal preparation, laundry and driving duty. Ben has helped with kitchen clean-up, fire tending and Mom maintenance.

Since Ben and I are the early risers in the family, he had Mom duty yesterday morning. He fixed breakfast while I fumbled around in the bathroom attempting to dress myself. I finally emerged from the bathroom, winded and wincing, but fairly decently clothed. As Ben tied my shoes for me yesterday, he teased, "Geeze, Mom, you guys are getting so old...us kids are already having to help you get dressed!"

Things I have discovered are very difficult to do with one hand (and not my dominant hand, at that) that I would really rather not have to ask my 20-year-old son to help with:

• Toweling off after a shower. Very difficult to do one-handed.
• Fastening a bra strap. No college-aged son should have to help his tubby middle-aged mother with her undergarments. I eventually managed to take care of this on my own, but it took about fifteen minutes and several failed attempts. I was sweaty and worn out by the time I accomplished the task, and almost in tears due to a mixture of physical pain and fear that I would have to eventually yell for help.
• Plucking those random chin whiskers that plague us middle-aged women. Blech.
• Wallering into and fastening a pair of jeans. Difficult job, especially when you haven't toweled off very well. Again, I managed on my own, but it's a miracle I didn't fall and injure my other wrist in the process. It was kind of like squeezing too much sausage into a too small casing, one-handed, while standing on my head.

A few things I greatly appreciate:

• Ben has a wonderful sense of humor and a do-anything-to-help willingness to serve.
• Helen can drive on slushy roads just fine and she makes better meatloaf that her mama.
• The staff at The Doctor's Clinic in Union City are wonderful folks, even under the pressure of a foul-weather-weekend workload.
• Ibuprofen: good stuff. Finger mobility: awesome.

Now, back to work. I have some serious catching up to do before this ibuprofen wears off...

CALVIN AND CAMILLE, A DIALOGUE ON PRAYER

John Calvin, in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, sets forth four rules regarding prayer:

1. "...that we be disposed in mind and heart as befits those who enter conversation with God." I should not approach God flippantly or irreverently. I should not make outrageous requests which are clearly contrary to God's revealed will. I should not allow my mind to wander, but should be attentive, focused.

2. "...that in our petitions we ever sense our own insufficiency, and earnestly pondering how we need all that we seek, join with this prayer an earnest - nay, burning - desire to attain it." My prayers should not be mindless repetition, or simply an act of duty. My prayers earn me no merit with God - Christ is all my righteousness! - so my prayers should be joyful, sincere, and earnest.

3. "...that anyone who stands before God to pray, in his humility giving glory completely to God, abandon all thought of his own glory, cast off all notion of his own worth, in fine, put away all self-assurance - lest if we claim for ourselves anything, even the least bit, we should become vainly puffed up, and perish at his presence." I should approach God in humble repentance, seeking His forgiveness, trusting not in my own merit but in God's mercy.

4. "...that, thus cast down and overcome by true humility, we should be nonetheless encouraged to pray by a sure hope that our prayer will be answered." I should pray in faith, expectantly, knowing that God hears and answers the prayers of His people, confident of His favor and kindness toward me. I am a beloved child, not a cringing slave, and I should approach my Father with the sure confidence that He delights in me and He delights to hear and answer me.

Prayer is something that I have often struggled with. I have struggled with simply praying at all - never mind if I'm doing it "right" or not! I have struggled with staying on task - how can I be earnestly praying for one of my children one minute, and then wondering if I remembered to set up the coffee pot for tomorrow morning the next? I have struggled with what to pray about. I have struggled with being diligent in prayer over the long haul, when answers are not immediate. I have struggled against having a defeatist attitude in prayer - like I expect God's answer to always be "No."

I have at times made prayer too difficult - imagined that it was some kind of rocket science only safely practiced by professionals or experts. Making prayer hard - that's a sure formula for prayer-less-ness, for not praying at all.

Things for which I pray consistently at this stage in my life:

• That God will make me more prayerful. That He will prompt me to remember to pray. That He will call things to mind for which I should pray. That He will help me to recognize opportunities for prayer throughout the day, while I am washing dishes, while I am driving alone in the van, when I am awake in the wee hours of the morning.
• That the intent of my prayers will be less and less my own agenda, objectives, or advancement, and more and more focused on seeing God glorified in my own life and in the lives of others for whom I pray. That my prayers will be more and more in accord with God's purposes, a "praying back" of His will.
• That Christ will sanctify my prayers. That because I am Christ's, I will pray joyfully, expectantly, with irrepressible optimism.
• That, as I pray, I will be mindful that Christ himself intercedes for me. The Holy Spirit prays with me and for me, too. I pray in very good company!

NEHEMIAH CONTINUED...

"...and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven." Nehemiah 1:4b

We have just begun a study of the book of Nehemiah on Wednesday evenings at Grace. In last week's message, "Nehemiah: A Man of Prayer," Brother Billy looked at how Nehemiah's prayer in the opening chapter of this book was based on his knowledge of God and His promises and on Nehemiah's right understanding of the sinful condition of the human race.

After we read Nehemiah's humble and earnest prayer on behalf of his people, we read this at the conclusion of chapter 1:  "Now I was cupbearer to the king."

We didn't spend time looking at Nehemiah's position (perhaps that is the topic for next week's lesson?). As cupbearer, Nehemiah was a member of the royal court. It was his job to choose wine for the king and to make certain it was safeguarded from poison.

Because it necessitated access to the king, the position of cupbearer was one of prestige and influence. Nehemiah was not a menial servant. Rather, because he had the confidence of and regular interaction with the king, Nehemiah was a man who stood in a position of great power.

Yet...

When saddened by the news of the miserable condition of his kinsmen in Jerusalem, Nehemiah did not immediately play the power card.

He did not assume that, because of his position and influence, he had the solution to his people's problem.

No. Instead of immediately going to King Artaxerxes and outlining the situation and saying, "This is what I think needs to be done....!" - instead, Nehemiah fasted and prayed.

For four months.

It struck me last week that not only was Nehemiah a man of prayer, but he was also a man of great humility and patience.

He was willing to wait for God and to submit to God's guidance instead of relying on his own knowledge and ability.

What about me? Am I quick to tell others "This is the situation..." and "This is what we need to do...," acting on an inflated view of my own understanding and wisdom? Or is my first response, like Nehemiah's, to pray?

Do I lead on my own authority, or do I submit to God's authority? Am I quick to act, or am I committed to waiting?

I have nothing like the influence of a member of a royal court. Nor have I the wisdom and insight of Nehemiah. Why, then, do I rush to state my opinion? Why am I so quick to speak and act, to place so much value on my own understanding and impulses?!

I will never be cupbearer to a king. I pray, though, that I will learn to practice humility and patience.

I hope it can be truthfully said of me one day:

She continued praying before the God of heaven...

...and she waited.

POWERBALL

A group of folks gathered for a community dinner Monday evening were talking about what they would do with the money if they won the latest Powerball jackpot. I knew I wouldn't be the next winner, since I don't buy Powerball tickets, but it was still interesting to hear what these other people dreamed about doing, if only...

What was the final Powerball jackpot total? One-point-something billion? I can't even think in numbers that large. I don't think anyone really can, except maybe a U.S. President or Congressman, or an evolutionary theorist, or an astrophysicist.

I was driving home from an awesome yoga class this morning and I was thinking how traumatic it would be to suddenly be responsible for such an astronomical amount of money.

I have my brain wrapped around the tasks I need to accomplish today - clean the bathrooms, shop for groceries, run Helen to piano lessons, read several pages in geography. The sun is shining, and I am looking forward to the day ahead and to checking things off my ToDo list.

This P.B. winner, on the other hand, whoever it is, has had their entire day - week, year, life - suddenly turned upside down. What do they need to do first? Next? Next week?

Tonight, I will sleep in my bed, relatively free of worry or stress, with no fear of con men, grasping relatives, or thieves. I have little - but I also have little to fear.

I can only imagine that this P.B. winner, after the initial thrill passes, will have a thousand-thousand worries and fears to negotiate.

Anyway, back to the group gathered for dinner on Monday evening...

It kind of amazes me how generous we all are with money we don't actually have. We spend potential money generously - donations to charities, trust funds for grandkids, church building programs, humanitarian aid, etc. We spend "someone else's" money with equal ease. (Perhaps this is why Presidents and Congressmen can speak the word "billion" so casually?)

But what about the financial resources we actually do have? Are we as generous with those funds?

Personally, I don't have to do the hard work of figuring out how to divide billions of dollars between family members, trust funds, business investments, missions organizations, and local and international social enterprises.

What I do have to do is the hard work of figuring out how to most wisely use the $50 I made last week selling books.

It's such a small amount - $50. So small that I am inclined to think the best thing to do is to hold onto it tightly. Keep it to myself. Bury it in the ground, so to speak, until the Master of the house returns.

I suppose it might be easy to be generous with a billion dollars to spend. But with only $50, I must be tightfisted, grasping, protective.

Except that, I strongly suspect that if I am ungenerous with $50, I would probably also be ungenerous with a billion.

I don't want to live my life speculating about what I would do with a boatload of money, if only...

I want to do something harder.

Forget the Powerball lottery. I'm truly not interested in winning some ginormous jackpot.

No, I want to know real power, the power of living with open hands now - with the resources that have actually been entrusted to me.

REGAL

Regal:  of notable excellence

- merriamwebster.com

Over the past couple of decades, I have done a terrible job of keeping up with my family.

Oh, not my immediate family - I've been positively swimming in my immediate family!

I mean my extended family. My extended family.

Steve and I live right next door to his parents, which makes it easy to stroll over to visit and catch up on news. Two of his three siblings - and, for the most part, their families (our nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews) - live relatively nearby, and we see many of them once a month on Kendall Sunday.

But my family - my siblings and their families, my mom and dad and stepmom, my grandparents (when they were alive - only Grandmother West is still living), my aunts and uncles and cousins - I have done an atrocious job of keeping up with them. Oh, we see each other occasionally at weddings and graduations and funerals, but we rarely see each other in between.

I think several factors have contributed to this neglect on my part.

Sometimes, the difficulty in spending time with my family has been geographical. When Steve and I lived in California, there really was no way we could visit family living back home in the Southeast. We were simply too far away.

Sometimes, the difficulty has been circumstantial. We have rarely owned a vehicle reliable enough to inspire sufficient confidence for a road trip. Besides, when we had seven little children, the thought of "taking this show on the road" absolutely overwhelmed me - I barely had strength and energy to stay on top of life's routine demands at home, never mind on a lengthy road trip!

Sometimes, I am sad to admit, the difficulty was all in my head. Somehow, I got the idea that my family was unusual, odd, peculiar, eccentric. Well, to be honest, they are. But I also fell under the impression that "unusual" was a negative thing. Something to be ashamed of. Something to distance myself from.

I AM SO SORRY I BELIEVED THAT LIE.

A couple of years ago, one of my children put things in a completely different perspective for me. "No, Mom, your family is not weird...they are intense."

Somehow, that word "intense" was in my mind free of the negative connotations associated with "weird," "eccentric," "unusual."

Intense.

Yes, my daughter was correct. My family is intense. When I consider my parents, my grandparents, my siblings, my nieces and nephews, my aunts and uncles and cousins - yes, as a rule, they are intense people. They are (or were, before they died) intensely engaged, intelligent, curious, opinionated, talented, and sensitive. I have known members of my family to be intensely courageous, intensely ferocious, intensely loyal, both intensely proud and intensely humble, and even intensely ridiculous.

My extended family?
They.
Are.
Awesome.

Why do I feel compelled to tell you this?

Last week, I spent a day with my mom, my 95-year-old grandmother, my first cousin and her daughter (my second cousin?). On the drive home late that night, I couldn't help thinking, "What remarkable people! And they are my people!"

Not remarkable because they have done great things in the world's eyes - No. Remarkable because of the sweet way they love one another. Remarkable because even though some of them have broken each other's hearts in the past, they still genuinely care about each other. Remarkable because their ordinary conversations - about even silly things like cheese cubes and cookies and gardening and broody chickens - turn so easily and naturally to the Gospel, to the beauty of Christ, to the goodness of God.

After my visit with Grandmother last week, I began considering the very rich heritage that is mine because of my extended family.

To have been raised by two parents whose conversation at home turned frequently to Scripture and prayer, their interest in missions and curiosity about faraway places, their love for the church, their willingness to welcome the alien and the broken into their home, their effort to translate what they believed into a practical living out...

To have grandparents who talked to me as freely about God as about tomato bugs and fishing...

To have siblings who, although I don't always agree with what they believe, I admire because, unlike so many folks today, they are not complacent or passive about their faith, but earnestly desire and labor to know God...

To have aunts and uncles and cousins who light up when they see me, no matter how long I have neglected them, and who make me feel a very welcomed part of...

such
an
amazing
family.

To all you Stricklins and Cunninghams, Wests and Whitmires, Boyers and Ballards, Walthers and Dunns, Taylors and Turnipseeds, Pritzels and Preuetts and Winterses, and all of you too numerous to list...

Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the privilege of being able to stand among Kings and Queens.

DO MORE BETTER

A home for everything, and like goes with like.

- Tim Challies

I am a hard worker. I don't tend to fritter my time - I stay busy. Why, then, do I so often climb into bed at the end of the day feeling like I have left so many important tasks undone? Why do I often feel pressured or rushed, like I don't have enough time to accomplish my Need To Do List (never mind my Wish I Could Do List)? Why do I frequently have the nagging feeling that there is an important deadline or project that I have completely forgotten?

When Tim Challies announced the release of his latest book - Do More Better: A Practical Guide to Productivity - I was eager to get a copy. Maybe Do More Better would provide solutions for my productivity issues. I was even more excited when Mr. Challies invited readers to participate in a "10 Days of Productivity" on-line workshop. Count me in!

To purchase, click HERE.

Tim Challies is a husband, father, church leader, blogger, writer, and conference speaker. He juggles a lot more balls than I do. If Tim Challies thought he had helpful advice on productivity, I wanted to hear it. Here are a few of my thoughts after reading Do More Better:

I love that Tim begins by formulating a theology of productivity, even before he presents tools and tips for achieving greater productivity. At the beginning of the book, he asks questions such as: Is productivity important? If so, why? How does my faith relate to my productivity?

Answering these questions and taking time to develop a solid, foundational definition of productivity has already impacted my daily life and work in a positive way. A biblical definition of productivity helps me choose wisely how to best use my time, talents, and other resources as a mom, as a writer, as a speaker, as a church member. Tim's simple, practical definition of productivity provides a lot of clarity when deciding what to do, and it alleviates ungrounded feelings of guilt when choosing what to leave undone.

Mr. Challies begins Do More Better by focusing on Scripture and faith, but he moves quickly to practical tools for improving productivity. Challies is technically savvy; I, on the other hand, am a techno dinosaur. I knew from the outset that Tim's strategies for improving productivity would involve electronic tools that would challenge my lack of technical expertise, but I determined to try my best to utilize the tools recommended.

My favorite tool by far is the task manager:  I think I'm in love. Yes, even this techno dinosaur figured out how to operate Todoist (although I have to admit that I spent an inordinate amount of time figuring out how to "color" the dots beside each project heading!)

Thanks to the electronic tools that Tim suggests (he gives step-by-step instructions on how to set these up and use them effectively), I have cleaned a plethora of sticky notes off my kitchen cabinets, I feel less stressed about upcoming deadlines, and I have almost tamed my email.

A few words of caution if you are seeking to be more productive, too, with the help of Do More Better:

• Don't give up quickly. I am still figuring out the Todoist task management tool. Day 1 of setting up the task manager, I wondered if it was worth the time and effort required to get started - couldn't I be using my time more productively elsewhere? But after only a few days of using a task manager program, I am sold on the benefits of this tool.
• Life happens. Increased productivity was one of my New Year's resolutions - thus my excitement about Do More Better. But, as I was skipping along the path to increased productivity, my van broke down, the cat threw up on the carpet, the toilet overflowed...you get the picture. Before the end of the first week, I was three days behind in the "10 Days of Productivity" challenge/workshop. Yes, I was tempted to throw in the towel. But I didn't. When the craziness subsided a little, I plugged back in right where I had left off. Finally, when life happens, remember...
• A tool (such as the Todoist task manager or the Google calendar) is your servant, not your master. Don't let your tools become tyrannical task-masters that load you down with guilt:  make your tools conform to your needs and your life situation.

Would I recommend this book to others? Yes.

At 120 pages, Do More Better is a quick read, but I have found this small volume to be straight-forward and helpful. It is full of useful advice and tips for increased productivity, whether you are a stay-at-home mom, a writer, a student, or a professional.

To learn more about Tim Challies, visit www.challies.com. To order a copy of Do More Better:  A Practical Guide to Productivity, click HERE.

(Note:  When I requested to do a review of his book, Tim Challies provided me with a free PDF copy of Do More Better. After reading the electronic version of the book, however, I ordered a print copy to have on hand as a reference book and to loan to friends. This is a resource I anticipate using repeatedly, when I want to reassess my productivity and re-evaluate my goals.)

GOOD INTENTIONS, REALITY CHECK, AND PERSPECTIVE

Today was the first Monday of the New Year. With a well-thought-out set of goals for the year ahead, I was eager to make this first work-day of 2016 super productive.

I got a good night's sleep last night. I woke up this morning well-rested and uber motivated for:

• Exercise class at 7:30.
• Return home to shower, change and eat breakfast; then, take advantage of a small window of time before a mid-morning dental appointment to answer email and work on a short writing assignment.
• Dentist appointment in town, followed by a few errands on the way home.
• Home by noon to work on additional writing projects and spend time preparing for a speaking engagement tomorrow...

Instead, today turned out something like this:

• Van completely dead; missed exercise class.
• Changed out of my stretchy pants, ate breakfast, and sat down at the computer to tackle email. Internet wasn't working, so scratch email.
• Recruited young son to help jump off the van so that I could drive to dental appointment. Unsuccessful. Borrowed son's car; arrived late to dental appointment.
• Never mind writing projects and preparations for speaking engagements - I needed to try to figure out what was going on with the van so that I could actually get to said engagement...

I began the day with good intentions. Honestly. But then life happened.

I imagine that there are golden people in this world, people who make plans and then accomplish them. People who consistently check off everything on their daily To-Do lists.

I am not one of those people.

Not because I don't want to be, or because I don't plan, or because I don't try...but because life happens. And my life happens to be rather messy.

So, while I was lying in the dental chair letting Hope poke around in my mouth (how ironic that the technician who cleaned my teeth was named Hope!), I really wanted to be angry about how terribly Not Right my day was going.

But...

My dentist has one of those open office floor plans. No closed doors. So, all us patients are just back there together, humbly submitting to group dental hygiene. Not much privacy, and not a place to be overly self-conscious. While I was in one chair receiving the ministrations of Hope, next to me was...

An elderly man. A disabled elderly man, who came in using a walker and who had a canister of oxygen to help him breathe.

I was hoping that I wouldn't have any cavities. I can't afford to pay to have a cavity filled right now.

My neighbor, he had painful, infected gums, and he was hoping he could have his remaining teeth pulled. No, he didn't want dentures. He couldn't afford dentures. He just wanted relief from the constant pain. "Sometimes," he said, "life is so hard, it just makes you feel like giving up." He left with a prescription for antibiotics and an appointment to see an oral surgeon.

This gentleman gave me a new perspective, got me over my grumbling discontent. I wish I could have given him something valuable in return.

I had a good check up:  no cavities, yay!

I still don't know what is wrong with the van. No exercise class tomorrow, but my daughter offered to drive me to the speaking engagement in North Mississippi.

The internet is working. I have caught up on email, worked a little here at the blog, and submitted a newspaper article for next week's "Homeschool View" column.

I am so appalled at my ingratitude. At how easily I become frustrated. At how grossly I inflate the importance of my plans, my comfort, my needs.

I am so thankful that God meets me where I am, humbles me, bumps me out of the stew pot of self-pity, grants me contrition and hope and a new perspective.

HELLO, 2016!

"...emphasizing productivity is often easier when you are also emphasizing another 1 or 2 habits. I say that because it is difficult to be self-disciplined in one area while neglecting others. Discipline and self-control tend to be herd animals rather than lone wolves." - Tim Challies, author of Do More Better:  A Practical Guide to Productivity (available HERE).

To kick off the new year, I am participating in Tim Challies's "10 Days of Productivity" challenge/workshop/thingy. Why? Because I struggle with being genuinely and consistently productive. Oh, I stay insanely busy. And I am a hard worker. But all too often, I end the day feeling frustrated because I have once again failed to do so many of the things I desired to do or thought important.

Tim Challies (www.challies.com) is a blogger/writer/theologian I respect, and he has lived in the trenches, juggling a variety of roles and responsibilities simultaneously. I am hopeful that I will glean practical, biblical wisdom from his life experience during this "10 Days" challenge.

Is my desire for and commitment to greater productivity just another one of those ambitious New Year's resolutions that will fall by the wayside in a day or two? I hope not. Although I am a little nervous - change is always a bit unsettling - I am actually looking forward to taking the time to deliberately and thoughtfully regroup. I am genuinely excited about the year ahead.

Hello, 2016, nice to meet you! I am looking forward to getting better acquainted in the weeks and months ahead!

Challenged by Mr. Challies to choose a couple of areas to work at improving, not just productivity (see above quote), I have set specific goals for myself in several areas. Goals like...

I want to continue reading through my Bible. I share my thoughts about reading through Scripture - all of Scripture - HERE. I'd love for you to join me in reading through the Bible this year. For a daily reading plan, click HERE.

I want to read at least one book a month, other than books I read for school, work, or church. Do More Better is first on my list, but I already have several other titles in mind for the months ahead. Maybe I can tell you about these books here at the blog, as I complete each one. What will you be reading this year?

I want to exercise daily. Last year, I aimed for exercising at least 3 times a week; now that that habit is established, I feel like it's time to amp things up a bit. Even if I only get out for a short walk or do a couple of minutes of yoga before bed, I want to do some kind of physical exercise each day.

I want to WRITE more consistently - here at the blog, on my manuscripts, etc. As Helen and I settle into the spring semester school routine, I have chunks of time designated exclusively for writing. Facebook, emails, dirty floors, messy bathrooms...all that stuff will have to wait.

I have other goals, too - related to nutrition, finances, relationships. Goals that I am excited about working toward. What about you? What would you like to accomplish in the year ahead?