goals – Page 2

December 22, 2015 by Michelle 1 Comment

Teaching How to Make Spiritual Goals

Last December I worked with my children to make goals. This was not an easy task!

The first thing I did was ask them what they wanted to learn.

What things do you want to learn this year?
What things to you want to improve?
Are there any bad habits that you want to stop, or good habits you want to start?
How about spiritual goals. Do you have any goals about…. (naming categories is extremely helpful)
How about academic goals. What do you want to learn how to do this year?

I gave them suggestions and allowed them to pick some.

I forced them to write ten goals for the year, and I made sure that they included at least two or three spiritual goals. I didn’t correct vague or wildly impractical goals.

This was a hard activity for them, but after the questions and a few suggestions of goals that would be specific to each child’s interests. (I asked David what bird he wanted to study. I asked Laurel what subject in school she wanted to see the most improvement in. We had the same ideas, but she felt like she came up with them.)

After they wrote their goals down, I folded them up and put them away for the whole year.

Later this week, I’ll get those papers out. All the planning experts will tell you that you need to review your goals, but I figure we will work on one skill at a time. Maybe the kids will see on their own the need to be deliberate with making (and working on) goals.

(You may be interested in knowing why I even bother with making spiritual goals. Awhile back I spent a lot of time thinking through several passages that challenged me. I need to think about them some more later this week!)

December 29, 2008 by Michelle Leave a Comment

Why Make Goals When I Fail?

I mentioned to a friend that I enjoy making goals. I like the process of evaluation. I like the feeling of starting fresh. I like dreaming about accomplishing good things.
But I also have found that I fail. I fall short of my goals, nearly every year, and then I’m discouraged. Should I stop making goals? Am I making unrealistic goals?
Recently I decided I would run a half marathon while Lee is gone. I needed a big goal, and something to keep my mind busy while Lee is gone. It’s a little scary, since I’ve never run competitively, and I’m not in great shape right now. So I might end up racing on May 9th, and I might fall short of my goal, realistically, although I’m not planning on failure.
What I do know is that I’ll be in better shape on May 9th than I would be without this goal.
Now I think I can make goals with my marriage and children in the same way. I recognize that I may not reach all of my goals. It might be because I have too many. It might be because of circumstances beyond my control. But I know that I’ll reach more goals by trying than if I didn’t try. Growth isn’t failure, period.
So this week I’ll be thinking about my goals from last year and evaluating how I did. I’ll also be thinking about my new goals for next year.I’d like to do some brainstorming about passages that will help me think biblically about this process. Maybe you have some ideas you’d like to share, too.

April 7, 2006 by Lee Leave a Comment

Truth and Practice

One of the dangers of writing or teaching on parenting is that sometimes is is easy to give the impression that I’ve got my life in control. Now the truth is, most of what I share is a huge challenge for me. That’s why I’m sharing it! The truth of God’s Word is often simple. Putting it into practice is the tough part.

But someday I want to look back and say, “See what God did? See what He taught me all those years? See how His grace was evident in my weakness and frailty?”

And years down the road I’d like to be able to point my children to the Bible and say, “This is the secret of a life well-lived. Here is where you’ll find what you need.” I want them to believe me.

This is why the challenge of actually obeying the Bible is the biggest one. It’s not enough to tell our children about God’s Word. We have to live it before they will believe us. And may God give us all the humility to beg him for mercy and grace to be the parents He wants us to be.