This year my word is going to be INTENTIONAL. We want to be intentional with our time, with our family and marriage, and with our resources.
Over coffee, Richard and I came up with some 2016 goals. Will all these things happen? Not likely. But, coming up with goals and being intentional about working towards them is a great start!
Our goals include being intentional about our family, our physical and spiritual health, raising Mason to be a stellar young man and our finances. Quite honestly, we do okay in most of these areas... But, we don't want to settle for being fine. We want to be INTENTIONAL. Purposeful in our actions to achieve our goals.
It's a risk to share goals. When we put them out there publicly, we are at risk for being held accountable ~ and that is both awesome and scary. We put ourselves at risk for others seeing if we fail at those goals. And, perhaps part of being intentional is not caring what others think of us. Let's pursue the approval of those who really matter (God, ourselves, family and close friends) and not those who wish to judge our failures. And, if we strive for an ambitious goal and we don't succeed, is that really a failure? We surely would be much better off if we hadn't done any work to achieve the goal, right?
Richard's goals include maintaining a rigorous exercise routine and improving his eating habits. He hopes to run another half marathon this year. Not an easy goal considering he works a minimum of 60 hours a week.
Julie's goal includes to continue running and to complete several half marathons working up to the Bass Pro Marathon on November 6, 2016.
As a family, we would like to attend church more regularly. We want to spend less time in front of a screen and more time interacting together. When we have free time, we want to be intentional about planning trips and creating memories. And, part of strengthening our family is strengthening our marriage through date nights and more time having meaningful conversations.
Financially, we would like to save more, and be intentional about our spending. This means spending less on frivolous stuff (like crafting supplies, trips to Target and Starbucks) and increasing giving to whatever causes touch our hearts. We also want to start teaching Mason about financial responsibilities and the pride that comes with earning and spending your own money.
Mason's goal is to get a Jango Fett costume ASAP.
Happy 2016! Looking forward to the great things to come this year!
I took Mason with me to vote (2016 Primary). 
