Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
Psalm 84:5
GOLD INTENTIONS
The road to good intentions is
paved with purest gold
it shines upon our faces filling
us with wondrous hope.
It can lead us on a pathway of
strength, resolve and victory
but often times it only leads to
guilt, despair and misery.
Time goes by paved with gold intentions
every day giving the gift of
making good decisions
yet only in making the decisions
that are right
will our gold intentions become
reality instead of regret.
~Marcell Warner Bridges
©June, 2013
I’ve traveled this way before. I’m sure of it. This rugged and mountainous landscape looks familiar.
The new year always presents us with the opportunity to grow and achieve. It gives us the ability to dream new and bigger dreams as well as reach goals whether they be ones we’ve already tried to accomplish, or new goals we’ve never thought of before.
Our Christian walk is a pilgrimage. When we set our hearts on knowing God and letting Him be in control of our lives, He guides us in strength to endure the hardships and do the hard things.
A few days ago I was researching planners. I had decided in order to really walk with God and to do the hard and holy things* He would have me do, I need help keeping my priorities straight. One video I watched showing how to use a certain planner, revealed something quite extraordinary to me. She pointed out that we like to make goals, but when we write them down we tend to write them in broad strokes. Meaning, we write down our goals, but we don’t write down how we want to accomplish them.
It was sort of an epiphany to me. Instead of thinking of all the things I want to do, which are many and can become extremely overwhelming, the best use of my time then would be to write down exactly how I want to achieve my goals.
So, you could say for this year, I have goals and then, I have mini-goals.
If I were climbing a mountain in real life, physically, I would have a lot of training to do first. It would be the hardest thing I have ever done. But with that training comes confidence and the ability to do the hard things. But I’m learning that in my Christian walk when God gets involved mountain climbing is a whole lot easier.
I don’t know which route he is taking me, but I know with Him I can do all things because He is my strength and His footsteps will become my pathway (Psalm 85:13).
What goals will you be pursuing this year? Will you allow God to be your footsteps to achieving them?
From My Heart to Yours,
Marcie
*How to Stop Procrastination: Dear You Trying To Do The Hard Thing In The New Year by Ann Voskamp
I really like the idea of setting mini-goals, Marcie, bite-sized pieces that help us attain our goals gradually. It’s all in the planning, and trusting God to show us the way He wants us to go.
Blessings!
I really like this idea too Martha. It seems more doable and approachable than to just write down what I want to do. I get so overwhelmed so easily with making to-do lists. I am hoping this will help me “succeed” a bit more this year in my plans. Thank you for your encouragement! 🙂
Thank you for the encouragement, Marcie! I learned a lot of things not to do in the last year. It helps to change course by thinking of small goals.
Maybe making smaller goals will help us focus more on what is important and not the overall objective? I read another blog post this week about making sure when we make our plans we leave room for “real life” in them. For example: if I want to lose 5 pounds by a certain date, instead of making it that exact date I move it to 2 weeks after that date because real life happens and perhaps it is not the timetable in which we get something done as much as that we get it done. I think this will help me not be so overloaded in my own brain. Thank you for your encouragement to me too Norma! 🙂
This is so good! I’m trying to find a planner also, but I want one that doesn’t need a learning curve with it – lol! More than just a calendar, but doable for an ordinary person like me 🙂
With all the researching I did this last week on them, I believe I can help you with that. I mean, we are two peas in a pod, so of course I was looking for the same.
but, of course 😀 I was hoping you would say that!