Setting Their Hope in God: Biblical Intercession for Your Children

This year, Self Development is one of my top 6 priorities. Part of my self development goal is to read books (including reading through the Bible in a year) that will help me to grow as a a Christ follower, wife, and mother. The book Setting Their Hope in GOD: Biblical Intercession for Your Children by Andrew Case is on my list of books to read in February.

I thought I would share this with you because right now, the Kindle edition is only $0.99 on Amazon. You do not have to have a Kindle to read the book, you can also download the free app for your Android phone or tablet, iPad, iPhone, Windows8 PC or tablet, Blackberry or Windows phone.

*Prices on Amazon can change at any time. This is the current price as of the time of this post

Some of the links on this website are "affiliate links." This means that if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive a commission.

My 2013 Goals

I must admit that I am not good at keeping resolutions. I do, however, like working toward my goals. Instead of making a resolution this year, I am going to set specific, measurable goals that fit in with my top 6 priorities.

God

1. Have a 30 minute quiet time each day to read Bible and pray
2. Read through the Bible in a year
3. Attend church every Sunday
4. Start a prayer group with other stay-at-home moms (meet once a month)

Spouse

1. Spend at least 30 minutes one-on-one time with Derek each day
2. One date night per month
3. Weekly in home date nights
4. One getaway this year (after I stop nursing my son)
5. Finish working through Closer: Devotions to Draw Couples Together

Children

1. 30 minutes daily one-on-one time with each child
2. Weekly preschool time on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (see my plans here)
3. Monthly one-on-one outing with each child
4. Nightly reading and bedtime

Others

1. Weekly planned activity focus on others (i.e. deliver meals, make homemade gift, etc)
2. One monthly activity focused on community outreach (blessing bags, delivering meals to homeless etc)

Self Development

1. Read 1 book each week or 4 books per month (see the books I am planning to read here)
2. Daily time to rest
3. Daily time to work on blogging, craft project, etc

Home Management

1. Create a menu plan each week (see my weekly menu plans here)
2. Complete Home Challenge task each week
3. Stick to daily/weekly cleaning plan

What are your goals for 2013?

Books to Read in January 2013

One of my top 6 priorities for 2013 is to focus on self development. One goal in this area is to read at least one book per week or 4 per month. I love to read, but it is something I haven't had much time to do in the last few years. Each month, I will be selecting books to read during the month and will post them here on the blog.

Since I have the Kindle app on my iPhone (which is free if you don't use it already), it is easy for me to read when I have a few minutes downtime. I am also going to plan ahead, and reserve copies of the books I want to read at the library to save on the cost of books.

Here are the books I plan to read in January:

The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life



Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

 



The Heart of Simplicity: Foundations for Christian Homemaking

 

 

Redemption

Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions

 

 

In the Shadow of the Banyan: A Novel

I love to read fiction, so I am going to go out on a limb this year and focus on reading more non-fiction books. I feel like these books will give me a good variety of fiction and non-fiction and will also help me to grow spiritually.

What books are you planning to read in January?

Prioritizing Life the Way God Intended

In March of 2008, I married the most amazing man. Ever since that day, my life has become a whirlwind. My first daughter was born in March of 2009 (a day after our first wedding anniversary), my second daughter was born in August of 2010 and my son was born in July of 2012. Having three children under the age of four has been challenging.

Before my eldest daughter was born, my husband and I made the decision that I would be a stay-at-home mom. At the beginning, I worked from home for a family member's business and I created a money saving blog. After the birth of my second daughter, I knew that I had to make some changes. I was constantly stressed and anxious trying to keep up with my self imposed work load. I quit my part time job and discontinued blogging. Despite these changes, I still felt like I couldn't keep up with my day to day workload.

During the last few weeks, I have been praying about how to cope with my anxiety and stress. God has revealed to me that my priorities have been severely out of whack. It is now abundantly clear to me, that it is necessary for me to make some drastic changes in my life. First and foremost, my relationship with God has to be my number one priority. Without a focus on this relationship, I know that I will not be able to accomplish any of the things that I would like to. Secondly, I must focus on my relationship with my husband. Although my husband and I have a good relationship, I know that I fall short of the things that I should do as a Godly wife. My children need to be my third priority. Too many times, I allow outside things to take precedence over my children. My vice is technology...Facebook, Pinterest, reading blogs, etc.  After God, my husband, and my children, I need to focus on serving others. In order to accomplish these first four goals, I know that there are many things that I need to do to simplify my life.

2013 Priorities

1. Relationship with God
2. Relationship with Husband
3. Relationship with Children
4. Service to Others
5. Self Development
6. Household Management

I created this blog as a means to hold myself accountable for a reorganized, simple lifestyle. I will be focusing on the things that I do to focus on my top 6 priorities. I hope that some of the things that I learn along the way will also be beneficial for you as well.

What ways are you planning to simplify your life in 2013? Do you need to make any changes to your priorities?