Time to Evaluate My Life!

In my book Balanced, one of the things I encourage women to do is take an honest look at their lives, and to come up with a “Yeah! list” of things they’re doing great at, and a “Fail! list” of areas they feel they’re falling short. I thought I’d take my own advice. Here is the list of the first things that popped into my mind today:

Yeah!

• I’m keeping up with Reading Through the Bible this year!
• I’m reading a fun “chapter book” with my kids: Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. I always enjoy these moments, and I know they do, too.
• I’m trying to do special things for my husband . . . like making his favorite pie. I can tell he likes to be surprised in these ways.
• I’ve said no to some writing, ministry, and speaking opportunities, even though they sounded super fun, because I know doing too much is hard on my family.
• I’m helping to connect blogger friends for support and encouragement.

Fail!

• I’m not going a very good job connecting with my older kids. The little ones are so needy.
• I’m not doing a very good job at spending time managing business things beyond my computer screen—like the piles on my desk, on my floor, on the guest bed!
• I’m doing OK at maintaining my weight-loss, but I need more “umph” to lose the last twenty pounds!

The Evaluation of my Evaluation

OK, the truth is, I had an easier time thinking of things on the fail list first. And I know I could have come up with more, but those three fails are the things that really stood out.

In Balanced I encourage readers to take a look at their failures and ask, “Do I need to make changes in this area, or do I need to give myself grace?”

As I took these things before God (as I asked my readers to do) I realize none of them are really failures. I do spend time talk to, Skyping with, and hanging out with my older kids. Yet I also need to be proactive to reach out to them, help them, and encourage them.

I do need time to sort through the things on my desk, so I write this into my schedule. (Is it really that hard to sort through papers? Sometimes I think it is, but I can pray and ask for strength for things like this, too.)

Finally, my weight, which has been a life-long challenge, is again another reminder that I need to turn to God. I need to seek Him for my comfort and pleasure. I also need to remember to thank Him for helping me make it this far (forty-five pounds down!). I need to rejoice in what He’s doing in my life even though I haven’t “arrived.”

Read the rest of this post on The Better Mom!

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