Last week I shared with you that, in addition to being an iBloom Ambassador, I was also committing to going through the book during the course of this year.  So, here we are in Chapter 2 in iBloom’s “iChoose2 Love my Life” book.  This chapter is about choosing to live intentionally.

Planning is essential to succeeding in your desired outcomes.  This chapter has us relecting on what 5 things we value most.  It encouraged me to create a plan that reflects what my desired priorities are.  My five most valued priorities are . . . .

1. God, 2. Husband, 3. Children, 4. Self-Improvement and My Work and 5. Extended Family, Church, and Other Relationships

That would be my verbal statement of the order of importance in my life as well. However, I do have to admit that I tend to focus much more time on my work than any of the other areas.  I often place my children’s needs ahead of my husbands.  I even fail to stay faithful in spending time in God’s word.  I am inconsistent in most things.  (sigh)

The chapter wraps up by asking if your life’s activities reflect the things that you value most and, if not, how can I begin to incorporate those values into your daily life.

Hmmm…The thoughts I have on this is that I need to ensure that I spend quiet time with the Lord each day – praying and reading His Word.  I also need to make sure that I am able to sit with and spend time with my husband in the evening hours, even when the computer is beckoning me.  I need to prioritize the after school hours to be my kids time.  That will require me to stay focused on my work during the school day – and I have to admit, it is easy for me to get distracted.  I also need to get over my discouragement over the last attempt I had to do a family devotion with the children.  I need to pray about my attitude and pray that my husband might feel led to lead in this area.  In the meantime, I need to take the time to make studying His Word together a priority.

Those are the main areas that became clear to me in reflecting.  Next step…make those changes part of my daily PLAN.

A side note about this…It is very easy to get discouraged.  I fall for this trap often.  I berate myself and start to buy intot he lie that I’m never going to do things ‘right’.  Yet, God knows my weaknesses and my strengths.  He loves me and He loves my children – even more than I do!  I AM what my children need – even though I fall FAR short of perfect.  I came across this article today because I am trying (again) to make rising early a priority in my life.  It really helped me and I believe that it could help you as well!  Go ahead and take the few minutes to read it.

What about you?  Do you know what the top 5 things you value in your life are?  Is your time a reflection of those values? Do you have changes that need to be made (like me)?  Are you committed to staying encouraged and pressing on (woo-hoo! Let’s do this)  -  Please let me know.  I’d love to hear from you!  Leave a comment below.

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