Family Year End Review and Goals

The close of the year is a good time to take stock of the year past and make goals for the year ahead.  We all have dreams and goals but the difference between the two of those is action.  Dreams remain nothing but idle fantasies without action.  Goals on the other hand, are accompanied by a plan and a time limit. 


So in order to make some goals come into focus and have a chance at becoming a reality, my husband and I are going to sit down today and chat about the year behind and the year ahead.  I thought I'd share some of the questions we'll be going over today and maybe they will inspire you to do your own "State of the Union" study on your marriage and family life during the past year.


Just for Couples

1. How do you sense God moving in your lives and guiding you as a couple?
2. Is your marriage growing and getting stronger?
3. Are the children doing well or having struggles?
4. What changes do you want or need to make in the coming year?
5. Where do you feel God is challenging you and your spouse as a couple?
6. Where do you sense God challenging you individually?
7. If you could do any ministry with your spouse, what would it be?
8. What gifts has God given to you individually?  What gifts has God given to you and your spouse as a couple?
9. What about your marriage would you like to change during the coming year?
10. What needs to changed during the coming week?
11. If you have kids, how has your relationship with your spouse changed since adding children to your lives?
12. How has your relationship changed as the children have grown older?
13. What do you like about the changes that have happened since having children?
14. What do you  not like about the changes that have happened since having children?
15. What do you appreciate about your spouse?
16. What would you like to change about yourself in order to better care for your spouse?

Similarly, we are going to have the same kind of talk with our kids, asking similar questions only designed for them.
For Families With Children

1. How do you sense God moving in your lives and guiding you?
2. Is your faith growing and getting stronger?
3. Are you having any struggles that we can pray with you about?
4. Where do you sense God challenging you?
5. What personal changes do you want to make in the coming year?
6. What would you like to change during the coming year?
7. What needs to change during the coming week?
8. What gifts has God given to you?
9. If you could do any ministry, what would it be?
10. How would you like to use those gifts for God in the coming year?
11. What do you like about the changes that have happened in our family in the last year?
12. What do you not like about the changes that have happened in our family in the last year?
13. What do you appreciate about your brother?
14. What do you appreciate about your parents?
15. What would you like to change about yourself in order to better care for your family members?

There are enough questions here to really get your "dream juices" flowing. If you schedule a time to talk and dream, be sure to schedule plenty of time for conversation so that you don't feel rushed. It's also important to begin and end your time together with prayer. You may even want to light a candle at the beginning as a symbol of God's guiding light and constant presence in your marriage and in your lives.


Later on we'll be watching a football game, having snacks and playing board games. I got a brand new game of Cranium from a seller off Craigslist for $5! We've wanted this game for a long time but they are so expensive in the stores. What a blessing to have found a brand new one that someone didn't want for next to nothing!  We're looking forward to trying it out tonight.  Don't know if we'll be staying up till midnight, but the kids really want to, so we'll probably try. 


I hope your New Year will be filled with the blessings of God and that you will seek his will above all else in the months ahead! New years can be troubling for those who don't know the Lord.  As we head into 2012, let's lift up the leaders of nations and pray for peace and grace.  Our country especially is in need of earnest prayer and petition to our Lord. Certainly God's wrath is kindled against it's continual blasphemy and godlessness that takes place here every day. One thing is certain, and that is that the Lord God is slow to anger and great in tender mercies. No matter what the coming year brings, my strong tower and safety is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Just as the arc was to Noah, so is my Saviour to me.


The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
-Proverbs 18:10 


Happy 2012 everyone!