Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe we’re standing toe to toe with a new year and decade. As I have the last couple years, I’ve been thinking through my goals and intentions for 2020 with Lara Casey’s PowerSheets. It’s such an amazing tool to cultivate what matters and count fruit – even if it feels small.

My process of setting goals, always starts out with a word that I feel like the Lord is whispering to me. This year, I was telling Kevin his word should be “open” although I had no reason why and then I took it back because in that exact moment I was like, actually that’s my word. It was the most interesting way of a word coming up for me but I’m excited to run with it. As I let the word marinate through December, open really felt like an invitation for me. Here is the note I took on my phone over the course of a couple weeks:

  • Open is an invitation to let my guard down, to experience vulnerability, and to invite people in.
  • Open is an invitation into wonder and delight. To get outside, go for drives, and take in the natural beauty around me.
  • Open is an invitation to enjoy rhythms over routines. To try new things. To allow flexibility and spontaneity.
  • Open is an invitation to dig deeper into God’s word and truly experience solitude with the Lord.
  • Open is an invitation to really live in the margins. To stop scrolling and spend my time doing things that fill my cup.
  • Open is an invitation to a peaceful, deep, and joy-filled 2020.

Here are my 2020 Goals for the year of OPEN.

Goal 1: Prioritize my health – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, environmental, and social.

Why? To change the trajectory of my life. To live strong. To be who God made me to be.

The positive affect taking action on this goal may have on me and others: Taking action on this goal will affect all areas of my life, decision making, sleep, energy levels and, of course, the people around me.

Mini Goals:

  • Create good nutrition habits and portion sizes.
  • Move my body and challenge myself in my workouts.
  • Decrease stress through simplification and removing barriers of decision making.
  • Purchase more second-hand and ethically sourced items.

Starting Steps (and when I’ll do them): download new app for tracking food (12/29); try a cycling class (1/2020); add workouts to my calendar weekly (1/2020)

Encouraging Words: 1 Corinthians 10:41, Psalm 23:1-6, Philipians 4:8

Goal 2: Allow open to be an invitation to live intentionally.

Why? Being open to change and vulnerability as well as growth of faith will help me to be a better follower of Christ who deeply and intentionally impacts the lives of others.

The positive affect taking action on this goal may have on me and others: Taking action on this goal will allow me to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit, glorify the Lord, and bear fruit in my life and that of others.

Mini Goals:

  • Experience solitude with God through Bible reading and deeper prayer.
  • Choose vulnerability with my people to go deeper in relationships.
  • Love on my people by celebrating and hosting them well.
  • Invest in daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly rhythms over routines.

Starting Steps (and when I’ll do them): clean off my desk/raskog cart (12/31); order Hobonichi Weeks to be used for Bible Study, gratitude, and church notes (12/30); create a social media mantra (2/2020); plan a trip to see Brittany and Taylor (1/2020)

Encouraging Words: Ephesians 5:15-17, Hebrews 10:24-25, 1 Timothy 4:15-16, Matthew 11:30

There you have it! I can’t wait to see where open takes me in 2020!