I typically don’t make New Year’s resolutions. But I do have some goals that are already established, so I will use those. They are technically just continuations of things I am already working on that I want to make more progress with in 2011:
1. Memorizing the gospel of Matthew. Right now I have chapters 1-7 down pretty well, just 21 more to go. I need to catch up with Grant, he’s almost done!
2. Reading more books off my classic book list. In 2010 I read: Jane Eyre, Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, Wuthering Heights, and currently War and Peace. My list for 2011: finish War and Peace, then read Anna Karenina, Great Expectations, and The Republic. And a couple not from the classic list: Unveiled at Last, and Husband Coached Childbirth (before March!) We’ll see how much time I have for leisurely reading after the baby comes.
3. Continue to sharpen my sewing, crocheting, knitting, and cooking/baking skills. Plus I have so many new things and techniques I want to learn in these areas.
4. Chip more away at the old debt snowball and be almost done by the end of the year. (Thank you, Mr. Ramsey).
5. I guess the whole “New Year's resolution” list wouldn’t be complete without something related to diet and exercise. Mine is to get back to my pre-pregnancy size once I have the baby. I’m not setting a time frame (summer would be nice), but in general that will be the goal. If I don’t get back to it exactly, I’m not going to fret. I’ve heard some things are just never quite the same :)
But if all these fail, that’s okay. I really want to deepen my relationship with Christ more than anything. If I do that, I will count 2011 a success.
Well friends and family, Happy New Year!
Hi Ashlee!
ReplyDeleteWow, you're memorizing Matthew? I'd heard that a couple people in the Northland congregation were memorizing it, but I didn't know who was doing it. Do you have a specific method you're doing to memorize it? And how do you and Grant plan to keep it all reviewed. I was working on memorizing Romans (though I'm taking a break from that right now and am working on Matthew 5-7), but keeping everything reviewed is a struggle for me.
Let's see...some of my new years goals/resolutions (basically continuations of things I was working on last year) are:
1)Memorize Romans
2)Read through the Bible and journal each day about what I learned/noticed
3)Spend time in the Word each morning before I get on my computer
4)Draw more
5)Learn more about cooking and begin making more meals for my family.
I read "Jane Eyre" last year, also! And Daniel & I read "Great Expectations" for school a couple years ago.
Happy New Year (a couple days late :) to you, as well! Hope 2011 is an amazing year for you!
Amy
Oh, wow! That comment turned out a lot longer than I intended. I guess it's 'cause I like to write...Sorry abou that!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commmenting Amy, we have some similar goals for the year. :) Grant and Luke are the ones you probably heard about memorizing Matthew. They are both done, and I'm well, not even close! I'm not sure if there is an exact method, but I memorize the outline first (like the subheadings in the chapters) then just read it out loud over and over. To keep it reviewd, I always start reading from the beginning again and work my way to where I'm memorizing. We host dinner about once a month and read through Matthew, you should come next time with your brother. :)
ReplyDeleteI made a long comment too, so no worries. Thanks for reading and sharing!
Thanks for sharing how you memorize, Ashlee. I do it kind of similarly...I begin by reading it aloud over and over, but then after I've done that I work through the passage verse by verse. It kind of cements it in my mind better and it's pretty easy to learn each verse once I've been reading it for a while. Reading from the beginning up to where you are memorizing is a really good idea. I think I'm going to start doing that. The way I have been doing it is learn a chapter, move on to the next chapter, and then every few weeks go back and review. How long have you been working on Matthew? Oh, it would be fun to come sometime to your read-through-Matthew evenings :)
ReplyDeleteAmy