Black Sunshine Notes: Reflections and Intentions

So here we are, coming up on a new year. It's exciting and a little frightening. I'm excited for all the changes that will be going on. But I am frightened of all the changes and the unknown challenges we may face. We had some hard, hard challenges this year-personally and as a family. I wonder what will happen in the months to come?

On the SimpleMom blog, there is a list of questions that you can use to reflect on this previous year. I found them to be quite useful in thinking about the past year. I also thought an interesting activity might be to answer the questions for the next year as if it turned out the way I imagined it. For instance, one of the questions asks "In what ways did you grow spiritually?" I would like to answer something like this: "I gained a greater testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I found a connection with Heavenly Father deeper than any I have ever felt. I have strengthened my faith and feel much less fear about the future. I created a regular habit of scripture and gospel study and feel myself greatly enriched by these." So if that is what I want to say, what are the steps I need to take to be able to say that?

I've found, in thinking about the new year, that 2008 was nothing like what I want my life to be. There are some factors that are out of my control (the way my kids behave, the choices my husband makes, where we live, etc.), but there are many things that are in my control. Those are the things that I want to focus my energy on in 2009. For instance, so much of my time is wasted on stupid things like watching You Tube videos and reading blogs. Very few blogs actually leave me feeling uplifted and inspired. So I will focus on those and leave out all the rest. I have been amazed also that I have let so many things go that really fill me up emotionally and spiritually. I used to (before I had kids) go for long walks everyday. I would just look at the world and think and pray. I would notice things and be inspired by the beauty that I saw in nature. It's much harder to do any of that with kids, but this year I must ask for

R-Jay's help so that I can have it again.

So here is my list of intentions for the new year. (I wanted more general ideas rather than specific goals. I want to be able to see how these things evolve during the course of the year without feeling like I have failed.)

2009 Intentions

Significantly reduce our debt.
Seek more intellectual stimulation for me personally.
Spend more time outdoors studying and enjoying nature.
Be more active as a family.
Declutter our home and learn to live more simply.
Grow closer as a family-spend more quality time together.
Increase the spirituality in our home-become more Christ-centered.
Gain a greater level of spirituality for me personally.
Seek Serenity and Beauty.
Lose baby weight and be more active for health and energy.

So there you have it. I feel really good about all these things. They make me excited. Most importantly, they are all in line with how I want my life to be.

Lastly, I just wanted to share some photos of the boys. This first one is Sam last Christmas. (2007)