I don’t know about you, but I love December.

There’s a host of reasons; Advent, the anticipation of Christmas, spending time with family, using my Christmas dishes and giving gifts top my list.

Also. Target has already started putting out their Twenty-Fifteen planners and calendars.

It takes every ounce of restraint and self-control I have to not go out and buy one or ten. They are all so pretty. There’s portrait or landscape orientation. Soft bound, hard bound or spiral bound. Week or day at a glance, month at a glance. Oh the possibilities of how to effectively manage one’s year are endless.

December always finds me at a place of reflection and contemplation. As I begin to dream about and look ahead to another new year, I am already grateful with the anticipation of 365 gifts of time, hope and promise. But before I can allow myself to get too far down the road of goal setting and prayerful determinations about the coming year, every December I pause and take account of the previous year.

I ended 2013 on a pretty low note following Ryan’s deployment and return home. I was just so full of feelings and emotions that I really didn’t know what to do with. So as 2014 began, I knew that it could only go up from 2013.

This year has been crazy busy and super full of transitions, but my main goal was to get back to the basics. I aimed to keep the focus on what I called my “Four M’s.”

• marriage
• myself
• motherhood
• ministry

Obviously there are a few sub-categories under each of those broad topics, but my main mantra was that the ways in which I chose to spend my time in 2014 needed to edify one of those main components of my life.

I will spare you the specifics, but I feel as if I worked really hard on some aspects of my Four M’s, and other areas still could use some improvement. (Oh if my journal could talk!)

Through the course of the fall, I have taken THREE different spiritual gifts inventories. Each one is varied and unique but all three reported the same areas of strength. I am thankful to have had access to those tools as I fully believe knowing the results has helped me to plan and goal set for the coming year.

It feels like for the first time in a while, I am getting some clarity about where my time and energy will be best spent. For the first time in a long time, I am feeling okay with saying “no” to many things so that I may say “yes” to the things that are important to me and where I have felt the Lord calling and leading me.

I have been reading like a maniac and burning a hole right through my library card. I have been journaling and day dreaming and making notes. I have been setting time tables and penciling in plans for myself and our family.

Please. I am no dummy. I realize that “the heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” {Proverbs 16:9} And I am open to the Lord having the reigns, not me. However, it has been a while since I have felt a certain sense of motivation. It has been a while since I have felt a clear confirmation about some of the goals I hope to accomplish in the coming year.

Most of all, I am so excited to see how the Lord moves in our family and where He alone leads us.

Here are my main priorities for 2015:

• forming good habits and routines (self-care, family care, spiritual care & household duties)
• writing (like it’s my job)
• simplicity (less commitments, less stuff, etc.)

I would LOVE to hear how your 2015 plans are shaping up! Do you have any pressing goals or priorities? Anything you are looking forward to tackling?