We love the month of January! A new beginning, another chance, a fresh start! The mercy of the Lord permeates the month of January!! We are so grateful for a God that gives us hope and strength to see His vision for our family and personally for all that He has for us!! We pray you sense His mercy too as you begin 2011!

It is our family’s tradition to have a New Year’s Eve party. It is usually just our family with maybe a few friends. We have party food, hats, poppers, and lots of sparkling apple cider. We watch the New Year count down and fireworks on TV either from Time Square in New York or the space needle in Seattle. We yell, scream and kiss each other Happy New Year at the stroke of midnight!! It is a fun tradition that has continued through the lives of all our children.

Even our dog Colt is too cool to be caught in this group!

We also ask everyone to fill out a goal sheet before the clock strikes 12, which we have attached. The format has changed over the years based on things we have read and input from our kids. When the children were little, our goal sheet was much simpler and we often helped them think through what they wanted to accomplish. This has evolved into an intentional effort for all of us to consider life and how God might use us to further His kingdom.

We ask that everyone spend a few minutes reflecting on the former year and all that God has done for them personally and for our family. Then everyone is to write their goals down to be read often during 2011. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope.” Pastor Dee Dukes says, “Goal setting is working at discovering what God’s will is for our life.” This is a habit that allows us to better sense what God’s will is for us – we want to train our kids to get into the habit of writing goals.

Also on their Goal Setting Sheet is a section for “favorite things”. This section helps for things like birthdays – we know their favorite cake or their favorite dinner so we can prepare it. If someone is having a bad day or a really good day – we know their favorite candy bar or pack of gum so that we know how best to surprise them. We make copies of each person’s sheet and send them out to everyone. We know how to bless each one uniquely based on their requests.

I know it’s almost February, but if you haven’t already made goals and encouraged your kids to do the same – it’s not too late! Make it a point to teach your kids to pray and ask God what He wants in this coming year. Then write down what they think God would like them to accomplish in 2011. If they are young it might be simple things like obeying mommy and daddy – it they are a little older maybe making my bed every morning. Remember to start with some spiritual goals like bible reading and prayer. Remember God has plans for you and your kids… wouldn’t it be fun to discover what those plans are? Think about how much easier it would be to “train up your child” this year if you had a better idea of how God is leading them. And what a great habit you're teaching your kids as they seek out God’s “plans for a future and a hope.”