New Year, New Goals!

I might be one of the worst goal setters, ever. I actually found the sheet of paper that I wrote all my goals on from last year, and I had only actually accomplished, 2. Pretty sad, right? Oh well- we are human and we like to set goals. We rarely reach them, but at least we try to do better, right?

This year is no different! I have goals! And this year, I am determined to achieve them (unlike last year, when I was determined too, but this year, I "mean" it.)

One of my goals for this year is to have weekly FHE- Family Home Evenings. It's been hard with just the two of us, but now with the little one and another one on the way- we have no excuse- since we are actually a "family" now (consisting of more than just the two of us).

I was inspired by our Stake Conference this last weekend. One of the speakers was talking about becoming like Christ and how Christ had an attitude of gratitude. Even Christ was grateful - "Father I thank thee that thou hast heard me." - John 11:41.

I think that we could all be a little more grateful, but I was more inspired by the speaker's invitation to "become like Christ." This got me thinking- if we are to become like Christ (the whole reason we are here)- how are we to do that without knowing Him? Knowing about Him-who He was, what attributes He had? We can't. So in order to become like Him, we need to know Him.

Ward's and Stake's will have a yearly theme. So I decided that we could have a family theme and that our theme could be to "Become like Christ." And then each month focus on one of His attributes that we could incorporte better into our lives.

This may seem like a lofty goal- 12 different themes (because we all know- my goals last the first month- maybe two!) But I figure sometimes the reason I don't achieve my goals is because I don't have a regular reminder- and when you stop remembering, you forget. Thus- the blog! If I write it down and have a place I can regularly go back and check, maybe I will be more apt to follow through. We shall see.

I just thought I'd share- because I do want to stand as a witness. I don't want people to ever wonder if I have a testimony or if I believe in Christ. I do. And hopefully this year, I will be able to work harder with my family to be more like our perfect, Savior.

To start out- I found this quote by Pres. Ezra Taft Benson. He said, "To be like the Savior—what a challenge for any person! He is a member of the Godhead. He is the Savior and Redeemer. He was perfect in every aspect of His life. There was no flaw nor failing in Him. Is it possible for us...to be even as He is? The answer is yes. Not only can we, but that is our charge, our responsibility. He would not give us that commandment if He did not mean for us to do it."

We can do it! We can become like Him, and luckily, we have His help.


So here are the 12 attributes we have chosen to work on for the year. We will focus on a new one each month and focus our Family Home Evening lessons around each monthly theme. And hopefuly, "when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure." -Moroni 7:48

January
Steadfast and Immovable
Being steadfast in the gospel and keeping the commandments.
"Therefore, I would that ye should be always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all." -Mosiah 5:15

February
Loving and Charitable
Learning to love others as the Savior loves them- having charity- the pure love of Christ.
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all..." -Moroni 7:46

March
Clean and Virtuous
Spring cleaning means cleaning our thoughts and homes- making it a place where the spirit can dwell. Pres. Benson: "Virtue is akin to holiness, an attribute of godliness. A priesthood holder should actively seek for that which is virtuous and lovely and not that which is debasing or sordid. Virtue will garnish his thoughts unceasingly..."
"...Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven." D&C 121:45

April
Prayerful
Heavenly Father is our literal Father- and we should develop a relationship with Him. The only way to do that is through prayer.
"Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day." - Alma 37:37

May
Repentance and Forgiveness
We can be perfect, but only with the help of our Savior and His atonement. We must be willing to use it on a regular basis to be cleansed. We also need to be forgiving- if we aren't, the Lord will not forgive us.
"I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men." - D&C 64:10

June
Teaching and being Teachable
The Savior spent most of His ministry teaching. It is our responsibility to teach our children. If we do not teach them what they need to know and do, the sin will fall on our heads. We also need to be teachable- humble enough to receive counsel.
"And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." -3 Ne. 22:13
Elder Robert D. Hales: "As we teach our children the gospel through word and example, our families are spiritually strengthened and fortified."

July
Patient and Temperate
"And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience..." - 2 Peter 1:6
To learn of the Savior's divine nature, we need to practice temperance.
Pres. Benson: "This(temperance) means he is restrained in his emotions and verbal expressions. he does things in moderation and is not given to overindulgence. In a a word, He has self-control."
Two words for me: "verbal expressions". Ya, we need to work on that.


August
Obedient
We need to be more "I will go and do" and less "I will go and do what fits my lifestyle." We need to be obedient in all things, not just the convenient ones.
"And it came to pass that he was obedient unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord commanded him." -1 Ne. 2:3

September
Knowledge
To know our Savior, we must be willing to learn of Him, to study his words and the words of His chosen prophets.
"Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me." - D&C 19:23

October
Humble
We need to be willing to accept direction and lean completely on our Savior. We are nothing without Him.
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." - Ether 12:27

November
Gratitude
Even the Savior expressed His gratitude on a regular basis. We need to have an attitude of gratitude.
Sis. Parkin called Gratitude, the "pathway to happiness." The more we express our gratitude for what we are given, the more the Lord is willing to bless us even more.
"Father, I thank thee that thou hast given the Holy Ghost unto these whom I have chosen..." 3 Ne. 19:20

December
Service
"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." - Mosiah 2:17

There you have it! Our Family goal for 2010. Wish us luck!