Dates to Celebrate Printable... and Some Mid-Year Resolutions

 

I used to be pretty good at remembering birthdays, anniversaries, smaller holidays (like Mother's Day), writing thank-you notes, etc... but in the last few years I have really slipped.  It's very discouraging to me (especially since, that's kinda one my thing... making creative pretty things!!)!  I want to show my love and appreciation to my family and friends, but I feel like life is often so overwhelming that those things get pushed to the back and usually get forgotten.

When I was in high-school, I used to dream about one day being a stay-at-home mom :)  I remember telling Jeremy when we were dating about how I wanted have time to do those things that everyone else says they don't have time for... and I specifically mentioned sending notes and sweet gifts to friends, family, and little old ladies :) :)  ..oh, the idealism.  

Now I laugh at that, because I didn't realize how incredibly time consuming it would be just to be a mom! ... not to mention house-keeping!   But at the same time, it reminds me of where my priorities began.  And I believe they were pure.  I knew those things were important... showing love and appreciation to friends and family... and at that young age, I was trying to figure out how I could make sure I was always able to do those thing.

So I have a mid-year resolution:  The first part of my resolution is to do some weeding in my schedule.  

You see, I feel kind of like a hypocrite.  It is so important to me to put my husband and my kids first in my daily life.  They are currently my primary assignment and responsibility from God.  I believe that everything else should take a backseat to their spiritual, emotional, and physical needs.  This includes my recreation, my work ambitions, my friends, outside activities, and even church involvement.  If anything gets in the way of me fulfilling my God-given responsibilities to my husband and kids then it should not be in my life...

Sounds good.  BUT... it's really hard to live out.  EVERYTHING wants to creep in and steal my devotion to my call.... even good things like church involvement!  so hard.  So I have to admit to you, I've messed up.  I've allowed myself to be distracted from my original calling.  I've let my work (Etsy, freelance design projects, and even blogging) invade on my time with my kids.  My work load makes me grumpy and steals my best hours away from those little hearts eager for my attention.

So the first part of my resolution is to clear out my schedule... and make room for being the mom I need to be.  And I've been doing this!  I've been turning down pretty much all new freelance projects.  This is unbelievably hard for me considering I've only been building my graphic design business for the past 2  years.  God has blessed me with more business that time permits.  So now he's teaching me how to trust him every time I tell someone "no."    I fear that all that I've worked so hard at the last 2 years with be for nothing if I reject project offers, but I know God is the one who causes me to succeed or fail... not any skills I might have or how hard I work at it.

Okay, so the second part of my resolution is to get back to that place of fulfilling my original call... my God-given assignment for this stage of life. 

 I've been thinking really hard about those early dreams and ambitions for being a wife, a mom, and a home-maker.  I'm jotting down all those things that I want to focus on again: meaningful time with my husband and kids, making meals, keeping up with the house work, keeping up relationships with my family...including those cards and gifts I was talking about earlier (it took me awhile, but I eventually got back to my original point!!).... and it goes on and on to more specific things....

So... in the middle of this process, I made this printable to help me with all those important dates that I need to remember!  I thought I'd share it with you as well... maybe it will help you get back to some of those things that actually have lasting impact on others :) 

This calendar-of-sorts is for recording all those dates to celebrate... including birthdays, anniversaries, holidays that you should call or send someone something...   I'm putting it in my household binder...along with my other planner pages (blog/etsy planner, Christmas gift planner).

DOWNLOAD HERE

*As always...File and finished product for personal use only... not for resale or profit of any kind.



Blessings,