Lara Casey's Blog, page 7

October Progress and November PowerSheets Goals

It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon. – Sarah Addison Allen on November

My friend, Eric, said something this week that struck me: “It’s wise to live each day as if it is the gift that it is—to live as though your days are numbered” (Psalm 90:12). You’ll see that verse on the top of my tending list this month. This life is a gift and I was inspired by his 3 things cancer taught him about financial planning (some of them may surprise you and they will definitely encourage you!). Thank you, brother.

October has been full and beautiful. This weather, y’all. With a big month at work (PowerSheets are here – my cover choice already sold out!) and Ari’s bittersweet farewell to UNC, the brilliant leaves and crisp air have been extra sweet. We spent a few days hiking as a family in Pilot Mountain and Stone Mountain State Park (a new favorite!) and sat around the fire pit with friends a few times. I am grateful for fall. I’m also grateful for many of you who offered prayers for Ari’s work transition. We have felt them and that was so generous!

I made progress on my October goals with the exception of rest. This isn’t for lack of trying. My neck and health have been a challenge my sleep and general well-being. We’re having another conversation with the surgeon soon (anyone ever have a C5-7 disk replacement—I’d love to hear your story or any encouragement you have!). In the mean time, I’m getting serious about rest this month. You’ll see that all over my November tending list. Also… Grace is turning TEN. What!? I am so excited to celebrate her later this month!

In case you missed these:
— Say YES to what matters with the 2022 Powersheets Intentional Goal Planner. Buy your 2022 PowerSheets today!
— I was tickled pink to be included in this Wall Street Journal piece about one of my favorite subjects: caring for our customers.

Onto November! Here’s what’s on my Tending List for the month ahead—all action steps from my 2021 goals.

My goals for the month:

November Monthly Goals:
— Rest
— Make this a month of worship
— Enjoy Bald Head Island
— Pray-pare for Cultivate Your Year Live
— Record video/audio for the 2022 PowerSheets series in Goal School
— Decorate for Christmas!
— Do my 2022 PowerSheets

November Weekly Goals:
— Let go of something
— Homeschool with joy

November Daily Goals:
— Breath
— Bible reading
— Sleep

What are you tending to in November? Share in the comments below!

The post October Progress and November PowerSheets Goals appeared first on Lara Casey.

September Progress and October PowerSheets Goals

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables.

What a month September was! We started school!!!! Sarah lost her first tooth, we pulled out the garden to make room for the new season, and the homeschool has started so well. Getting into new rhythms takes time and patience—and I’m so grateful we’re in the thick of it. Good things are growing.

The last of our zinnias – how fun is that two-tone flower!?

I loved my September goals. We’ve been slowly, but faithfully, working through the process of “Kondo’ing” our house. I did this process over a decade ago and felt God telling me, with all the transitions ahead in this new season and the kids in new stages, it was time. We’ve done our clothes, books (as a homeschool family we have amassed quite a collection!), and various other things thus far. It has been a wonderful process. If you’re considering a big clear-out yourself, my recommendation is to take it one step at a time and give yourself lots of time to do it! My hope is to finish by the end of the year. I also loved making progress on my goal of enjoying these people in front of me. We have the sweetest church group and have had a ton of fun together lately—hay rides, muscadine picking, and lots of time for the kids to run around in open fields while we worship. It has been delightful.

In case you missed these:
— Say YES to what matters with the 2022 Powersheets Intentional Goal Planner. They launch on October 6th at 10 am ET
— I was tickled pink to be included in this Wall Street Journal piece about one of my favorite subjects: caring for our customers.

Farmer Josh with some of the last of the tomatoes for the season!

Onto October! Here’s what’s on my Tending List for the month ahead—all action steps from my 2021 goals.

October holds a lot ahead and this month’s Quarterly Goal Refresh was right on time! Ari is making the transition to a new job after 13 years at UNC. It has been an emotion-filled few weeks for him (tuck him in your prayers, pretty please?). He has loved his work teaching and in academia and is also looking forward to a new adventure. We have a farewell celebration soon and I will have a few tissues in my pocket ready for both of us.

October also brings our annual PowerSheets launch! Join Ari and me live next Tuesday evening at 8 pm ET on the Cultivate Facebook page (come in your PJ’s – I’ll be in mine!) for a celebration of ten years of PowerSheets. Ari has been commissioned to rap live Stay tuned to our Instagram for details. The next morning at 10 am, more fun begins as the 2022 Collection launches. I’ll also be live on the 6th with a bit of fanciness and some surprises. If you are on our newsletter list, you’ll have all the details! I can’t wait!

My goals for the month:

October Monthly Goals:
— Be grounded – rooted in Him
— Pray through the PowerSheets launch
— Create the “Big List” – my annual Q3/4 list of everything I need to do to finish the year well
— Enjoy the mountains – a little trip to Pilot mountain at the end of the month for fall break
— Plant the fall garden

October Weekly Goals:
— Help Ari through his transition at work
— Worship at work

October Daily Goals:
— Read the Bible
— Fluid fitness – my reminder to stretch and breathe as part of my fitness, too!
— Rest

What are you looking forward to in October? Share in the comments below!

The post September Progress and October PowerSheets Goals appeared first on Lara Casey.

August Progress and September PowerSheets Goals

The breezes taste
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel-
Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Burning brush,
New books, erasers,
Chalk, and such.
The bee, his hive,
Well-honeyed hum,
And Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze.
– “September” by John Updike

September 1st brought cooler air—a welcome refreshment for deep breaths as the school year begins! I’m in full homeschool planning and prepping mode right now. Hello, two in Kindergarten and a 4th grader! Cindy Rollins’ book, Mere Motherhood, has had me in stitches lately as I’ve mentally prepared for the year ahead. Homeschool mamas and teachers of all kinds, we can do this! I’m cheering you on! Nothing enlivens me more than leading our children to truth and beauty. I’m excited to learn right alongside them.

I enjoyed making little by little progress on my August goals, especially reading Psalms at night and enjoying the garden. Grace found a bevy of monarch caterpillars that she is now raising in our living room—a joy to watch her care for them so tenderly. Josh and Sarah have picked baskets full of tomatoes, and we’ve brought several baskets to our small church group each week.

Early in August, we enjoyed time at the ocean with our church friends. It was just what we all needed before school begins: sand, sea, laughing when the waves knock us over, collecting shells, telling stories of God’s faithfulness, and lots of fun with dear friends. I treasure these memories. Ari’s parents also spent three weeks with us in August, and it was a gift! This life is a gift. Its brevity and beauty are at the forefront of my mind often these days.

In case you missed these:
— I was tickled pink to be included in this Wall Street Journal piece about one of my favorite subjects: caring for our customers.
— The Cultivated Homeschool Planner has launched! Bring clarity, focus, and ease to you and your family this upcoming season.
— Looking for a way to delight your favorite girl? The Girls Goal Planner is here. It’s everything you love about PowerSheets®—for the next generation!
— Join me and some amazing friends at the Faith Driven Entrepreneur Live conference on September 8th.
— PowerSheets are coming! The 2022 Collection launches on October 6!

Onto September. Here’s what’s on my Tending List for the month ahead—all action steps from my 2021 goals.

My focus this month is space between things—words suggested to me by a trusted mentor. Allow space between things. Enjoy that space between things. Notice the living that happens in the space between things. I tend to go from one important thing to the next without margin to process. I’m practicing slowing my pace a bit this month—with some literal space on my Tending List to remind me.

September Monthly Goals:
— Begin the homeschool year well—lead them to truth + beauty
— Enjoy this life, and these people
— Clear out the house. Reset out family rhythms and spaces. (Step one of our once-per-decade Kondo of the house began today. We decide to start with books, and it was crayyyzzzyyy. As Charlotte Mason homeschoolers, we have amassed quite a collection!)
— Pull up roots and clear the garden for our children

September Weekly Goals:
— Enjoy the garden + fall air

September Daily Goals:
— Read the Bible
— Write the Word
— Read (I found a few treasures in my book clean-out!)
— Weights 2x wk

What’s on your September tending list? Share in the comments below!

The post August Progress and September PowerSheets Goals appeared first on Lara Casey.

July Progress and August PowerSheets Goals

When August days are hot an’ dry,
When burning copper is the sky,
I’d rather fish than feast or fly
In airy realms serene and high.
– Paul Laurence Dunbar

I’d rather be fishin’ or out in the garden! What a month out here! We’ve picked at least 1,000 tomatoes and marveled at the monarchs we released this month. It was so fun to watch them transform from a caterpillar into what God created them to be. We spent a lot of afternoons at the pool, made pickles from our garden goodies, and took a trip to see my parents and brother in Florida—our first visit with them since the pandemic. It was extra special. I cried when I hugged my mom!

Here’s a quick look back at the month in goals:

July Monthly Goals:
— Help people to thrive! / Progress. I’m doing a team training on this in September as well.
— Recite my four (refreshed!) goals each day. / Yes, I faithfully did this up to our trip to Florida and it helped me make decisions in the direction of my goals. Sometimes we have really good meaningful goals and we simply forget them. Recitation and memorization help to move goals to action and reality!
— Pray / Yes, lots of prayer and fruit from those prayers. I am grateful for a God who hears, knows, and sees us.

July Weekly Goals:
— Read aloud to our kids at dinner / Yes! Having the book right there waiting made it easy.
— Read Psalms and Matthew at night / This has been my favorite thing. There were definitely nights I was tired and considered not doing it, but I pushed through and was SO grateful I did! The Word is alive and active. It refreshed my soul more than any sleep could.
— Weights – strength training 3x week / YESSS!!! I have finally found a groove here and I’m really excited about it. Nothing fancy here – some resistance bands attached to a door handle in my house.

July Daily Goals: I made progress on all of these and God made progress on humbling me :).
— Bible reading
— Humility
— Strength
— Belief
— Breath

In case you missed these:
—The Cultivated Homeschool Planner has launched! Bring clarity, focus, and ease to you and your family this upcoming season.
— Looking for a way to delight your favorite girl? The Girls Goal Planner is here. It’s everything you love about PowerSheets®—for the next generation!
— Learn how to ace the interview, land the job, and launch your future with Dee Ann Turner and me.

Onto August! Here’s what’s on my Tending List for the month ahead—all action steps from my 2021 goals.

August Monthly Goals:
— Recite my refreshed goals each day. – Keeping this going! It has helped me take daily action and remember what’s important.
— Enjoy the garden and share our garden treasures with neighbors.
— Prepare for the new school year. We have some back-to-school shopping to do and lots to prep for Kindergarten. You might also love Emily’s post about Kindergarten prep.
— Complete homeschool planning for the fall using the Cultivated Homeschool Planner

August Weekly Goals:
— Have summer adventures – make the most of these weeks before school starts again!
— Read Psalms and Matthew at night – keeping this going
— Weights (strength training 3x week) – keeping this going, too

August Daily Goals:
— Bible reading
— Encourage others in their faith
— Pray – I have three family members I’m focusing prayer on this month to give them some extra love

Your turn! I’d love to hear your goals this month. Share in the comments below!

The post July Progress and August PowerSheets Goals appeared first on Lara Casey.

June Progress and July PowerSheets Goals

That beautiful season, the Summer!
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light;
And the landscape lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Well, Josh ate his first tomatoes from the garden in June, so you know it was a good month! (Tomatoes are kind of his thing.) Between the garden exploding with bounty to popsicles and a trip to the mountains with friends, it was a fun month for this crew!

A quick recap of my June goals:

June Monthly Goals:
— Fill our days with Your Word. – This looked like reading to the kids at dinner (4 pm around here!) and singing hymns with them.
— Let God take care of me. – Most definitely made progress here. I was about to write “Take care of myself” on my Tending List, but surrendering to God‘s power, not my own tends to prove more effective. I focused this month on listening to the Lord in taking care of myself so I can take care of others.
— Finish For the Children’s Sake. – Moving to this month – almost done!
— Pray-pare for Refresh Your Year Live. – It was wonderful! HOORAY!
— Prepare for a new season. – Praise the Lord, huge progress here! I’m grateful for my PowerSheets to help me know where to focus in times of transition!

June Weekly Goals:
— Shabbat + Havdalah – This was poor planning on my part for the Havdalah part. We were out of town a bit, so I didn’t have our supplies, but we did Shabbat and I love lighting candles on Friday evenings!
— Kick off summer enrichment homeschool. – Officially kicked off! Grace officially graduated from 3rd grade, marking our fourth year of homeschool! I’m so grateful for this journey and excited for all of our kiddos and how God is growing them. We do school year-round so we can enjoy shorter school days and more time around holidays and summer fun. My favorite intentional planning tools? The Cultivated Homeschool Planner and this new weekly planner notepad that I can’t get enough of! We make products we love and need ourselves.
— Study the Scriptures

June Daily Goals:
— OT Bible reading
— WORK OUT – I started lifting weight again and it makes me so grateful!

At my favorite hiking spot above – Roan Mountain, Tennessee!

In case you missed these:
— I share about growing good things slowly on the Strong Women podcast.
— Learn how to ace the interview, land the job, and launch your future with Dee Ann Turner and me.

Onto July. Here’s what’s on my Tending List for the month ahead—all action steps from my 2021 goals.

July Monthly Goals:
— Help people to thrive!
— Recite my four (refreshed!) goals each day. I was SO grateful for the Mid-Year Refresh and Refresh Your Year Live helping me uncover clear goals for the rest of the year. Dig in here!
— Pray

July Weekly Goals:
— Read aloud to our kids at dinner
— Read Psalms and Matthew at night
— Weights – strength training 3x week

July Daily Goals:
— Bible reading
And these last four are reminders of my goals for the rest of this year:
— Humility
— Strength
— Belief
— Breath

Your turn! I’d love to hear how you’re refreshing yourself for the next 90 days. Share in the comments below!

The post June Progress and July PowerSheets Goals appeared first on Lara Casey.

May Progress and June PowerSheets Goals

If not for June,
My memories of Winter in December…
With a wish to witness,
The freshness of Spring March would bring…
Would not still remain so vivid.
As if only yesterday visited.
If not for June.
– Lawrence S. Pertillar

June, I am grateful for you. This season brings many treasures: a first dip in the pool, vegetables ripening in the garden, pockets full of honeysuckle, and summer adventures.

And it also brings reflection as we near the mid-point of the year and consider what matters most. Ahh, I love the last part of this poem by Pertillar:

And if not for June I would not be able to reminisce,
From so many experiences I could pick.
June seems to be the month I can do this.
With a thankfulness I am still in the midst,
Of a year that appears to have just begun.
With so much left to offer before it is done.
And for me this happens only when June comes.

In many ways, I feel my year has just begun. As we’ve chatted about before, there are times when you are faced with the brevity of life—and the fragile nature of our human selves. Those can either be times that scare you OR scare you for a moment (a natural response!) and then embolden you to LIVE YOUR LIFE. For me, it was the latter this month. News that major surgery is the only option with my neck at this point left me stunned and sad and then… numbering my days.

We only get this one life and I want to live it.

May was a month of relying on the Lord and doing the things I’ve always wanted to do. Doing what I can with what I have. Soaking up moments with our kids. New perspective and believing in His power. As Pertillar so beautifully said, I have a year and a life ahead that appears to have just begun with so much left to offer before it’s done!

The focus of my May goals was perfect for the full month of processing challenges and watching God at work in them.

May Monthly Goals:
— Plant seeds of faith in our children
— Enjoy the garden

May Weekly Goals:
— Shabbat

May Daily Goals:
— Bible reading

We celebrated new sprouts as we have been known to do, watched our children conquer fears (Sarah became BFF to the ocean!) and play with abandon at the beach, and let go of work and worry on Shabbat. God knew we would need dedicated rest: emotionally, spiritually, physically. And He knew before I did that my body would eventually fail me… and how that failure would contrast His unchanging faithfulness!

In case you missed these:
— I share about growing good things slowly on the Strong Women podcast.
— This summer, refresh your life with what matters most. Join me online for Refresh Your Year LIVE. I am excited to do this refresh alongside you!

Onto June. Here’s what’s on my Tending List for the month ahead—all action steps from my 2021 goals.

June Monthly Goals:
— Fill our days with Your Word. This looks like reading to the kids at dinner (4 pm around here!) and singing hymns with them.
— Let God take care of me. I was about to write “Take care of myself” on my Tending List, but surrendering to God‘s power, not my own tends to prove more effective. I’m focusing this month on listening to the Lord in taking care of myself so I can take care of others.
— Finish For the Children’s Sake. I’ve been savoring every morsel of the book for months. I’ve intentionally let myself take time to practice the beautiful truths in this book, and I’m grateful I’ve taken my time.
— Pray-pare for Refresh Your Year LIVE. I’m ready for this refresh right alongside you!
— Prepare for a new season. We are still looking for someone to fill this special role with our family (know someone who would be a great fit?). Whether we find this person or not, my schedule will be changing a bit. I’m grateful for my PowerSheets to help me know where to focus in times of transition!

June Weekly Goals:
— Shabbat + Havdalah
— Kick off summer enrichment homeschool. Grace officially graduated from 3rd grade, marking our fourth year of homeschool! I’m so grateful for this journey and excited for all of our kiddos and how God is growing them. We do school year-round so we can enjoy shorter school days and more time around holidays and summer fun. My favorite intentional planning tools? The Cultivated Homeschool Planner and this new weekly planner notepad that I can’t get enough of! We make products we love and need ourselves.
— Study the Scriptures

June Daily Goals:
— OT Bible reading
— WORK OUT

Your turn! I’d love to hear what you’re focusing on this month. Share in the comments below!

Something fun for you to join in June: lunch with Dee Ann Turner and me! It’s my pleasure to invite you to a virtual LIVE conversation next Thursday at 2 pm ET to learn how to ace the interview, land the job, and launch a career you love! Will you join us?

P.S. We’re hiring a part-time caregiver. Know anyone who might be a great fit for this special role? Please pass this along!

The post May Progress and June PowerSheets Goals appeared first on Lara Casey.

April Progress and May PowerSheets Goals

The month of May, the merry month of May,
So long awaited, and so quickly past.
The winter’s over, and it’s time to play.
– Thomas Dekker, 1632

This is the month! We get to watch the garden come alive—it’s such a thrill! My peonies have put on a show and the kids have loved watching the tomatoes, corn, peaches, and lots of other garden treasures grow. What a season!

A quick review of April:

April Monthly Goals:
— Plant the gardens – plural!
— Have a cup of tea – a nudge to slow down and enjoy a literal cup of tea, but also to savor this time in life with Ari and our kids. My literal favorite cup of tea is Tick Tock Herbal Earl Grey – such a treat for someone who doesn’t like caffeine!
— Write to Him – use the gift of writing to connect with the Lord and glorify Him. Grace and I have been journaling together each night and it has been the sweetest time. She writes out what she did that day and I fill a whole page with things I’m praising the Lord for from the day. It has been helpful on challenging days especially—there is always good when we stop to take notice. The best part of this time though is writing little surprise notes to each other. We sneak the other person’s journal away during the day to write a little love note.
— Open space for the Spirit – create more margin than I am comfortable with to be able to listen to the Lord and follow His nudges.

April Weekly Goals:
— Shabbat
— Homeschool with connection
— Practice contemplative prayer. I downloaded a great app for this.

April Daily Goals:
— Pray
— Bible reading
— Quiet time in the Word – I’m enjoying the Bible my friend Ruth sent to me with her artwork on the cover!
— Write the Word – with Grace! She is LOVING our new Write the Word for Kids | Adventure journal. And I’m so proud of her – this volume was her idea! She also helped our designer create it with her expert 9-year-old input i.e. “More butterflies, please!”
— Run! – These last two took an interesting turn this week with a visit to the ER, but all is well. I’m having a procedure done on my neck tomorrow that will, Lord willing, bring relief!
— Neck exercises

Onto May! Here’s what’s on my Tending List for the month ahead—all action steps from my 2021 goals.

There are some seasons of life that are extra full and this is one of them for me. As such, my Tending List is focused on the essentials. Whether it’s a season of transition or a time you need to get serious about a specific goal or habit, it’s okay to leave generous space on your Tending List. All you need to see is what’s most important. I’m excited!

May Monthly Goals:
— Plant seeds of faith in our children
— Enjoy the garden

May Weekly Goals:
— Shabbat

May Daily Goals:
— Bible reading

Your turn! I’d love to hear what is on your tending list this month. Share in the comments below!

P.S. We’re hiring a part-time caregiver. Know anyone who might be a great fit for this special role? Please pass this along!

The post April Progress and May PowerSheets Goals appeared first on Lara Casey.

March Progress and April PowerSheets Goals

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” – Margaret Atwood

Mission accomplished! I’ve been digging in the dirt for a few weeks now, preparing the soil and tracking a bit too much of it back into the house with me. I have been (literally!) cultivating. There’s something about preparation time that lights my soul on fire. The hard work and anticipation add up to hope. This is the season to plant seeds in faith, believing in what we can’t yet see!

(You might need an extra dose of that farmer’s faith to envision what will soon happen in the mess above! Ha!)

March was a big month in our family. 15 years ago, when Ari and I got married, the odds were stacked against us. In fact, they have been our entire marriage. But God… His grace is a real thing and it changes people. You’re looking at two of them below! We celebrated 15 years of the impossible being possible this month. From eloping in Las Vegas to a deployment to Iraq to our marriage falling apart to many dark years to an impossible prayer… and God slowly but clearly bringing us into the light and changing who we are—and continuing to change us. Raising an Ebenezer today. Thus far the Lord has helped us. Listen to our whole story in episode 1 of the Cultivate Your Life podcast.

March Monthly Goals:
—Celebrate 15 years of marriage! / We had our first date since the pandemic began and it was wildly refreshing. We went to an outdoor restaurant and had the most lovely conversation about our marriage and all God has done, and we just enjoyed being out together after such a long time!
—Start our seeds indoors / Done! We are trying lots of fun new things this year. It was time to switch things up—we’ve tripled our space (!) and are trying new tomato varieties we’ve never grown and new flowers. We’re joining with our neighbors to plant a huge garden in the empty lot across the street and are all excited!
—Get the garden prepared—soil + mulch
—Celebrate Passover / One of my favorite holidays!

March Weekly Goals:
—Shabbat
—Study yearly scriptures—I made my list of scriptures to focus on in my goals and have been studying them this month with this Greek / Hebrew keyword Bible.
—Homeschool with love
—Read Life Together with Ari – we did not do this in March. Moving this to April.

March Daily Goals:
—Bible reading
—Quiet time in the Word
—Write the Word – continuing through Psalm 119
—Run!
—Neck exercises

Onto April! Here’s what’s on my Tending List for the month ahead—all action steps from my 2021 goals.

April Monthly Goals:
— Plant the gardens – plural!
— Have a cup of tea – a nudge to slow down and enjoy a literal cup of tea, but also to savor this time in life with Ari and our kids
— Write to Him – use the gift of writing to connect with the Lord and glorify Him
— Open space for the Spirit – this is one of my yearly goals and a place I’ll focus this month as we move into a new season. Practically speaking, it means to create more margin than I am comfortable with to be able to listen to the Lord and follow His nudges.

April Weekly Goals:
— Shabbat
— Homeschool with connection
— Practice contemplative prayer. I downloaded a great app for this.

April Daily Goals:
— Pray
— Bible reading
— Quiet time in the Word
— Write the Word – with Grace! She is LOVING our new Write the Word for Kids | Adventure journal. And I’m so proud of her – this volume was her idea! She also helped our designer create it with her expert 9-year-old input i.e. “More butterflies, please!”
— Run!
— Neck exercises

Your turn! What are you saying yes to and what are you saying no to in this new quarter? Share in the comments below. I love hearing your thoughts!

The post March Progress and April PowerSheets Goals appeared first on Lara Casey.

February Progress and March PowerSheets Goals

“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”
– William Wordsworth, Daffodils

Hello, March! This is the month we’ve been looking forward to—the month we get to start our seeds, celebrate 15 years of marriage, and see the earth come alive once more! The camellias are blooming and we had our first daffodil this week—spring is coming!

A quick look back at my February goals!

February Monthly Goals:
— Love for Him – a focusing on loving others for the Lord and reflecting His love in several upcoming birthdays (Sarah is turning 5!) and Valentine’s Day (one of my favorite holidays with the kids!) / We really enjoyed these celebrations in February!
— Get a 15-year anniversary gift for Ari. / Done! And I am super excited about what I chose for him (and that he doesn’t read this blog, so I can tell you!): crystal Shabbat candlesticks. They are super simple and lovely—something we can pass onto our kiddos. We also decided to write each other 15-year anniversary letters and I’m going to have them professionally lettered afterward to hang in our home. For family gifts, which really only happen on these big milestones, we asked our parents to each get us a mezuzah for our home. This will be so special, as well, and we can pass them to our kiddos, too!
— Write my remaining 2021 lists: scriptures and a family reading list / Yes! I am SO grateful I spent an hour making the scriptures list a couple of days ago. My next step is to study them this month! And I ended up making a Pinterest board of books we’ve read and books we’ll read for the reading list. The visual aspect of doing it on Pinterest made it extra fun.
— Make playlists for each kiddo – Striking this through because I already did it! The moment I finished my Tending List, I did my little not-so-secret move with goals — I went ahead and did something about them! It felt so good to get the momentum going instead of waiting for some other magical day. And the kids LOVE them. We had the best dance parties this weekend and they felt so loved!
— Get outside – make friends with winter

February Weekly Goals:
—Shabbat – I am loving my Val Marie Prayer Journal (that I decided to use to pray over our team and work this year!), my Write the Word journal, favorite Bible, and I just got this Vine’s dictionary.
— Homeschool with love – I am still loving every minute of this!
— Read Life Together with Ari. – continuing this in March
— Continue reading Glory Girl with Grace – continuing this in March and we are loving it!

February Daily Goals:
— Bible reading
— Close my rings (Apple watch fitness rings!) – progress!
— Write the Word – continuing through Psalm 119. Probably my favorite thing on this list!
— Neck exercises – this continues!

Onto March! Here’s what’s on my Tending List for the month ahead—all action steps from my 2021 goals.

March Monthly Goals:
—Celebrate 15 years of marriage! We are going on a little trip with the family to hike and we have some fun surprises up our sleeves. Will report back!
—Start our seeds indoors
—Get the garden prepared—soil + mulch
—Celebrate Passover

March Weekly Goals:
—Shabbat
—Study yearly scriptures—I made my list of scriptures to focus on in my goals and am going to study them this month with this Greek / Hebrew keyword Bible
—Homeschool with love
—Read Life Together with Ari

March Daily Goals:
—Bible reading
—Quiet time in the Word
—Write the Word – continuing through Psalm 119
—Run!
—Neck exercises

Your turn! What are you cultivating in this new month? Share in the comments below. I love hearing your thoughts!

The post February Progress and March PowerSheets Goals appeared first on Lara Casey.

January Progress and February PowerSheets Goals

The sun rides higher
Every trip.
The sidewalk shoes
Icicles drip.
A snowstorm comes,
And cars are stuck,
Though road salt flies
From the old town truck.
The chickadees
Grow plump on seed
That Mother pours
Where they can feed,
And snipping, snipping
Scissors run
To cut out hearts
For everyone.

– February by John Updike

We have, indeed, seen a bit of snow and many-a-chickadee lately at our feeders! Aside from flurries and winter birds, though, my favorite thing about January is the paperwhites. Each year on my birthday (at the end of December), my only gift request from Ari and my parents is paperwhite bulbs. Forced inside in early January, they smell like spring—and remind me to be faithful (my word of the year) in the midst of winter seasons! Winter may seem bleak at times, but after winter always comes spring. What a picture of His promises fulfilled to us in His timing!

January is a fresh start and a chance to try new things. Like we talked about last month, January is also a good month to set the pace of life—to take small steps forward in faith, not all at once. And if you didn’t take as many steps forward as you’d hoped, there’s a new month before us filled with opportunities to grow good things!

January Monthly Goals:
— Move forward – on new goals, decisions, and out of 2020, praise the Lord! / Praise the Lord, indeed. While 2021 got off to a jarring start in many ways, I did take steps forward.
— Make our 2020 Lists (all first steps on my PowerSheets goals!) using one of our Legacy Journals:
– 2021 Prayer List
– Road trips for the year
– Books to read as a family this year
– Date ideas
– Scriptures to encourage my goals
– Playlists for running and the kids / Moving these remaining lists to February!
— Do my time audit at work
— Plan something for our 15-year anniversary in March / Done! After much deliberation, we’re going to the mountains as a family for a few days. I will make a good dinner that evening for us all!
— Plan solitude in the year/weeks

January Weekly Goals:
— Bring a feast of good ideas in homeschool / I still haven’t finished my homeschool post with all the details on what we do and what we love, but I’ll go ahead and tell you a couple of our favorites this month—great for everyone, not just homeschoolers! Letters from Afar is so fun for kids (and us adults!) and Exploring Nature With Children is hands-down one of our favorite resources!
— Poetry + good words at dinner w/ the kids. / Yes! We love reading A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year, A Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady, and Sing a Song of Seasons (we faithfully read this throughout the year and love starting over each January!).
— Surprise Ari with sweet things each week, like notes left in his wallet / I was consistently doing this in the start of the month and then gave myself a little grace with the latter half – a few surprise dinners and sweet things. I hope to continue this. It has been fun! Also, side note, we watched the entire Signed, Sealed, Delivered series and all the subsequent movies in January. Quite a marathon and we are not usually TV people, but the series was just so good. Learning about the dead letter office, great writing from Martha Williamson, and Carol Burnett as a guest star? It was fantastic! Also, Oliver’s character made me start reading Shakespeare again here and there with the kids. Ari and I really enjoyed watching it together.

January Daily Goals:
— Bible reading with Ari and our group – we landed on a 2-year Old Testament plan that we are reading with friends on the free YouVersion Bible app. / Yes! We have loved this together. Want another great plan to start your year with? Over 250,000 people have completed my free 5-day God + Goals plan. (I recorded audio for you in the plan, too, if you’d rather listen! Enjoy!)
— Run! / I decided to switch from a FitBit to an Apple Watch in December to purposely be able to lose track of my phone! I was nervous about this at first, and the Apple Watch was a big commitment, but it has proven effective. I now often forget where my phone is and, if my mom calls and needs me ASAP, I can answer from my wrist with very few distractions. I have also enjoyed the 3-month Apple Fitness trial. There was one class in particular where the trainer played all the classic songs you might hear at a southern wedding (Sweet Home Alabama, etc., etc.). Having a bit of experience with that, I have to say it was super fun!

— Presence – focus on 1-1 connections / I was just telling the ladies I work alongside that there are things we intentionally do or plan that lead us closer to the Lord, and there are things that God drops in our laps. I experienced the latter with Grace this month. My friend Jess sent me an advance copy of her new book, Glory Girl, and the moment it landed in Grace’s hands, she has been enthralled. She asks me to read it to her every night! She loves doing the journaling prompts and we have had the sweetest conversations about prayer, dreaming, relationships, and being glory girls together. The book is so good and I’ve been encouraged by it right alongside her. I already bought another copy for Sarah to have when she’s older.
— Write the Word – I’m using the Blank Write the Word journal (my second time using one!). / Writing through Psalm 119 to start the year has been so good. I haven’t been doing this as consistently as I planned, but a few times a week I go deep with my Write the Word journal and I love it!

Also in January—our barn quilt climbing wall was featured in the January/February issue of Country Living magazine! Thank you, friends at CL for the wonderful feature!

It was in a fun section about quilting—I loved the whole issue!

Onto February! Here’s what’s on my Tending List for the month ahead—all action steps from my new 2021 goals.

February Monthly Goals:
— Love for Him – a focusing on loving others for the Lord and reflecting His love in several upcoming birthdays (Sarah is turning 5!) and Valentine’s Day (one of my favorite holidays with the kids!)
— Get a 15-year anniversary gift for Ari. With the caveat that he is not a gift person. And the traditional gift is crystal. Any creative ideas out there? I am stumped.
— Write my remaining 2021 lists: scriptures and a family reading list
— Make playlists for each kiddo – Striking this through because I already did it! The moment I finished my Tending List, I did my little not-so-secret move with goals — I went ahead and did something about them! It felt so good to get the momentum going instead of waiting for some other magical day. And the kids LOVE them. We had the best dance parties this weekend and they felt so loved!
— Get outside – make friends with winter

February Weekly Goals:
— Shabbat – This is what Saturday naptime looks like for me above. I am loving my Val Marie Prayer Journal (that I decided to use to pray over our team and work this year!), my Write the Word journal, favorite Bible, and I just got this Vine’s dictionary.
— Homeschool with love
— Read Life Together with Ari. This book is blowing our minds a little. It’s so rich and striking that we have had to take it a paragraph a day almost—a feast of good words.
— Continue reading Glory Girl with Grace

February Daily Goals:
— Bible reading
— Close my rings (Apple watch fitness rings!)
— Write the Word – continuing through Psalm 119
— Neck exercises – I’m back in physical therapy and making some good progress.

More paperwhites in my office!

Your turn! What are you tending to this month? What are you excited about? I’d love to hear–share in the comments below!

The post January Progress and February PowerSheets Goals appeared first on Lara Casey.