From, Casey at Home

A note to self, shared with you, of a list of goals / personal intentions of the kind of woman I want to become:

Lately, I’ve been thinking less about the things I want to achieve and more about the kind of woman I want to be while doing them. I’m a list maker and goal setter by nature, so sat at the little I poured out everything that came to mind. Then I wanted these intentions organized here in more of a way that better represents the ideas that I and others might resonate with, and less of a scribbled out mess.

I truly believe ambition can be a gift, and working hard can be deeply meaningful. But the older I get, the more I’ve realized most of life isn’t lived in the highlight reel momentary accomplishments.

It’s lived in the ordinary day-to-day. In the way you respond to others when you’re tired. In the tone you use with the people you love most when you’re stretched thin. In how you carry the duties the Lord gives you each day.

I’ve spent a lot of time since the birth of our youngest reevaluating the kind of woman I am, and who I hope to become. I’ve got areas of improvement, especially in the three ways I listed above. And it’s highlighted the biggest goals for self improvement and faithful living for me:

• I want to become the kind of woman who is calm instead of reactive.
• I want to bring steadiness into my home instead of adding to the chaos.
• I want to actually know how to take care of the life I’ve been given.
• I want to manage our resources – time, money, everything – wisely.
• I want to keep a home that functions well, even if it isn’t always picture-perfect.
• I want to handle responsibilities without overwhelm.
• I want to be consistently dependable.
• I want to welcome people into our home without worrying whether everything is perfect.
• I want to remember details of peoples lives, and show up for them consistently in conversations and actions.
• I want to become disciplined in subtle ways.

I will probably spend the rest of my life learning how to be this as best as I can. There will be days I fall short and days I surprise myself. There will be days I react instead of respond. Days I choose convenience over intention.

And in the failures, I’ll ask for forgiveness where it’s needed and remind myself that it’s important to remember the direction I’m headed. And that by the Lord’s grace, I’m getting to choose, in a thousand ordinary moments, who I want to become.