Making 2018 My Best Year So Far...

Hello y'all!

Happy New Year and welcome to 2018. As I posted yesterday, today I will be sharing with you how I plan to lean heavily on God this year to allow myself to become who HE wants me to be.

The way that I am going to do that is by making 2018 my best year so far!

So, in order to do that, I had to put a plan in place and I needed some resources. I will be putting links in to all of my resources (keep in mind that the ones that link to Amazon are affiliate links which means that if you purchase something through that link I get a small commission off of that purchase) in the text so that you can easily get them if you are interested in joining me in any of my missions!

The first thing I had to do is decide what Bible reading plan to follow this year and when I am going to do it. I decided to use a Bible with 365 readings in chronological order because I really like reading the Bible in the order that it happened. For some reason that just makes all the parts and pieces fall in place in my mind. I chose to use the The Daily Bible from Harvest House Publishers. I like this Bible for several reasons:

• It is dated so you can easily see where you are supposed to be. 
• It has devotional topics scattered throughout that really help inspire deeper thought and questions. 
• It has a cross-reference index in the back. 
• it comes in hardback. 

The second thing that I decided to do was organize my quiet time caddy. I purchased this caddy because it is very sturdy and it has sections that aren't going to bend under the weight of my supplies. Really you could use a basket or an organizing bin, it really doesn't matter what you're using as long as it works for you.

In my caddy I have:
Crayola Fine Tip Markers,
Crayola Broad-Line Markers,
12 count of Crayola Colored Pencils,
The Daily Bible,
The 52 Lists Project,
the 52 Lists for Happiness book.  

I use the markers and colored pencils for marking in my Bible. I have a very specific way of marking that helps me to focus on the words and understand what is going on in the text. It also makes it so that I can easily glance at any portion of my Bible and tell you what the main themes are simply because of the colors and symbols used.

The list books are something new that I am adding in this year to help me be more mindful, focusing on what God is doing in my life. The books are broken down into 52 lists with specific prompts. I plan to write out each of my lists in my notebook and make it a reminder to pray for the things, people, activities, and events that I list out each week. My husband and I will be doing the 52 Lists Project together and I have added in the 52 Lists for Happiness just for myself.

The last thing that I decided to incorporate this year was the Homemaking Ministries 2018 Reading Challenge for Women. There are two options for the challenge: 13 books (1 every 4 weeks) or 12 books total (1 every 2 weeks). I am not going to post up the challenge specifics because if you are interested you need to sign up for the emails and information here. Since it wasn't my idea it feels a little bit skeezy to post the specifics of the plan on my blog. (But, I can tell you that each time I finish a book I will be reviewing it on my Title Tuesday posts, so be sure to come back and check it out! ) I have already started the first book and so far it is just fabulous and I can't wait to share about it later this month. I am super excited to get to the rest of the books on the list, and maybe some of the ones on the men's list too!

In order to make 2018 my best year so far, these are the things that I decided to do. I am going to post pictures and updates periodically about what I am learning and how I am growing. If you are joining me for any (or all!) of the parts of my plan please let me know. I would love to be praying for and with you as you work to draw closer to God in 2018.

Happy New Year!