Mid-August Check-In

Check in with God 3x a time - I've been okay at remembering to pray in the morning. That is when I am most likely to remember. The odd time I remember at night. Mid-day has been hopeless thus far.

Say Grace - This is the one I am worst at. It has never occurred to me once that I should pray before I eat. I only remember that I didn't do it when I go to fill in my Resolutions Chart at night. Suggestions on a way to remind myself? A bracelet maybe?

Time take to reflect (one sentence journal) - I have this beautiful journal that sits on my bedside table and makes me excited to write in it every night. The problem is that lately I've been falling asleep before I really mean to. 1:00 am is my "bedtime" (I get up at 9:00 am, which equals 8 hours), but I'll be reading or doing something on my computer and I've been falling asleep and then waking up with my lights on, face unwashed, teeth not brushed, in my day clothes sometime in the early early morning - dazed and confused. This clearly means that I need to get more sleep since I am exhausted everyday. Stronger set sleep schedule will result in working God into my morning and night routines.

Read a chapter in the Bible everyday - I was doing really well with this one. I was reading a chapter every morning with my breakfast. And then I ran out of cereal and stopped eating breakfast... I haven't had a chance to pick more up yet, but as soon as I do, this will be part of my routine again. It was working so well. I need to remember to do my devotions even if I don't eat. 

Listen (Meditate for 15 mins every day) - I've done this once. It's hard for me to just shut everything down for 15 minutes and just sit there in silence. My mornings are already crammed and if I do it at night I end up falling asleep. Mid day would be ideal, but it never occurs to me mid-day. Suggestions?

Show up (Church every Sunday) - I went to the Alliance Church on August 5th and it was amazing. I was very inspired. I loved the sermon and the worship service and it was exactly the right vibe that I was looking for. The next Sunday (August 12th) my friends wanted to do a day trip to Silverwood and I knew it would be my one and only shot to go so I skipped church to go with them. Bad Emily... Next Sunday is our Naughty Knickers Night, but since I'm the one organizing the event, I'm going to suggest that we start setting up at noon so I can go to church. That's the plan right now.

Volunteer - Well technically I am volunteering my own personal time and money right now to organize Naughty Knickers Night, but I don't feel like that is very Biblical. I was going to put all my loose change in the box at church that is raising money to buy Bibles for a church that can't afford it. Then of course I didn't go. I feel like it's a hard thing to volunteer to do something at a church that I'm only going to attend two or three times. I don't know who to talk to about stuff and don't have a lot of time to volunteer right now. Maybe it will be better once I find somewhere regular to go in Vancouver.

Tithe - I forgot to take out cash before I went to Church that time, but I put everything I had in the collection plate (besides nickels and dimes and whatnot). It totaled $17.75. $7.25 short of what I had wanted to put in, but it's a start. Next week I will put more. 

Seek Spiritual Role Models - I don't really  have a plan on how to go about this. I guess I could start by posting a Facebook status asking my friends and family who they look up to spiritually. Then I could get books to read on those people. The problem is that I've already got three books on the go right now. I don't know how I would fit a fourth one in. I guess I would figure it out. 

Clean up language - This is something hard to be aware of all the time. Often I get to the end of my day and think back and I can't remember if I swore or not. Though now that I am making a conscious effort, I do take note when I catch myself saying something. I think "Oh whoops - I could have found a different way to say that" and a couple times I have caught myself ahead of time enough to reword whatever I was going to say. Progress is definitely being made here. 

So my three weakest areas are saying grace, finding time to meditate, and seeking spiritual role models. Any suggestions? My three strongest areas are cleaning up language, taking time to reflect in my journal and reading a chapter in the Bible everyday. Of course even my strongest areas have weak points and weak days, but it's already quite an improvement. Overall, my Resolutions Chart is only 14% positive. This is a lot harder than I anticipated.