I don’t have a habit of making New Year’s resolutions, but I did set a few goals for 2019. Now that it’s about to be halfway through the year, I’m happy to say it’s been going well. I’m disappointed in myself, however, to have taken this long to recognize my goals have an alliterative theme.

Blog: Having abandoned my blog for too long, I set what I hoped would be an easy goal to get writing back into my routine — one post a month. As each one so far has come near the end of the month, clearly it has been harder making the time than I thought. I’m keeping with it though, and am working on how to make it less down to the wire moving forward. I’d like to feel confident about a more frequent publishing goal next year, or at least to get ahead of the final day or week pattern.

Baking: While I enjoy to cook and bake, baking is my favorite. I could be (make that am) the type to binge-watch The Great British Baking Show and kind of wish Mary Berry could be my honorary grandma. I’ve set out to try a new recipe each month and the results have been delicious. My family wants this goal to repeat next year, I’m sure.

Bible: I also wanted to make daily Bible reading a higher priority this year. I’ve used the YouVersion app for reading plans for several years, but my tendency has been to start strong, then slack off. Or, treat it as something to rush through at some point during the day to get it checked off the list. Instead of picking smaller reading plans throughout the year, I chose to challenge myself with reading through the entire Bible in one year. The readings for the day take longer than the plans I’ve done before, so I have to be more intentional about taking the time to do it. I haven’t gotten behind once all year and instead of viewing it as a chore, I’m valuing that quiet time as I should.

I’m glad to be keeping these goals so far and to have chosen things to continue beyond this year or even expand upon. Plus, it’s nice to post about keeping up with things, rather than yet another explanation of how and why I didn’t continue with something as I had hoped. Progress!