last night bruce and i met with our marriage mentors – the Copelin’s. mark & marty are a huge blessing in our lives and we have been so encouraged/challenged by our times with them. they have been married 30 something years and are old enough to be our parents but that is what makes it so sweet. they have walked the path we are on. they know what it is like. they remember. and they have grown.
one thing that bruce & i really value is premarital counseling. within a week of getting engaged we were trying to figure out where to go for that counsel. since we were having both of our fathers perform the ceremony, we wanted to do counseling with someone else. that is when we began meeting with the Copelin’s and going through prepare & enrich. with a twelve week engagement, we only got a couple chapters into the book and so last night we finished it with a discussion on goal setting.
for US
for ME
for our FAMILY
whether you are single, dating, engaged, or married – i think that setting goals is a key component in living a healthy life. goals are freeing. they give you something to work toward but they are not set in concrete (like sometime new year’s resolutions feel) if your passions change, you can change your goals. they grow, mold, and move with you. some like “pursue healthy living” never have an ending date and some are more measurable than others – it’s okay. all i know is that living life with direction is exciting and purposeful. it makes getting up in the morning a tad bit easier.
so go scribble down some goals in a old journal. share them with someone who knows your heart. and see what happens next.
This is just sweet! It's so nice that you and your husband have similar goals to work towards! I really need to set more goals for myself, so thank you for this reminder 🙂
I love what you said about "goals make it just a little bit easier to get up in the morning."
I've definitely been experiencing the reverse side of that and this is a good reminder to set some goals and get back on track.
Thanks for sharing Beth!
I love this.
It just goes to show that y'all are setting up a strong marriage foundation…one that is based on the Lord and communication, so fundamental and so often missing in relationships/marriages. ::high five!::
Also i had no idea you only had a 12-week engagement holla!
This is a nice post 🙂 And I love your handwriting!
How I know we're kindred spirits (or the same person) from this post alone:
– The Husband and I also did Prepare & Enrich and loved it.
– Premarital counseling through our church was the first thing I signed up for when we got engaged. Before we even picked a date.
– Our mentor couple is the absolute best.
– Goals. I love them. They make everything in life more focused and sometimes more fun! I find they can totally encourage spontaneous decisions.
But there is one big difference… your handwriting is WAY better than mine. I'm a bit jealous 😉
What a great post! Thanks for sharing it with us! 🙂
Was lovely to read! and made me think.. think a lot! Agree, that goals are great.. It is good to put yourself in a position to try to achieve more, and accept challenges. But as they say 'while human is planning, God is laughing..' you can't really plan too much. Or when it doesn't work – don't get too upset.
I absolutely love this. Some of your goals are the same ones Matt and I have (pray together more often, make time for meaningful conversation, live a healthier lifestyle together…) and I fully plan on sitting down with him sometimes before this semester is over so we can talk about the goals we want to set for this summer, in particular. Too often I am only focused on getting through each day and fail to ever make goals or aspirations for myself. Thank you so much for posting this…I will definitely be writing down some of my own personal goals tonight 🙂
-Jenna Brianne
wearablefunfashion.blogspot.com
what an important thing to do when you're newly married–goalsetting really helps us focus on how we want to grow, instead of that "get through the day" mentality. i might just borrow this inspiring post and blog about a few of my own goals! 🙂
Love this! Goal setting is great for all couples, I wasn't always a fan of it…but I love to write things down and see it on paper. It helps inspire me I think. Also–your handwriting is gorgeous! 🙂
First of all…you have the cutest handwriting!
Moving on…writing my goals out ALWAYS helps me stay on track! I love that you wrote down smaller goals, as well as bigger goals. I think that's smart 🙂
Good luck, girl!
xo