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2017 is about to be wrapped, so it’s time to take a look back at how I did as I set my intentions with my word of the year, faithful, back in January.
My goals were around ways to be faithful in several areas of my life – let’s see how this turned out! (You can read my original post about this here.)
- Faith. God showed our family some pretty powerful things in 2017. It all started as 2016 ended with the boiler (1/3 of our home heat) dying, the Durango engine dying, and the hot water heater bursting days after Christmas. I’d love to say that things got better, but they frankly didn’t. The day we were going to do our taxes (to get our refund and perhaps pay for a new engine for the Durango), our van transmission went. We heard you, God. It was a tough start to the year that truly tested our faith. I prayed more, didn’t learn the guitar, did a daily devotional, spoke at Women’s Ministries (with a bigger “gig” coming up in 2018), and did less journaling than I’d hoped. But God spoke to us and has shown us that it is well and His plan is bigger than our own.
- Family. The past twelve months of ups and downs really brought light to this one. We stayed in more often. We borrowed Greg’s parents’ vehicle for 10 months. We got adjusted to my parents’ retirement. I vowed when my cousin Tracy passed away that we’d do better about spending time with cousins. But the sad truth is that I feel like we are more distant from our extended family than usual. And maybe that’s because we really focused on the six of us? To be honest, it hurts but I keep praying that we’ll be better about time with both sides of our family in 2018.
- Food. Oh, buddy! I never had a thing with drinking pop, but I’d love it here or there with pizza or cake. December 31 I said goodbye to it and I am happy to report I’m 364 days without a sip of pop. High five! And after my 3-day Refresh, I did Whole30 twice which was a HUGE success (I’ll admit, I made some “mistakes“). I found out that gluten and I are not friends, so I’ve been off gluten since February, too. Then in September, I started Ketosis, which while it isn’t great for everyone, it’s proven to be good for me. I eat high protein and fat, and very low carbs – no sugar! I broke my bad habits and paired with my fourth focus area dropped 51 pounds in 2017!
- Fitness. I owe so much to my FitFam at the YMCA. You all pushed me and made me focus and believe again. Thanks to CrossFit, running the Half Marathon (even if I didn’t PR) and the 10-miler, I truly believe in myself again. This was definitely an area where I was faithful, maybe to a fault (like running while sick), but it paid off (see my loss in number 3).
- Fun. Even with things being tight, we still had a lot of fun this year. Part of our debt is our timeshare – something I will not give up as it gives us a break 2-3 times a year – so we got to travel to Wisconsin and Myrtle Beach. I also got in a NYC trip and Columbus (for business but fun). The kids joined soccer and softball and all four have so much fun with our church. We definitely did well with this one!
Well, now that 2017 is coming to a close, it’s time to set new intentions and see what 2018 will bring. For that…you’re going to have to make sure you are staying tuned to mrsgregwillis.com for more!!! =) (Who is excited?!?!?) Make sure you still follow along here and on our lilburghers Facebook and Twitter, too! We’re not going anywhere! xoxo