Do you start out the new year with gusto, only to find yourself struggling to stay motivated to keep your goals and resolutions a few months later? Asking yourself this one question will help you stay on track!

This is an in between kind of week isn't it? We're beyond the bustle of Christmas and after weeks of advent. . . all the anticipation and waiting has passed and we are looking ahead toward a new year- a fresh start. For many of us the lull brings us a chance to pause, to dream to set goals. I'm pulling out pencils and paper, journals and planners and making lists and praying about what this new year might hold.

When I'm setting new goals for the year, my heart is in it, and I begin with gusto! But as the months wear on, I often find that what I set out to accomplish is stalling, my motivation is lacking and I forget why my goals were so important in the first place.

I so easily forget the why.

Why am I endeavoring to wake early?

Why am I keeping my calendar clear and creating margin a few afternoons a week?

Why am I suiting up to run the track or hit the gym?

Why am I trying again and again to reach out to old college friends and call my grandmother each week?

All of my goals have heart ; A desire to rise earlier than is comfortable to prepare my heart for the day ahead, to soak in God's word and greet my children prepared; a commitment to be free enough to play, to engage in homework, to make snacks and have spontaneous connections with my kids after school; training a new discipline to stay strong and healthy for my own flourishing and to serve my family well; a passion for connection and faithfulness in friendships and family relationships near and far. But, if I forget the why, I can easily let these goals for the new year slide. Little by little, one by one, until they are only wishes for 2016, and not steady practices in my life.

So what are your goals for this new year? And maybe more importantly? What is the Why?

As you plan and prepare for what is ahead this year and all you'd like to accomplish and change, along side the list of tasks and disciplines the Lord leads you to scribble down, take time to write the reason too. And when you are discouraged or finding that your resolutions fall short, reflect back on the heart of all these things that you desire to step into this year. The why will motivate you to keep at it!

Praying for you all as you head into a bright new season,

Kristen Kill

www.hopewithfeathers.com

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Kristen Kill

Kristen Kill is a woman transformed by the delight of God. She loves coffee, gingerbread, and staying up late with her nose in a good mystery. She believes there is something sacred in lighting candles, in setting a beautiful table and inviting others in. Most days she can be found attempting to learn how to cook, redecorating any given room instead of cleaning her house, and homeschooling her five hilarious children.

A contributing Editor at The Better Mom, and co-host of At Home with Sally and Friends, a popular podcast with Sally Clarkson, Kristen is passionate about encouraging women who feel stretched thin. She believes that tension is where we can learn to live expectant for the music and melody God is singing over of each one of us. She writes about home, creativity, and flourishing at her blog Hope With Feathers (kristenkill.com)

After spending the last seven years in the hustle of New York City, she and her husband, Josh, are learning to go slow as they raise their family and walk their anxious hound dog in the Pacific Northwest. Her first book, Finding Selah is due from Zondervan in 2018.

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