Thursday Thankfulness: Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am thankful for many things.

I am thankful for my God and how He loves me no matter what I do, and is constantly rescuing me and wooing me back to Him.

I am thankful for my family and the joy that they are to me. My husband is truly a gift - a hard-worker with a big heart. And my children who love and accept foster children willingly into our home even when it completely turns their life upside down.

I am thankful for friends and extended family, some of whom we get to share the holiday with.

I am thankful for where we live and our community. Such a beautiful area with amazing creation all around us.

What are you thankful for today?

Monday Musings: Priorities

What are your priorities? How do you select your priorities?

You've probably all heard time management techniques that talk about mentally thinking about (or writing out) your activities that fall into these four quadrants.

The things that are:

• urgent and important
• urgent but not important
• important but not urgent
• not important and not urgent

The items that fall under the "important but not urgent" category are often overlooked in the "busyness" of work and life. These things might include business, strategic, and marketing planning. Yet it is often the "urgent but not important" things that really drain your time, since they have to be done "right now" even though they don't have much long-term benefit.

But how do you determine what's important? We have found that creating a family mission statement is really helpful in determining priorities. It becomes the filter for how we consider which things we should pursue doing in life, and which things we need to let go of.

Now it's your turn. How do you find a balance between the urgent and important? What things do you want to prioritize spending more time on? What is your family mission statement?