Restoration in Review: 2016

I chose the word “Restoration”for the year of 2016. I worked hard to make change and as life goes, things did not quite turned out as I had planned…for better and for worse. I’ve learned so much in these past two months alone. Here is how Restoration panned out this past year.

Restore My Health

-Lower BP

Despite losing weight, this did not change. I meet with my doctor in January to look at what else I can do…especially since quitting my job is not an option.

-Overall health/fitness

Between February and June I had lost 25lbs. Since October I have put a lot of this back on for a variety of reasons.

-Address current health concerns

Most issues have been resolved. My shoulder still gives me some issues and there are still a couple minor things, but overall, I’m happy that the majority of my health concerns are no longer prevalent.

Restore Relationships

-More face time

I did not get to hang out with people as much as I had hoped.

-Less social media

I took a major step back. I’ve apologized for not knowing what’s going on in the lives of others since I almost never look at my FB feed. I can post pictures for family and friends without even going to the app. Quite frankly, if it weren’t for the ease of being able to share photo updates with those people, I’d get off FB permanently.

-Snail mail

I definitely sent out more than usual this year.

-Acts of kindness

I don’t think anyone can ever do enough of this.

-Date my husband

We managed to get in a date almost every month!

Restore My Prayer Life

-Create a place of prayer

-Dive wholeheartedly into the Word

-Devote one-on-one time with the Lord daily

These areas, while slightly improved, still have a lot of room to grow.

Restore Order in My Home

-All meals at the table

-Complete unfinished projects

-Establish a cleaning routine

-Purge unneeded/unnecessary items from our home

At the end of July we moved into a much smaller rental. We do not even have room for a table…alas our family dinners take place together in the living room. I can’t wait to get our new house built. However, because off the move, we were forced to get those projects that had been stalled for years completed. We also purged SO MUCH STUFF during the move. There is still much more to rid ourselves of, but we made a major dent.

I am hopeful for this New Year. I foresee a fair amount of change in our future, but prayerfully, the majority will be good. I’ll soon be sharing the word that I have chosen for this upcoming year and what we are looking forward to.

Restoration 2016: Health

Recently I decided to focus on one word for this year: Restoration. I was led to the word when I considered what areas in my life I needed to focus on. Upon pinpointing specifics, I realized one common thread. All of the areas I wanted to focus on were in need of repair. These areas of my life need to be restored.

I've broken them down into specific areas with goals for each. I am beginning with my health. I am not terribly unhealthy and I'm generally active. However, over the last couple of years, and even recently, my body has not been functioning at its best and I need to work harder at caring for it. My body is the Lord's temple and I need to tend to it as such.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

1 Cor. 6:19-20

Here are what my health goals look like...

-Lower BP
During my first pregnancy (2012-2013) I began having issues with my blood pressure. My doctor assumed it would return to normal after delivery. Nope. Despite losing 20lbs in addition to all the baby weight, it did not return to normal. This only caused additional concern during my most recent pregnancy. 6 months post delivery, my bp is still fluctuating and I am still on meds. To be honest, being on bp meds makes me feel SO much older than I am. I want to work towards being med free. This includes weight loss and stress reduction.

-Overall health/fitness
I have my physical coming up in 2 weeks. I'm both dreading it and looking forward to it. I'm dreading all the things she’ll say I need to work on, but I welcome devising a plan of action. I'm working on adding more exercise and eating differently. While I'm not sure what this will all look like, I am determined to see change.

-Address current health concerns
I developed some crazy symptoms during my last pregnancy. Only after continuing to have issues after delivery did I decide to speak openly to the appropriate doctors. I was having issues with my eyes to the point that my vision would sometimes become distorted. The resulting diagnosis was octal migraines. That's right, my EYES were having mirgraines. There is no cure since they typically develop from experiencing continuous stress and hormonal changes. ::sigh:: While I don't know when or where the next one may occur, I'll rejoice in the fact that I have not had an episode since October, praise God.

I've also been dealing with some leg issues and some super serious and painful shoulder pain. After having local doctors run blood work only to find nothing and to have one doctor give me his official (unofficial) diagnosis of mommy-itis (overtired and strained muscles), I felt at a loss. What was wrong with me? Due to the continuous and spreading pain, after an additional 4 months, I opted to see an orthopedist. She was a gem. After a thorough exam and x-rays, it was determined that I am experiencing issues with my siatic nerve and I have damaged my rotator cuff. Thankfully I don't need surgery but I do need physical therapy. I am in the process of setting all of that up now.

While I know things could be so much worse, I do not feel myself and I want to. I want to be able to play with my kids, be active, work on projects, drive etc. without pain. I know that this health journey is not one I can do alone (especially since it seems like I've started falling apart since turning 30 in April). Thankfully,  the Lord's word is never short on encouragement.

He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face and shouts for joy, he is restored by God to his righteous state. 

Job 33:26

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.

James 5:15a

Here's to a healthier year!

Linking up with Mommy Momments

Restoration 2016

A few years ago I stopped making resolutions and focused on accomplishing small goals. I found this to be much more successful. Reflecting on my past goals I realized my goals were not very cohesive and I feel by making them such that I'll be more focused and be able to accomplish even more.

I decided to use one word as an umbrella for my goals. In prayer and pondering, there was one word that continually came to mind...

RESTORATION 

This word truly encompasses the heart of my goals this year. In mapping out my goals for this year, I've broken them down into categories. I plan to share the details of each in later posts. For now, I leave you with my Restoration 2016 outline.

Restoration 2016 

Restore My Health

-Lower BP

-Overall health/fitness

-Address current health concerns

Restore Relationships

-More face time

-Less social media

-Snail mail

-Acts of kindness

-Date my husband

Restore My Prayer Life

-Create a place of prayer 

-Dive wholeheartedly into the Word

-Devote one-on-one time with the Lord daily

Restore Order in My Home

-All meals at the table

-Complete unfinished projects

-Establish cleaning routine

-Purge unneeded/unnecessary items from our home

What does this year look like for you?

Linking up for Mommy Moments