April Goals (+ Other Thoughts)

Hey Y’all, it’s goal-setting time again!

So, I began writing this in March, and I honestly have to say that I am so shocked that it’s APRIL ALREADY, Y’ALL!! It’s so crazy!! And I figured that its time for me to start telling y’all my goals again, just to keep me more accountable. This last month of March has been SO nutsy. I spent at least 10 days at the local pool swimming laps, which is totally weird because for me, swimming is a chore – I just do it to get where I want to go, then I stop. But I’ve been thinking about moving up and taking some more advanced classes, so I’ve been practicing.

And already, amazing things have come of it!

1. I learned eggbeater!
2. I can swim front crawl without totally dying.
3. I can execute a wobbly, slow, and pathetic wall flip. 👏

But, joking aside, there was one thing that really affected me.

By the middle of the month, when I started winding down swimming, things were getting busy and I decided to only go twice that week. But then, my Mom persuaded me to swim another time that week, so I agreed to do it.

Over the first two days that week, I had met an older woman (in her sixties, probably) in the change room. She is always just finishing up when I get there, so we have a few minutes to chat before we part ways. The first day, she complained to me about how she’d rather swim from 8:00-9:00 AM, as opposed to her 2:00 PM schedule, but the pool wouldn’t let her. I felt badly for her, but of course there was nothing I could do. Then I found out that if she doesn’t swim, her arthritis acts up more for her, which made me feel more sympathetic. But then came Thursday, the day my Mom had convinced me to go on.

I walked in and saw her there, and asked her how her swim had been. She said, “Well, I found out that its possible to cry and swim at the same time!” Oh dear, I thought, that’s awful. (Take note: I have been there, done that, so I knew what she was talking about!) I asked her what was bothering her, and she said it was her schedule again. She even started crying. She was just so frustrated that the pool wouldn’t budge its schedule for her.

You may be thinking, “Well, I do feel bad for her, but she’s overreacting.”

Well, this lady wasn’t just upset about swimming times – she told me that her husband had cancer.

Hold up! Rewind!

It would have been so easy to brush her off as emotional and overreactive, without bothering to dig deep underneath and discover that she was really hurting on the inside, knowing that her husband’s bone tests loomed up on the horizon and waiting to know whether he would live or die … that overwhelmed her, to the point where she broke down about a swimming schedule! Sometimes going through something really tough, makes everything hard!

I was super nervous, but I tried to listen compassionately. When it seemed right, I said, “When I’m really struggling, I usually pray about it.” She said she also did, and I asked her if I could pray for her.

(Now, some of you guys might know, I have been trying to pray more, because I feel like conversation is where relationships start, and I want a deeper relationship with God. So now, it’s a huge leap to tell someone I hardly know, that I will pray for her. So I was super nervous to say it but I felt so glad afterward! And she said she really would appreciate it.)

Looking back, the only other thing I could’ve done better, is to pray with her, right then and there. (Which I didn’t do, I don’t think the thought really crossed my mind fast enough.) I want to offer her love and hope – and saying that I would pray for her was a big step, but now I wish I had taken that other step, just so she’d know that I was REALLY serious – that I DID want to pray for her.

But there’s a limit to every teen’s courage the first time they do something, and I think I hit mine! 😄

But anyway, the point of my telling you this story was that you never know when something crazy and unexpected will happen, and you’ll get to be God’s witness to the world. I mean, I wasn’t even going to GO swimming that day, and SHE didn’t want to go at 2:00! But somehow it worked out that we were both there, at the same time, and that she opened up to me a little about her struggles, and that I had the courage to ask to pray for her. I absolutely did not expect that to be part of my day, but it made it better.

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Mini Life Update: This past month, I finished almost all of my Grade 10 English and History, which I’m SO glad about! I’ve begun Grade 11 English and History (again, with the Ron Paul Curriculum,) and am hopeful to finish those courses by the fall.

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I read my friend Jasmine’s April Goals recently, and they are SO GOOD! I really love what she said, so please go check them out! It’s inspired me to work harder on my own character (and school assignments, of course!), and I’m so excited for this month’s goals!!

• Read the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible) again. At this point, having read the whole Bible all the way through (YES!) I’m going to be more focused on really studying the passage, and thinking about connections between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
• Only do what gives me joy, and rejoice about the things I cannot change. Basically, I want to feel good about what I’ve done in the day, so I’ll be really thinking about what matters most to me. And even if I’ve done school and chores all day (which I can’t escape!) I want to be able to have joy through THAT too.
• Get to Lesson 50 in History and English, and Lesson 180 in Business 1. I am so excited to finally be in Grade 11 (after catching up all year! *facepalm*) I, like Jasmine, am determined to get ahead, so I’m going to really work at it.
• Spend more time outside! As its getting warmer here, I am SO. EXCITED. to go barefoot, start running around and playing tag on the ground (as opposed to on top of hay bales, hehe …), and playing volleyball! I have to balance it with school though, so we’ll see how this goes!
• Practice piano five days a week. Self-explanatory.
• Get up early and be productive in the mornings! I unashamedly stole this one from Jasmine (🤣), but I really do need it! My goal is 6:00 or 6:30.

Happy April, y’all!

What are you most excited for in April? What are your goals? What are your big plans for the warm weather? Let’s talk about it! Honestly y’all, please tell me. I need ideas for what to do over the summer! 😄

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