Ginger Ciminello > Goals

Looking Back, Leaning Forward.

December 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

So, New Year, we meet again.

I really enjoy this time of year. I anticipate opening the new calendar and filling it up. Having two planners on my kitchen table for the past month has been driving me crazy. But now all the Christmas celebrations have passed, and all that’s left is reflection and goal setting for 2013. So if you haven’t already started resolving, dreaming, cleaning, and declaring… there’s no time like the present.

 

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If the idea of making anything close to a resolution causes you to pull your hair out, this post is for you. I’m not about banishing snacks from my home or even picking a number on the scale. I prefer to speak in terms of goals that help me to live a better story. So today I wanted to share some thoughts, resources, and encouragement for embracing the new year.

1. Write out your story from 2012. I did this last week and spent  45 minutes to an hour tops on the whole project. I wrote out my highs and lows for the year. After doing so I stared at a list of God’s provision and providence. I was overwhelmed to see how many good gifts were poured out in abundance. I’m also humbled to see His hand in the midst of heartache. Writing out my story helps me to remember where I have come from and where He is taking me.

2. Read this post by Kevin East. Every year this list influences how my husband and I create our family goals, but the areas could be applied to ANYONE, even if you call all the shots in your family. If you are looking for a great place to start when it comes to some serious introspection and goal setting, look no further.

3. Watch this video that talks through how I create my personal goals with some important guidelines: the goals should be measurable, attainable, realistic, and time managed. It’s dated from last January, but the main points apply just as easily today.

4. Don’t get discouraged! I didn’t finish everything on my list from last year, but that doesn’t mean I failed. It just means those things need to be reworded, reworked, and refocused. This verse keeps me encouraged:

“So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t.” 2 Cor 8:10-12 Msg

5. Write out your hopes for the year. When I step into 2014 (yikes!) I hope to:

- Have a copy of my book in hand. (Whether e-reader or printed.)
– Know my neighbors – beyond their names and a few surface details. I want to know their stories.
– Have finally read “Mere Christianity.” (How many times can you stop and start one book?)
– Tried out and attended a group activity class at my local rec center. (I’m not meeting people jogging by myself.)
– Have given away multiple copies of the Jesus Storybook Bible in English and Spanish.
– Own and have utilized an Advent wreath during the season.

Those are just a few… there are some more that are going to stay close to heart for safe keeping. But more than any hope I have for the year, I am waiting in expectation for all that the Lord has in store. For “many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” (Proverbs 19:21) I trade in my lists for whatever He purposes!

My hope is that these words encourage you in your own story!

Following,
Ginger

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Friday Finds: Fix Your Eyes

January 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Run the race with perseverance.

Make the most of your time.

Fix your eyes on the prize.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

Today’s Friday Find is a visual picture of everything we discussed this week. A video by Elevation Church…

Run fast and run hard, my friends.

Running, following & listening,
Ginger

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Thursday Tips: Getting Started

January 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

As I was lamenting the hill that we were tackling somewhere around mile 9 of the race this past weekend, I looked over and read a sign that was being held high over the crowd.  It read:

THE FIRST STEP IS ALWAYS THE HARDEST

So true.  As with any goal, physical or spiritual, taking that first step is going to be the most challenging!  Once we get the hang of things we generally fall into a rhythym.

I know, sometimes picking up your Bible can be the equivalent to starting to train for a marathon.  We don’t know where to start, it seems to big, and we’ve been burned out in the process before.  But that’s why I wanted to share a tip today that has helped countless people of all ages get started in their Bible reading goals.  This is a retro post (originally posted in July of 2011), but the count on the viewership tells me that only my family and a few friends caught this one.

I hope you’ll check it out and share your own personal training tips in the comment section for other runners/readers!

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24, NIV

Running,
Ginger

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Living History Challenge

January 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

MAKE A BUCKET LIST
I understand the reasoning behind titling your dream list with the word “bucket“ – but I also have quite the aversion to it.  And no, it’s not because it references dying, but because “bucket” is an ugly word.  I don’t want to have to keep writing or saying that word when speaking of my innermost hopes and dreams.  So my list is actually called “THE LIST.”  It’s pretty self-explanatory.

I love hearing when others achieve their goals and cross items off of their list.  It’s challenging and, oftentimes, inspiring.  Watching as friends and family chase their dreams, take on the remarkable, and learn life-altering truths has only fueled my own hopes.

GOALS vs. DREAMS
Last week we spent a lot of time talking about expressing our goals and making them happen.  Goals are good.  They are a great way to remain motivated and forward thinking.  Goals keep me away from the TV and out accomplishing.  But dreams require more than just an errand or a little extra effort.  My dreams are the things I whisper in prayer, share carefully, and cultivate in the back of my mind.  In order to make my dream list, the item must require more than I have within me to achieve on most days.  Dreams, at least for me, tend to motivate my everyday thinking and living.  They keep me living wide-awake and looking for opportunity.

TAKE THE CHALLENGE
I would encourage you to think about your own list… be it bucket, goals, dreams, or just “The List”.  Keep adding, keep the list handy, and dream bigger than what you could ask for or imagine.  The satisfaction of crossing off completed missions is enjoyable, but it’s the process, the journey, that makes for the actual living.  Mt. Kilimanjaro… one day you and I WILL meet!

“Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you.”  2 Samuel 7:3

Living out His story,
Ginger

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Run Fast

January 4, 2012 by 3 Comments

I’ve had “run a half marathon” on my bucket list for almost a decade now. I eventually started getting serious enough to change my list to read “run a half marathon by the time you are thirty.” I am running in a race in just two short weeks. I am turning thirty in just three short weeks. (There’s nothing like waiting until the last minute.) God willing, I’m going to cross that finish line and accomplish my goal. I’m proud of the progress and thankful for a ton of encouragement that has gotten me over the “I can’t do this” and the “I don’t want to do this” humps.


SURPRISE
Do you want to know what the biggest surprise in all of this has been? It’s how having a plan (with tangible goals), evaluating progress each day, and staying encouraged have made this whole process relatively… well… easy.

And yet, here’s the list that I had stacked up against me:

1. I’m not a runner.
2. I’ve been diagnosed with asthma for most of my life.
3. The sports I enjoy playing least contain the most running.
4. I am really good at quitting any sort of physical goal.

Prior to 2010 the longest I had ever run was a 5K. Prior to last month I had never run more than a 10K. And then last Friday I ran 10 miles. My knees hurt and my body shook, but I just did it.

DO THE WORK
Gang- as you set goals for this year my hope is that your spiritual workout takes priority on your list. Being healthy and honoring God with our bodies and physical goals is important, but not at the expense of our hearts and minds. Have you ever read the whole Bible? Ever memorized a verse before? Have you ever tried talking to God first thing when you wake up each day?

I don’t know where you are in your relationship with God or which spiritual goals you should aim for this year, but I do know that a step forward is a step forward! Set a goal for 2012 that will draw you closer to the King of History. Run fast and run hard after him!

POINTERS
If nothing else, running has helped me to learn the following about goal setting.

  • Make a tangible, realistic goal.  (I want to read Ezekiel through Revelation by the end of 2012)
  • Vocalize your goal to someone who can help encourage you.  (My husband and I both shared our goals)
  • Reevaluate at the end of the first week or month – is your goal still realistic?  (Do I need to devote more time?)
  • Change up the routine from time to time.  (Sometimes I read from a different translation or at a different time in the day.)
  • Walking is still moving. Just keep moving forward.  (Some days I can read a whole book of the Bible in one sitting and other days I only make it through a verse or two.)
  • Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day or if your just off your game. Pick it back up tomorrow.  (Don’t let guilt keep you away from a gift!)

If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing even on our lamest of days. Your efforts will be rewarded!

“But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”

-2 Chronicles 15:7, NIV

If you want your story to be an adventure, invest time with the Master Storyteller!

Living out His Story,
Ginger

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