Achieve Your Goals

Well we have nearly finished half of the first month of the new year! Congratulations! It's always a good time to take a look at your goal list and determine if you were in your right mind when you created it at the end of last year! I'm not talking about your new year resolutions that you had-you've probably already abandoned many of those!
Oftentimes, our goals fall by the wayside too because we make some mistakes when we put our goal list together. I want to share three things that help me each and every year to achieve my goals and I hope they also benefit you to not only make the right goals, but accomplish them as well.

1- write them down
When we right them down we create a way for us to periodically review them. Writing them down in a journal or notebook creates a way to help hold YOU accountable. You can track your progress bi-weekly or monthly too. This deliberate action will bring immediate results.

2- be specific and add the details
This year one of my goals was to begin a Gratitude Journal. If I stopped there, it's pretty wide open and way too vague. I could lose traction and fall of the rails because there are no measurable details. So I enhanced my goal by adding details: start a Gratitude Journal and write in it each morning before work and place at least 3 entries per day on that list. Specific and detailed gave this goal substance.

3- don't be realistic...DREAM BIG!
I have always been a bit of a dreamer. People will often tell you to write down realistic goals because that way you can achieve them. The problem is that a simple, realistic goal provides very little excitement in achieving it. Who wants to run after something that you could probably hit with little or no effort. That's not a goal, that's a to-do list! I need things that will only be possible if the Lord shows up to help! I like to be creative and let my imagination soar!
When you write down your goal list, full of specific, detail-oriented dreams that may even be a bit audacious and outlandish, you are ready and positioned for an amazing year.

I want you to realize that you are gifted in ways that you may never have imagined. You are creative and innovative. And as you go through this year, you will see that you are quite a bit stronger and productive than you give yourself credit for. This IS going to be YOUR year. Set incredible goals. Be amazing. And may your cup always be filled to overflowing!

Review it…Add to it…Go DO it

When Failure Brews Success

Grab your coffee and lean in because today we’re talking about something no one really wants to talk about, but everyone needs to hear: failure.

Yep, that messy, frustrating, sometimes soul-crushing feeling when things don’t go as planned. Whether it’s a failed relationship, a business that didn’t take off, or that time you stepped out in faith and landed flat on your face - it stings. But here’s the twist: failure isn’t the opposite of success. It’s part of the process.

“Though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again…”

Proverbs 24:16 (NIV)

Did you catch that? Righteous people fall. Not once. Not twice. Seven times. And what do they do? They get back up. Again and again.

See, in God’s economy, failure isn’t fatal. It’s formation.

Think about Peter. One of Jesus’ closest friends. Passionate, bold, and… well, let’s just say impulsive. This guy swore up and down that he’d never deny Jesus. But when pressure hit, Peter folded like a lawn chair three times.

Total failure, right? And yet, after the resurrection, Jesus didn’t cancel Peter. He called him. Restored him. Gave him a job to do.

Peter’s failure became the launchpad for his greatest mission.

“And on this rock I will build my church…”

Matthew 16:18 (NIV)

Your failure isn’t where your story ends. It’s where your faith deepens. It’s where God refines your purpose.

Success isn’t built on perfection. It’s built on persistence.

It’s built in the moments you get up off the ground, wipe off the dust, and say, “God, I still trust You. Use even this.”

So if you’re in a season where it feels like everything’s falling apart, take heart. God doesn’t waste pain. He repurposes it. Your failure might just be the very thing He uses to shape your future.

So pour another cup, take a deep breath, and remember: the next time you fall, you’re in good company. The heroes of faith didn’t make it by never messing up. They made it by never giving up.

Stay grounded. Stay growing. And never be afraid to start again.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and welcome to 2026! At the beginning of a new year we all tend to make some promises. Some folks will call them New Years resolutions. They are promises to ourselves to change something about ourselves and our lives. Promises to the Lord to be more “spiritual” and to try and be more like Him. Promises to our friends and our family to eat healthier and take care of ourselves. It’s the best time to turn over a new leaf because we are starting with a clean slate. We attempt to have new thoughts and support them with new actions. What we are saying is that we "resolve" to be different.

This year I want to encourage you to develop your own personal GPS. I have one of these in my car that helps me find locations that I do not know. It speaks to me and guides me to the destinations that I am going towards. When you activate our personal GPS, it will help you stay on track so that you can follow through on your resolutions and fulfill your promises. What is this GPS formula? Goals, plans, and systems.

G: Goals 
Set some reasonable goals that you can accomplish if you put your mind and heart into it. Start small and set bigger goals as you mature in this process. 
P: Plans
Once goals are set, develop a plan that can be followed to help guide you where you are going. The plan is the outline or strategy for how you are going to achieve the goal.
S: Systems
The system contains the action steps that allow you to follow the plan and bring the goals to fulfillment. Your system is the actual energy you use to carry out the plan and reach the goal.

A man once said “a sailor without a destination cannot hope for a favorable wind.” We need to write down our goals, creating our plan and then develop the system to execute. Failing to plan is planning to fail. How can you get to the goals that you have set? You need your own GPS!
This is YOUR year. Set your GPS and go for it!