2022 Plans
I'm a quilter. Not an experienced one, but at least an intermediate level one. It's a hobby I began as a young mom, abandoned during some busy years and am exploring once more.
We've been blessed with 11 grandchildren in just about that many years. When the first two were due a few months apart, I decided I wanted to make them both a baby quilt that I hand quilted for them. Little did I know what an adventure that set me up for! With each subsequent grandchild, I decided to use the same pattern. I had chosen an easy pattern for the first two since we only returned to the states, and my sewing machine, when the first grandchild was due the next month. And I had made a number of these simple quilts for a hospital in India so I knew they would come together fairly quickly. At least the sewing part of it, not the hand quilting.
When it looked like we were not going to have any more grandchildren (after the first 9 had their quilts), I began to get the itch to make different types of quilts. It had begun during 2019 with some YouTube videos to see better ways to organize my fabric, which lead to YouTube videos on quilt making and various quilting techniques. By the time 2021 is finished, I can say I have caught the bug of quilting. I told a friend recently that I had an unexpected free hour. She knew my machine had been out for servicing and I had just recently gotten it back. She laughingly said, I bet you decided to sew. How did she know?
When that strong quilting desire grew, my sweet husband provided me with a new machine and built a rolling table for me to hold supplies and do ironing on that can be next to my machine. I've gotten rid of some other things in my office/sewing room so that I can sew and quilt more efficiently and easily. If you could glance at my bullet journal, you would find a two page spread listing all the quilts that are in various stages of progress from the point of fabric purchased to completed. I fully completed 6 this year with two others nearing the end and a number of others over halfway.
And of course, now it's that time of year. Again. Everything you read, everywhere you look people are talking about their plans for the new year. Their resolutions. I read about a quilter who holds to doing at least 15 minutes of quilting a day. She adds up her quilting time each week, and overall for the year as well as listing what she was able to accomplish. I like to have a "daily" sewing time and thought I might want to incorporate that into my 2022 plan.
Yet, while I have a list of daily things to accomplish, a running to do list, as I thought on this plan of 15 minutes a day, I was struck by the thought that my highest goal for 2022 will never fit a checkbox. While I can mark off what I've done: a load of laundry (as needed) each day, had dinner planned, taken a walk or exercised, done a certain amount of housecleaning each day, worked on Bible study each day, sewn for 15 minutes that day, what I want most out of 2022 will never be something I can check off.
While my desire for 2022 will involve effort and discipline on my part, it doesn't fit a checkbox. I want to reach the end of 2022 as a women who is more grateful to the Lord each day, who is growing in the knowledge of her Lord, who is walking worthy of Him and all He has done for me. I want to be one who has ears to hear and hears what He says to me.
It is easier to check off that box of completing something toward a very temporal goal. But that is all that it is, temporal. While I do need to clean my house, do the laundry, make meals and all the other temporal things that fill my days, may that never be my focus. May my focus be on the eternal. May I truly set my "mind on things above, not on things that are on earth."
May that be my focus, my plan for 2022.
