10 Habits I'm Bringing With Me Into 2024

Can you feel it?

The end of the year itch to choose new habits to form? The desire to be a better version of yourself?

For a lot of people, it gets a little old, if we're being honest. You write down goals, maybe even make a habit tracker, and every year the commitment ends around March.

I hate to play into it, really, but I LOVE this time of year. I'm type A, I thrive in new goals all year long! I want to share some ideas with you, but before you click off, I promise to share some helpfulness with it. My next year of blogs will be expanding on these topics, so maybe you can go with me one by one?

I know that building 10 habits sounds like a lot. It sounds pretty unattainable & unapproachable. But that's why we're "building." Choose one, get it down, build on top of it. I didn't begin all of these in 2023, some have been built for years, but I'll admit that I had a lot of time on my hands this year. In April, I moved to a new state thirteen hours away from everyone I know and love. It took me 3 months to find a job and even longer to find friends, so I still had a lot of time on my hands! I felt really inspired with all this free time, and decided that it was as good a time as ever to start forming the habits that will help me be the woman, wife, and one day mother that I want to be! It has been such a joyful journey for me so I want to share some of it with you!

I'll lay them out here incase there's something you want to scroll to or scroll past:

1. Reading my Bible 2. Honoring the Sabbath 3. Lowering my Screen Time 4. Reading Better Books 5. Writing 6. Feeding my Sourdough 7. Spending Money Intentionally 8. Building A Community 9. Eating Meat 10. Walking with my Husband

Let's get into it! Here are 10 habits that I am bringing with me into 2024!

Reading my Bible

This isn't anywhere near a new habit, but it is my most important one- so it's coming with me! This habit is truly and honestly the most important one. It's the catalyst to transform your life.

The best part of every day for me is reading my Bible. I wake up an hour before I need to, turn on the living room lamp, and get to soak in the dim quietness of the morning with my hot coffee while the birds chirp. That alone is a little slice of heaven. That hour of silence where I can sit in God's presence, read His word, and get to know Him better, sets the tone for my day.

Maybe you've tried that and it's not for you. If that's you, I want to recommend to you the Bible Study that I use! It is The Life Principles Daily Bible (NASB) by Charles F. Stanley. My Aunt gave this to me at a family reunion in like 2016 and I've read it every year since! It makes it so much easier to read the Bible by breaking it down in several different ways. Each day you read a portion of Old Testament, a Psalm, a Proverb, and a portion of New Testament. It also has little boxes that show you life lessons from harder verses, medium boxes that hold life examples, and big boxes that pull answers to life's questions from the scripture. If you have trouble getting through the Bible and sticking to reading it every day, I suggest this study to everyone! Everything about how it is set up helps there to be at least one part you're looking forward to reading that day.

Maybe you start work at 4am. I'll admit to you that I don't start work until 9:30am, so when I say I'm waking up early, its 7:30am. I love reading my Bible in the morning because it changes my heart and attitude. It makes it easier for me to carry the fruits of the Spirit with me throughout the day. However, I do not believe that God isn't going to speak to you and work in you if you read your Bible at some other time of day or in some other medium. You could do it after work/before dinner, before you're exhausted and crashing on your pillow. You could listen to the Bible on your commute through an app. Seriously, wherever and however you can fit it in, it is worth it. I promise! It's so important in this day for us to know what God's word says so we won't be persuaded or confused by the enemy.

I think a lot about Romans 7:15 where Apostle Paul said, "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." This is how I feel when I'm out of my Bible for a couple of days, or especially a couple of weeks. I hate my flesh! I hate the thoughts that run through my head when I haven't spent time with the Lord. I notice such a difference in myself when I "don't feel like" reading the Bible for a while. I'm quick to judgement and criticism. I seek out hearing about gossip. I'm quick to be annoyed and not give grace. I'm not only annoyed at everyone else, but annoyed at myself for being annoyed! I always hope to be someone who feels deep compassion and empathy for others and always offers grace. I simply cannot do that when I haven't been spending time with and listening to the Holy Spirit!

This is why I'll be reading my Bible every morning in 2024.

Honoring the Sabbath

This practice came this year around the same time as a lot of these other habits- when I was reading The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry (TREH) by John Mark Comer. That book sparked in me an interest to start reading more about the Sabbath and watching videos on it. A YouTuber I watch, Milena Ciciatti, is a mom of three, and she is a SUPER Christian, like a lot farther along than me, but she inspires me to look into all that she does and talks about, to learn more. Her family honors the Sabbath, not in a completely traditional Jewish way, but pretty close. I decided from my book, the Bible, and her videos that this was something I (& everyone) need in my life! I just started this about 2 months ago, so I'm not perfect at doing it every weekend, but it is 100% a habit that I want to do faithfully throughout 2024. I have a blog I'm writing on this that will be posted next year, so look out for that if you're interested! It will dive more into what the Sabbath looks like for my family, and what I get out of it. Hopefully by the time I post that, we'll be a lot better at it!

It's really hard to honor the Sabbath if you have a crippling addiction to your phone and you're itching all day to check your feed, so I'll also be bringing with me:

Lowering my Screen Time

This year I started to really feel convicted about my screen time. I decided that the amount of time I spent on my phone was not conducive to me become the woman, wife, and God-willing one day mom that I want to be. So I deleted tiktok off my phone and picked up more hobbies like baking and a stitch club with some girls from church. Then I read the book TREH and I felt this urge even more. That book inspired me in what feels like a million different ways, and I came up with at least 6 blog topics from it. I wrote a blog on lowering my screen time that will be posted next year, so look out for Is TikTok a Hobby? if you want more on this!

Another habit that leads me away from screen time and to the Lord:

Reading Better Books

Is anyone else fed up with "SMUT"? I swear I can't pick up a romance novel without it literally being written porn. I stopped reading books for a while because none of the popular and marketed ones align with what I feel comfortable reading. That's when I found a different type of book. Amish Romance Novels. You heard me. I was walking through the library at the beginning of last year and I saw a book cover that had a woman in a bonnet on a horse wagon. It called to me. Mostly because somewhere deep inside it reminded me of The Little House on the Prairie. I grabbed a series and I've been hooked ever since! Two of my favorite authors have been Beth Wiseman and Lauraine Snelling. These books are exactly what I was looking for! A little very modest romance and a lot about God, prayer, and being homemakers. That probably sounds weird and cringey to you, but I love a good prairie book. These authors brought back my healthy addiction to reading.

Another thing I started doing was trying to read one nonfiction book a month. When I married my Pastor husband and we moved in together, I saw that he had a lot of books that I've seen recommended that I wanted to read. The first one I chose off our new joint bookshelf was The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry (sorry to keep mentioning this book, but it is seriously so good and relevant.) This one inspired me so much that I knew I needed to read more books like that. I'm currently finishing up Walking with God by John Eldredge. Next on my list is Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney, which came highly recommended by my husband.

There's just nothing like a book that brings you closer to God and helps you to live better for God, and both of these types do that for me!

What does reading inspire?

Writing

I have always loved writing. My most prized accomplishment is winning Reflections in middle school. I'm joking! But I did kept the piece I wrote and the award. That's (obviously) not to say I write perfectly. I love to write from the heart with topics and conversations that God brings to my mind. These are passion pieces, not papers written for class. God puts a word in my heart and it pours out however it pours out, with little to no editing. So if you're here to judge my run-ons and sentences that start with the word "But," you'll have a lot of content to judge!

I feel like God has given me a heart of vulnerability and a gift of articulating things in a way that people can understand it or feel seen. In the last 6 months I've felt so in-touch with and inspired by the Holy Spirit that I wrote 12 whole blogs, scheduled them out for the next year, and planned the content for them! My only desire for my blog is for one person to read it and feel the joy and love of the Lord and see how good He is.

Feeding my Sourdough

In August of 2023, I started my sourdough journey. It has been SO FUN. I am passionate about letting hobbies be hobbies and not trying to figure out how you can make money from everything you like to do. Baking just to bake has seriously been such a joy. I've never been good at baking. In fact, when I started my sourdough starter I was thinking "man I hope this first loaf turns out good or I'll probably quit." I was so excited about it though that I read the recipe and entire blog several times before trying. I printed it out for goodness sake. I tried really hard, and everything I have made has been delicious. It feels so good to be able to treat people to a batch of homemade cinnamon rolls or bring homemade bread sticks to a party. It feels rewarding when my husband takes a bite and says "WOW" or asks when I can bake something specific again. I've even inspired several people to start their own, and four people have started their sourdough with a piece from my starter! Of course this has led me down a rabbit hole of wanting to be the homemaker of all homemakers. It is so cool that with just a jar of sourdough you could never need to buy a bread product again. Crackers, tortilla shells, pie crust, poptarts, cinnamon raisin bread, dinner rolls, stromboli, meat pies- you name it, you can make it. I love that!!

When my sister came to visit me at the end of summer, she brought home (on the airplane) a little baggie of my sourdough starter. Now she bakes for our family back home, and makes healthy sourdough doggie treats! She gave a little piece of her starter, that came from my starter, to our good friend that lives near her. Then our friend that lives in Kansas went home to visit, and she also got a little piece of the starter. Now the sourdough starter I made from scratch is also in Kansas, and two homes in Mississippi! We're connected by getting to text each other recipes and tips throughout the week. Something about that feels so sweet and near and dear.

I can't wait for this summer because I'll be posting a blog titled My Sourdough Favorites where I'll be sharing my tried and true favorite recipes with you!

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If you don't like to read or write or grow a sourdough starter and bake, the inspiration I want you to take from these past few, is to put in the work to find what your passions are. Spend some time on Pinterest and get inspired and excited! Find what makes you feel a little rush of joy and accomplishment. Things that are done just for fun. It makes it SO MUCH easier to break your addiction to your smart phone and social media if you have hobbies that you're excited to work on! It's so much easier to practice the Sabbath if you've been wanting extra slow time to sit down and embroider. It's so much easier to read the Bible if you are already practice reading and regaining your attention span from the grips of your tiktok.

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Building A Community

I think I've always been just fine on my own. I don't ever really go searching for friends, they find me. Extraverted people take me under their wing and they become my "comfort person." When I walk into a crowded room, I search for them. If those people don't find me and adopt me as their friend, I do just fine on my own. I am perfectly content in my newly married bliss bubble, living all alone, just us. But I don't believe that that is how God has called me to live my life. I believe we're supposed to get involved in our local church and open our home to people in our community. I want to start hosting more and inviting people in, in more ways than one. I desire to be the home people know they are welcome at. I also think that sometimes we have to build what we can't find. I might have to step out of my comfort zone and make my own friends, because I don't believe in living my life alone, even though I kind of like it. Inevitably, there will come a time when something happens in my life that hurts or is hard. I want to be prepared for the hard times that will come, by building friendship with women and couples who are close like sisters and brothers.

Spending Money Intentionally

It's been over a year and a half now that I have really been focusing on this. I can now say that I'm a recovered shopaholic. I'm using the term "shopaholic," but really that can probably be applied to most people you know (and probably you). I have a blog written on this idea of shopping intentionally and how that's kind of crazy in our western capitalistic culture. It will probably be posted in September for when you start gearing up to spend hundreds of dollars on seasonal decorations and gifts we'll use for a couple of weeks.

With a lot of things that I get a conviction for, I'll ask God to give me a distaste for it, and boy does that work! I don't remember asking Him to do that for shopping, but He truly has! There have been countless times in the past year that I have picked something up while shopping and then by the time I walk around the rest of the store or even the register, I decide that I just don't need it. I don't have the need for one more thing. It doesn't spark joy like it used to, because my joy is coming from someOne else entirely!

Eating Meat

Okay this one sounds a little weird. Long story short, I was vegetarian for seven and a half years and to everyone else I stopped as randomly as I started, but I had been thinking about it for a long time. I have a blog written on this called I Stopped Being Vegetarian (This is Very Shocking) and it will be posted in a month or two! It dives more into how I feel like I'm more healthy now that I'm eating real meat! Honestly I dig it. I want to eat real meat and make real bread and fuel my body with real food (I told you I fell down a homemaker rabbit hole!)

As for me and my house, I'll be eating real meat in 2024!

Walking with my Husband

One night I was laying in bed and my husband walked in and laid down and said the words no one wants to hear their spouse say: "what if we trained for a race together?" I shot up and exclaimed "NO!" It honestly was literally involuntary. It was my gut reaction. When I realized he wasn't joking I felt bad, and spent the night thinking about it. The next morning I said, "okay let's do it, but we have to both be serious!" We have not been super serious about it (lol), but we live in a beautiful neighborhood with a park and a walking trail and killer sunsets, and it sure is fun. What a perfect excuse to spend some time together after dinner and soak in some fresh air and the great beauty of God's creation!

Bonus points: it offsets my hobby of baking... maybe not equally, but it tries. We plan to do a couple of themed dress up 5ks early this coming year and that will be really fun to get excited for and then feel accomplished together!

If you want to view this one from an even deeper perspective, "walking with my husband" is applicable to my marriage as a whole. I'm actively choosing to walk WITH my husband, not against him. I'll write about that in March for our one-year but in essence- team work makes the dream work baby. We're on the same side always.

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WHEW that was a lot! Thank you if you made it to the end and are still reading this :)

I hope a couple of ideas spoke to you, and got your creative juices flowing.

I'm so excited to start posting all of the blogs that expand on these topics, and I hope you're excited to read them!

I pray that you have a sweet and merry Christmas with loved ones, remembering the reason for why we celebrate this season. I love you, friend!! If you have any topic ideas or prayer requests, you can head over to my "about me" page and shoot me a message!