Are you a goal setter? It is not my preferred approach to getting things done. I love lists and checking off tasks, but setting goals feels time constrained, like a stressful deadline.
Goal setting was a big part of the job in my last 10 or 15 years of educational work. Not only were teachers required to set goals for evaluation purposes, but students had to write goals a couple of times per year. It seemed far-fetched to make first graders write a six-month goal when they understand so little of long-range time and learning potential.
Goals pop up in everyday life. Today an online word game that I play blazed the words “Goal Completed” across the screen. I have no idea what the goal was nor how I achieved it! My watch reminds me of goals throughout the day and blasts a ring of fireworks when I reach its predetermined settings.
My initial blog goal was to publish twice a month. I kept up very steadily with that goal in the first years but in the spring and summer of 2020 I backed off, finding it hard to write topically in the firestorm of issues at that time. I had another unplanned lag when my site was hacked into. It took several weeks of technical expertise the get “A Writer’s Daughter” functional again.
Where do I land this post so I can catch up to my personal writing goal? I have had a few ideas that didn’t fly. I considered a passage in Romans 8 that repeatedly used the phrase “set your mind” but looking carefully at the text, the term “set” does not imply a command; it is not a directive to make smart thinking goals. But it’s a good passage if you care to check it out for yourself. Instead, the first question of the Westminster Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” The answer is, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” Scripture says, “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11 v 36) This sounds like a great goal to me.
Before our September trip to London and Paris, we met with a couple friend of ours to get their insights on Paris. He spent some of his youth there, and they had returned to Paris for a family trip. Being the sweet hostess she is, there was a lovely snack prepared for our short visit. With the snacks, she laid out the “Pardon My French” napkins. I laughed at the unlikely thought that my friend would speak any indiscretions. She laughed too saying she didn’t even think of that, but that her grown children had given her the napkins because of the way she mixed a little bit of French and a smattering of Korean into her English vernacular. Such fun humor!
