I posted a “regular” Wordless Wednesday before remembering that I’d intended to participate in Wordless Wednesday with a Twist this week. This is just my second time, but I like the concept (and gosh, but I love that button). The theme is New Beginnings, Change and Goals.

I’ve got a better idea of what my last two years’ goals and resolutions have been because I’ve blogged them. My 2007 resolutions centered around the personal goals of learning web design programs (that one has worked well) and attaining certification as a childbirth educator and labor doula (I’ve since decided that this one will not work well at this time due to our family’s schedule and ages of our children), and family goals in our homeschooling.

Last year’s resolution involved increased hospitality in our home. I failed miserably.

Edgy Effect Flower

This year’s goals can be summed up in a phrase that may only mean something to me: I want to be what everyone seems to think I am. I’ve got a lot going on: eight kids; home business; own or contribute to multiple blogs; photography, Photoshop, and Lightroom junky; blah, blah, blah. Apparently (and unfortunately, I might add), people seem to think I’ve really got my act together; my act is actually threadbare and frayed at the edges. Sometimes it’s spread so thin that there’s hardly enough to go around.

Vivid Flower

What I want for this year is real, personal, one-on-one time with each child each day. More hugs. More read-alouds. More “I love you”s. My own mother has been gone for almost five years now; I want to make the time with my children count, for me and for them.

Do I have other goals that involve personal and professional development and education? Yes. But if I fail in my goals with my family, the rest doesn’t seem to matter.

Contrast

Steps in the right direction:

  • Movie date with seven-year-old son
  • Story time before bed
  • Indoor scavenger hunt
  • Girls’ lunch before Keepers at Home

Flower

I’m not entirely certain where the idea of developing the same photo different ways for this post originated. Maybe a clever reader will be able to put it into words for me.

1 Corinthians 10:31b ~ “whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

Visit 5 Minutes for Mom or Wordless Wednesday for more Wordless Wednesday participants and The Adventures of an American Mum for more Wordless Wednesday with a Twists.

[Want to know more about the program I used for photo editing? Check out my new photography and Lightroom column, which premieres in the January issue of the Heart of the Matter online digital magazine (available Thursday, January 8); Matt Kloskowski’s Lightroom Killer Tips blog (be sure and download his free Lightroom presets); and the NAPP Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Learning Center. Inspired and interested in joining NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals)? Please use my site links and you’ll receive The Best of Photoshop User: The Tenth Year DVD as a bonus gift! Check this post to see if you qualify for serious software discounts.]

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