Hello lovely ladies,

Another week has flown by already! Don't blink! January seems to be moving forward at a swift pace.

I turned 53 last Saturday. I had such a wonderful day and felt loved. Lots of birthday wishes by my family and friends.  

My parents made a video at 8 am. on Saturday with a little cake and one candle lit and sang happy birthday to me. I loved it so much! But so thankful I didn't have to eat cake that early in the morning. Ha! ha!

My three sons were still home from the New Year's celebration since it was toward the weekend, so this year I got to enjoy some of their attention on my B.D. Hee hee!

My oldest son gave me three Cliff bars from their coffee series. I ate half of one today. Pretty delicious!

My youngest son bought me a special English toffee coffee that morning.

My middle son bought cherry cheesecake ice cream with cookie dough that we baked. It's one of my favorite treats and really enjoyed it.

My hubby took me out to a nearby by city to do a bit of shopping and eating. They didn't have the restaurant for the gift card we had, so we ate a cheap meal out. It was perfect. 

I have yet to sit down and write my exact goals of what I want to accomplish this year. I don't always rush in to do this... I like to think about it, and then write them down with prayer and mindfulness. However, I'm taking longer to get it done... what's up with that? Ha!

Further down below, I've shared an article on the easy way to build good habits, and really, the goals I choose will have much influence on the type of habits I will be working on this year.

I sure would love to hear what goals or habits you will be working on. Do shoot me an email if you'd like to share.

The MOST important goal and habit I believe is to spend time with God every single morning. My main goal for my blog and newsletter is to encourage women to read their Bible more, pray more, have more faith and establish a good relationship with God.

Is there something that I can do to help you with that? Please let me know.

My Friend, Keep Walking in FAITH,

Rhonda White (rhondawhite@outlook.com)

~ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. I Corinthians 16:23 KJV

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This Week's Devotional 

13 Reasons to Read Your Bible:

https://herchristianhome.com/why-should-you-read-the-bible/

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7 Tidbits from my journal: (Use these ideas for your journal or ministry)

- The best gifts are always tied with heart strings.

- "There is but one MOTIVE which will sustain you in trial and testing, namely, "For the LOVE of Christ constraineth us." (II Cor. 5:14 a) 

*Hudson Taylor interviewed missionary candidates about their "why" they wanted to go. Many good responses, but Taylor said it was the LOVE of Christ that would be their staying power.

- A good habit to add: Encourage one person every day, via phone, text, cards, etc.

- Friends are people with whom you dare to be yourself.

- Live your life in such a way that the conversation of gossip about yourself could never be true. 

- PRAISE is the greatest tool you have in changing someone. (So many lives have been changed because someone believed in them and encouraged them with a word of praise.)

*QUESTION: Are You a Nobody? "If it were not for heroic "nobodies," mission fields would remain unreached, church would not be planted or established, and the gospel would remain untold.  NOBODIES...exalting SOMEBODY!" - Dr. Don Ohm

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New Bible Reading Schedule 

*Side note: It's not necessary to print... you can simply bookmark the new Bible schedule.

OR --Print only the pages you want. Feel free to download it to your own device.

*ADDED a new page this week >> The prayer journal page from last year in a colored format.

https://media.publit.io/file/HCHContent/January-February-Bible-Reading-Planner-2021.pdf

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Bible Verse of the Week:

“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”

Psalm 5:3 KJV

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Reminder Links:

13 Ways to Say "Thank You" Printable: https://gumroad.com/l/ObAkm

Christian Planner Printable Pages:

https://herchristianhome.com/christian-planner-printable-pages/

My Greeting Card Shop: (Looking for a unique card? Shoot me an email with your ideas.)

https://www.greetingcarduniverse.com/loveencouragementcards

My Zazzle Design Shop:

https://www.zazzle.com/store/herchristianhome

Believe God collection:  

https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/48391048

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Today's Tidy Up Your Life Tips: The Easy Way to Build Good Habits

*Before we dig in to this week's topic, here's a quote I wrote down which makes some good food for thought...

"If it takes less than five minutes to complete, it's not even worth a spot on your to-do list -- just do it." Sinem Gunell

Okay... back to our topic..

Little habits can make big changes in your life.

Follow these tips to create the habits you need to excel at life:

1. Identify the habit you need to create. 

Often, people are too vague in their objectives. They might want to “eat healthier”, for example. But, that’s not a well-defined habit. “Eat one cup of vegetables with every meal” is a good starting habit. Next month, consider cutting out sugar, etc.

Create little habits that will help you reach your real end goal.

2. List the benefits of that habit. 

"WHY" do you want to create this habit? What are you getting out of it? Convince yourself that this is worth your time and effort. Create a little motivation and sense of urgency.

3. Determine the best time to perform that desired habit each day. 

Does it make sense to do your habit in the morning? At night? During your lunch break? If you wear a suit or a dress to work, performing 100 squats at the office on lunch break might be inconvenient. Choose a time of day that will work best. 

4. Stack your new habit on top of an old habit. 

Habits need a trigger. You don’t just randomly eat a bag of chips. You might eat chips while watching TV or when feeling a certain emotion, such as anxiety or boredom. Every habit has a trigger.

The most convenient trigger is something that you already do religiously each day. You have a ton of them. Here are a few examples: brushing your teeth, getting dressed, making your coffee, opening your front door, starting your car, getting your mail, and checking your email.

Establish a trigger for your habit that makes sense. For example, you might do your exercise routine after brushing your teeth or after opening your front door when you get home. 

5. Make it easy to perform the new habit. 

If you’re going to go running every morning, have your running clothes and other gear right by your bed. Set up your environment to accommodate your new habit.

6. Start small and grow from there. 

Start by having a goal of doing one push up, jog for two minutes, read one page, write one sentence, or declutter one thing, etc.

Habits are built by actually doing them. You might have a lofty goal, but that goal might be too overwhelming to even get started.

TIP: Make it so easy that you can’t fail! Anyone can find the time and motivation to do one push up. (That little success will motivate you to keep going -- soon you've created a new habit!)

7. Reward yourself. 

Rewards create a positive mindset for your habits. Rewards encourage the behavior to happen again and again. Use any reward you like, but the key is to feel good and excited about it. You can listen to your favorite song, or keep a tracker system to accumulate points in order to earn a much bigger reward. It should be something that motivates you to keep putting in effort.

8. Be consistent. 

Habits are more easily built if done multiple times each day. Once a day is quite effective, too. Once a week is unlikely to work. Of course, this all depends on the type of habit you are establishing.

In summary, think about the goals and challenges in your life. What habits could you create in order to make your life exactly what you want it to be? With effective habits, nothing is out of your reach.

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