HOPE, a supernatural virtue.

Back in January someone suggested choosing a word for the year. I chose HOPE. Everyone knows the verse about Faith, Hope, and Charity and I realized that I needed to dwell a bit on Hope. Hope is a big part of Trust, and trusting God is essential for happiness and peace. I get anxiety so growing in peace would be very nice.

So I added the word HOPE to the insert that marks the weekly spread in my planner. It is in green, a color of growing things, and this urges me to be hopeful. It also reminds me to pray when anxiety rises up.

    I’m not exactly an artist, so the “oops” on my E, still, I picked a pretty paper to use and the clear tape protects it and keeps it on the plastic insert. I plan to add to the front edge for durability as soon as I have the supplies.

Exercising HOPE is a core reason to make plans. Doing what needs to be done today, with an eye to planning for the future and growing our family and lives into the future, this is an exercise in hope.

I purchased myself a new planner, a Franklin Covey, very simple, spiral bound, 12 months, two pages per week vertical columns, and Daily Tasks sections at the bottom.  I plan out toward the future with my monthly pages, and then move the items I am actually doing to the weeks I am setting up. I even watched a video done by a successful businessman, 25 years in his field, explaining how the use of his Franklin Covey planner is essential to his career. He showed his methods, and why he felt it worked so well. Inspiring!

Then a friend showed me HER planner. She called it Bullet Journaling, and that I should google the term, “Bullet Journal” and off I went, watching videos of people showing their planners and how they worked them–wow!  I am now playing with those concepts, learning to use my to-do lists the way the people Bullet Journalling do them.

And I purchased some Washi tape. Another exercise in Hope– to make pretty the planner I use.

Dear Lord, help each of us grow in Hope. +Amen.