Where there is no vision, the people perish...

This post isn't directly related to our gardening ventures, but gardening is definitely an aspect of our vision.

The post title comes from Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he.

The Hebrew word translated as vision is: chazown and the Strong's definition is:
"a sight (mentally), i.e. a dream, revelation, or oracle"

So how am I applying this verse in this post?  Basically, if we do not have goals or a vision for improvement, then we will stay in the ruts we have made for ourselves, making them deeper and deeper until we eventually get buried and perish.

My admonition to you, the reader, is to examine your life and continually reach for higher ground.  Get out of those ruts and with God's help, we will become lights on a hill.

Recently Shannon and I have examined our lives for places where we were stuck in ruts and in need of change.  What follows is the goals that we made for this year in our attempt to strive for higher ground.  We have the goals listed on our fridge as a daily visual reminder.

Vision Goals On Fridge, Beta copy

 MENTAL RUTS:
It has been brought to our attention that our view of ourselves and God has become twisted and off target.  To counter this, Shannon and I have a goal to read through the Bible from cover to cover together with a focus on:

1.  How we view God, 
2.  How God views us.  

We started with a written list of how we currently think and feel about these points.  As we go through our study, we are writing down truths we find from the Bible. Our vision for when we have surveyed all of scripture, will be to compare our initial list with the list we made while going through the Bible. Any thoughts that do not conform to the truths we have found in scripture, will be exposed and cast out as lies from the enemy. We want to uphold the truth of scripture in our understanding of who God really is and who we are to Him.  A good time to do this daily study together for us is during our "lunch" break.  We are currently in the book of Exodus.

PHYSICAL RUTS:
1.  Learn to love mornings, look forward to getting up and be excited about the new day.
This is a work in progress as we both lack in motivation and energy in this area.  We are hoping as our health improves, this will get easier.

2.  Get and be healthy.
This includes being deliberate about what we eat and eating balanced and healthy meals.  We believe that eating nutrient dense produce from our garden will be a great benefit.  Another aspect is having a meal plan and striving to follow it. It can be too easy at times to just grab snack food and be too lazy to take the time needed to make a healthy meal.  To help with this, on the fridge we have created a magnetic meal plan for the week.  This gives a goal and a vision to follow, and planning the week can help with balance (not eating the same dish all the time) and stewardship (plan for what needs to be used up from the food we have in the house before it goes bad.)

Week's Meal Plan on Fridge

3.  Morning garden walk
Once it is warm outside again and there are plants in the beds, our hope is to get outside and take a look at what is happening before work each morning.  This will help us see what needs to be done that day in regards to harvesting, pest control, and general maintenance.  It will also give an opportunity to enjoy the gardens, both flower and food ones as they grow.

GRADING OURSELVES:
It is important to review how one is doing, either daily or weekly.  This gives us a benchmark of where we are at and how we are doing.  This is not to cause discouragement in times of failure, but to help us be encouraged and focus on areas needing more attention and improvement for the following week.  We also can celebrate our victories and achievements in the past week.

We hope this post has encouraged you to make a vision for your life.  Be sure to include prayer for guidance as God can show you what is most important to focus on.  If you find you are struggling with a particular problem, look for and pray about new ways to solve it.  It is helpful to get everyone in the family involved and work as a team if possible.  However, if you are the only one who is engaged, remember that as you bless yourself and your Heavenly Father with your efforts, the people around you will be blessed too.  When you succeed in one area, rejoice and keep up the good work. However, don't neglect to ask God to show you other places in your life in which you can reach for higher ground.  With each step up you will have a better vantage point from which you can get a broader vision!

Shannon Working on a Veggie Medley Casserole dish.