Personal Progress

First things first.

Congratulations to Jill from Teenage Bride ...

you won Beyond the Pig and the Ape

Now, a word about Jill: Cuter than cute, Jill was married quite young - and despite the negative reaction of many, she and her husband are very, very happy. They're expecting their first child, a daughter. Jill is a fun-loving but introspective blogger - and I've come to really love and admire her. Check out her blog!

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The youth of our church are encouraged to set and accomplish goals. (well, we all are, really) The Young Women have "Personal Progress" and (this is neat) mothers and other women are invited to participate as well. So a little over a year ago I picked up my own Personal Progress book and started working alongside my daughters. We each work on our own projects as well as doing some together. Well, we all decided we wanted to have everything complete by the time the yougest turns 14.... that's next month. And I'm happy to report that we're right on schedule!

Some of my projects included the family's donation of my hair to the wigmaker for my Mom's wig; starting and keeping an updated blog; successfully growing something in this desert yard of ours that is edible (grapes!); transcribing some of my old journals onto the computer then having them bound for my posterity; hand-quilt baby quilts with my mother and sister; Learn about & follow a fitness program ....

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So anyway, this Personal Progress Program is available online - I've found it valuable for me personally, but also so beneficial in creating a deeper bond between me and my girls. We have tried to spend a little time each Sunday working together on it. And it's been the means of helping me stay focused on things that are truly important rather than each day being chipped away with urgent "must do" things that, in the end, don't really matter.

(sometimes while working on Personal Progress, we get a little relaxed and some of us even fall asleep)

So I'm interested:

How do you stay focused on the important?