It’s that time of the year as most bloggers look back on their best articles of the year, and begin thinking and planning for next year. I haven’t linked up with the Catholic Women Blogging Network (CWBN) in months now, but figured I would round out this calendar year with a reflection of hopes and dreams for 2018.

Hopes and dreams can be kind of personal, and can span across multiple areas of life. Family hopes and dreams, career hopes and dreams, and personal hopes and dreams. So, I shall do my best to touch briefly on each of those areas.

Family Hopes & Dreams

My family is my vocation – my primary vocation is to be a wife. And, to be the best wife possible. My vocation as mother should enhance that primary vocation – it should make me the best wife possible, and direct me back to being a wife.

• Have you heard of the St. Andrew Christmas Novena? If not, I’m attaching a handy graphic to showcase one of my favorite prayers during the Advent Season. When you sit with it, and contemplate the words, the prayer is powerful on the imagination. God is not a genie, nor is He a magician. So, I don’t worry about telling you one of my prayer intentions for this year’s St. Andrew Novena, which coincides with my family hopes & dreams – one of my intentions this year is for the “health, safety, and happiness of all of my children, present and future.” I pray that my children have a healthy, happy, and safe 2018 – and beyond, of course!
• I am hoping and dreaming of a smooth move and transition, and subsequent settling in to a new home for 2018. We don’t know where the Army will move us, but we are on the “to move” list – and, my hope is that my family will make that move smoothly, and my son will find friends his age to become bosom friends to enrich his experience where we live next.
• I am hoping that our move finds us in an environment which continues to promote learning – both at school, and in faith.

Career Hopes & Dreams

I typically don’t get paid for my writing, and I’m not fooling myself into trying to stretch myself so thin that I focus on writing for pay. However, although I have chosen to not pursue monetizing my blog, and I make a conscious decision to only pursue paid writing gigs on my schedule, I view blogging as my “career.” And, like any calling, it is only to enhance my primary vocation of being a wife, and secondary vocation of being a mother. However, it doesn’t mean I don’t have aspirations, hopes and dreams for my writing.

• My biggest hope and dream is to truly sit down and begin working on the book I have planned in my head and on my heart.
• Continue writing here on a regular basis – hopefully getting back to multiple times a week. I want to be more introspective and more open in what I write here.
• Continue writing for CatholicSistas, CatholicMom.com, and Everyday Ediths – the main outlets I am using for Catholic Faith-based pieces these days.
• Continue to submit for Her View from Home as the Spirit moves and strikes.
• Continue to grow my social media presence, one person at a time, so that inspiration of love, joy, and finding “beauty in the mess” permeates the lives of those who need the encouragement!
• Focus more on developing a cohesive, supportive community for Everyday Ediths’ readers on Facebook – one which will foster encouragement and pride in being a Catholic woman.
• Take a knee – a step back – from other volunteer commitments – specifically from official involvement in chapel and church-related activities. I need to give others the ability to learn to lead, and give them the opportunity to step in to lead.

Personal Hopes & Dreams

Many of the personal hopes and dreams were already touched upon in the previous two sections. However, I can always come up with hopes and dreams centered on continued self-improvement and self-enlightenment.

• I hope to truly focus on engaging and growing my relationship with God, outside of the obligatory prayers, attending Mass, etc. What does this look like? Simply, it means remembering to invite Him into my day on a regular basis – not in rote prayer, but in a more personal, spontaneous sense.
• I hope to spend time cultivating friendships made previously. Instead of relying on social media, I hope to come up with creative ways to let friends know I am thinking of them, rather than sending a text message or FB message.
• I hope to focus mainly on my primary and secondary vocations, recognizing those two vocations are truly my path to sainthood.
• I hope to become a better homemaker this year – I sorely neglect dishes, laundry, and cleaning for the sake of volunteer commitments. I am hoping to do better at being cleaner, tidier, and dare I say more minimalist, than I currently am.

There you have it, dear reader. My hopes and dreams for 2018. Not a lot of tangible hopes and dreams, but the ones which lay on my heart nonetheless.

What about you? Have you given some time to consider your hopes and dreams for 2018? Want to share some in the comments below? I’d truly love to hear from you!

And, if you’d like to read more about other phenomenal bloggers’ hopes and dreams for 2018, I encourage you to head over to Reconciled to You, and check out this month’s CWBN Blog Hop! I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Just click the image below and head on over to read some other awesome writers’ words!