“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” I Corinthians 15:58 NKJV

When I take trips, I like to follow along with the map. Even on an airplane. Maybe you are like me. The map shows me where I have come from but also always reminds me where I am going. I like to know how far away from the end we are. I like seeing how far we still need to go. Sometimes the twists and turns along the way are surprising. Sometimes, I check the map, and it seems like we are headed in the wrong direction. But then we curve back toward the destination. I don’t always understand why those shifts happen, but I trust that they happen with a reason, and I also trust that we will reach our destination. When we land, I feel a sense of completion. I know where I started, where I am, and how I got there.

That’s why you need to write out your goals. Having goals in writing reminds you of where you started and helps you track your progress along the way. And clearly written goals help you verify that you have actually accomplished what you set out to do.

Seeing it makes it real. If you are like me, you often know what you want to do, but you aren’t certain how to articulate it. The goal is fuzzy and somewhat ethereal. It’s like those dream sequences in a movie. The action is surrounded by a blur to show that what is occurring at that moment is not real. It’s just a dream, day or night.

Writing out my goals takes the blur away. It helps me clarify my thinking and what I believe God is saying to me. When I see what I am envisioning clearly articulated on the page I understand myself and my goal better. I have a clear picture of where I want to go. The destination becomes real.

If I know I want to go to Albany, New York from my current location, Syracuse, I know I need to go east on the New York State Thruway. A clear destination makes the route clearer. There may be some ways I can tweak the route, but where I end up is determined. When you write out your goal, you determine your destination.

You need the reminder. Let’s face it. We all get busy with life. The urgent often overshadows the important. Your goals are important. If you don’t write them out, the shadow of the everyday urgent will obscure them. Out of sight becomes out of mind and before you know it that important goal is shoved to the back of the shelf and covered in dust. Until you do some mental housekeeping and remember it. Then what happens? You feel guilty and like a failure. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Write out your goals and then set a reminder to review them regularly. I have found this to be necessary and helpful. I used to have a reminder set for every day. That may be optimal, but it wasn’t working for me. If I didn’t review them every day, I felt guilty.

At the beginning of this year, I forgot to set a reminder…and then lost track of my goal. That’s what I’m talking about, right? So, I set up a weekly reminder. In fact, my phone just buzzed a few moments ago and the reminder banner flashed on my iPad as I am typing this. I’ll be looking at my goals today!

You’ll clearly see what you have to celebrate. This is the best part! When you have written out your goals you have a record of what you wanted to do. It’s been clearly articulated so the accomplishment is clearly completed. And what is clearly completed can clearly be celebrated!

Dear friend, remember to include God in every part of the process. Pray as you develop and write out your goals. Include Him in how you set your reminders. Praise Him as you celebrate your small steps of accomplishment along the way. At the end of the day, accomplishing your goal is about knowing Him better and developing your relationship with Him. He wants to be with you every step of the way. And He will celebrate with you, too.

Key Question: Why should you write out your goals?

A Scripture to Consider: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” I Corinthians 15:58 NKJV

A YES Challenge: Schedule time to thoughtfully write out two to three things you want to accomplish this year. Set or post a reminder to look at them regularly. Remember to celebrate your small wins as you work toward those goals.

Prayer: Father, I want to accomplish Your plans for me. You are good and all You have for me to do is good. Help me to set goals that line up with Your purposes. Give me strategies for accomplishing those goals, like writing them out and reminding myself to look at them. I want to celebrate those accomplishments. Not just because I have done it, but because I have done it with You. Help me remember to include You in every part of the process so we can celebrate together. Amen.

September 12, 2026

This is Not Forever

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NLT

As I tearfully opened the sodden boxes of our stored belongings, wondering what was ruined, a verse came to mind,

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21 NLT

We were temporarily living with my parents, and our stuff was stored in Tom’s parents' garage. They had a plumbing issue in their bathroom above the garage, causing a leak that soaked several of our boxes and other items, including our mattress. We weren’t sure what was salvageable.

That period of time was already difficult. We were waiting for a job to open up and unsure how long that would take, how long we would be living with my parents, how long our stuff would be stored. Both sets of parents had been patient, loving, and gracious. There was no one to blame for the water damage. Sometimes things just happen.

But when that verse popped into my brain, it completely changed my perspective on going through the damage. The tears didn’t stop. There was some mourning and disappointment. But at the same time, there was hope. This was temporary. These things were just things. What really mattered was how I responded. I could choose an eternal perspective. I could choose to treasure Christ more than an earthly possession.

As it turned out, very few of our things were unsalvageable, and insurance more than covered anything that was lost. But the eternal perspective I gained is a treasure that I still carry. That simple shift helped me through the three and a half years of living in the in-between.