Happy New Year To You From Our Maker's Acres Family Farm

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Well, 2018 is in the books, wrapped up with a bow and all done.  In the upcoming days, we'll look back at some of the numbers like we always do - looking at rainfall, egg production, milk production, animal production, etc.

For now we'll look ahead to 2019 with a few resolutions and/or goals.  I've come to dislike resolutions simply because they are so doggone hard to keep.  I always start with such good intentions, only to fall short of following through.  And the salt in the wound is that it doesn't take me very long to get off-track on my lofty goals.

This year, I'm going to try to keep things simple, and I've asked my family to hold me accountable.  Here goes:  I like to make goals in three areas: Spiritual, Physical, and Mental.

Spiritual Goal for 2019: Read 3 Chapters a day in the Bible.  Doing this will enable me to read through the Bible in a year.  I like to read beginning in Genesis and ending in Revelation.  I know many people will read a couple chapters in the Old Testament and 1 chapter in the New Testament each day.  I like to read the Bible through, though.  It is just more orderly and I can follow the timeline of what is going on from a historical perspective that way.

Physical Goal for 2019:  Do at least 50 push ups and 50 sit ups each day.  I am not real big on working out.  I would much rather work hard in meaningful work that accomplishes an outcome, but especially during the short days of winter, there's not a lot to do outside.  I'm 52 now and as the metabolism slows, but my appetite for good food grows, there's a weighty problem ahead (no pun intended) if I don't burn some calories.

Mental Goal for 2019:  Read a book a month. 

I have a few homestead to do's, but these are more to do list items than resolutions.  I'll list them here and will check them in a year to see how much we got done:

1. Put in sidewalks to help with trudging through the mud,
2. Add lighting to the barn.  Adding the lean-to's on either side of the barn made it darker in the barn,
3. Add lights to the cattle trailer.  Maybe we can be legal for Benjamin's last year of showing:),
4. Build a roof that spans between the barn and goat barn,
5. Bring in more fill dirt to fill in low areas around the barn,
6. Improve drainage around the barn,
7. Make homemade soap

So there we have it.  We have been blessed in 2018 despite some difficult bumps in the road.  May God bless you and your family in 2019!