January Resolution: Check In #3

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I wanted to post this on Saturday, then Sunday… but it’s been a while since I’ve had such a busy weekend. Time really does start to fly when you start working again heh. That said, I guess it is rather appropriate for me to put up this update today, since there are still 7 days left of this mini-resolution from today. This update will be for the past 8 days: from 17th – 24th January.

My January mini-resolution was to read Romans 8 once per day. I admit it wasn’t as easy during this period. There were days I started my day with my reading, but also days where I slid it in right before I slept. Last night, I was so exhausted (and unwell) I resorted to listening to it read via my Bible app while trying to follow along according to memory.

Jacky tested me on it one evening and I realised there’s still a lot that I don’t remember in terms of how the verses come together and specific words that were used. I realise that in ancient Middle-Eastern culture, they would not have been required to quote verbatim, but it’s still my aim to quote it according to ESV.

I still think that it will be entirely possible for me to spend a few hours at the end of the month and have it committed to memory. I’ll keep you posted!

Blessings,

Crystina

January Resolution: Check In #2

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It’s been another week since I decided that I’d start doing mini-resolutions every month and aim to read Romans 8 once per day in January. From 10th – 16th January, I have read it every day, usually first thing in the morning, or at least before lunch. It’s been great to start my day in God’s Word, especially in the book of Romans.

I have found myself committing more of it to memory just naturally and have even tried to simply recite parts of it. This week I started to read it with verse numbers to help me with remembering it. Currently, as long as I get the starting words of the next verse, I can pretty much recite the entire verse.

It’s easier to remember what comes next if I memorise it based on the verse itself so we’ll see how I get on in the following week. However, I’m confident that if I set aside even just one hour at the end of this month, I’ll be able to memorise it all, if I haven’t more or less memorised it already :)

This is great! I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but if I am able to memorise the whole of Romans 8 by the end of the month I’d like to aim for Romans 12 next, God willing.

Blessings,

Crystina

January Resolution: Check In #1

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It’s been a week since I decided that I’d start doing mini-resolutions every month and aim to read Romans 8 once per day in January. So, it makes sense for me to do a mini check-in every now and again during the month to track how I’m doing.

From 3rd – 9th January, I have read it every day except on the 7th. I was planning to read it before bed but after writing my blog post that day I got too tired and fell asleep (though I found myself reciting parts of it in my head as I was lying in bed before I slept heh). Thereafter, I decided that it would be best for me to read first thing in the morning after I wake up, rather than trying to find time during the day or reading it before bed.

This week I suddenly found myself working again so I had less spare time / brain power throughout the day as well, so aiming to read as soon as possible after waking will probably remain best. I did manage to read in the morning yesterday and noticed a big difference in my actual processing and absorption of the text.

There are definitely passages that are starting to stick in my mind – even if not word for word, I know the general gist of most of it by now. I’m pretty sure that if I do continue to read it daily, at one point I would have read it enough to memorise it. Let’s see how long it takes :)

Blessings,

Crystina

Bullet Journal: January Setup

It’s been a while! Yes, I have still been using my bullet journal but I haven’t really been writing about it. I haven’t done elaborate spreads, and if anything they’ve become a lot more basic, but they’re fit for purpose. It’s a new year! But instead of doing a bunch of new year spreads, I kind of just continued my single page 1mo spreads because there isn’t enough going on in my life for each week to warrant its own double spread anymore.

I decorated January’s a little more than usual, but pretty much my spreads just look like this:

This is to be used for the entire month, and if I end up needing more space I’ll just add another page to it as I go along. I don’t add mood or habit trackers anymore because I don’t think I do enough of them per week/month to warrant tracking. That said, as I mentioned in a previous post, I have started to do my skincare a lot more now that I’ve broken out my new ESPA products heh, and especially since it’s been colder lately so my skin has been really dry. Maybe I will start tracking again at some point, but for now it’s not necessary.

One thing I will be tracking, though, is a monthly resolution. Last year’s resolution to memorise Romans 8 failed, but this year I’ll be aiming to have mini-resolutions on a monthly basis that are easily achievable. For January, I will be aiming to read Romans 8 once through every day. This is totally doable, and by the end of the month, having read it once per day, I’d hope that I’d be able to remember a good chunk of it already.

Plus, taking time to read it will give me time to internalise the words as well, rather than just memorising and spewing out words meaninglessly. It shouldn’t take me more than 2-5min per day, and if I really can’t find the time to do that on a daily basis there’s probably going to be a deeper heart issue that I’ll need to look into.The monthly resolution I can track at the bottom of the page by writing the days in and just crossing off each day that I’ve done.

I like my basic spread! It’s simple but it’s cute and it should work well for me, that’s the most important part I feel :) It doesn’t take long to set up and is easy for me to use. Hopefully this new year will bring a new degree of productivity.

Muchos love,

Bobbie

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Hello 2021

Last year was a special year, indeed.

I remember my only resolution (because I suck at them) was to memorise the entirety of Romans 8. Unfortunately, I am fairly embarrassed and ashamed to say I did not succeed, especially since I had so much time at home to study it. This year, though, I’m thinking of having the same resolution, but will also aim to continue uploading my Bible reading onto YouTube, and continue sharing the gospel online via Twitch. Whether or not I succeed in the latter part of that will be quite easy to see. Please feel free to keep me accountable.

Perhaps my biggest resolution, however, should remain to love the triune God of the Bible with all my heart, mind, soul, strength — my entire being — and glorify Him alone.

Happy New Year! Here’s to 2021.

Blessings,

Crystina