What will you be doing 10 years from now?
That was the question Matt and I posed to a group of young married couples who had been meeting in our home for a few weeks before Christmas. By the end of the year 2020, what do you want to be doing? Where do you want to be? What are your long range goals?
You know what happens don’t you, when you ask a thought provoking question of someone else? You have to answer it yourself. But before I could reflect on my life and set some long range goals for the next ten years, I first had to choke a little bit and work to steady my breathing. In the year 2020 our baby will be getting his drivers license. We’re likely to have three kids with college bills. Our oldest son will be 23. Good grief, he could be married by then and (gasp) I could be a grandmother!
In ten years.
It’s kind of exciting to think about. And maybe just a little bit scary. And don’t even talk to me about car insurance costs for four teenage/early twenties male drivers.
(breathe…breathe…)
Of course none of us knows exactly what God has in mind for each of us in the future. We can only dream and pray and try to listen to God’s calling the best that we can.
But here’s the deal: If we don’t dream; If we don’t seek God’s plan for our lives; If we don’t search within ourselves and find the gifts God has given us so that we can put them to good use; If we don’t humbly seek God’s direction for our future and intentionally plan to carry out His vision for our families…we’ll just all float along not accomplishing much for God’s kingdom.
Then we’ll look back on our lives ten years from now and wonder why we never got much done. We’ll wonder what happened to the last decade. We’ll wonder why life happened around us and we’re still doing the same ol’ thing we’ve always been doing without really getting anywhere.
There’s something very empowering about looking ahead and picturing yourself doing and being exactly what you aspire to do and to be. I don’t care if you’re in your twenties or eighties…we can all continue to improve our walk with God and set goals for ourselves so that we can do His will on earth as it is being done in Heaven.
That’s what we’re here to do right?
So here’s what I recommend that you do. Take some time to reflect on who God wants you to be and how He can get you to that point during the next ten years. For yourself, for your family, for your church. Write it down. Dream big. But be realistic.
Pray.
Then, break the goals down a little bit. If you want to be at X in 10 years, you’ll need to do a…b… c… in order to get there. Break down each of those objectives into workable time frames between now and 2020. Then, break those steps down into months and weeks and well…start working tomorrow to make something happen.
2020 Vision. What do you see in your future?
becca banana says
“2020 Vision”
Oooooooooooh! Now that’s brilliant! :)
Jill says
I hope the LORD has decided to take us all home by then! God has prepared a wonderful place for those that love Him. Come quickly LORD.
Bonnie says
How do you set goals? How can you plan for what you don’t know? I want to be able to dream, but God always seems to have different plans. So I guess I have stopped dreaming and have just been riding the waves and whatever God brings my way. I wish I could dream.
Sarah Falk says
I have the same question!!
Sonja says
This is such a timely post, my hubby and I just sat down together and worked out a long range budget/debt reduction plan. We hope to be debt free with the exception of our mortgage in under 5 years. I can’t plan beyond that at this point… too much to think about, lol. I do agree that it is very empowering giving the control up to God and trusting that if we stay on track, he will provide, and we will then be able to give even more generously to others.
Marla says
What a wonder post. It has me thinking. My hubby already said that we will sit down on New Years Eve and come up with a plan for next year. I think I will hit him up for a long range plan as well! Gosh, my daughter will be 18! Oh no! Is there an all girls military school I can send her too? LOL
THanks for the thought provoking post. ;-)
MAYRA says
Laura: I’m into that now with my husband, but you gave me clarity in the goal setting. I’m a homeschool mom so that means in 10 years my oldest will be 18 and the youngest 16….so I have to start working better in giving them what he needs for their future. My husband applied for several schools around the country to start his phD…that means more change for our family…which I’m open to. But at the same time I have to plan for structure in the midst of change following God’s will in our life at the same time. Spiritually I want to keep growing in the Scripture and be able to finish all the Precepts upon Precepts inductive Bible courses of Kay Arthur…I’m on my third one…they’re so good. I also want to teach inductive Bible studies to women or kids. Let’s see! Thank you for encouraging us to do that…which I consider so imPortant. Be debt free is another good goal to set!
Amy Sirk says
In 10 years my youngest will be 25. Yikes! I feel old. I’m currently working on my degree in Plant and Soil Science (good food comes from good soil, right?). I’ve made the first steps towards what I want; this year I grew enough organic food to supply a summer and a fall CSA which were very well received. In 6 months I’ll be debt free except for the mortgage and a student loan. I have a lot of planting and landscaping to do as well as some home renovation. The plan is to turn this place into an urban farm/food forest where I can teach organic growing techniques and homesteading skills like soapmaking, fruit tree grafting, and raising poultry. I have the teaching experience and the growing skills. Somewhere in all of this I’ll need to get a Permaculture Design Certificate. Remember me in your prayers, I need all the help I can get.
Penny says
Wow! That is exciting!! Do you happen to live in North Carolina? I would love to come learn some “organic” things from you!!
Amy Sirk says
Nope, sorry. I’m in Southeast Missouri, not far from Paducah, KY.
I’m hoping that part of this project can be some sort of guesthouse
for students. Yes, I do dream BIG. LOL.
Penny says
Awesome!
Cathy says
As for your comments on “car insurance costs for 4 teenage boys”, let me pass on the most helpful thing my parents did for me. Basically they said “You want to drive? Great! You can use our car, but you’ll have to get a job to pay your part of the insurance.” Great way to teach your kids responsibility, both financially and to help them be more cautious behind the wheel, because if they wreck their insurance goes up and they have to pay that.