TARA GOODMAN | REALTOR®

The List

Daughter, wife, mommy, friend, and pastor.

This is the short list of who Tara Goodman is. As you can imagine, each one of these has a long trail of sub-lists underneath it; but for your sake and mine…I’ll keep it short and simple.  You see, I am an incessant list maker – I make grocery lists, to do lists, to buy lists, to return lists, cleaning lists, reading lists, bucket lists, song lists, packing lists…you name it I have a list for it all!

My precious family knows this about me and they have lovingly accepted it and even embraced my list-making obsession.  Truth be told…they actually find joy in “working the system” to their own benefit.  All they have to do is find “the list” and add their requests to it. Bottomline, in the Goodman family, if it’s on “the list” it gets done!

As you can imagine, because my family knows this about me, some suspicious things have ended up on “the list.” I have arrived at the grocery store to discover whip cream, sprinkles, ice cream and chocolate chip waffles have been added to the list.  I have gone to Nordstroms to get mascara and lip gloss only to find that my daughters have added, “Tom’s for Sydney” and “All-Star high tops for Madeline” to my list. And yes, you guessed it…my husband has been guilty of adding “IT” to the list!  Hey, you can’t argue with the results!  It pays in my family to get on “the list.” I just can’t help it…I love lists. So it only makes sense that when I sit down to describe me…what I create is a list.

Daughter.

Wife.

Mommy.

Friend.

Pastor.

Lists are an important part of my life. In fact, I would argue that they are not just an obsession but rather a necessity for healthy living.  Because I am actually the world’s worst procrastinator, lists are critical for me.  Lists are important because they: bring focus, keep perspective, set priorities, and provide purpose.

So, my blog life, “Not knowing…just trusting” is about “the lists” of life.  As I said before, I make all kinds of lists to help keep my life on track but this list: Daughter, wife, mommy, friend, pastor – is the most important of all of my lists.   Some days, I feel the need to focus on being a better wife or mommy. Other days I recommit to being a more faithful friend or pastor.  But all of my days start with being a “daughter.”

For me, keeping “daughter” at the top of my list keeps everything else in perspective. Of course, I am the daughter of my earthly parents but more importantly, I am the daughter of my Heavenly Father…Almighty God. He is the one who created me; He is the one who redeems all the junk in my life. He is the friend who sticks with me through everything…the good, the bad, the ugly, the indifferent and the in-between.

He is the one who loves me more than anyone else. The one who knows every flaw and shortcoming and is still proud to be my Father.  The one who would and did give His life for me.  So first and foremost, above all else and inspite of all else; I am a daughter. God’s daughter. And that…is pretty big stuff.

So as a daughter, I choose to live my life with a sense of purpose…His purpose.

Not knowing it all… just trusting that my life matters simply because I am a child of God.