Happy New Year!

Last year I posted some of my resolutions for 2008. It was the first time I recall articulating “New Year’s Resolutions”. Looking back, I feel I did pretty good with the list.

• Blogging Once a Week: Fail!
  Certainly not; didn’t even average a post weekly!
• More posts on Ministry, etc.: Success!
  51% of 2008 posts counted; plus I had more total posts than 2007.
• Read more books: Success!
  I read around 10 books in 2008; it was only like three in 2007.
• Improving Health: Success!
  I’ve lost 40lbs, have more energy, and get regular checkups with my physician.

This year I’ve decided to post my entire list of resolutions (and some commentary) which despite the advice of most “self improvement gurus” is more generalized than specific.

The following items are real and personal. Some may not be interesting to you, but they are what I’m looking at as I think about the year ahead.

• Love God More
  I do okay at loving God with my mind and strength (though both of those can improve too); however, I want to focus on loving him more with my heart and soul as well. I see this working out through spending more time in prayer and solitude with him regularly. I also need to increase the amount of time I spend studying scripture for non-ministry reasons. Ultimately, I need to be a better follower of Christ before I can be a better husband, father, and pastor.
  
• Love Diana More
  I love Diana, but (and I know she’d agree) as we’ve been together for six years, some of the silly and fun romance stuff has been preempted by children, work, ministry, and the like. This is my fault; I dropped the ball. In 2009 I aim to rekindle some of the stuff we had as teenagers though date night, and some other surprises. I also intend to go deeper by helping her around the house more, and just generally seeking to put her needs and desires first by being the Ephesians 5:25-33 husband.
  
• Love Elijah and Moriah More
  My kids are the cutest kids in the world. Really! And I know of other families with cute kids! But, mine are still the cutest. That said, I’m not the most patient daddy, and I need to work on that. We’re also going to be starting a new tradition in this household: Family Worship. I take seriously the responsibility of training my kids in how to live for Christ, and need to act on it in a more intentional way.
  
• Love My Family More
  This one is all new. I’m close to my Mom (who lives a few miles away, and is a member of my church), but due to a variety of reasons, I’ve never had a good relationship with my Dad (South Carolina) or Brother (Colorado). Two weeks ago, God broke down my wall of bitterness, and made me realize that at this point in my life, as a married man with a family of my own and a life of ministry, the only reason I didn’t have any connection to this side of my family was me. I’ve repented and been in contact with my dad (who came for Christmas) and brother, and we’re getting to know each other better. I’d appreciate prayer for healing.
  
• Love North Country Fellowship More
  I have a great church, and at this point in my life, there is nowhere else I’d rather be. God has blessed me immensely to be able to serve at NCF. However, as with any church, it’s made up of sinful people, and things aren’t perfect. I have a tendency to get cynical and frustrated when conflict comes along, even if outwardly I deal with it with grace. I’m praying and striving to love the church more in 2009, so that I can speak and lead with grace.
  
• Love Myself More
  This isn’t an “improve your self-esteem” kind of thing. This is where I place things like continuing to lose weight (I lost 40lbs in 2008; shooting for 60 in 2009!), lowering my blood pressure, and keeping up with physician and dental appointments. It’s taking care of myself, so I can take care of my family. It’s also realizing that I’m not perfect, and not setting the bar so high that I force myself to end in failure. I’m a weirdo with my own idiosyncrasies, and in 2009 I hope to be okay with that.
  
• Manage Time More Effectively
  When I switched from being bivocational to full-time in ministry, I really threw off my schedule. Previously, the way I did things was dictated by the hours I wasn’t at the office. Now, I essentially set my own hours, and I don’t always do a great job with it. I’m aiming to improve things in 2009 by imposing some flexible structure into the week. More on that soon.
  
• Manage Money More Effectively
  I don’t think I’d consider myself a “bad steward” of money, but we haven’t been great at it either. In 2009 I’ll be taking over the balancing of the checkbook and paying of the bills, and Diana and I will be communicating about these things better. We aim to pay of a significant chunk of debt (we have some credit card debt, but it’s mostly student loans), and build an emergency fund.
  
• Read More Books (and Fewer Blogs)
  I read a ton, but it’s usually other people’s blogs, not printed books. While blogs can be useful for staying on the cutting edge of theological and ministerial discussions and concerns, I think I need to cut back on the blog intake, and continue the trend I started in 2008 of reading more books. My goal for 2009 is 26 books, one every other week.
  
• Improve My Preaching
  This is a big one. Now that I’m preaching the majority of the time, I really want to get better. The best advice I ever heard came from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, which was essentially to take your passage and make a bee-line to the cross. However, in doing so, I want to ensure I’m both theologically sound and contextually appropriate. I find myself saying and doing things in my messages that may be dead on, but don’t communicate well with my audience. I want to improve in all aspects of sermon prep and delivery.

Well, that’s the list. It’s ambitious, and certainly the most detailed one I’ve ever made (or announced publicly), but I think it’s doable. Notice that I didn’t make any promises regarding blog content or post frequency; I learned my lesson!

Will I complete the year well, or will I ditch all of these goals by next weekend? I guess time will tell!