It is that time of year again. Yes, it is the time of year when I write the wrong year on every outgoing check. It takes me well into February before I remember to change.
Sitting here with my children waiting for the Peach to drop up on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, I thought this would be a great opportunity to look at last years resolutions, see how we did, and just be thankful for another 365 days of life.
Resolutions for 2008
1. Success: I removed from my life those things that interfere with my calling to teach and train young people in God’s Word. This was difficult, and in our current church culture, not understood by many.
2. Success: I finished reading Jonathan Edwards’ The Freedom of the Will. No, I still don’t understand it all.
3. Success: Released one disciple and he was replaced with three.
4. Failure: I did NOT finish the manuscript that has been sitting on my desk in multiple parts and get it published.
5. Failure: I managed to blog through all of the book of Titus and got a good start into I Timothy. Although I only memorized the first 2 chapters of Titus, the writing of commentary gave me a very good understanding of the letters order and message.
6. Partial: We started working with the kids on the Westminster Shorter Catechism
this year. Each question brought opportunities to dive deeper into some of them. As such, we didn’t get through the entire catechism.
7. Partial: Began working through Donald Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life with Lisa. Ran through it twice with students.
8. Success: Dedicate time away from the busy-ness of life. We have been a bit lax in setting family-specific time aside.
Highlights of 2008
1. Started a part-time job driving a school bus for the county in February. Went full-time with the start of the 2008-2009 school year. This provided health insurance coverage and a bit of extra money each month. God has used this to bless me with a ministry not only to chidlren and students, but also to my fellow employees. I can’t count the number of times I’v been approached and asked to pray for them, or with them.
2. We sold the boat in the spring. As much as we hated to see it go, it was the right decision. It was one less payment each month that we had to make.
3. In April, we went to New Orleans to help rebuild houses with our youth. (Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
4. Over the summer, had an older (slightly) brother in Christ, Randy Weaver, come along side me to teach the 12th grade class. Randy and I are very similar in personality and beliefs. We were granted permission to use Bob Duke’s WDA Discipleship material for our Sunday morning Bible studies.
5. Bought a motorcycle and thoroughly enjoyed not only the reduced fuel expenses but also riding through God’s creation, feeling the warmth of the sun, the cool of the shadows, the wind whispering as you ride along.
6. The final blessing of 2008 was having our mortgage company offer to cut our rate to 1/4 of what it was. This will allow us to return to a debt free status and thus freeing us financially to follow God where He would have us go in 2009.