Hello 2009

after being berated on facebook for my lack of writing (which was well-deserved) i decided i should whip out le blog and post my resolutions for the upcoming year.  normally i am one of those sad sacks who constantly writes down resolutions and gives up on them the first chance I get.  however, I think I have solved this conundrum, because my first resolution is…..

keep my resolutions

this seems like a simple enough solution to the problem.

on to the rest of my list….

anyone who knows me well knows that I struggle with self-control.

spending.  eating.  procrastination.

these are areas where I really struggle and without a doubt it affects every facet of my life from ministry to my kids to my body.  i have become increasingly more prone to doing…nothing.  nothing of value.  by nothing, I mean playing video games, watching tv, surfing the intrawebs, incessantly updating my facebook status, and all around time wastery.  it breaks my heart to think of how much time I waste just  existing rather than doing things with purpose.

God has really convicted me the last two weeks of what do I really do with my time.  I mean, really.  what did I do with the last year?  i have had 365 days as a father, husband, pastor and friend.  did I enrich the lives of my family by being an active father?  did i pour my life into anyone else with any substance?

I mean, I think most of the time I spend adequate time with the kids, but I don’t want to settle for adequate.  I want to be able to build my kids up mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally and the vast majority of the time I feel like an overpaid babysitter.  so much of my time is devoted to doing things I want to do rather than things I should be doing.  which is why my next resolution is…

deny myself more often this year

let me elaborate on what i mean by deny myself.  i taught a sermon on mark 12:28-31 last week and the main point was loving other people as much as you love yourself.  jesus said this was as equally important as loving God with everything you have.  in this area…

joe=fail

as a follower of Christ, but ESPECIALLY as a leader in the church, i have to work harder at putting other’s needs before my own.

this starts in my own house.

brit is such a selfless person.  there is a song that plays at work and i don’t know the artist or title, but the chorus has the line “you were the first to give, i was the first to ask.”  this lyric really unsettles me every time i hear it.  i feel like it is the epitome of my marriage.  i take, brittany gives. i have to work harder at meeting her needs and not worrying about my own so much.

be a better student

i was a horrible student in high school.  thus far in college, not much has changed.  i have two and a half years in on a bible/ministry degree from a school that i spent more time arguing with than learning from.  in this two and a half years, i have never really taken college seriously.  after a semester off and a new school, i am rejuvenated and ready to do some of that learnin’.

i register for classes at aum next monday and school starts two days later.  technically i am a sophomore, but i am entering as a freshman because ZERO of my credits transferred.   this bothers me, but whatevs. i am just ready to get going.  my resolution is to work  hard to not only get good grades, but also to LEARN.  learning at college.  novel concept.

lose forty pounds

yes, forty pounds.

i have been on a three year fat fest that ends this week.  way back in 2005 i weighed 185 lbs, i could run two miles in 16 minutes, and could bench press 225 ten times.  i tell you this not to boast in the least bit, but to illustrate how far i’ve fallen.

i now weigh in at 218, i couldn’t run two miles if you were chasing me with an ax, and probably couldn’t bench press our cat.  i blame starbucks for it all.  free lattes and pastry samples all day……yay!  i have got to get in better shape.  i bought a mountain bike for Christmas in hopes that something fun AND healthy will be easier to stick to.  now I just have to find someone to go ride with me.

grow a beard

i mean…a serious beard.  grizzly adams style.

learn how to do “man stuff”

before you openly mock me-an explanation.  my dad never taught me how to fix things around the house.  being a handy man was something my dad failed at miserably and i am well on my way to following in his footsteps.

we have tons of unfinished projects around the house that i have got to take the time to complete.

i need to: lay quarter-round, lay hardwood in our den, re-tile both bathrooms, replace sink in master bathroom, replace kitchen countertops, reface kitchen cabinets, and about a million other things that are too numerous to list.  most of these things aren’t even that difficult, just time-consuming.  however, there are a few (tile and hardwood) that I am going to need to learn skills for.

blog more consistently

there, you happy?

don’t get so easily discouraged

one of the biggest flaws in my personality (in my opinion, you can leave your thoughts in the comments section) is my willingness to give up or want to quit something because i get discouraged, and i get discouraged easily.  one thing goes wrong and i tend to crawl into the fetal position.

no more.

i refuse to quit anything this year because it: a) becomes too difficult, b) doesn’t go exactly as i planned, c) makes me uncomfortable, or d) upsets someone else.

my blog is a great example of this.  i stopped blogging basically because some members of my church didn’t like some things i said during this election year.  rather than deal with it like a big boy, i just moved my blog and then stopped altogether.  incidents like this will not happen in the future.  consider my guns stuck to.

hang out with friends more often

date brit more often

get debt free

excluding mortgage and student loans.  i mean, realistically….

become a bargain shopper

our goal is to shop at dollar general and dollar tree as much as possible.  go off-brand whenever feasible.  something has to change with our spending habits. living paycheck to paycheck doesn’t get it.

end resolutions

there are others, but i hit most of the important ones.

sorry about the long post.  i promise they will be more frequent and less wordy in the future.

peace.