From Sampler to Sower

Wow . . .

It’s hard to believe 2008 is over and 2009 has begun.

But here I am at the Dunkin’ Donuts on Coldwater Blvd in Fort Wayne writing my first blog post of the new year.  (By the way, as Dunkin’ Dounuts go, this one is swank.  Plus free wi-fi.  A great place for some blogging on the run.)

I find myself marveling this morning.  I’ve been out in public on the major “days after” this year.  The morning after Thanksgiving was a madhouse.  The morning after Christmas, likewise.  Maybe even worse.  But the morning after New Year’s Eve might as well be the morning after the Apocalypse.  It’s like I have the whole world to myself.  Well, me and the hosts of Fox & Friends on Dunkin’s big screen.  Apparently they didn’t make the rapture either.

This New Year’s morning, I’m thinking about resolutions.  I’ve never been much of a New Year’s resolutions kind of guy.  In fact, I can’t remember ever making any in the first 34 years of my life.  But this year I’ve spent a good amount of my Christmas break re-thinking my life and ministry, evaluating what is and trying to envision what can be.  And so it is that I’m ready to do some goal setting for 2009.

So, without further ado, here they are . . .

1. In 2009, I’m going to quit smoking…

…unless, of course, doing so would require me to start.  I figure if you’re going to make a New Year’s resolutions, you might as well make at least one that’s easy to keep.  Maybe it comes from years watching my mother pledge to give up watermelon for Lent (back then you couldn’t buy watermelon in Indiana in April if you tried), but it seems like having at least one easy one sets me up for success.  And it helps keep things in perspective.  Yes, there are some unhealthy, inefficient patterns to my life that could use improving, but I do have some things going for me.

2. In 2009, I will climb back into quadrant 2.

Were I to characterize my 2008, I’d probably have to call it my year of laziness.  It was in part a rebellion against 2007 – my year of overwork.  But while it was a reaction to an unhealthy way of life, it was less than healthy itself.  Productivity and efficiency habits I’d worked to develop in 07 fell by the wayside.  My life was ordered more by deadlines than by goals.  And I found myself the slave of quadrants 1 and 3 in Covey’s paradigm.  It’s time to get some of that organization back and to focus on important tasks – both professional and personal – before they become urgent to insure I can give them the attention they deserve.

Of course, that goal probably isn’t as specific, attainable, measurable and time sensitive as my friend Todd would like.  But that’s what the next few resolutions are for — breaking down this one and strategizing it’s attainment.

3. In 2009, I will become a morning person again.

It’s not really that I’m not a morning person now, it’s just that I’ve stopped living like one.  I am a morning person.  I get  more done first thing in the morning.  My focus is better, my thoughts are clearer, and getting a good start in the morning helps me feel better about the whole day, making the afternoon run better too.  Add to that the fact that adding hours in the morning is the best way for me to add work without my family missing me and you have a powerful incentive for an early start.

Conversely, a slow start to the day normally ruins it for me.  I get migraines if I sleep too long or if I skip breakfast.  The later the starter’s pistol sounds, the harder time I have getting off the line.  And that leaves me feeling like I’ve wasted the day before I’ve even begun – a perfect recipe for lethargy.  What’s more, starting later doesn’t mean I can run longer.  It doesn’t matter how late I sleep in the morning, I’m not good for much of anything after 10:00 in the evening, so I can’t just shift everything later.

Yet despite all this, in 2008 I got into the habit of rolling over and going back to sleep when my body woke me up in the morning.  Or, as was more often the case, going back to bed after I got the kids bundled up and herded out to the school bus in the morning.  I think it was caused by some depressive tendencies this last year.  I know it resulted in some depressive tendencies this last year.  So in 2009, that will change.

4. In 2009, I will keep my desktop cleaner.

And I’m not talking about the thing in my office.  I do tolerably well at keeping that in a tidy disorder.  I need stuff spread out so I can get work done – it’s how I think, and the desk in my office works for me.  (The rest of the office could use a little tidying right now, but that’s a different resolution.)

No, I’m talking about my virtual desktop.  I have a bad habit of saving every active project to my desktop so I can find it.  The problem is I never file it away when I’m done with it.  In fact, it got so bad towards the end of the year I was running out of real estate on my virtual desktop.  However, I realize that given the amount of time I spend in front of this computer, my desktop can become a powerful organizational tool I can leverage into increased effectiveness, assuming of course I can see my desktop.  Hence the resolution.

Last night I trimmed it down to only five shortcuts.  I could have removed most of those too, but I intentionally left those five behind because having them on the desktop actually makes me more efficient by reminding me of quadrant 2 tasks.  Now I’ve got to keep it clean.

5. In 2009, I will again spend time each week in weekly planning.

This used to be a strength.  I’d start each week with a clear idea of what was important and a pretty clear strategy for getting it done.  But in 2008 that practice fell by the wayside, mainly because I’d sleep through the time slot devoted to weekly planning.  That too will change this year.

6. In 2009, I will spend time every week praying for each of my teens by name.

I do pray for my teens.  But right now it’s normally a quadrant 1 task.  I pray for them based on the crises they are facing.  If they’re struggling, I’ll remember to pray for them.  This year I’ll be more intentional to pray for each one every week “whether they need it or not.” (I know they need it, but I’m resolving to recognize that fact, even if they’re not in a crisis.)

7. In 2009, I will have my sermons written by Monday evening.

I normally spend Tuesdays finalizing sermon preparations and getting everything ready for our Tuesday night youth services.  However, that tends to leave me too busy to really focus on teens when they start arriving on Tuesday nights.  Sometimes I’m downright rushed to get everything in place before the start time rolls around.  In 2009, Monday will be the new Tuesday.  I’ll rush on Monday so that Tuesday I can spend more time focused on what really matters – people.

8. In 2009, I will have our Tuesday night services fully staffed.

Right now we’re running on a skeleton crew on Tuesday nights.  Life changes in our volunteers has meant that many of them have had to step away from youth ministry, at least on a weekly basis.  The problem is I haven’t focused enough on recruiting to replace them.  That means that I’m busier when teens start arriving (see also #7) and we’re doing less than our best on our biggest night of the week.  That will change in 2009.

9. In 2009, Sunday will be a Sabbath.

This has been a change I’ve already started working on, ever since our recent series on the Ten Commandments.  Sundays have become a day on which I prove my worth to my church by being a good pastor and producing quality religious “product”, whether it’s producing smoothly running technical performances or creating slick promotional graphics or whatever else I’m putting on display that Sunday.  As a result, Sunday is all work and no rest.  And the work isn’t for God, it’s for my own sense of worth.  I’ve committed myself to changing that and finding a way to be a pastor who honors the Sabbath.  (Which, incidentally, is a wholly different thing than making sure I take a day off every week.  Sabbath is not about taking a day off, it’s about honoring God by resting in our identity in Him.  A day off is about making sure I honor my commitments at home.)

10. By the end of 2009, I will have simplified my way of life enough to be putting into savings an additional 1/6 of my income.

This too is something God’s been working in me ever since studying the Sabbath.  Sabbath isn’t only a day – it’s a year.  The Church of the Nazarene is good about promoting the importance of taking a sabbatical every seven years in ministry.  And that has me thinking. Given the fact that I’m in my 14th year of ministry and my 7th year at this church, it’s getting to be sabbatical time.

The problem is I can’t afford to take a Biblical sabbath year.  Our budget can’t afford to let the fields lay fallow this year and give my salary to charity – despite the fact that deep inside God is forming in me a sense that I really should.  So, while I might not be able to really observe a Sabbath year in year 14 of my ministry, I’m resolving now that I will be ready to do so in year 21.  And I will do so, not by being less than faithful in my preparations for my dotage or by pillaging my family’s savings, but by simplifying our lifestyle enough to make room in the budget for Sabbath preparations – something I think was part of God’s purpose for the practice in the first place.

11. In 2009, I’m going to lose weight I will eat less and exercise more.

Had to redact that one a little bit based on what I learned about the effects that my weight-loss attempts can have on my kids.  I do need to lose some weight.  My diet needs to change, as does my activity level.  But the focus will be on developing a healthy lifestyle, not just on losing weight (though hopefully that will be a by-product).

You’ll probably notice these are primarily professional and spiritual.  There aren’t many family based resolutions here.  That’s not because there is no room for improvement in that area.  It’s because I figure my wife and kids should have some say in those goals.

Well, it’s getting on to 9:30 now.  The world is beginning to stir to life around me.  Maybe the rapture hasn’t really happened yet.  I’d probably better get back to my inlaws before the family realizes I’m missing.

Happy New Year!  I’m praying 2009 will be your best yet.