Evidently, as a preparation for the year ahead, many bloggers are choosing to write about a single word that defines their focus for 2012. Frankly, I tend to be wordier than that. A lot wordier. Just ask...well, pretty much anyone.
However, after giving it a little thought, I may have come up with a word--if, in fact, it is actually a word: Intentionality.
I know that this probably comes across sounding like a list of excuses. And maybe it is. But please stick with me...
My household contains seven homeschooled children who range in age from 5-14, four cats, one dog, one sweet husband, and a tank of fish. Also in orbit, I have three grown-up daughters, two sons-in-law, three adorable grandchildren, and an assortment of parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, and facebook friends. To that, add the Rozetta Baptist Church family, complete with all the meetings, studies, gatherings, and echurchencies (that's church emergencies, for the uninitiated) that go along with being a pastor's family...and it's all too easy to live my life like a poorly-trained volunteer fire-fighter, just moving in a panic from one crisis to the next!
But what I want for 2012 is more than that. Better than that.
Now...I'm not laboring under the delusion that this is going to be a perfect science. I've been on this ride enough times to know that there are days when, no matter how carefully you secure your loose items, something is going to knock your hat right off the roller coaster. That's just how it goes around here sometimes! People get sick...the unexpected happens...loved ones need attention right now...
However...
I want to prayerfully find a way to spend more time intentionally acting and less time reacting. I want to be more purposeful and less panic-stricken. More focused...less frantic.
Within this one word, there are about a million smaller resolutions I hope to see accomplished: more faithful exercise, more healthful cooking, more patience, more Bible, more writing, more family time, more prayer time. I desire to choose wisely rather than allowing the situation at hand to choose my way for me.
Specific to this blog, it has not escaped my notice that I dropped off the face of the planet for several months. Considering the fact that I've never been able to keep a journal, a diary, or even so much as a captain's log for more than a couple weeks at a time, I guess it's not all that surprising. What did surprise me was that fact that, even in my absence, people still kept on visiting the blog! Crazy stuff, man!
So I have decided that I'm going to kick off the new blog year by counting down the top five posts of 2011. I'm going to totally Casey Kasem the thing! My hope is that hitting (and re-reading for myself) last year's high points will serve to set me on an intentional trajectory into the new year.
Please feel free to do whatever it takes to hold me accountable, friends!
And with that...tomorrow you can look forward to reading 2011's fifth most popular post (coming in with 238 total pageviews): From the Top.
However, after giving it a little thought, I may have come up with a word--if, in fact, it is actually a word: Intentionality.
I know that this probably comes across sounding like a list of excuses. And maybe it is. But please stick with me...
My household contains seven homeschooled children who range in age from 5-14, four cats, one dog, one sweet husband, and a tank of fish. Also in orbit, I have three grown-up daughters, two sons-in-law, three adorable grandchildren, and an assortment of parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, and facebook friends. To that, add the Rozetta Baptist Church family, complete with all the meetings, studies, gatherings, and echurchencies (that's church emergencies, for the uninitiated) that go along with being a pastor's family...and it's all too easy to live my life like a poorly-trained volunteer fire-fighter, just moving in a panic from one crisis to the next!
But what I want for 2012 is more than that. Better than that.
Now...I'm not laboring under the delusion that this is going to be a perfect science. I've been on this ride enough times to know that there are days when, no matter how carefully you secure your loose items, something is going to knock your hat right off the roller coaster. That's just how it goes around here sometimes! People get sick...the unexpected happens...loved ones need attention right now...
However...
I want to prayerfully find a way to spend more time intentionally acting and less time reacting. I want to be more purposeful and less panic-stricken. More focused...less frantic.
Within this one word, there are about a million smaller resolutions I hope to see accomplished: more faithful exercise, more healthful cooking, more patience, more Bible, more writing, more family time, more prayer time. I desire to choose wisely rather than allowing the situation at hand to choose my way for me.
Specific to this blog, it has not escaped my notice that I dropped off the face of the planet for several months. Considering the fact that I've never been able to keep a journal, a diary, or even so much as a captain's log for more than a couple weeks at a time, I guess it's not all that surprising. What did surprise me was that fact that, even in my absence, people still kept on visiting the blog! Crazy stuff, man!
So I have decided that I'm going to kick off the new blog year by counting down the top five posts of 2011. I'm going to totally Casey Kasem the thing! My hope is that hitting (and re-reading for myself) last year's high points will serve to set me on an intentional trajectory into the new year.
Please feel free to do whatever it takes to hold me accountable, friends!
And with that...tomorrow you can look forward to reading 2011's fifth most popular post (coming in with 238 total pageviews): From the Top.
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