Back to the goals discussion. I think in every arena of life we need to have goals. My financial goals are a little bit different than what many financial people might suggest. They may be more based on life experiences that I desire than on an amount of money in the bank.
Over the last year a lot of people who had put their hope in their funds and 401k's have awakened to quite a bit of disappointment. I wonder if we focused more on experiences and storing up memories than storing up funds. Don't get me wrong we should store up funds for a rainy day (the Bible challenges us to that) but it also says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth..."
We live in a world that is all about accumulating stuff and more stuff and I think maybe we would be better suited if we focused on giving to others and on making memories.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Not One of My Goals
OK, so I have been away from my blog for a bit. I traveled out of the country and it looks like i picked up some kind of bug. Now that was not one of my goals for the year. The trip to another country (yes) the sickness (no). So now I try to re-engage our conversation. I will jump back in the rest of my goals for my next few posts. I must say that some of my goals have gone to an entirely new level after my trip and not because I am sick. More to come...
Saturday, January 17, 2009
FAMILY GOALS
So let's move on to the second category of goals that I have set for this year. Right now at LifePoint we are in a series called "Frantic Family" and boy is it obvious that most families are living frantic lives. One of the ways I think we can improve in this area is by each year setting some goals for our family.
I try and spend a few hours before the new year begins thinking about areas where my family needs to grow, improve and focus and this year was no exception. I won't bore you with a lot of chatter about the need for doing this but I think you know it's true.
Here's a glimpse of some of the goals I have for 2009 for my family:
1) Focus on living, eating and playing for a healthy lifestyle (I think that where we live and the community we surround ourselves with, as well as our eating and our playing together will better position us for short and long term health)
2) Regular family discussions (This will come out in my talk next week, but it is so important that as a family we spend time talking together about our lives and how we are doing on the things we feel that are important)
3) Date Nights (This year I am focusing on more consistent date nights with all three of my girls... For those of you wondering, that is my beautiful wife and my two incredible daughters)
There's a few of my goals and some details... What about you? Do you have a plan for what you want to focus on as a family this year?
I try and spend a few hours before the new year begins thinking about areas where my family needs to grow, improve and focus and this year was no exception. I won't bore you with a lot of chatter about the need for doing this but I think you know it's true.
Here's a glimpse of some of the goals I have for 2009 for my family:
1) Focus on living, eating and playing for a healthy lifestyle (I think that where we live and the community we surround ourselves with, as well as our eating and our playing together will better position us for short and long term health)
2) Regular family discussions (This will come out in my talk next week, but it is so important that as a family we spend time talking together about our lives and how we are doing on the things we feel that are important)
3) Date Nights (This year I am focusing on more consistent date nights with all three of my girls... For those of you wondering, that is my beautiful wife and my two incredible daughters)
There's a few of my goals and some details... What about you? Do you have a plan for what you want to focus on as a family this year?
Saturday, January 10, 2009
FAITH GOALS
A few days ago I blogged about the 5 "F's". The first one was "Faith". I have actually set some Faith goals for 2009. They are not anything real earth shattering and I'll tell you why:
Last year I finished the process of developing 100 life goals and several people asked me why I didn't have a Faith or Spiritual category. In the process of setting goals I became very aware that all of my life is spiritual. I am a spiritual being and everything I do is an overflow of who God says I am and what He has created me to do. So I decided not to go with spiritual goals.
While nothing has really changed there, this year there are a few things on my radar that I wanted to focus in on and they seemed to have more of a faith feel than anything else so I tagged them as faith goals.
The biggest one I have is that I want to daily grow in my awareness of what is going on inside of me and around me. Until last year I may have never called this a faith issue but I am learning to see that it just may be the biggest faith issue of all.
Increasing awareness in my life leads to increasing faith development in my life. Growing up I was told that the way to grow my faith was to pray more... read my bible more... go to church more... and the list went on and on... Don't get me wrong these things all have a significant place in my life but apart from awareness I see that they really have no LASTING value!
Later this year we will be doing a series at LifePoint where we will visit this issue in detail.
Living your life with intention this week?
Last year I finished the process of developing 100 life goals and several people asked me why I didn't have a Faith or Spiritual category. In the process of setting goals I became very aware that all of my life is spiritual. I am a spiritual being and everything I do is an overflow of who God says I am and what He has created me to do. So I decided not to go with spiritual goals.
While nothing has really changed there, this year there are a few things on my radar that I wanted to focus in on and they seemed to have more of a faith feel than anything else so I tagged them as faith goals.
The biggest one I have is that I want to daily grow in my awareness of what is going on inside of me and around me. Until last year I may have never called this a faith issue but I am learning to see that it just may be the biggest faith issue of all.
Increasing awareness in my life leads to increasing faith development in my life. Growing up I was told that the way to grow my faith was to pray more... read my bible more... go to church more... and the list went on and on... Don't get me wrong these things all have a significant place in my life but apart from awareness I see that they really have no LASTING value!
Later this year we will be doing a series at LifePoint where we will visit this issue in detail.
Living your life with intention this week?
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Five "F's"
Finally, (that's not one of my F's) I have completed my goal list for 2009. I like to have them done before the year starts but this year I had some things going on that took a bit of my time and attention. But... after much thought, prayer and focus I have narrowed down the list. This year I have decided to lodge all of my goals in one of five categories:
FAITH, FAMILY, FITNESS, FINANCE and FRIENDSHIPS (Isn't that so cute!!!)
Seriously, I have found over the years that if I develop groups it helps me to come up with a better list of objectives. I also focused on simplicity this year. Sometimes the process of setting and deciding on goals can be a bit to intense.
Do you have any goals for this year? I would encourage you to take at least a little time and set some direction for yourself and your family!
This Sunday we will continue our series called "Frantic Family" where we will ask the question, "What makes your family unique?" We will also talk about learning to balance between setting out for a preferred future and living in the moment. It should be a fun conversation. One I hope you get to be a part of.
Over the next several days I will share more on how I came up with my goals categories and even give you a glimpse into some of the specific goals I have set. After all we need each others help to really make a difference. (I'll share more about that with my Friendship Goals!)
Have a great week!
FAITH, FAMILY, FITNESS, FINANCE and FRIENDSHIPS (Isn't that so cute!!!)
Seriously, I have found over the years that if I develop groups it helps me to come up with a better list of objectives. I also focused on simplicity this year. Sometimes the process of setting and deciding on goals can be a bit to intense.
Do you have any goals for this year? I would encourage you to take at least a little time and set some direction for yourself and your family!
This Sunday we will continue our series called "Frantic Family" where we will ask the question, "What makes your family unique?" We will also talk about learning to balance between setting out for a preferred future and living in the moment. It should be a fun conversation. One I hope you get to be a part of.
Over the next several days I will share more on how I came up with my goals categories and even give you a glimpse into some of the specific goals I have set. After all we need each others help to really make a difference. (I'll share more about that with my Friendship Goals!)
Have a great week!
Monday, January 5, 2009
GREAT START
Wow! I thought we had an amazing start to the new year! I was so looking forward to getting back on the platform and sharing what God had laid on my heart and hanging, learning and growing with my friends at LifePoint. Thanks for all of the great comments about the service.
Not sure if it will be possible to top this series this year based at least on the content. I'm sure that there will be talks, gatherings, and experiences that some will like more but I don't think we could have started the year with a more relevant series. We may not all be willing to admit it but most of us live pretty Frantic lives.
Join us this week as we continue the journey of discovering how to move from chaos to peace. At least we could shoot for peace in the midst of the chaos.
Have a great week!
Not sure if it will be possible to top this series this year based at least on the content. I'm sure that there will be talks, gatherings, and experiences that some will like more but I don't think we could have started the year with a more relevant series. We may not all be willing to admit it but most of us live pretty Frantic lives.
Join us this week as we continue the journey of discovering how to move from chaos to peace. At least we could shoot for peace in the midst of the chaos.
Have a great week!
Monday, December 29, 2008
GEARING UP FOR THE NEW YEAR
I have spent some time over the last few days evaluating the last year and thinking about the one to come. I have been looking at areas in my life where I need to make some changes. (There are many) Each year I try and develop a list of goals that I want/hope to accomplish that year and this year will be no exception. I haven't made it to the list yet but I will before the week is over. I try and not rush into it but set goals that require some hard work but yet till can be accomplished.
This morning I read a post from one of my favorite writers. Mark Batterson is the Pastor of National Community Church in DC and he inspires me from a distance. You can read what I just read by clicking here.
None of us really like change but when we stop and evaluate we all know we need it. What areas do you need change in? Don't resist the change but run to it!
This next year we will experience some changes at LifePoint. We will push past the status quo and seek God as to how we need to change to stay focused on what he has called us to do. There will be some changes that we like and some we don't but we will change anyway.
One of the things, personally, I am going to change in is some of my eating habits. I am not going to allow myself to eat anything after 8:00pm. That is a change I am NOT going to like but it IS going to be for my benefit so I will press on.
When there are changes that you don't like if you resist them you will spend your whole life as status quo and how boring is that. Do something different "for a change"!
This morning I read a post from one of my favorite writers. Mark Batterson is the Pastor of National Community Church in DC and he inspires me from a distance. You can read what I just read by clicking here.
None of us really like change but when we stop and evaluate we all know we need it. What areas do you need change in? Don't resist the change but run to it!
This next year we will experience some changes at LifePoint. We will push past the status quo and seek God as to how we need to change to stay focused on what he has called us to do. There will be some changes that we like and some we don't but we will change anyway.
One of the things, personally, I am going to change in is some of my eating habits. I am not going to allow myself to eat anything after 8:00pm. That is a change I am NOT going to like but it IS going to be for my benefit so I will press on.
When there are changes that you don't like if you resist them you will spend your whole life as status quo and how boring is that. Do something different "for a change"!
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