Time to get on track with my “Re-Engineering in 2008″ series…
Over the next week, I will unpack how I will try to ‘re-engineer’ this upcoming year. Yes, it’s April. Most people do this in January. Well, in January – and February and March – I was detoxing from 18 hours of seminary in the fall, starting a new job, and the addition of Andrews’ child #4 in August. I feel like I’m getting back into a semi-rhythm. And with that, April resolutions in place of the typical New Year’s version.
Here are the areas I’ll be tackling: my relationship with God, my husband/father role, my health/sleep, my family’s finances, my work, and my continued learning.
First up, part 1: my walk with God.
It might seem weird to broadcast this on open airwaves. It probably is. There is nothing more personal than our relationship with God Almighty. But really, all of these posts dealing with ‘re-engineering’ will serve as a form of accountability. Here is a sketch of my plan to grown in my relationship with the Lord.
Read through the Bible in year – okay, nine months.
A while back, my friend Jason Allen posted a link to a bible reading plan that takes you through the entire storyline of the Bible and then takes you through the rest of it.
Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen, authors of the book, The Drama of Scripture have developed this reading plan. I’m really excited about this.
Journaling
To get the truths of God’s word down deep into my soul, I am going to journal along with my daily readings. I am going to use the Understanding, Interpretation, Implication, Significance, Prayer model – loosely based on APK’s model. I just bought a new Moleskine for this purpose, so I’m anxious to use it.
Memorization
Deuteronomy 11:18-21 in The Message says:
Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night.
This will be a carry over with the husband/father post, but my wife and I are going to memorize Scripture with our children using Children Desiring God’s Foundation Verse Pack. Once we get through that, we tackle the Fighter Verse Pack from CDG.
Sabbath
We’ve done a pretty good job as a family so far this year, so we will continue to take a Sabbath – two evenings with a day between – each week to slow down, connect as a family, and disconnect from the world – i.e. the internet, TV, etc. My wife and I will continue to use the first evening of Sabbath to read, journal, etc. and end our sabbath with a date night.
Service
Real service is related to the discipline of submission, and false service is related to the sin of pride. I aim to serve the Lord in a spirit of humility, with no other purpose than a desire to please God.
Foremost, I am in the infancy stages of start a missional community in the third places of The Loop in U-City. I will be doing this under the auspices of The Journey. This is a primer to church planting somewhere down the road. Breaking the missional code in a diverse, socially progressive, bohemian subculture.
Fasting/Prayer
I will taking 2-3 times during the year to spend extended times in fasting and prayer. I would like to ‘get away from the world’ for these.
