Goals

“Time sure flies when you don’t know where you are on the map.”

Derek Webb, “Eye of the Hurricane”

As 2013 flipped to 2014, I had many conversations with friends about resolutions and goals.  I shared some devotional thoughts at our company staff meeting about the horrible follow-through percentages when it comes to resolutions.  And I challenged our employees to set goals instead of making resolutions.  Resolutions make for good January conversation fodder; goals are more concrete and come with a plan, ideally.

I take our 1-1/2 year old son to school most every morning.  Our ritual includes listening to Derek Webb’s CD “I Was Wrong, I’m Sorry, and I Love You.”  (Please withhold your judgment regarding what I am doing theologically to my son.  I’m hoping to nurture a thinking child.)  We do tracks 5 & 6, then go back to track 2.  Webb is a master of the thought-provoking line (“If you’re the only one who runs a race, it might be to get away” and “On that day, we’ll run out of time for death and tears” come immediately to mind.) and one that hits me every time I hear it is the quote above – “Time sure flies when you don’t know where you are on the map.”

I am NOT a planner.  I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-and-hope-it-works kind of guy.  Usually that leads to a lot of activity and very little productivity.  So I am trying to change – at least a little bit.  My wife (who IS a planner/preparer) and I are trying some new things to get things done – a weekly staff meeting, an allocated spending plan, a monthly menu, etc.  So far, it’s proving helpful.  But it’s still January.

I have broken our 2014 goals down into six categories: personal, financial, family, 8^th Day Collective (our church), reading, and work (Accolade & Yahwear).  Each month I am writing out specific things that I hope to accomplish in that month, as well as stretch goals and “on the horizon” goals.  In January, I accomplished about 50% of my goals, and 11% of my stretch goals.  While that’s not anything earth-shattering, it sure is better than having no idea where I am on the map.

One of the goals that I didn’t accomplish in January was to blog weekly.  (I DID, however, blog weakly.)  So this is the first attempt to make that goal happen in February.  I have a plan for blogging as well, so look for thoughts on hospice and friends, train rides and books. 

Two questions as I wrap this up: 

1) What are YOUR goals for 2014 and what kind of plan to you have to make that happen?

2) What topics would you love to have me start a discussion about here on the blog?

A Place at the Table, days 14 & 15

I have become a big fan of Margaret Feinberg.  I came to "meet" her through her connection with Ecclesia Houston, my favorite church in the world that I have never worked at.  Maybe my favorite church in the world that I have ever been to.  Anyway, I have been following her on Twitter for a couple of weeks now, and she has become one of my favorites to quote and retweet.  I hope someday soon to read one or more of her books (The Organic God, The Sacred Echo, Scouting the Divine, etc.), but for now her tweets are about all that I can handle.

She comes across twitter with what she calls a "Morning Chutzpah" where she shares some wisdom from Hebrew sources (I assume from the name.  The chutzpah part, at least.)  It was one of these quotes -- "The past for wisdom, the present for action, but for joy the future." by Disraeli -- that brought structure and clarity to my sermon last week.  If you've ever had a lot to say but no idea how to structure it, you understand how wonderful a guiding thought can be!

I was reminded of Margaret this afternoon.  Her morning chutzpah from two days ago was a proverb -- "Man proposes, and God laughs."  Learned that lesson again today.  For about 4 years, we have talked about going to Angel Fire, NM, so that my girls could learn how to ski from one of my favorite people in the world, Pat "Pappy" Harris.  Pappy made that promise to my girls at camp a few years ago, and my daughters refuse to allow Pappy to renege.  So we made plans this Spring Break to head north to New Mexico for some relaxation, skiing, and friends.

Well, Pappy called today (we were leaving tomorrow) and told us that it was a disaster -- sick people, lodging falling through, etc.  So, we are not going to New Mexico to ski over Spring Break.  But, since my wife had all of the girls packed for a colder climate, we will head north to see family tomorrow.  I think the girls will be all right with that.  They'd better be.

As I launch out in a new endeavor ministerially, I can't help but remember this quote.  "Man proposes, and God laughs."  It reminds me to never take my plans too seriously.  It reminds me that "I don't know" is often the right answer.  And it reminds me that I should probably spend a whole lot more time praying than I do proposing.  Unless I want to keep God laughing.  Which I'll probably end up doing anyway.