I've been brainstorming some specific movements I'd like to see in my soul from now through to the end of the year… I wonder if it is a taste of midlife crisis that precipitated this… or just a profound desire to pursue after God deeply? These are just some of many, but for this moment I have chosen these three to carry me through the next 1.5 months until 2012 roles in. One movement has to do with my inner spiritual life becoming more outwardly expressive… Another involves follow-through… and another focuses deeply on those most near and dear to me. If you'd like, please feel free to offer some movements of your own… or feel free to give me an encouraging accountability kick (stress on encouraging!):
- From a pattern of Pretense to a rhythm of Confession – When I get busy I tend to bear through a typical week without giving due attention to the confession of life. Confession occurs when truth is spoken… and in particular, when deep, inward, spiritual truth is discovered and then released verbally. We most often relate confession to the admission of sin… and yes, I certainly must be confessing that. But confession also involves the repeated and earnest upwelling of truth that has been borne in the soul. Jesus is alive and he is well… and he is working a mighty truth within me… dispelling my transgressions and transforming my life. This I confess today… and this I long to confess as the unhindered outflow of my life every single day… habitually and naturally.
- From Conceptual to Actual – Like many of you, ideas and passions flood my soul on a regular basis. Sometimes these ideas are incredibly inspiring and sometimes richly convicting. But maybe you can relate to this pattern: I confess that I've let many of these ideas/passions disappear because I failed to follow through. For instance, as many of you are aware, several book manuscripts are embedded into my heart and mind… but I have yet to fully write them down and send them out. Brilliant (or not) and thorough initiatives for ministry have been light-bulbed within me… only to be lost in the fog of my busyness… or tiredness… or undisciplined habits. Many good intentions for my family or friends have suffered the same fate. I'm at a stage of life where I must move from great concepts to great practice… actualizing the dreams and scaffoldings existing within me.
- From Reactive Time for my Family to the Intentional Pursuit of my Family- As a parent, I long to set an encouraging environment for my children. All too regularly, however, I give them my tired time… or my reactive time. I would like, before the end of the year is out, to make sure that my number 1 priority is the intentional pursuit of time with my family. I long to give them my best time. I will play, plan and prove my love for my most precious neighbors (my wife and kids). To do so, however, means significant intentional action… casting off those things that would hinder the accomplishment of this pursuit.
Hey Ken, I just found this post here. Thought I might send you a small kick and see how you are keeping up to your schedule here. š
I would like to say, although there are only a couple weeks left, that I have a movement I am trying to engage. Having completed applications and sent them off, I have spiralled from busy and active, to somewhat lazy and complacent. I would like to find myself reengaging in my life. Activities, relationships, writing, healthy habits and intentional active waiting for next year. All in all, I would love to feel more like a human again and less like one of my more mobile blankets from my bed. Thanks for the reminder I can set goals that arent resolutions for a new year.