Goals

Hola, buenas dias!

i hope you are ready to rock today!

we recently played at a big festival, which is a story about lessons learned that i will share another time, but in the pics i was shocked.

My perception of myself was different from reality... i looked different in the mirror than what i looked like outside... which made me think, where else do i fool myself? where else is my perception better/worse/different than reality?

how about you?

so begins the examination...

how did i get to this point? (insert random thought) how did our economy get here?

In my humble (wait for it)....... but very accurate (ahhh)...... opinion, i would say, in part, the responsibility lies in two areas:

1 Entities trying to do good wander from strong/good practices and with good intentions end up practicing bad habits

2 Lack of oversight and correction

My random thought is actually a thinly veiled analogy for my conclusion as how i got here...

So... i'd like some help with a portion of number 2 today, we'll tackle the remainder and number 1 in the coming posts...

Working backwards, i cannot oversee or correct my behavior and/or practices without having benchmarks/a set of goals to establish what my priorities and focus should be.

Open floor time…

What are some of your goals?

I would love to hear about your short(daily), medium(2-5 years), and long term goals and bucket list items.

Just to prime the pump, here are some goals and bucket list items I’m thinking about:

Run a marathon
Give more money away than I spend on myself/ my family
Be Christ to my wife, neighbors, city…
Reduce waist by 12 inches
Be focused on others not self
Carry more weight around the house when it comes to chores
Bench over 300 lbs
Run a 5k
Be 100% debt free, including house
Quit being a perfectionist and finding negative things
Become fluent in a new language
Have children, hopefully at some point a boy!!!!
Watch less TV
Discipline to follow and maintain the plan/schedule/diet
To treasure the journey, not just the destination
Earn industry designations, increase my knowledge

Lay it on me… what do you say? I will check this for the next year, so don’t be scared…help me out!

find what you seek

Alot of people constantly ask me how they can improve their life/find true love/be happy in life...

the answer is simple... good music.

Check out these artist that are wearing my ipod out!!!!! Enjoy!!!
Amos Lee
Iron and Wine
Band of Horses
Ed Young (come on, get your preach on)
Paolo Nutini
Jason Mraz

I have to confess that Amos Lee is the coolest person that no one has heard of. You need to jump head first into the coolness that is his music.

My ringtone for my wife is "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz.

I also assume that you all have worn out Ray Lamontagne's "Til The Sun Turns Black"-start there...

Another big Question

my friend luke norsworthy asked in his blog "why are you a Christian today?" Luke answered by saying,

"The reason I am a Christian today is that I know Jesus does life right. Jesus embodied what people are intended to be and when I follow him I am being what I am called to be as a person. So today I remind myself that I am still following Christ because Jesus is the way."

i really like his answer, but at the same time i struggle with a perception i grew up perceiving.

to be clear, i do not put Luke into this category. i have just seen other people in my experience say things like this and be complacent in their actions/attitudes/lives.

i'm turned off by seeing believers appear to act right, while having a wrong focus or motivation...

i'm turned off by believers not maturing, not being changed, not loving like Jesus...

so what if you were wronged, so what if someone believes something differently-with grace we should forgive in the same way we expect to be forgiven...

will they know we are christians by our love? or by our judgmental actions and attitudes... what are we doing to the name of Christ, to his bride the church?

right now you are probably thinking "wow, where is he going, how did he get here, what time of night did he write this?"

and here is my answer, if one doesn't act like Christ, or have the mind of Christ, if the things that are the very most important to Christ, are not important... can that person truly claim the name of Christ? is that person really following Christ, or is that person lying to himself?

Have i died to the world? i say i believe that Jesus is the way, but does my every decision/thought/action reflect that belief?

where is my time spent?

where is my money spent?

am i truly any different than other nice people with good intentions that don't claim the name of Jesus? are you?

Luke started with the question, why are you a christian today, but sometimes i feel i have to ask...

am i really a christian today? are you?

(on a side note check out this lesson on holiness from Francis Chan-listen or watch... i can't get the following thought out of my head-you can't sing "Lord save us" on Sunday, when all week your actions are shouting "crucify him")

Quietness

first of all, sorry for being quiet in this blog...

i realize that if anyone was checking/reading my blog i've been quiet for long enough to GUARANTY that they have definitely stopped checking in...

how hard it is to break bad habits... (i think of smokers...) how easy it is to fall away from good practices (in my life i can instantly think of 5 things without breaking a sweat, not to mention that gym membership...)

I wonder how long it would take us to sorely miss things if they went quiet in our lives... TV, family, spouses, always being busy, food, money, insert your response here...

also, after we got over the shock of missing something, i wonder what i would actually not miss anymore...

the crazy question is why don't i dismiss the items i really wouldn't miss anymore/that really should be quiet in my life?