Chris Morton » 12 Plans for 2010

12 Plans for 2010: Final Check-In

Chris — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:51:05 +0000

In January I made 12 “plans” for the year. Here’s how I’ve done.

1. Read the whole Bible. I made a valiant effort. Got through much of the New and Old Testament. The same problems I always run into, getting bogged down in the Torah and the Psalms, and the general lack of rhythm in my life this year made this very difficult.

2. Run a full marathon. I’ve written a lot about this. It is one of the accomplishments of this year, and my life, of which I’m most proud. Late in my training, someone said to me “A few months or years after the marathon, you’ll realize you’re a different person. Problems seem smaller. You realize you can handle whatever comes your way.” I think he’s right.

3. Climb a 14,000′ Mountain. Didn’t happen this year, but it looks like a great plan for 2011.

4. Visit somewhere I’ve never been. Spent a week in the mountains of Northern California with my good friend Kyle. So thankful he gave me the chance to do this!

5. Find a full-time job. Kind of miss the good ole days…

6. Take at least one graduate course. Wrote a paper about Ecclesiastes and Batman. Next class starts in January

7. Read 40 books. Check! I’ll share more about this.

8. Volunteer at least 1 time a month. I’ve more or less done this, mainly with Foundation for the Homeless, and through my Church. I want to be more intentional about this next year.

9. Pay off all debt, except school loans. It feels really good to be debt free.

10. Share my faith regularly. This is hard to judge how I did, but I pray I had an impact on others.

11. Begin leading and/or hosting a regular gathering for skeptics and Christians to study the Bible. See #10.

12. Write daily, including journaling, blogging and working on a book. I wasn’t nearly as intentional about this as I’d of liked, and I got nowhere on the book.

As interesting as this exercise was, I won’t be sharing with you my plans for 2011. I’ll tell you why next week.

12 Plans for 2010: December Check-In

Chris — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 14:00:56 +0000

At the beginning of each month I’m sharing about some plans I’ve made, with the hope it will hold me accountable. What are your plans this year?

1. Read the whole Bible. I’ve read a lot. But it’s not gonna happen. I’ve thrown in the towel, and decided to focus the rest of the year on reading through the lectionary for Advent.

2. Run a full marathon. Physical Therapy still…not sure I’m getting anywhere…

3. Climb a 14,000′ Mountain. This late in the year it’s looking like a great plan for 2011.

4. Visit somewhere I’ve never been. I’m going to count my week in the mountains of California towards this one.

5. Find a full-time job. Kind of missing the good ole days…

6. Take at least one graduate course. Wrote a paper about Ecclesiastes and Batman. Next class starts in January

7. Read 40 books. It looks like I’ll make it. Reviews of Bonhoeffer and Desire of the Everlasting Hills later this week.

8. Volunteer at least 1 time a month. This has been a tough month. So I got selfish…

9. Pay off all debt, except school loans. COMPLETED! I am free of all non-school debts!

10. Share my faith regularly. I’ve had some awesome efforts this past month. Pray for more.

11. Begin leading and/or hosting a regular gathering for skeptics and Christians to study the Bible. See #10.

12. Write daily, including journaling, blogging and working on a book. A lot of my effort has been going into www.plantr.org. Check it out.

12 Plans for 2010: September Check-In

Chris — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:19:26 +0000

At the beginning of each month I’m sharing about some plans I’ve made, with the hope it will hold me accountable. What are your plans this year?

1. Read the whole Bible. Now stalled out in 2nd Kings. Got a lot of work to do.

2. Run a full marathon. Running has been put on hold since my current means of transport is bike. Enough exercise…believe me.

3. Climb a 14,000′ Mountain. Although I hate to give up on any of my plans this year, I don’t see this as a financial possibility in 2010.

4. Visit somewhere I’ve never been. I’m going to count my week in the mountains of California towards this one.

5. Find a full-time job. Check! Finally. Praise God.

6. Take at least one graduate course. I was just admitted into Fuller’s MAGL! I’ll be starting my first class later this month.

7. Read 40 books. Just devoured Born to Run. Delicious.

8. Volunteer at least 1 time a month. Looks like I failed at this, other than my regular responsibilities at my church.

9. Pay off all debt, except school loans. COMPLETED! I am free of all non-school debts!

10. Share my faith regularly. Some cool stories are coming together. Hope to share them soon.

11. Begin leading and/or hosting a regular gathering for skeptics and Christians to study the Bible. See #11.

12. Write daily, including journaling, blogging and working on a book. I haven’t done to well at that this month. However, be on the lookout for a new project you’ll see links for soon.

12 Plans for 2010: August Check In

Chris — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:50:54 +0000

At the beginning of each month I’m sharing about some plans I’ve made, with the hope it will hold me accountable. What are your plans this year?

1. Read the whole Bible. Stalled out in 1st Kings. Got a lot of work to do.

2. Run a full marathon. I’m going to try to get back to running a few times a week this month.

3. Climb a 14,000′ Mountain. Although I hate to give up on any of my plans this year, I don’t see this as a financial possibility in 2010.

4. Visit somewhere I’ve never been. I’m going to count my week in the mountains of California towards this one.

5. Find a full-time job. Got another interview coming up!

6. Take at least one graduate course. I’ll have a concrete date on this soon.

7. Read 40 books. I’m about to knock out Hearing God, Practicing the Presence of God, Rework and a novel called The Dreaming Void.

8. Volunteer at least 1 time a month. Made dinner for the crew at Foundation For the Homeless last week.

9. Pay off all debt, except school loans. COMPLETED! I am free of all non-school debts!

10. Share my faith regularly. Some cool stories are coming together. Hope to share them soon.

11. Begin leading and/or hosting a regular gathering for skeptics and Christians to study the Bible. See #11.

12. Write daily, including journaling, blogging and working on a book. I’m working on a new project that I’m pretty excited about. I’ll be posting a link here soon.

12 Plans for 2010: July Check-In

Chris — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:03:49 +0000

At the beginning of each month I’m sharing about some plans I’ve made, with the hope it will hold me accountable. What are your plans this year?

1. Read the whole Bible. Progress was slow this past month. I’ve got a lot of catch up to do.

2. Run a full marathon. Still need create new fitness goals. I’m struggling to find motivation post-marathon.

3. Climb a 14,000′ Mountain. Although I hate to give up on any of my plans this year, I don’t see this as a financial possibility in 2010.

4. Visit somewhere I’ve never been. See numero 3.

5. Find a full-time job. Got an interview coming up!

6. Take at least one graduate course. This is looking more and more likely.

7. Read 40 books. I’m somewhere in the 20s now. Right on track.

8. Volunteer at least 1 time a month. I volunteered a lot for my church community this past month. Good times.

9. Pay off all debt, except school loans. I’m pretty sure I can do this by the end of the month.

10. Share my faith regularly. Slowly having more and more opportunities for this. A key I’m learning is to be unbelievably counter-cultural.

11. Begin leading and/or hosting a regular gathering for skeptics and Christians to study the Bible. It takes a long time to build the relationships necessary for this one. I need to pray more regularly for it.

12. Write daily, including journaling, blogging and working on a book. Slacked off a bit this month, however I did revisit a book proposal I’ve been working on.