Archives For 12 Plans for 2010

12 Plans for 2010: June Check-In

Chris —  May 31, 2010

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. Knocked out Leviticus this morning.  Definitely helps.

2.  Run a full marathon. Check.  Knees still hurt.  The key now is create new fitness goals.  I’ve been slackin.

3.  Climb a 14,000′ Mountain. I really want to do this, but my financial situation will really have to change to make it happen.

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

5.  Find a full-time job. I’m praying a lot about this.  I’m hoping God will provide a clear opportunity.  Maybe even an alternative to a full time job that is more in line with my skills/passions.

6.  Take at least one graduate course. Researching grad schools today, actually.

7.  Read 40 books. I’m up to about 15, with Forgotten Ways and Spider and the Elephant in the hopper.

8.  Volunteer at least 1 time a month. Had a great time with the families over at Foundation for the Homeless.

9.  Pay off all debt, except school loans. Slowly but surely.

10. Share my faith regularly. I’ve had two really awesome chances to talk about my faith with non-believers recently.  I’m praying for God to send others to follow up on that.

11. Begin leading and/or hosting a regular gathering for skeptics and Christians to study the Bible. Taking a big step in this direction this weekend.  Definitely could use your prayers.

12. Write daily, including journaling, blogging and working on a book. Getting a little better at this, though there are more missing dates on my calendar than I’d like.

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12 Plans for 2010: May Check-In

Chris —  May 3, 2010

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. Still at it.  Officially one month behind on my schedule, but I’ve got time to catch up, right?

2.  Run a full marathon. Check.  Knees still hurt.  The key now is create new fitness goals.  I’ve been slackin.

3.  Climb a 14,000′ Mountain. Thinking end of August.  No idea how to make this work.

4.  Visit somewhere I’ve never been. Well, the two conferences I wanted to go this year have come and gone…so I need a new plan.

5.  Find a full-time job. I’m praying a lot about this.  I’m hoping God will provide a clear opportunity.  Maybe even an alternative to a full time job that is more in line with my skills/passions.

6.  Take at least one graduate course. Circled fall semester on the calendar.  Still have some serious debt to pay off to make it happen.

7.  Read 40 books. Knocked a few more out in April.  Reviews soon.

8.  Volunteer at least 1 time a month. Worked with the children’s ministry at church this  month, but I’m not sure whether or not to count that.  Some cool opportunities coming in May.

9.  Pay off all debt, except school loans. I have got one big bill still holding me back.  Plotting to pull all the stops and pay it off this summer.

10. Share my faith regularly. Had a cool convo tonight actually.  I’m praying for more boldness in this category.

11. Begin leading and/or hosting a regular gathering for skeptics and Christians to study the Bible. Not there yet. More prayer needed, and less timidity.

12. Write daily, including journaling, blogging and working on a book. Really slacked on this in April.

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12 Plans for 2010: March Check-In

Chris —  April 5, 2010

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. Chugging along, but got a lot of catch up to do.

2.  Run a full marathon. Check.  Knees still hurt.

3.  Climb a 14,000′ Mountain. Need to start planning for this.  Want to go?

4.  Visit somewhere I’ve never been. Wanted to go to Florida for Exponential, but don’t know how I’d afford it.  May have to be somewhere close by.

5.  Find a full-time job. Still at square 1.  Job hunting is a soul sucking task.  Pray God will give me the patience I need to do this.

6.  Take at least one graduate course. Yeah…must complete 5 to do 6….

7.  Read 40 books. Still at it.  Working on numbers nine and ten now.

8.  Volunteer at least 1 time a month. Helped out with SXSE at Space12.  Hoping to focus in coming months on serving the poor.

9.  Pay off all debt, except school loans. Knocked out most the credit card.  On to the next thing.  This is a big hurdle for me.  Pray that God will help me accomplish this soon!

10. Share my faith regularly. Learning more about this.  I try to always drop lil’ faith related nuggets, without being insincere, in hopes of opening up the larger conversation.

11. Begin leading and/or hosting a regular gathering for skeptics and Christians to study the Bible. Currently, I am trying to pray that God lead me to people who are open to this.

12. Write daily, including journaling, blogging and working on a book. Here it is!

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12 Plans for 2010: February Check In

Chris —  March 1, 2010

1.  Read the whole Bible. I’ve definitely lost steam on this.  Should have Isaiah and Mark knocked off soon.  Need to be more intentional.

2.  Run a full marathon. Check.

3.  Climb a 14,000′ Mountain. Need to start planning for this.  Want to go?

4.  Visit somewhere I’ve never been. Considering going to Florida for the Exponential Conference.  Any donated airline miles can be considered helping towards my kingdom goals.

5.  Find a full-time job. Actually have an interview this week.  Please keep praying!

6.  Take at least one graduate course. Yeah…must complete 5 to do 6….

7.  Read 40 books. Lost some speed here as well, but check out reviews for 7 and 8 soon!

8.  Volunteer at least 1 time a month. Got the chance to help out at the Verge Conference.  Directed parking, then went inside to learn.

9.  Pay off all debt, except school loans. Looks like I’ll knock out the credit card with my upcoming tax return.  Pretty excited about that.

10. Share my faith regularly. Had a co-worker approach me recently about this.  Looking forward to sharing.

11. Begin leading and/or hosting a regular gathering for skeptics and Christians to study the Bible. Still working on making the apartment the kind of place one might invite others too.  Need something for people to sit on.

12. Write daily, including journaling, blogging and working on a book. Really gotten off track on this one.  The move has killed my rhythm, and writing suffered greatly.  Hope this will pick up soon.

What are your plans for the year?

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The Marathon

Chris —  February 17, 2010

The marathon began one year ago. Out of work, broke, stranded in San Antonio, I started running, mainly to keep from going crazy. It took about three or four  months to get up to the point I could jog the three mile loop behind my house. It took even longer before I could say that I “enjoy running.”

When I moved to Austin, I knew that it would be months or years before I would be accomplishing many of my life goals . So I set a new goal, run a half-marathon. I trained for about 3 months and completed the run in November. My life  is still a mess, but I was in the best shape ever, so I started training for a full marathon.

Since I’m obsessed with podcasts and audiobooks training wasn’t that bad. Runs became special times for me to hang out with my favorite public radio hosts, church leaders, and authors.

The worst part of the race itself was getting up far earlier than normal and charging off into the cold to find parking. Some smart people made jackets out of trash bags, which they could easily discard.

I started the race off listening to David Crowder’s “Church Music.” Though I’m not a big CCM guy, the Christian themes and heavy dance beats seemed like a good idea.

The race looped as far south as 71 and as far north as Anderson Lane. Although it was well supported, there weren’t as many fans, drinks and food as there were in San Antonio. I stopped every time for water, and grabbed every random snack I could along the way, from boiled salty potatoes to animal crackers.

I had hoped to come in under 4:30, but began to drastically slow down around mile 16. At mile 19 my playlist hit Green Day’s 21st Century break down. Someone offered me an orange. I exploded with juicy goodness and punched the sky in my old punk rock fashion.

Running became a spiritual experience for me when I heard Billy Joe singing a chorus of “you are forgiven” in a style reminiscent of the nah-nah-nahs of “Hey Jude.” Overwhelmed by the truth of the lyrics and the reality that I was just a few miles from completing a task I never would have imagined possible, I burst into tears.

At mile 25 I reached the capital of Texas, which for the first time struck me as majestic. I switched to David Crowder’s cover of “Oh, How He Loves Us” and sang along at the top of my lungs. I can only imagine what the other runners thought, but I hope they heard.

Reaching the 26 mile marker, I found myself sprinting faster than I knew I could, knowing that I had to give my best, finish strong, and move on to the other goals in my life.

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