reviewing 2009

There's still a few more days before the end of 2009. And, I've been meaning to blog about this for a while -- and it just so happened that I had a few minutes while I'm waiting on some reports to download.

I've kept three things in front of me as priorities for 2009 and I'd like to think I've succeeded in meeting these goals that I will carry into 2010.

1) Spiritual
As I approached 30, I started to do an inventory about my spiritual fruit. I believed that God was calling me to be more intentional about raising up spiritual sons and daughters. I was engaged in ministry -- lots of it -- but was uncertain of the fruit that I was leaving behind. I started to fear that I was wasting my life and if I didn't get control of this soon, I'd just accept it and keep on my trajectory of a faith life of regret. Four years later, I have a greater confidence in my spiritual labors and the results from that labor. It's not been easy, but it has taken a lot of discipline to engage in work that will bear fruit. The Lord has been faithful in sending me confirmations and encouragements of my efforts in the year and it has meant the world to me to know that I'm on the right track with Him.

2) Family
My schedule keeps me very busy and it can be a great excuse for not spending time with family. My wife and I looked at the calendar and made every possible effort to take the summer to step back, spend time together and travel. It turns out, my whole family loves to travel. The adventure of staying at a hotel and exploring new towns in Michigan, re-discovering New Jersey (where I grew up), and going into Canada were great highlights of the year for me and my family.

3) Health
For as long as I can remember, I have become extremely exhausted and quite sick around the first week of November right through the end of December. In the last 11 years as I've been engaged in more and more ministry, I have just gotten used to being sick and tired the last two months of the year. About a year and a half ago, I got a huge wake up call that my schedule was driving me into the ground. I came down with the same symptoms in June as I did in November and December. For my physician, this was unacceptable since it was completely preventable. My blood pressure was out of control and I was getting completely exhausted every 6 months now. Last Christmas Eve, I had no voice but had no choice but to preside at one of the largest worship services we offer in the year. I spent Christmas Day completely exhausted on the couch, still with no voice while my family enjoyed the day. From the couch on Christmas Day, I made it my goal to be completely healthy in 2009. I started working out again in the last 6 months of the year, have made greater efforts to rest at regular intervals, and I've tried to keep a lot of things out of my control in its proper perspective. As I write this on December 23rd, I'm completely healthy and going to go into my first Christmas Eve service feeling great for the first time in a long time. (It seems almost silly to admit this, but I've not even said this aloud to very many people as if I could jinx my circumstances! The fear would be that I would become sick immediately as soon as I started to tell others about my health this year!)

Though I feel a great amount of satisfaction with the way the year has gone, I'm going to take these successes into 2010 with the confidence that I am growing in grace as a child of God who is blessed and highly favored, as a husband, father and a pastor (in that order!).