Saturday, January 7, 2012

11 Things I didn't do in 2011....but I wish I would have.

If you haven't seen our post "11 Things I thought I'd never say in 2011...but I'm so glad I did", we would encourage you to scroll down and take a look!  What follows, is the other side of the coin....

11 Things I didn't do in 2011....but I wish I would have.

"Made date nights a priority"
As I said in my previous post....this has really suffered.  For many years, we maintained a regular date night but this past year we stopped doing them regularly.  As a result, we've noticed that we were always connecting through ministry and family and adventure (climbing, marathons, etc.) but not about "us".  Date nights are the perfect place to do regular check-ups on your relationship.  The question:  "how are we doing?" and "how do you think I am doing?"....are good ones, and we haven't asked that enough.

"Made our friends in Fresno, CA a priority"
Distance and laziness has left those emails and cards in the mail, what feels like, nonexistent.  Here's to a better 2012 for long-distance relationships (::raises beer glass) 

"Made our neighbours a priority"
This year has SUCKED for hospitality for our neighbors.  There are 15 other apartments in our building....and we only "know" 1 other couple.  TERRIBLE!  This next year we want to be more intentional with the many people who live right around us.

"Left some unfinished projects....unfinished"
You know those things you know you should do....but you just don't do.  For us, it's a garage that needs to be organized and a filing (paper and digital picture) system that needs an absolute overhaul.  I hate those kind of projects that just hang over our heads, and always seem to get pushed to the back-burner.

"Gave more away"
We do try...but we know that we can support more people with Jesus' $$ he's entrusted to us.  Here's to bigger year of generosity for 2012!

"Spend less"       
You know this balance don't you....the one that goes something like, "Do we buy what we need or do we buy what we want?"  There have been years where we have done a better job of spending less.  This was not one of those years.  House stuff/Gear/Eating Out.....these are just some of the places we can do a better job stewarding in 2012.

"Read more theology"
I did read, every week.  But mostly in the genres of "adventure writing" and "youth ministry".  As a pastor, it's important to keep reading theology, every month.  To keep learning, growing, and being stretched in my understanding of the word of God is vital.  I need more of this in 2012.

"Less activity and more sleep"
In my life, if there is one thing that always gets the shaft....it's sleep.  It's partly due to my personality....it's partly due to my sin....but I have a track record of not getting those core number of hours of sleep each night (6-8).  Here's to a more healthy 2012!

"Take a personal retreat"   
We have been taking half a day a week to practice the disciplines of silence and solitude but we know that this really isn't enough.  We long for a weekend a semester where we get away from Vancouver, to a retreat center to listen, pray, sleep, and be poured into.

"Be mentored"    
 We mentor a lot of people, weekly.  Someone asked us once, "You are mentoring a lot of people....who is mentoring you?".  It's questions like this that make us want 2012 to be full of some "outside perspective" folks who love us and want to help us grow to become more like Jesus.

"Provide more regular blog content"
As you know, blog readers, this blog is basically our virtual living room/ photo album.  We talk about the people and things we care about and invite you to join us in our journey.  But after almost 1000 posts...we seem to be 1-2 times per week bloggers.  We would love that to be 2-3 in 2012.

OK friends, there ya have it!  Would love for you to do this exercise....it's a great way to reflect on the year past.

We look forward to reading your lists!    


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