Jump

Today is January 2, 2011. The beginning of a new year...again. Isn't it interesting that we get to "start over" every 365 days. I'm not one for making new year resolutions, but I do have a short list of dreams/goals that I am working towards for this year.

1. Take a leap of faith. By doing this I am finally doing what I keep telling others to do. There is a job in North Carolina that I first noticed about 6 months ago. I didn't do anything about it at the time due to having too many loose-ends to tie up just then. Those loose-ends are almost completely tied now. Just a couple more to finish. Therefore, I am meeting with a colleague to work over my resume so that I can apply for this job. This is my leap of faith this year. Whether I get anything back from this application or not, it's the step I need to take in order to find a different job. Preferably one in full-time youth ministry.
2. Go to bed at a normal hour. This may seem like an inane goal but it's huge for me. I am not a morning person and to have to get up by 6:30 am every M-F takes quite a lot of work for me. Two alarms and lots of hitting of the snooze button. I hope that going to bed at a normal hour (my goal is no later than 10:00 pm) will help me to get up better in the morning.
3. Start having regular devotional time. I have a devotional book that I get every two months as well as a daily devo that is emailed to me. I am ashamed to admit that I rarely read the book and only sporadically read the email. My goal is to one or the other every day building up to doing both every day. Neither of them takes more than a couple minutes, it is just about working the time into my schedule to spend time with God every day. If I tell others to spend time daily with God, I need to be doing this myself.
4. Stop worrying about what is going to happen "if".  I have a horrible habit of worrying about the "what ifs" that are involved with every decision. I'm constantly going over all the different results to every decision made. This usually causes me to not make any decision for the really big questions in my life. This is directly related to #1.

There are more that I could list, but these are the 4 major goals I want to focus on. Not necessarily in the order listed.

Are there any goals/dreams that you have for this year?

more evidence

Recently, I went to lunch with some ladies from work. We went to a local Chinese restaurant for their amazing buffet. One table over from us was a group of high school students who had early release from school. They were laughing and talking and just generally enjoying life. I have to admit, I was listening in on their conversation just a little. It's what I do. I love listening in on the conversation teenagers have. Today they were discussing their finals. I couldn't help myself, I looked over, smiled at them all and asked how they thought they did on their exams. To which I recieved a chorus of "great" and "horrible". This was followed by more laughter, which I happily joined them in.

This small encounter gave me a "buzz". I love spending time with youth. I love their all out joy at everything. They experience life in the moment, not worrying about what will be coming next or what the next hour has to bring. Everything in their life is right now. That's not the case with all youth. There are many youth who struggle every day, wondering what's coming next. When will the next punch happen? When will the next meal be? How much of a meal will that next meal be? This one experience is causing me to question what I can do to help those youth that don't know where the next meal will be coming from.

If you are asking the same question, please take the time to seek out organizations that support children and youth in crisis.