New Year's resolutions are weirdly polarizing, I've learned. Some people make them every year and stick to them seriously, many others make them and subsequently break them, and still others refuse to make any resolutions at all, convinced that it's a stupid, useless tradition. In my life, I've already managed to run the full gamut, starting with a teenager's cynicism about the practice, moving to a young adult's desire to change things (accompanied by a young adult's lack of commitment to that goal), and now finding myself, as a *slightly* more mature adult, wanting to get serious.
In December of 2017 I started making a list of things I wanted to begin, end, or change in my life in 2017. It ended up being a pretty long list, with some goals that are extremely ambitious and others that should be no problem. So for the sake of accountability, fun, and my millenial tendency to overshare, here's a look at what I'm wanting to change in 2018, which I've started calling, tongue firmly in cheek, the Year of Daniel.
1. Blog once per week
Hey look, I did it this week! Writing is something I enjoy but rarely make time for outside of my ministry responsibilities. So in 2018 my goal will be to get something up here (outside of the Friday devotionals) on a weekly basis.
2. Talk to every member of my family once a week
I'm notoriously bad at keeping up with the people I love if I'm not seeing them in person (ask my mom how often I called home when I was in college. On second thought, please don't.) So even if all I'm doing is sending a funny meme from the Internet or a "thinking about you today!" text, I want to be sure my family knows they're on my mind every week.
3. Read the Bible in a year
My daily devotional time last year was spent in three devotional books, with mixed results (see December's reading log.) For 2018, i want to go back to the basics and just read a few chapters of Scripture each day, with the end result being that I've gone from Genesis through Revelation by the end of the year. I've done this a couple of times, and I'm looking forward to doing it again. This year's wrinkle: I'm going to make a concerted effort to read the Bible instead of analyzing it like it's under a microscope, trickier than it sounds when exegesis is literally your life's work. Reading from The Message, which is designed for exactly that purpose, ought to help.
4. Drink more water
I'm bad about this, always have been. So 6 glasses per day is my goal.
5. Complete the Navy SEAL workout (minus the swimming portion)
I'm skinny, but I'm out of shape. The Navy SEAL workout, based on the physical test all SEAL candidates must pass to even qualify, is an ambitious but not unrealistic path to fixing that problem. Bonus: by excising the swimming part of the workout, I don't need a gym to do any of the exercises.
6. Give half my entertainment money to charity
This was an idea I had around Thanksgiving, and I've committed to do it for the next year. Every month, our budget allots each of us $100 to spend on whatever we want, along with $150 that we spend together. My entertainment money usually get spent on eating out and comic books. So this year, $50 of that will go to 5 charities/non-profits, $10 for each. I'm still deciding which to give to, but I have decided to do it with Matthew 25 as my outline, i.e. one charity devoted to the poor, one devoted to the sick, one devoted to prisoners, etc. Suggestions are welcome.
7. Learn sabermetric terms better
For baseball fans, Moneyball changed everything. If you want to be a knowledgeable fan these days, you've got to understand the new stats. And while I can fake it pretty well, my understanding of OPS, ERA+, UZR, and the like is pretty surface-level. So by 2019 I want to be more conversant in those stats.
8. Construct the perfect scorecard
One of life's simple joys is keeping score with pencil and paper at a baseball game. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a scorecard that provides a great template for this--they're either too basic, where you can't really tell the story of the game based on the information there's space for, or far too detailed, where you start to miss the actual game because your're too busy filling in your scorecard. So in 2018, graph paper in hand, I'm going to make my own.
9. Learn to cook 50 meals
I've given up on the idea that I'm ever going to be a great cook--I don't like it enough, I'm not confident enough in my abilities, and I don't love food enough. Nevertheless, I don't want to be the stereotypical 50-year old husband who doesn't know how to make a sandwich for himself. So once per week this year, I'm going to learn and cook a new recipe. This week's offering: Greek pizza. It was ok.
10. Finish all my comic books/graphic novels
I keep a handwritten list of every book I own, scratching them out as I read them. I do the same thing with all my graphic novels and collections of comic books. Both lists, needless to say, have a lot of titles on there that aren't scratched out. While some quick math told me that finishing the first list in 2018 was an unrealistic goal, finishing the second is manageable. So prepare for a steady stream of graphic novel reviews in the reading log.
11. Write a book
Aaaand now we're getting to the crazy ambitious part of the list. What am I going to write about? I don't know, probably Bible stuff. How long will it be? I don't know, I'll probably shoot for 250 pages or so. Do I want it published? You know, only if it's good. When should I figure all this stuff out? Oh, 6 months ago. Nevertheless, I'm not taking this goal off the list. Aim high and all that.
12. Learn biblical Greek, biblical Hebrew, Latin, and German
My seminary will, in the next few years, be introducing a PhD in Preaching. I very much want to be in its inaugural class when that program debuts. Unfortunately, they don't just give PhDs away, and part of getting one in a theological concentration is being proficient in the theological languages. So in 2018 I'm going to start that homework. Needless to say, this is the most ridiculous goal on my list, but it's also one of the more important. So we'll see!
13. Learn Spanish
In the past year I've become convicted that any Texas pastor who isn't at least trying to learn Spanish isn't thinking ahead. So in 2018 I want to polish the skills I still have from high school and college (that should take roughly two weeks) and get to where, by the end of the year, I can at least awkwardly fumble my way through a conversation in Spanish.
So there you have it, my lengthy list of personal resolutions for the Year of Daniel (I left off ministry resolutions and family resolutions, since those aren't necessarily mine to share). Am I going to pull all these off? Of course not. But it'll be fun to give it a shot. I'll let you know how it goes.
Happy New Year!
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