Last year I decided to some New Year’s Resolutions, but I think they should more appropriately be called goals. So I wanted to take some time and look at them and evaluate how I did with those and then establish some new goals for this year. Here were my goals from 2007….

1) Do something about my job situation, whether that means a new job and forget ministry all together, or do something to get into ministry.

2) Do more to care for our planet (i.e. recycling, conserving energy, etc.)

3) To live my life in light of these deep and profound words…

I have sent out some resumes over the year. Not a lot, but some. I still feel very strongly that I am supposed to be in ministry and that I should focus on trying to find a position. The only question is where, when and what. I am not planning on making a big deal about sending resumes out, because I do not want to go “down that road” again and have to have a bunch of people ask me if I have heard anything yet. So the people who will find out are going to be very few and the masses will know when I hear those words I have been eager to hear. “You’re hired.”

This past year we have probably recycled more than we have thrown things out in the trash. I still would like us to use less and reuse more, so there is even less. But I am happy every time I put the stuff out at the curb and I have more stuff for recycling than I do for the trash. It makes me want to ask my garbage company to give me a bigger recycling container and smaller garbage bin.

I also traded my Jeep Wrangler in and bought a Toyota Camry, because I wanted to get a greener car. The Camry uses a lot less fuel than the Jeep does and it also has a better emissions rating. I drive our 1995 Honda Accord for my work vehicle and I used to drive the Jeep. I went from going a week between fill ups to I can go about a week and a half now. It costs about $30 to fill up the Accord and it cost me about $45 dollars to fill up the Jeep, so not only is it greener, but it is also a significant cost savings for us.

We also changed almost all of the light bulbs in our house to CFL light bulbs and I choose the “daylight” type ones, because it gives you the feel of natural daylight. In the winter time there is so much less daylight, especially here in Michigan, that I wanted something that gave us more daylight throughout the day. So far I really do like the feel it gives our house and I like the money saving we have.

I feel that this year has been a year where I have really embraced the mindset of “love wins”. I have noticed that often times when I get into conversations with people I have been thinking about how it is that I can show them God’s love by the words and actions I use. I know that it is something I can afford to do a lot more of and I can learn how to in many more ways.

There are a few things that I did not have as goals at the beginning of the year, but slowly became goals as time went on. One of them was getting myself into better physical condition. Kimmy and I got a membership at World Gym, which has helped me to go from a size 38 pant to a size 34 pant and from size XL shirts to large size shirts. In the midst of all that I have set up two more fitness goals and they are to ride in another MS 150 and to run a 5k. I did the MS 150 once back when I was 17 years old and have always wanted to do it again, but I have never been a runner so the 5k is a pretty big goal for me. I was thinking of running in the Firecracker 5k that is done during the Manistee National Forest Festival, which is held over the 4th of July where we go camping every year.

The other thing I did over the past year that I had not set as a goal was that I began reading more than I had ever really read before. I probably read 12 or more books last year and some of them I reviewed here on my blog. I feel that I have learned so much from reading this past year and it has really helped me grow in my faith. I have more books I would like to read, but now I need to get some extra cash so I can buy them.

I can’t really think of any more goals to add to the ones that I set up last year and added to over the years. So my plan is to just continue down that path and keep growing. I am really excited about 2008 and feel that it will be a great year for me and my family.