A Response to the 3 Year Plan

My last post was originally for a guest post at http://thoughtsofresurrection.wordpress.com/. A question was asked after the post went up:

"I really enjoyed your article on making a three year plan. Do you have a template or any type of tool to help with making a three year plan?"

What an excellent question! Ha! I guess I ought to come up with a solution, not just a suggestion!

As I think about how to best answer this, I would think of it more as a process and less as a template:

Maybe something like this:

• Take the Spiritual Gifts self assessment (see http://thewell.cor.org/detail.aspx?ID=44)
  
• Write down what you are doing today that you are good at
• Write down what you are doing today that you enjoy (not always the same thing)
• Write down your job
• Write down your talents
• Write down your interests
• Write down any goals you have
  
• Write down what you are NOT doing that you wish you were
• Write down the answer to this question: "If Jesus showed up and had a special job just for you, what would it be?"
  
• Write down anything you feel that God is calling you to (obviously this is extremely important, but also the most difficult)

It is very important to WRITE the answer to all of these things down. Don't just do it in your head. When things are visualized, they are also easier to accomplish.

Now start looking for overlaps. For some it may jump out at them right away. For others it may take several times through the process.

I haven't done a lot of studying on this. I just came up with this on the fly. Any suggestions or tweaks? What would you do if you had to put your 3 year plan together. By the way...now that I suggested the 3 year plan, I've got to go do mine!

A 3-Year Plan

I turned 30 years old in January, and it’s an age that should make any Christian pause and think. Jesus started his ministry when he was 30 and it ended 3 years later upon his death, but what he did during those three years has influenced billions of people over the last 2,000 years.

So what am I going to do in the next three years?

This is a question that we ought to be asking ourselves every day of our lives, but we get caught up in our own routines and forget this very important question.

I have a two-year old son, and I want to see him grow up. But if my death at thirty-three would bring billions (or even thousands) to God, wouldn’t it be worth it? It’s a scary thought, but Christ tells us that those who love their lives will lose them, and those who give up their lives for him will gain everlasting life. We’re not to martyr ourselves, but it is a call to be in the world, not of it.

Businesses and individuals often make 5 or 10-year plans. In the same vein, I would lobby that Christians should set forth a 3-year plan. The messiah completely redefined the world in three years. He was setting an example for us. As if to say, “I did it, and so can you.” Given, we are not the perfection that Jesus was, but if we strive to be, then we can reshape life as we know it.

If I live to be 75 years old, I have the opportunity to develop fifteen 3-year plans during the remainder of my life. What an opportunity! But in order to maximize that opportunity, I have to start now.

In 2006, I felt called to start working on my Bible in Rhyme project. It is my hope and prayer that God intends this to be a part of my 3-year plan. I pray that it is something that can work in the hearts, minds, and spirits of Christians and non-Christians alike. I don’t know what will happen, but I trust that God will guide me the way He wants me to go. And I know that it will require a lot of hard work on my part.

Besides, isn’t hard work what God asks from all of us? We are called to love and to believe, but that’s just the beginning. To really make something happen, we have to be ready to get our hands in the dirt and work for Him. To give up our worldly lives do His will here on earth.

So today, tomorrow, and definitely at each birthday, I recommend you ask yourself, “What is my 3-year plan?” Leave 5-year plans and 10-year plans to businesses. Make the 3-year plan God’s.

Praying for a Better Prayer Life

I fall short in my prayer life. My wife says the same, as do a lot of my friends. Despite the fact that we are called to be in prayer constantly, it is a struggle setting aside time to speak to and listen to God. I feel like a poor example of a good prayer life. But I have a great mentor.

He’s not prideful. He is not vain. He is probably the happiest and most faithful person I know. However, he can be really, really selfish. But that can be excused, as he is only two years old. He is my son, Noah. One of the most beautiful and inspiring things about my son is that he reminds my wife and I to pray. At every mealtime he holds his little hands out to each side and says, “Prayers?” And he wants to make sure we say the right prayer, the one he is familiar with:

“God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food.”

We had Pastors Andrew and Nicole Conard over for dinner one night, and I began saying a different prayer. Noah was having none of that. He started trying to interrupt me so that we made sure we said his prayer. It was important to him that he participate. And it was wonderful to see that prayer was important to my son so early in life.

At nap time and bedtime, Noah knows that after we read our third story, it’s time for prayers. So he stretches out his hands again, and we say a different prayer. It’s a modification of a prayer my parents taught me as a little boy.

“Dear God, we love You. Protect us. God bless Mommy and Daddy, little Noah, grandmas and grandpas, Uncle Bryce and Aunt Amanda, cousins and friends, and everyone in the whole wide world. And all the puppies. Amen!”

The ‘puppies’ part was imperative to him, and the Amen is always emphatic.

Christ tells us that we must be like little children when we come to him, and in my son I see how true this is. His faith is unwavering, unquestioning, unintentional, unrelenting, unshakable, and undeniable.

If my faith were but a mustard seed, I know I could move mountains. My son’s faith shakes the ground I walk on. If each adult I knew prayed with the fervent intensity that I see in my son, his little friend, or the masses of children I see at church, I guarantee this world would be a better place.

God, I ask that You help me pray like my son. That You forgive me for not giving You the time You deserve. And God, help me not forget those puppies too.

AMEN!

The Penny and the Feather

A penny and a feather were resting on the sidewalk. The penny asked the feather, "What do you want in life?"

"I want to float through life, experiencing anything and everything," said the feather. "What do you want in life?"

"I want to be someone's wish and end up in that fountain over there," the penny replied.

"That is a boring existence," the feather replied.

"It's what I want to be," said the penny.

Just then a breeze lifted the feather into the air. It sailed through the city, seeing all sorts of things. But soon it came to rest in a gutter where it was swept up and placed in the garbage, then taken to the dump. The feather was very unhappy with the way things had turned out.

Meanwhile, the penny lay on the sidewalk until a little boy came upon it. He picked the penny up and threw it into the fountain, making a wish as he did. The penny was overjoyed at having achieved its one goal.

For those who know what they want and what they were made for, it is very probable that they will achieve their goals. But the aimless are often disappointed, because they did not know what they wanted before they set out.

Psalm 68 in Rhyme

I was recently approached by a publishing house that is interested in publishing The Bible in Rhyme. This is very exciting, but also a bit nerve racking as I did not have an agent, and was not sure how to navigate the negotiations of a publishing contract.

So since my last post (about KU winning the championship), I have searched for an agent, found an agent, signed with an agent, been reviewing and discussing the publishing contract in hand, and editing furiously to get the manuscript into good shape. Right now my head is above water, but I don't know how long that will last.

Anyway, I thought I would post Psalm 68 from The Bible in Rhyme for today's post (and since Pastor Conard posted it on his blog Thoughts of Resurrection).

Psalm 68

May God arise and scatter his foes.
The wicked will perish as everyone knows.
Sing to the Lord who rides on a cloud.
Extol your praises, crying aloud.
A father to orphans, the widow’s defender;
He honors believers and cuts down pretenders.
We marched through the desert with You as our guide
and gained our inheritance, though we were tried.
Great was the glory of those who announced
God and His name, but those who denounced
His honor were struck down, peasant and king.
But all who have seen His power now sing.
God sends one thousand chariots out
and crushes His enemies. Now who will doubt?!
The twelve tribes have come proclaiming a song.
Egypt and Cush will submit to the throng.
Announce that He’s come across all the earth.
All who know Him know what He is worth.
Wherever we tread and wherever we trod,
He will be with us. Praise be to God!

Being Lazy is No Good

It has been forever since I've posted...and I've even had guest blogs go up on Pastor Andrew Conard's blog since my last post. So I'm going to start by getting those posts up and trying to get going again.

My humble apologies...

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

It is with great humility and an obnoxiously loud "Rock Chalk Jayhawk!" that Kyle Holt accepts the championship of the Methodist Bloggers bracket challenge.

"It was tough going, but when Mario Chalmers put that shot in the air, I knew I had done it," said a contrite Holt as he took credit where credit was not due. Holt has been saying for weeks that this was his year to win this award. Since it was the first time the Methodist Bloggers had put a bracket challenge together, few understood what he was talking about.

"I had a lot riding on the line. Well, not a lot. I mean, just this award. Don't I get any money for this?" Holt asked into a Playskool microphone he set up on his couch to conduct a press conference. The press conference was attended by only Holt's two year old son who was crying and asking for his microphone back.

Said Holt, "It's all about heart. Heart and rooting for my 'Hawks. When the game is on the line, and by on the line, I mean on the TV, I'm the guy everyone turns to."

Disgusted Methodist Bloggers commissioner, Andrew Conard, voiced his opinion about the whole affair. "It's really kind of sad," he said of Holt. "I think he truly believes he did something. You know what he should be doing is posting blogs. I mean, the guy hasn't done a single thing since March 24th. I know as a Christian I should really care for him. But it's hard when he's acting like such a loser. Just watch, he'll probably post on his blog about winning. Get a life, Kyle."