The monthly goals for May look a lot like monthly goals from April with a few tweaks. It's been said that consistency is more important than intensity - and I tend to agree. Personal growth can appear boring at times in regards to a lack of variety, but that is ok for me. I don't mind boring.
Daily Goals for May
Monthly Goals for May:
Yearly 252 Goals: 1. Spiritual: Memorize the first two chapters of Philippians. 2. Physical: Complete a Half-Ironman in under 5 hours. 3. Relational: Eat a one on one meal with each of my sons and my wife at least once a month. 4. Intellectual: Write a reflection post here each week.
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Overall I'm very thankful for the progress in April. Here is a quick recap of the month:
Daily Goals for April
Monthly Goals for April:
One of my goalsl this month has been to do a 24 hour fast. I accomplished that about two weeks ago; but I've been talking to a friend of mine who is part of our 252 Circle this year and he has done some remarkable multi-day fasts recently and seen great results. While weight-loss is an immediate benefit, multi-day fasts help us realize how much influence food has one our choices and gives us an opportunity to exert more self-control to ensure we are controlling our food choices rather than being controlled by our food desires.
So, I started a 72 hour fast last night (Thursday) at 8PM. I plan to fast at least 72 hours and maybe longer depending on how it goes. My starting weight is 165 and we'll see how much I can lost. My goal weight for the end of April is 158 and I'm hopeful I can make significant progress towards that goal over the next few days. I will consume lots of water, some bone broth, some electrolytes, and minimal juices to maintain hydration and nutrients. Last Friday and Saturday I had the privilege to take around twenty student leaders to an off-site leadership retreat in North Carolina. We had a blast together hanging out, playing volleyball, eating remarkable food (that tasted way better than stereotypical "camp" food!) and spending time in sessions learning about leadership.
We conducted a Q&A time with the student leaders so they could ask anything and everything to the Center for Leadership Development team. The students asked great questions, and we tried to give helpful answers. When talking about successful leaders at one point, I referenced Jim Collins' book Good to Great and how the transformational leaders that took companies from "good" to "great" (based on Collins' metrics described in the book) demonstrated two qualities: Humility and Determination. When a leader of any group or organization remains humble and hard-working, there's no telling what God can do with that leader. I trust it was an encouraging challenge to the students (and reminder to the Center for Leadership Development team) that we can strive to lead with humility and with an attitude of perseverance and stick-with-it-ness to build people while completing projects and accomplishing tasks. We're excited for a great year of student leadership! This weekend a visiting missionary to Uganda spoke at my church. He was talking about the importance of relationships and the relative unimportance of time. He was describing the culture of the unreached people group and referenced an African Proverb used there. Here is the paraphrased version of the proverb:
"You don't really know someone until you can sit with them and do nothing." I researched the quote but couldn't find any real information about the quote, but I nonetheless appreciate the emphasis the quote communicates about the importance of simply being in contrast to doing. God created us as human beings - not human doings. He has certainly called us to action, but our actions aren't who we are - they are what we do (because of who we are). Perhaps the inspired version of this idea can be found in Psalm 91:1 - "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty." May our stillness and abiding with God help us to know Him more. April can be a challenging month for maintaining healthy habits and personal discipline with so many events and activities. I hope to be ready and do my best to accomplish these goals:
Daily Goals for April
Monthly Goals for April:
Yearly 252 Goals with Updates 1. Spiritual: Memorize the first two chapters of Philippians. 2. Physical: Complete a Half-Ironman in under 5 hours. 3. Relational: Eat a one on one meal with each of my sons and my wife at least once a month. 4. Intellectual: Write a reflection post here each week. This year I have several annual goals (posted below) and am setting monthly goals to get me to the annual goals and have a little fun along the way. Here is an update on my March goals. It was a fairly good month overall, especially considering we brought our infant son home from the hospital February 28.
Yearly 252 Goals with Updates 1. Spiritual: Memorize the first two chapters of Philippians. 2. Physical: Complete a Half-Ironman in under 5 hours. 3. Relational: Eat a one on one meal with each of my sons and my wife at least once a month. 4. Intellectual: Write a reflection post here each week. My oldest son turned 8 yesterday. We had a fun celebration for him - and he seemed to enjoy the gifts, birthday cake, and games. In fact, as I write this in our living room he's a few feet away from me putting together one of the lego sets he received as a gift. My soon-to-be-5-year-old is also in the same room as I type running around trying to keep a leftover birthday balloon in the air before it hits the ground. And my wife is caring for our newborn in the bedroom. We did the quick math and realized that about the time our newborn is the age of our soon-to-be-5-year-old that our old son that turned 8 yesterday will be a teenager. It was a crazy moment and reminder how time flies.
I've been thinking a lot lately about David Brooks' introduce to his book The Road to Character in which he discuss the difference between résumé virtues and eulogy virtues. He writes: "Recently I've been thinking about the difference between the résumé virtues and the eulogy virtues. The résumé virtues are the ones you list on your résumé, the skills that you bring to the job market and that contribute to external success. The eulogy virtues are deeper. They're the virtues that get talked about at your funeral, the ones that exist at the core of your being—whether you are kind, brave, honest or faithful; what kind of relationships you formed. Most of us would say that the eulogy virtues are more important than the résumé virtues, but I confess that for long stretches of my life I've spent more time thinking about the latter than the former…Most of us have clearer strategies for how to achieve career success than we do for how to develop a profound character.” It is my hope and prayer that I live with eulogy virtues as a priority so my wife and sons can learn what's most important in this life - and the next. Manifesto Against Mediocrity Written and Presented by Dr. Matthew Weathers March 13, 2024 - Bob Jones University Chapel [View here] I have a hope for you today. A hope that you will rise above the downward pull of mediocrity. A hope that you will rebel against the cultural norm of pursuing comfort and strive to pursue Christ. A hope that your love for the gospel will eclipse your love for the praise of men. A hope that you will have a broken heart for our broken world and have the courage to do something about it rather than look the other way. This is a manifesto against mediocrity.
Men, I have a hope that each of you will develop a backbone instead of a wishbone. A hope that you will treat these ladies like sisters in Christ rather than objects to exploit. A hope that you will not become a lazy man sitting in a La-Z-boy with the remote in one hand and Doritos in the other, but that you will train to be strong and tender warriors wielding the sword of truth against the encroaching darkness of the enemy. A hope that you are humbly preparing to lead yourself and your family in a way that shapes the world rather than being shaped by the world. A hope that as for you and your house, you will serve the Lord. This is a manifesto against mediocrity. Ladies, I have a hope that each of you will develop a heart of faith rather than a heart of fear. A hope that your words will be full of grace rather than fraught with gossip. A hope that you will treat these men like brothers in Christ and pray for them. A hope that you will meditate on what is valuable rather than what is in Vogue. A hope that you will care more about the battle lines of eternity than tan lines for the summer. A hope that you are diligently preparing to lead yourself and support your family in a way that demonstrates strength and dignity. This is a manifesto against mediocrity. I have a hope that you all will strive to progress in wisdom and make decisions rooted in the Word. A hope that you will advance in stature and strengthen your body to serve others rather than indulge or idolize your body to serve yourself. A hope that you will advance in your love for God as you prioritize your relationship with Him. A hope that you will grow in your relationships with others as you impact them for God’s glory rather than manipulate them for selfish gain. A hope that you will pursue eulogy virtues more than resume virtues. A hope that you will have a growing desire to be confronted with uncomfortable truths that lead to life rather than being coddled with comfortable lies that lead to death. This is a manifesto against mediocrity. I have a hope that you will imitate Christ in your thoughts, words, and actions. A hope that today and for all your days, you will do the next right thing rather than the next easy thing because Christ is better than the fleeting pleasures of sin. A hope that the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. A hope that the God of hope will fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. A hope that you will join this manifesto against mediocrity and advance the cause of Christ with courage and conviction because your identity is in Christ. A hope that one day, on your final day – because you rejected mediocrity and embraced the Way, the Truth, and the Life, you will hear: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” This is a manifesto against mediocrity. So, who will you be and what will you do with your one wonderful and miraculous life that God has given to you to live for His glory and empowered by His grace? Luke 2:52 states "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man."
The purpose of the fourth post in this series is to explore what it means for Jesus to increase in favor with man. As I shared in the previous post, the word "increase" is the Greek word προκόπτω (prokoptō) which means to "progress" and/or "advance." Jesus progress and advanced (in His humanity) in the development of stature. The word carries a sense of striving as if to remove obstacles to obtain a goal or arrive at a destination. What does it mean for Jesus to progress and advance in favor with man? The word "favor" is the word χάρις (karis) and is commonly translated into English as "grace." The meaning is broader and in this context carries the idea of divine goodwill (as opposed to obligation). As a man, Jesus grew in His understanding of and relationship to other human beings. This is not meant to be mysterious or complicated. Jesus, as a human being, grew in his ability to relate to other human beings as He grew and developed. He had younger siblings. He had friends. He was a teenager. He worked as a carpenter and learned how to interact with customers and suppliers. His interacted with countless other human beings and grew in favor with them. How can we too progress in favor with man? How we can grow in our relationship with others? We can grow in our relationship with others by growing in grace χάρις (karis) in our own lives and developing increasing care for and affection for others. Jesus perfectly obeyed the Great Commandment (Mark 12) and loved God and loved others perfectly. We can follow Jesus' example by understanding how he related with others during his life on earth. He was kind. He was gracious. He was truth-telling. He was compassionate. He was everything Paul admonishes New Testament believers to be throughout his epistles. We can imitate Christ in that way as well as we week to relate to others. May we, like Jesus, increase in favor with man and thereby glorify the Father who is in heaven. |