Today was quite the snowy day which landed us about 10 inches of snow and sub zero wind chills. I decided to get a cozy fire going, and Sandy baked some cookies. It was a very relaxing winter day indoors. A perfect day, in fact, to reflect on our Lee Family Retreat which was about 3 weeks ago.As usual, Sandy and I went to a B&B in the country to reflect on God's faithful grace and love in our lives in the past year. We spent time on our own reading Scripture, praying and thinking. We spent time trying to figure out how God has changed us and continues to change us. We talked about our marriage, our parenting and our kids. We evaluated our past goals and set new ones for 2011.
It was a rich time in so many ways. I love pausing and reflecting on how God is working all around me and even in me. He is so good.
This blog has been a great way for me to keep track of my goals. So here are just a few for 2011:
1. Read through the Bible twice
- Last year, I read through the Bible in 1 year. I thought it was good, but I had trouble reading through 2 places at the same time - 2 chapters in the OT and 1 in the NT daily. George Muller who read the Bible 3-4 times a year inspired me to strive for more. So far, it's been going very well. Reading 6-7 chapters a day from Genesis forward has been surprisingly enjoyable. I'm getting a good grasp of the overall story of the OT books. I've also started reading from the ESV Study Bible - I highly recommend it!
- I must admit that I have memorized the book of Titus years ago so I imagine (hope?) that it will come back fairly easily. It's also only 3 chapters and only 46 verses.
3. Run the KC Marathon in under 4 hours
- The half-marathon went so well that I'm excited to go for the full marathon! We'll see how excited I am when I am running 20 miles in the hot and humid summer...
4. Read 24 books
- Last year I read 26 books. I think I'm maxing out, but I like this pace. I read some fun books, some difficult books, some marriage and parenting books and some ministry books. God has used them to help me think great thoughts of Him more often. Just for posterity, I list them below.
I can't believe it's already February. 2011 has started faster than I had anticipated. These are not all of my goals, but nobody needs to know all of them! I think I have too many. But they are very helpful for me to grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ.
2010 Books:
- #26 - What Is a Healthy Church? by Mark Dever
- #25 - When the Game Was Ours by Magic & Bird
- #24 - Why Small Groups? Ed. by C.J. Mahaney
- #23 - Simple Church by Rainer &Geiger
- #21 - The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter
- #20 - Worldliness ed. by C.J. Mahaney
- #19 - The Trellis and the Vine by Marshall and Payne
- #18 - Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
- #17 - Spurgeon by Arnold Dallimore
- #16 - Half-Marathon: You Can Do It by Jeff Galloway
- #15 - This Momentary Marriage by John Piper
- #14 - A Game Plan for Life by John Wooden
- #13 - George Muller of Bristol by A.T. Pierson
- #12 - The Complete Husband by Lou Priolo
- #11 - Gospel-Powered Parenting by William Farley
- #10 - The Godly Man's Picture by Thomas Watson
- #9 - Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell
- #8 - Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin
- #7 - The First World War by John Keegan
- #6 - Already Gone by Ken Ham & Britt Beemer
- #5 - The Treasure Principle (re-read) by Randy Alcorn
- #4 - Don't Make Me Count to 3! by Ginger Plowman
- #3 - Heralds of God by James Stewart
- #2 - The Life and Diary of David Brainerd by David Brainerd, ed. by Jonathan Edwards
- #1 - The Pursuit of Holiness (re-read) by Jerry Bridges
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