This is the Second Weirdest Holy Week Ever. Here’s the First.

This past week, I was texting my cousin, Jennifer, discussing everything going on due to the coronavirus.

“Isn’t this is the weirdest Holy Week ever?” I asked.

She agreed. “It’s super weird.”

I continued, “I’m just weirded out that Easter isn’t going to be normal.”

I mean, on a normal year, we would have had our Palm Sunday worship service this past Sunday. Kids would have been walking the isles giving palm branches to congregants while younger kids innocently gave the same congregants a second branch.

Maundy Thursday, also known as the day Jesus was betrayed after celebrating the Lord’s Supper, would have involved us worshiping at church while reading the story of His unjust trial. We also would have celebrated communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Good Friday, today, would have found us at church yet again, but reading of the excruciating death of Christ on the cross. It’s a dark day where the weight of our sins being lifted off our shoulders and onto Jesus’ is felt more than normal.

And Easter Sunday, the day of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and defeat of the devil, would be a joyful day. Joyful is about the best way to describe it.

But my gosh, this year is weird. Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday, and Easter services are all experienced this week from our apartment.

It really is bizarre.

Until I realized that this isn’t the weirdest Holy Week ever. In fact, it doesn’t even compare to the weirdest.

On Palm Sunday, the people of Jerusalem worshiped Jesus because they believed he was the savior that would overthrow the rule of the Roman Empire. But within a week, Jesus was betrayed by one of his closest friends, beaten just short of his life, then hung on a cross to die by the very people who celebrated him just five days earlier.

Then Sunday came. Jesus himself beats all the physical laws of this world and rises from the dead. Much to His friend’s surprise and his enemy’s chagrin.

How weird is that?

Here’s the deal. Yeah, this week is a weird week for Easter. We can’t worship together. We can’t commune together. We’re not supposed to do anything together. But it’s not the weirdest Easter ever.

In fact, out of the weirdest Easter ever came the salvation for mankind. If that was a worshipful Easter, I don’t see why this one can’t be as well. The good news is that no matter how weird our year is, it doesn’t change the fact that Christ’s death has saved us. Praise God!

– Caleb

If you are in need of a place to worship this weird Easter, check out homethiseaster.com.

Do I Have To Read The Bible Slowly For It To Do Any Good?

When I read the Bible, this is a struggle for me because most of the time I read at a fast pace. Gotta get to bed. Gotta get a chapter in before work. Gotta keep making progress on reading the books I haven’t completed yet.

Does it really do any good? I mean, can God speak to me when I’m not slowing down in His word to listen?

I say, yes, it still does a lot of good.

I have to admit something. Bailey and I read the Bible together virtually every day from the One Year Bible (it has readings from the old testament, the new testament, Palms and Proverbs). However, much of the time our conversation goes like this:

Me: Ok, let’s read so we can go to bed. I’m exhausted.

Bailey: Ok, which reading should we do?

Me: Uh, let’s do the Psalms again. It won’t take too long but it’s more than the Proverbs…

I’ve felt a moderate amount of guilt for saying this because I feel like we should read a lot more and read it slowly so we can let it sink in.

If I’m not reading the Bible slowly, am I a bad Christian?

I don’t think so and here’s why. When you read the Bible regularly over and over and over, you will develop in your subconscious a belief. In my case, I’ve developed a belief that God will pursue me and fight for me even when I’m not pursuing Him.

A few days ago, I told a friend that we’ve read mostly the Psalms recently because it doesn’t take much time. I’ve honestly never read as many Psalms as now. But from it I’ve seen so much of the emotions that David felt when he was writing them. I’ve seen how he trusts God’s plan when his enemies surround him. I’ve seen his praise for God when things are going well. I’ve seen times when his despair is almost unbearable.

Sure, we’ve read them fast when we’re trying to get to bed faster. However, I can say from personal experience that it has regularly, subtly refocused my belief that God is in control and continues to love me and pursue me.

Now, I don’t recommend never reading slowly. I just have found that when I read quickly, it’s still does me good spiritually.

How do you read the Bible? What is God teaching you through it? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

-Caleb

Invest In Deep Friendships (Free Chapter!)

I didn’t want this chapter to be titled “Spend Time with Friends” because that title doesn’t encompass the level of intensity that should be involved in real friendships. The truth is, when you’re in the stage of life after college, you’re level of involvement with your friends pretty much has to change. When I was in college, I saw my friends daily. I talked to them daily. I suffered the woes of engineering with them daily. Post-college, however, you must intentionally seek the friends you have.

It’s kind of tricky though. Some people you consider friends in college. If you see them every day, the likelihood is high that you talked to them daily too. But when that unintended face-to-face interaction ends, how does your friendship react? How often do you talk? Do you only send a picture in Snapchat every day to keep up your snap streak?

This may sound a bit insensitive but you have to decide who you’re going to let impact your life now. That includes the friends with which you spend your time. You have to decide what relationships are actually worth you putting the time and energy into. Because, trust me, friendships (especially deep ones), require a lot of time and energy.

Jim Rohn, a well-known entrepreneur and motivational speaker, once said,

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

That quote puts things in perspective for me. How about you? Let’s pretend right now that the quote only refers to the friends around you, not mentors, co-workers or family. Who of your friends encourages you and helps you grow? What friends have negative attitudes?

You need friends in your life to help you grow. I mean close friends. Good friends. The friends that you know you can rely on and with whom you have deep relationships. If you’re a guy, you need deep friendships with men. If you’re a girl, you need the same with women. Here’s another example from my life.

I have several deep relationships with guys I know (again, not counting family). One lives in Mexico and challenges me constantly, not only in humility but also spiritually. I work with one friend (we were friends before working together) and he pushes me to not settle for just “good enough.” He helps me keep my thinking in a growth mentality and I can count on him to let me know what he really thinks about things. One lives about forty minutes away and is a rock against which I can discuss literally anything without feeling judged and against whom I can bounce off ideas. I meet with one every week for breakfast and is an encourager who helps me dream and who isn’t afraid to give me his real opinion. These guys are tough guys.

Find the deep friendships. I’m sure you have friendships right now, however they may not be deep. But it’s never too late to change that. It can be awkward but when you push your friendships deeper, asking questions and challenging opinions and habits, you will find that they’ll pay off. Some friends may be only interested in surface-level relationships, which is fine. But put a limited amount of your energy into these friends.

Consider who you want to be five to ten years from now and what relationships are going to affect that path positively or negatively. When you gather friends to your side with whom you can grow and learn and talk about anything, it’ll greatly impact your direction. As the Bible says in Proverbs 27:17 (ESV),

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”

You need to ensure the friends you have around you are made of iron. In my case, the guys I mentioned are made of just that. But I have to consistently work on myself so that I’m made of iron as well. Then we can sharpen each other.

-Caleb

 

This is a chapter from my new book Graduated and Clueless, which is expected to be available in May of 2018. Subscribe to the blog to stay updated on the progress of this project!

You’ll Understand If You’ve Been Abandoned

I grew up in the church and because of that, I frequently have a difficult time fully understanding the magnitude of what Christ did for me on the cross. I struggle with it throughout the year because I know that I take it for granted. But even more so, I struggle with it around Easter because that’s when Jesus actually took on our sins.

Sometimes I wish I could experience what it’s like to become a new Christian – to experience that overwhelming gratitude for what Christ did. 

I always try to force myself to understand Easter’s significance but it always proves to be a challenge. I had a realization this year, though.

I have some incredibly close and deep friendships. My close friends and I don’t have shallow friendships – they’re deep and continue to deepen. For purposes of this blog post, I’ll talk specifically about my groomsmen. These guys are tough and strong. They encourage me in ways that others don’t. They are part of the reason that I have a strong faith.

Similarly, my dad and I have a very deep relationship. He taught me how to become a man. He taught me my faith along with my mom, but having that male example in my life is partly what led me to take my faith as my own.

Having said that, this was my realization:

If my groomsmen abandoned me in the face of difficulty, my strength would be severely threatened. And if my very own dad turned his back on me, it would be only by God’s grace and sustaining love that I could continue on.

I would feel unbelievably lonely and abandoned. The reason I say this is because this has been the first time in a very long time that I have (somewhat) been able to begin to comprehend what Jesus experienced on Good Friday.

Jesus’ twelve closest friends (with whom He spent every waking moment) abandoned Him when He needed them. One denied that he even knew Jesus, one betrayed Him to His enemies, and the rest ran away. His own dad abandoned Him. 

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”

– Matthew 27:46

I can kind of begin to understand that loneliness. And if you’ve ever been abandoned, you can understand even better. What I can’t comprehend is experiencing that while being physically beaten beyond belief and simultaneously carrying the weight of the world’s sins.

I am incredibly grateful for the life that we can receive if we give our lives to Christ. I just struggle with understanding the weight of my sin and what He had to suffer for it.

What’s unbelievable is the worth that God places on our lives individually. When I purchase something, I’m saying that it is worth the value of money with which I am purchasing it. With Christ’s death, God placed the value of each of our lives with that of Christ’s. He equaled our value to His own son’s.

The weight of sin is significant but if you have knowledge of what comes on Easter Sunday, there is an immense comfort that comes with it. Sin didn’t win when it seemed like it did. Look at Luke 24 for the account of the resurrection.

How do you prepare your heart and mind for the Easter Season? Let me know in the comments!

– Caleb

Develop Positive Habits (Free Chapter!)

Habits have the potential to help you grow and they have the potential to hold you down. Poor habits can hurt you in the short term but can really hurt in the long term. They can even end your life prematurely if you have poor health habits. But when positive habits are used to discipline yourself, the ROI (Return On Investment) will pay off far beyond what you can see.

John Maxwell puts a large amount of emphasis on consistency and habits in his book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth. Maxwell is one of the leading voices on personal and leadership growth, so he is experienced in what he speaks. He says,

“Motivation keeps you going, but discipline keeps you growing. That’s the Law of Consistency.”

He says this because consistency, when utilized in light of positive habits, is what will lead to other personal growth. Here’s an example from my own life.

When I graduated, I wouldn’t say I had very many good habits. I wouldn’t necessarily say I had many bad habits either but my good habits were severely lacking. Since then, I’ve been working on developing good habits in 3 areas of my life: spiritual habits, physical habits, and learning habits.

Spiritually, as Christians, Bailey and I set a habit goal of reading every night at least a snippet of the Bible. “Every night” doesn’t make for a very good goal but within the first 7 months of marriage, I think we’ve missed maybe 5 or 6 nights of reading a portion of the Bible together before bed. This doesn’t always produce particularly productive conversation as we are frequently tired. However, I have no doubt about it’s effectiveness in developing a stronger relationship between Bailey and I as well as developing in us a similar outlook on life because we talk about each passage after we read it. I absolutely have no doubt.

They say that it takes 21 days to develop a habit. Before we got married, I asked Bailey that we read the Bible together every day for 21 days to develop this habit and it most definitely happened. Even when we are exhausted, one of us will say, “Alright, ready to listen to me read the Bible?”

Physical habits have been difficult for me to develop over the years. I tend to have a high metabolism, so I haven’t ever had any weight issues. However, it takes a lot for me to convince myself that going on a run will do me better than staying in and watching another episode on Netflix (or even reading a book). Accountability helps me personally, so in my first and second year of college, my cousin, Jacob, and I consistently ran 3 to 7 miles three times a week. And my stress levels in school drastically improved.

Since the beginning of 2018, Bailey and I have been working on developing our physical habits and it’s been working. We generally go to the gym three times a week because of my 2018 goal of hitting it at least 10 times a month. By now, we have a habit going and it has made going regularly much easier. Not to mention, physically, I’ve felt much better with consistent exercising.

Learning habits are something that I’ve had to pursue a bit more intentionally since graduation. I have a lot more time than when I was in school and the amount of learning I was doing dropped since I am now “educated.” So I made reading goals. In 2018 alone, I have a goal to read 4500 pages of books. That breaks down to 12.3 pages a day and developing a habit of reading every day before work, over lunch break and when I get home has pushed me to consistently learn and grow.

In my opinion, habits have a much greater power over you when you develop them. It sets in you a discipline that will treat you well in the future. An individual who has discipline has a leg up in life. They can force themselves more easily to do things that aren’t pleasant but will have a high ROI. Many times, even in areas in which an individual doesn’t have any habits, that learned discipline will benefit them.

-Caleb

 

This is a chapter from the book that I’m working on to help college graduates transition smoothly from college to “real life.” Contact me and I’ll let you know when the book is out for a free copy!

Linchpin: Are you Indispensable? (Book Review)

Since last August, I’ve been reading a lot. Like, way (yeah, italicized and underlined) more than I’ve ever read before. Given that I am a recent college grad, I chose to start reading a lot more in areas that interested me to help myself continue to learn and grow intentionally. Consequently, I have read 11 books since August of 2017. Welcome to a new series of blog posts dedicated to reviewing books.

The first I’m going to write about is Linchpin by Seth Godin. The premise is that if you are a linchpin, you hold important things together, specifically at work but applicable in other areas of life. If you are a linchpin, you are indispensable. He starts the book by discussing the current conditions of work. Work used to have more meaning to it. Everyone was an artist until factories were developed. At that point, people became “a cog in a machine,” doing meaningless and replaceable work. Since then, work has become increasingly automated.

“The only way to get what you’re worth is to stand out, to exert emotional labor, to be seen as indispensable, and to produce interactions that organizations and people care deeply about.” (p. 27)

How? Emotional labor. That is why working at a fast food restaurant is so replaceable. It doesn’t require emotional labor. You show up, make fries and leave.

“It’s called work because it’s difficult, and emotional labor is the work most of us are best suited to do. It may be exhausting, but it’s valuable.” (p. 63)

His first suggestions involve choosing something that requires emotional labor and is not asymptotic in nature. When something is “asymptotic,” it means that there is only so good you can get at it. Take bowling for instance. The best you can get is 300 points. That’s it. So by choosing something you can always get better at and in which you can grow more, it expands  your ability to become a linchpin.

This is where being an artist comes in. He doesn’t talk about artists in the sense of those who can paint, draw and sculpt. In fact, he has a section specifically labeled Artists Who Can’t Draw. Godin’s argument is that literally anyone can become an artist. The reason is because the word “art” is intrinsically deeper than what is conventionally understood. Because art is anything that require emotional labor.

What do you put your heart into? That is what require emotional labor.

And it doesn’t have to be “artistic” in nature. Recently, a coworker of mine told me that he isn’t a creative individual because he is an engineer. Having read this book, I countered.

“Don’t give me that. You are an engineer which means that you are creative. You have to develop creative ways to solve problems and make designs more efficient and effective!”

In the section titled, Do You Need to Be an Artist to Market Tofu?, Godin thinks you can. He says,

“I think art is the ability to change people with your work, to see things as they are and then create stories, images, and interactions that change the marketplace.” (p. 91)

However, it goes deeper than that. Godin argues that being a linchpin stems from generosity.

“Becoming a linchpin is not an act of selfishness. I see it as an act of generosity, because it gives you a platform for expending emotional labor and giving gifts.” (p. 153)

Essentially, you are an artist and a linchpin when you are giving what you put your heart into as a gift. That gift may come with monetary compensation, but it can still be a gift. He used the beginning of the Linux operating system as an example. When Linus Torvalds developed the system, he gave it as a gift to his friends. But when the popularity spread, he became a linchpin because his gift turned into something that helped people domestically and internationally. When you are generous, you become a linchpin. When you go an extra mile for a customer, you are a linchpin.

I liked this book. What it did for me was it expanded my view of art and creativity. It helped me understand more about the creativity of all individuals and how it isn’t confined to just those who are right-brained. He gives a very detailed perspective of how artistry creates indispensability. It helped me understand more about how I can apply those principles to my own work.

This book will help motivate you to change up things in your workplace, challenge the status quo and grow personally and professionally. You can find it on Amazon here.

-Caleb

 

Are You the Appendix of Christ’s Body?

This morning, I was thinking about Christian stuff and something funny popped into my head. But before I say it, I should mention that I’m a big dad-jokes fan. I am told by multiple people in multiple circles of friends that I’m already prepared to be a dad – at least when it comes to embarrassing my kids in front of others. I love jokes. I like to take conventional things, change them up into something unexpected (clean of course), then throw the joke at someone just to see their response, knowing it will probably bring an eye roll.

Anyways, I went to church and shared my thought with Pastor Derrick (Pasto D to me).

Me: Hey, Pasto D, I had a profound thought this morning.

Bailey under her breath: Well, as profound as it gets.

Me: I was thinking, I want to be any part of Christ’s body except the appendix because it’s removable.

Pastor Derrick: *Slowly shakes his head with a smile* I have no idea where you get these things from.

Not terribly profound, I am aware. However, I started thinking about it in a slightly different, more serious light. And it led me to a very weird question…

Am I the appendix of Christ’s body?

To my knowledge, removal of the appendix doesn’t effect one’s quality of life. It’s like an organ that we don’t necessarily need and can cause some major issues if you have one at the wrong time.

Go ahead doctors and nurses, comment on the appendix benefits of which I’m not aware.

Regardless, for purposes of discussion, what if I’m the appendix? If I were removed from Christ’s body, would it make any difference? Does my presence ever cause pain or put other parts of the body at risk?

Organs are useful and there is a difference if they are missing. Removing the thyroid gland can cause issues with hormones. A kidney removal makes your body filter blood at half the speed. Having only one lung significantly decreases the speed at which your body can obtain oxygen.

I am fine with being any part of Christ’s body that needs to be filled. However, if and when I die, I want there to be a difference in what I did. Sure, I want the body to keep functioning without me but I want it to be obvious that I was a useful member of Christ’s body here on earth. By participating in Bible study, attending church, aiding in service activities, and encouraging others. Overall, I want to be a Christian that is flexible and willing to do whatever God calls me to do.

Are you an appendix? I’d love to hear your view of my “profound thought” from this morning in the comments.

Until next time,

-Caleb

 

Why Doesn’t God Speak Like He Used to in the Bible? (Guest Post)

People are always asking whether God actually still speaks directly to us, like He did in ‘the old days.’ Some think that because God isn’t speaking to us from within a bush, Exodus 3:4–22, that He doesn’t actually speak to His children at all. Or, they think that Jesus could only talk to us when He was in human form on earth—like the time He told Peter to walk on the water. Mathew 14:27–31. But God is still speaking directly to us in the twenty-first century. We just have to keep listening for Him.

I want to give you a real life example of God speaking to us. Because I’ve heard God talking to me a lot ever since I started listening, but this time was just too plain not to share. Obviously, like every one of my stories, this one requires a bit of background.

Law school is hard. Have I said that before? But it’s not the rigorous academic nature of law school that makes it hardest. It’s the competition and the innate instinct to constantly compare yourself to others. A lot of people want to be number one in the class. Including me. Spoiler alert: I am not number one in my class. But I still want to be a great law student, and my current struggle is to constantly compare myself to others—wondering why I try so hard, but am never as great as I want to be.

This semester I have tried (unsuccessfully) to stop comparing myself to others. I have tried to tell myself that the competition does not matter, that I just have to stay focused on the reason I came here: God’s purpose.

Finally, I tried writing ‘Focus’ on my wrist. I drew a horizontal line underneath the word to signify that in God’s eyes we are all equal. See, e.g., Romans 3:23. Then I drew three vertical lines to indicate that the only being who is not equal is God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. See, e.g., Proverbs 22:2. I decided I was going to keep this symbol on my wrist until I had a complete attitude adjustment that helped me avoid comparing myself to others or despairing that I wasn’t good enough.

Fast forward to my church’s Sunday sermon several days later (with ‘Focus’ still written on my wrist). The sermon was based on Luke 9:23–26, but the pastor specifically noted Luke 9:24—“[f]or whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”

The pastor then tried to illustrate what the verse meant by talking about people who wanted to be the best at whatever they do. A teacher who wanted to be the greatest teacher ever, but ended up being only average. Or a mother who wanted to be the greatest mother ever, but ended up feeling inadequate. Or a husband who wanted to be the greatest husband ever, but never felt he was good enough.

Here’s where you can insert the exact problem I’ve been having: a student who wants to be number one in her class, but can barely get all of her homework done every week.

Now I was pretty sure that God was speaking directly to me, so I perked up my ears. Our pastor said the reason we can’t be the best at what we do is because of a disease called ‘Selfism.’ Still listening.

Then the pastor said there was one word for how we could cure Selfism. “Focus,” he said. What??? Did he really just say the one word I thought he said? The word I wrote on my wrist a few days ago to fix this exact problem? Yes, he said “Focus.”

The pastor spent the rest of the sermon talking about how we can be the best at what we do. He used Paul as an example, where Paul said he was dead and it was Christ who lived in him (Galatians 2:20). Paul’s focus made him one of the best missionaries we’ve ever had. Not because Paul was trying to be the best missionary of all time, but because he was focused on the mission God gave him when his old self died.

Just like that, God used a Sunday morning to remind me that He still speaks to us. All the time. And He verified that right now I am supposed to be focusing on His mission. Not on how I can be the best at whatever I do. He reminded me that I can be the best at completing His mission for my life when I stay focused on that goal.

This isn’t the first time God has used a sermon or a devotion to speak directly to me. But it is certainly one of the most obvious times God has spoken directly to me. In case you’re wondering, He is speaking to all of us. We just have to listen for him. Just for the record—Moses didn’t have to hear God speak to him through the burning bush. He made a conscious decision to walk over to that bush.

If you’re wondering whether God still speaks to us in 2018, my challenge for you is to listen harder. He is speaking. See what He says. It’s an incredible journey.

-Katherine

Katherine Wenner is a law student at Wake Forest University and currently holds the position of cousin to Caleb. She has a heart for agriculture, specifically in helping with agricultural legislation. Katherine drinks her lattes nonfat, no foam, and extra hot, just in case anyone who has read this chooses to treat her. For fun, she listens to Supreme Court oral arguments when she’s running. Katherine dreams of being a comedian one day but she just isn’t funny enough to make the cut (her words, not ours). 

When We Face the Fire, We Might Get Burned

Bailey and I set a goal at the beginning of our marriage to strive to read at least a portion of the Bible every day together so that we can continue to grow spiritually. We’ve been reading a portion of the One Year Bible pretty consistently and recently we read a portion from Daniel 3 (ESV).

In this chapter, it tells about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and how king Nebuchadnezzar had a golden image made of himself for his subjects to bow down to. As Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego strove to honor God with their actions and keep His commandment to worship none but Him. Thus, they told the king that they wouldn’t bow down to his image.

They were told by Nebuchadnezzar,

But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

His question is filled with pride. Their response was priceless and showed an amount of faith that I ask that God would grant me.

¹⁷ If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.^{[d] 18} But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

First of all, the fact that they are willing to sacrifice their lives for their God goes to show they cared more about Jesus acknowledging them to the Father than they were about a fiery death. But here is the kicker –

They left the decision to save them from the fiery furnace to the sovereignty of God. 

You hear about these incredible stories of God’s deliverance of people. Those are incredible to hear, yes. But the fact that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew that God could save them, but if it was their time to go, He would still be glorified blows my mind.

They truly believed in God’s goodness in the midst of trials. 

It reminds us that in the trials we face (losing a job, difficult relationships, health problems, deaths), God will deliver us if He choses but if He doesn’t, he still has a plan.

Recently, I’ve admittedly caught myself saying, “I have great potential and God would be very wise to deliver me from anything like health problems and let me live a long life in order to do His work most effectively.” Honestly it’s kind of embarrassing to say that because I know that I just want to live a long life. Yes, I want to do His work, but in those moments, God reminds me that if He takes me before I’d like to go, He’ll work through that for His glory too!

-Caleb

Refrigerate Your Resolutions in 2018 so They’ll Keep

It’s a bright new year! It was a balmy -7 degrees where I was this morning. But my car started so I’m thankful (got a new battery last week after it didn’t start post-refueling).

There have been many years that my resolutions didn’t keep. It’s like food; if you don’t refrigerate, it’ll spoil. If you don’t use a preservation technique, it’s not going to last. So I’m trying a new strategy. One which uses a little more involvement by others. I’m going to “refrigerate” my goals so they’ll keep. I’m putting it all down in writing so that people can see. Please, ask me about my specific goals throughout the year. It’ll help keep me honest!

The only thing is, they’re not so much resolutions as they are goals. I’m hesitent because I’m pretty sure the definition of a resolution is that it’s only valid through January, hence my goal setting.

So, we got 7 goal categories here.

1. Financial
2. Intellectual
3. Physical
4. Spiritual
5. Career
6. Family
7. Social

Now, these are subject to change a bit. I mean, I could change these and no one would have proof unless they took a screenshot of my goals.. Anyways, there are a few things I may change as we get on in the year, mostly in the physical goals because I don’t know enough what I can do in the gym. But here we go.

The format is going to be category, very ambiguous category description, then specific and measurable goal. I’m trying to make these SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-sensitive). Most of the time-sensitive qualifications are just the end of 2018 unless otherwise noted.

Financial: Become Financial Dude

1. Completely save for the rest of Bailey’s undergraduate education whether in savings or in scholarships by October 31st of 2018.

2. Sponsor one of our church’s youths on the summer mission trip.

These are more of goals for Bailey and me, not just me.

Intellectual: Use My Brain

1. Read 4500 pages of books by December 31st of 2018. That is approximately a 175 page book every 2 weeks. 12.32 pages per day. Stretch goal: 5000 pages.

2. Write an ebook about things to consider in preparation for life after college. Deadline is June 31st of 2018. I have no idea if this is doable with other things going on this year but it’s a goal.

Physical: Get Ripped

1. Go to the gym an average of at least 10 times a month. I’ve never worked out consistently at the gym. You gotta start somewhere.

2. Bench 175 pounds. Again, never worked out consistently. So this is a good goal for me.

3. Do 50 push-ups in a row.

4. Do 25 chin-ups in a row.

5. Bicycle 500 miles.

Spiritual: Get Spiritually Ripped

1. Arrive at work 20 minutes early 3 times a week for personal Bible reading

2. Attend a weekly/biweekly Bible study

3. Serve in some capacity once a month at church (ok, I’ve not figured this one quite yet)

4. Listen to 5 audio sermons a week

5. Read 1000 pages of books that would increase my spiritual maturity

These are my goals thus far. My other categories are a work in progress.. I haven’t yet set those in stone per se but this is certainly a start. One more thing though.

I always like to look back at the previous year and see the things that happened. There was good and bad. Shoot, I got married and graduated! Both good of course and also probably the biggest. But I also said goodbye to a grandfather I looked upon very highly. But looking back isn’t the only thing I do; looking into the new year can be quite exciting for me. Fortunately we tend to be optimistic about the next 12 months. God will work in incredible ways! However, I ask that He would give us strength to take on the things that will hurt in 2018 as well.

Am I missing anything? Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions!

-Caleb