http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/
So I've started the Financial Peace University tonight... I need to begin thinking about my budget, where I can chop, where I can save, and what my goals are.
What are some "luxuries" you've learned to live without?
Sadly the Millenium Triathlon was cancelled due to lightning. I guess that's a good reason but saying goodbye to my registration fee was not a great feeling. Oh well, there's next year, right?
So on to the next BIG thing. In September I hope to ride with the gang for Ride for Refugees. If you would consider supporting us or joining us, that would be great. We want to raise $8,000. It's an ambitious goal but definitely a worthy cause.
CLICK IT ... Ride for Refugees - Teams CLICK IT...
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Tonight we had an awesome discussion at our small group about the available power that exists for those who will serious with God.
I feel like something deep inside me stirred awake... I recognize anew that there cannot be any compromise. What I have written here about being a disciple, about starting over, using my moments for God and so on... none of it is worth anything if I'm willing to admit any compromise. I know that there are, have been, un-surrendered parts of me...
Those parts of me must be crucified with Christ... I can no longer live... not as me anyhow, it must be Christ who lives in me, through me...
I am searching, God I'm asking you to search me, my listening habits, my movies, my web habits, my friendships, my books, my hobbies... what must be purged? What needs to be stripped away to make room for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that I long for?
I do not want to be content with a small existence, taken up with menial interests... Have I been asleep for so long? I don't want to fall back to sleep...
2008 is almost over... I'm trying not to think about all the resolutions I failed to keep this year... Didn't lose those extra pounds, didn't finish all the books I wanted to read, etc, etc.
My life, I suppose like everyone's, is in such constant flux. My kids are changing before my eyes. I used to love change, and I still embrace it, but increasingly, the stable things in my life are cherished. Friends I've known for years who are always just a phone call or email away. I'd like to believe my job is a constant but there are too many people I know whose dependable jobs slipped away.
In the weeks and months ahead, friends will have babies, other friends will pass off this scene into eternity. Some friends will experience "success" while others will experience financial hardship.
So what's next? I've learned this year that as part of my personality I get bored easily. I think what's next, is to stop asking what's next. I think that next is to do the things I'm doing with excellence. Enjoy adventures when they come, but I don't need to create drama. Embrace change when it comes, but don't create instability.
2009 might just be the year Jesus comes. I became a Christian in 1975. Does my life reflect 34 years of growth as a Christian? I shrink from that answer. We have begun a trajectory at work that has launched all of us onto a path of discovery and growth. That journey in my life is already having impacts in my relationships, my thinking and work performance. I want to be able to say that in 2009 I became a better person. A better father, a better son, a better husband, a better boss, a better employee, and above all a better follower of Jesus...
