Thursday 3 January 2013

Showing some resolve.

I'm not sure that the following are resolutions, in the traditional sense.  Maybe there are too many of them ...
But here are some targets I've set for myself in the coming year, some with reasons attached.  They are in no particular order!

Re-learn New Testament Greek.  Having done a Theology Degree, I learnt NT Greek back in '96/'97.  Being a lazy bum, I let my grasp of the language (which was not exactly a firm grip) slip.  I want to learn a language this year, and this seemed like a good one for my personal development.

Bake more.  I was given Mary Berry's Baking Bible for Christmas.  I'd already been mulling over the fact that hospitality is such an important part not just of community (living in a boarding school, this applies to me) but of Christian service.  This was the perfect excuse, then, to develop this aspect of my service.

Run more.  I keep bemoaning the fact that I'm not fit enough (every Monday night, when I play football, it becomes quickly apparent that I don't have the stamina I once had!)  Our school encourages people to take part in the Parker 100, which is the commitment to run 100 miles over the course of this first term of ten weeks.  Linked to this, I am also aware that the Bible tells us that our bodies are temples, and mine tends towards food-worship, which is not the idea at all.

Blog more.  I now have five blogs, some of which are more active than others!  However, I am increasingly seeing the value of blogging, and want to develop this.  I am also due to start guest-blogging for BigBible on Spiritual Disciplines, so will be expanding my output in that direction.  It will be a monthly post for them.

Get published.  If you've not gathered, I've written a book.  As yet, no-one has jumped at the chance of publishing it.  My aim is to have that well underway by the end of the year.

Read more.  I have a fair collection of books.  I have not read them all; far from it. 

Eat more bread and toast.  Anyone who's seen our 'spreads' cupboard will understand this.  I'm currently working through some Christmas marmalade from 2011 (best before Nov '12...) and am aiming to clear the cupboard before next Christmas.

Pretty much all these targets require one main thing - time.  I have plenty to do already, but I also figure I can fit more in if I'm more careful with my time.  Perhaps once I start remembering that time is a gift not a right, I'll start to get more of these things done...