Going Public with Resolutions: The Hard Truth

On Jan. 2, 2009 I made some public New Year's Resolutions. How did I do? Here's a scorecard. My resolutions from last year are in italics.

"First, I'm making two personal resolutions... to taper down my television viewing to just one hour a day... The second personal resolution is to get my 50 year old physical and track my health better..."

Well, I have cut down on TV, but not as much as I'd like. One hour a day? I missed that by a long shot. But I generally turn the TV off by 11 p.m., which is a great start.

I did get my 50 year old physical. The numbers were good last April, but I've blimped up again. Sounds like time for a 'lose weight' resolution! The best thing I did for my personal health this year was to quit caffeine. I highly recommend it.

"Next ...two professional resolutions for my work at Timbercrest... finish the paperwork necessary for my National Certification... to take all my vacation time. And comp time..."

No and no. And no excuses. I simply haven't done either one.

"Next... two professional resolutions as pastor of Peoria Church... try and better equip Church members for the disciplines of living the Christian life... [take]better care of myself spiritually..."

Well, I have been trying to address the needs for spiritual discipline in my messages, and this fall I preached a topical series on "Why We Do What We Do." Taking better care of myself spiritually has been more up than down. My prayer life is OK, and I attended the Moody Bible Institute Pastor's Conference in May. in general, I'd give myself a B- with a lot of room to improve.

"Finally... two resolutions relating to Karen... to be more open to her needs for quiet time... to keep up with the garden this year."

I haven't asked Karen how I've done on the first one, but I feel as if I've done better. The second one was much better. We had a little help from the ice storm last year which killed three large pines in our yard, which cleared some space.

I'm working on resolutions for 2010. I'll share those in a few days.