Afternoon Coffee with God

This was transcribed from a prayer entry from my Moleskin journal. I visited a small coffee off of the PCH in Encinitas. I had a few hours to kill and I hadn’t had any time to write to God. I found this to be a great spot to do so. Also, since I did write this entry via pen and paper, it is intentional that this is scribed verbatim from the original source (grammar errors and all).

Cafe Ipe

What a beautiful day you have made! I am so blessed for what you have made for me. Thank you for the time where I’m able to just let in the presence of your creation. I really don’t know what to write. I know there are a lot of things on my heart I can easily seek for and ask—as you say I should ask… but I’m wondering if I can just come to you—to just speak to you—and to spend time with you. I know your love is great. I don’t want to come to you, God, for your stuff. I want to have the intention and and action to come to you just for you. I want to come to you with the faith and hope that it is your will for my life that can freely love for. I pray that I do not life for the happiness that you can bring, but recognize the pure joy I can partake with you because you came to save me and that you are always working for my good.

I want to be continually reminded of the blessings that came before me. As great as my memory is (in which you gave me), I continually forget about the good and always focus on the “what’s next”. I want you to infuse me of the true peace of your Spirit. I want to set myself aside—that I will not be an obstacle to your Holy Spirit, that I always yield to the Spirit at every test.

I guess I can’t stop thinking about this new quarter. You gave me something when I least expect it. And now I feel that pending sensation. This next quarter—spilling over to next year—is a time for preparation and a new inward growth. And I feel I’ll be frustrated at times. I am most likely going to fail and feel defeated, and I will be stretched then challenged in ways I cannot foresee. My emotions and physique may change—and it’s in a way you want me to change. It will be a time of inward organic growth.

And I know you will show me things—placed desires in me that I will work towards—but I know I will not be patient. Remind me, Father, that I am to be patient and grow through you every day. Remind me that you are the source of my joy. Through you I can be content. Through you I can live in peace. I will love. I will find self control. I will be patient.

Creator of the world you placed me in, I ask for even more wisdom. I ask for focus. Remove the things from my life that distracts me from the things you called me into.

I hope what I am feeling is a desire from you crafted in me. This idea that I am not rooted to any one place except to your heart—that you will call me and I will answer. That I may trust in you to provide all things—all things my body, mind, and soul long for—that it comes from you.

And give me a good rest that I can find in you. I pray these things in your Son’s name—Jesus Christ—Amen!

What have I done?

What have I done to deserve this? Even though nothing has been determined, nothing has been decided between the two of us, the mere act—the dance between us is a blessing in itself. What makes me worthy of such a blessing? I am nothing without my God, but through Him I am more than I can imagine.

But the feeling I have for this wonderful daughter of Yours is something I longed but forgotten. It’s an unfolding mystery. It’s a story in writing. It’s an exploration of emotions. It’s a discovery of who we are—individually and together.

It brings me joy. It excites me in the morning. It keeps me sleepless at night. I look forward to every second and it pushes me to dream bigger—further out in the space we reside and the time we occupy.

And even though there is an inevitable end to it all, I am not worried and I am not concerned. I live for today and today alone. I wait on You, Lord, for my bread—in physical, mental, and spiritual nourishment. We live for today together, because today is a day you made and it is good.

Thank you for showing me “us” thus far. I’ll cherish every moment. I’ll hold onto every Word of Yours. I pray that I continue to obey your every command. We will live to honor You—to glorify Your name. All praise to You, our God.

Thirty weeks in

I may have lost focus. I may have been selfish. I may have forgotten where I was—or where I was going—or where I’ve been and why this was a blessing from God. But here I am, only writing about this when I feel things are a bit rocky and unsure if I’m catching us as we’re falling or if I’m trying to pick up the pieces.

I was originally going to write why we worked. I first spoke of this small group in my 2012 review.

I heard the church was putting a new small groups meeting on Sunday. This was after I already discovered the young adults group and was thinking about passing on the small group thing and just try to build a small group out in young adults. Even though I intended to go to the meeting, I was making up excuses not to go. Ultimately, I dragged myself and walked back over to the church. I didn’t recognize anyone at this meeting. I sat in the back with a table that looked like young couples. I looked around and it seemed like it was mostly couples and families. Definitely not my demographic. We were asked to break up and find a small group according to location and then similar demographic. I just sat there. I figure I’ll leave unnoticed.

On my way out, I did notice a somewhat younger group to my left. I was compelled to approach them and sit down. It was rather awkward. I came in relatively late and it seemed like I killed the conversation. So now I’m thinking of a not so awkward exit. Well, that didn’t happen. I tried to break the ice with small talk. Eventually the group came back together after we were instructed to answer a few small group questions. It was time to assign roles to the group. Again, up until this point, I still expected to just sort of duck out. I didn’t fill out my sheet. In the end, I was nominated to be the group’s leader—well, more specifically, the group’s facilitator—liaison to the church. That was most unexpected.

After the meeting concluded, I gathered everyone’s contact information, took the small group facilitator folder, and walked over to Starbucks to think this out. I was nervous. I didn’t want this to fail. I felt it was now my responsibility for this small group to be successful. From my past experience, it’s so difficult organize a small group of young adults—who are also busy with their professional career—to consistently get together for something like this. I sat there reading the material figuring out what can I possibly do?

The answer? Nothing.

God made it clear that this is His group. It’s not mine at all. He put us all together for His glory. I was told to act accordingly. I asked for patience and wisdom. I asked that he takes away the anxiousness. I ask that this group will recognize the purpose He wants to give us. That we go on our own little adventure to discover why He put us together.

I remember our first meeting as a small group. We decided to meet at a Panera Bread at the corner of Culver and Barranca. It must have been finals week or something, the place was crowded with college students. I knew there were going to be around 10 new possible members who wants to do this small group thing. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to find a table. That worrying thought went away in about 3 seconds when I found this huge rectangle table in the middle of the restaurant with roughly 10 chairs surrounding it. I had to look around. There were groups of students everywhere huddled together around these smaller tables. I was a bit confused why this large table remained open despite how crowded the restaurant was. I thanked God, sat, and waited.

As somewhat a joke, I asked everyone to introduce themselves and tell an embarrassing story. I didn’t think it would stick, but the group agreed to do it. We got along pretty well. It was a good first meeting despite not quite knowing what we ought to do. I told everyone I would email them the details of the next meeting.

#yopro Christmas party

The group met consistently through the rest of December despite there being holidays. We kept meeting at the same Panera Bread (except for the Christmas party) until sometime past the New Year. We started to meet at Newsong’s prayer room. The original group of people who signed from the start—with the exception of two (and one of them recently sounds like she is making a comeback)—has been very consistent every single week.

It didn’t take long—actually it was almost immediate—that there was a brand new young adults small group at New Song. I’m sure the constant Facebook posts of us hanging out and having a good time helped the publicity, but almost every single time I went to Thursday night’s NYA1, I would get questions about the small group. I didn’t officially close the small group, but I also didn’t actively invite anyone either. I wanted to keep it small. For those who have joined since then has been more like on the heart’s of the other members inviting people in. “I felt really led to invite Chris,” as my friend Jin put it for one of the late members into the group. I wanted to make sure that this group moved as God moved us.

I was asked a number of times why did this new small group work. Why is this one still going after seven months while others failed to meet for a single month. I did answer with placing God as the focus of the group and asking Him to guide us through. Though, I also followed up with an important idea that I quickly discovered after the first week. Everyone in the group had to be willing to be there. I know we all have our own personal hidden agendas of why we want to be a part of a small close-knit community. But more importantly, I think in order to place yourself there, you really wanted to be there and commit to it. Every single person who attended was searching for something missing in their life, and they wanted to see to it if that missing something can be found in a group whose commitment is to both Christ and to each other.

And strangely enough, in order to do so, they actually needed to surrender themselves completely in order for it to work. We needed to give control back to our God. We were all in a similar place of being in the “in-between” life of post-college and pre-marriage. As individuals, we have been controlling our own lives as we moved through these years. But I think the day we all signed up to try this small group thing, we were tired of holding onto said control and wanted to see how we could do it if we did surrender.

Since we started, I’ve been invited out to a number of leadership-type events at my church. I was asked to speak at two other small group launches at Newsong, I’ve been more or less a part of another new small group where their leaders asked me to come out a few times, I somehow took a leadership role in a feeding ministry for Santa Ana, took yet a somewhat leadership role in a morning prayer group that meets twice a week, and had the chance to lead out a couple impromptu worship sessions for different groups at Newsong. I’ve been very busy.

#yopro Worship

Being constantly busy prevented me of getting the needed rest, prayer, and study that I needed on a weekly basis. Even though I was out for good reason with a good community in Christ, my own prayer and devotional life has been suffering. My first ministry at Newsong was this small group, and it was made apparent to me earlier this week that the slow spiritual growth in my personal life bled over to the overall spiritual growth of our small group. I know I am not the leader or even hold a pastoral role for the group, but I do organize and set the tone for it. And it’s been evident that even though we all love each other and have a lot of fun with each other, we’ve been spiritually stagnant as a group.

We do have a structure where we get into the Word every other week—it alternates between Bible study, a group activity night, and a worship night. It was great at the start of the group. I would ask people to lead out the study and wouldn’t receive any resistance. Nowadays, it’s been getting difficult to get people to lead. And when they do, the group itself doesn’t seem to be in the right mindset to accept the teachings of their fellow peers.

We’re thirty weeks in. That’s thirty weeks in a row that we’ve met since the start of the group’s formation. Our 31st meeting is tomorrow. As an appointed leader for this group, I have a number of decisions to make. I do have a vision for this group. I also have a period of healthy time for this group. Though, these are just my thoughts all with consulting God. I can only pray that as I share my concern and vision for us, that God prepare the hearts and minds of these people who first brought together nearly 8 months ago.

  1. Newsong Young Adults []

Small steps

I wrote this post to my 6AM Morning Prayer group while I was away in Hawaii on May 1st. I couldn’t help wonder and look in the recent past of all the blessings God has done in my life, yet I felt I was still missing something and unsure how to respond to that.

Hello prayer warriors!

As I mentioned in my last stream-of-thought post, I’m so excited to be part of such a loving and devoted community to both God and each other. We were all once broken, and in Him we are made new (2 Cor 5:17).

This has been on my mind since I flew out last Thursday. I’ve been figuring out how to organize these scattered thoughts, and this idea is nothing new under the sun, but it was something I was reminded of when I left after our morning prayer and pondered upon 38,000 feet over the Pacific. So I’m hoping for those who find themselves in a similar place will find this helpful.

This is in regards to those prayers our hearts deeply desire for and ask God to fulfill (Psalms 37:4). I found God answering some of my prayers and not others. I figure it’s one of those it’s His timing and not mine so I should continue to seek, pray, obey, and wait in patience. Then after that thought occurred for some reason almost every sermon, message, testimony I’ve heard over the years that talked how God will show you just a few steps ahead or light a lamp to see what’s just in front of you and not the full picture popped in my head. “Okay, yeah sure, heard that one before,” I thought.

I wondered why experience the bits and pieces at a time before finally getting to the end? Why put so much emphasis on the journey compared to the destination? But then I realized these bits and pieces is God answering my prayers… And doing so daily. These small steps we take through life is part of our learning and spiritual growth. I am not ready for what my heart desires. I had to ask myself how do I prepare to be ready? Do I really want just what the destination has in store for me, or is the bulk of my heart’s desire the journey itself? I discovered the roots of what I long for are the fruits of me changing and being more mature and righteous as Jesus Christ works in me (John 15:2,4).

The accumulation of walking these small steps with Christ will mature our spiritual growth and our hearts will be made ready. So for those of us running into uncomfortable conflict with the people we work, play, or live with, I pray we continue to lift each other up in Christ to give us the needed strength to take on any trial. We keep praying that we keep faith and endure through it all so we are made complete (James 1:4)

Again, I’m sure many of you heard this before, but I guess it was my turn to get this “ah-hah” moment. At the end of the night when I find myself another day away from my destination, I take comfort that Christ is always with me through the journey… Teaching, sculpting, pruning me to be the servant He wants me to be.

See you all next week!

 

Tangible goals update for Q1 2013

Three solid months have passed since I posted my tangible goals for 2013. April is mostly over as well, so let’s see where I stand.

  1. Write a tangible goal list. DONE, duh!
  2. Launch twinwork.net. It’s up there. I consider it launched. I still need to port over more articles, but the new site is out there!
  3. Create a photography/portfolio blog. What? this is on here? I totally didn’t remember this one. I should take a look at this project over the summer.
  4. Learn 2 lead rifts in 3 keys on the guitar. Okay, I need to make an addendum to this one. I haven’t learned any lead rifts yet, but I’m getting way better at key signatures, transposing, and improved my singing. So if I don’t hit this specific goal, not a big deal. This is the only guitar/music-related goal on the list and I’m still progressing in this area.
  5. Serve in at least one ministry at Newsong. DONE! I’m not even counting of me being a leader in my small group either! So during Lent a few people from the Young Adults group wanted to do a 6AM Morning Prayer ministry every Tuesday and Thursday. Well, it was such an awesome experience during Lent that we decided to keep going! Yup! You read that right, six ‘o clock in the morning! I lead (open up) selected mornings, so that counts as a ministry!And from that morning prayers, some people felt compelled to reach out and feed the hungry in Santa Ana. We dubbed it the Muffin Ministry and I somehow got nominated to co-lead that ministry. So take that number five on the list!
  6. Find and learn from at least one mentor. This is a work in progress. I have found possible mentors, but they haven’t quite completely embraced that mentoring role. Either way, I have found individuals that I am able to look up to and learn from.
  7. Find one person to mentor. The results are still very similar to the one above. Though, there is one person I found that I’ve been helping through his faith and his trials. I don’t know if I could officially call it mentoring, but it’s still fun pour into his life from what I’ve learned from my own.
  8. Post a story to singlethread.org once a month. This is still going strong! I know there’s a number of stories that are password protected (for good reason), but I’m still posting them!
  9. Fly to Hawaii to see Joel (and Iron Man 3) to celebrate our 20th friendiversary. This is happening later this week. I won’t cross it out until I get back.
  10. …And fly Joel out here to see Hillsong. Pending goal…
  11. Build that new computer! I’m seriously downgrading this goal. As much as I want it, I don’t really see this benefiting me in the short term (this year). If anything I might just pony up to get a Macbook Pro (Retina) or a Macbook Air when the CPUs get upgraded to Intel’s Haswell.
  12. Buy that D800 & 105mm macro lens. It’s very similar to the above. My photography was driving the need for a new computer and I just haven’t found myself shooting that much. I imagine I’ll actually end up buying the macro lens before year’s end.By the way, achieving points 11 and 12 would have cost me about $10,000. I think it’s wiser for me to hold on to that in the event God needs me to disperse those resources elsewhere…
  13. Be her Adam for your Eve. You’ve seen the titles for the protected posts. It seemed like that goal was going to be met, but not quite yet… Apparently God has other plans for me where I should stay in complete singleness. I’m hoping this state isn’t for an extended period of time…

That’s 3 of 13 that are completely done. There are 5 of 13 that are definitely in progress. I’d say this is pretty good progress!

In Him, I wait

This is pretty difficult write without going into a mountain’s worth of detail. And this post most likely won’t make any sense since I’m only writing because I felt compelled to. Yup, I’m rambling here.

There’s a story currently unfolding in my life, and I can’t tell it because I haven’t experienced the end yet. When I get there, then I’ll be able to share the beauty, love, and joy that God shared with me. But as of right now, I feel I’m in a lull in the story—or maybe I’m stuck between acts 2 and 3. I’m not really sure. And trying to explain this feeling without actually telling the story (trust me, I just deleted a number of paragraphs before typing this sentence), just leads to more nonsensical rambling. So I’m going to just share this (emphasis mine):

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you now that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.1

I must’ve read these verses over a hundred times over the years. Usually when I feel a bit lost, find myself in the valley, or just wondering “why”, I’ll turn to James (as well as Job). But this time around, the last part really stuck out to me. Why do I need to persevere now?

Back in October, I asked God to shape and mold me to be the man He wants me to be. I lost my life to Christ so He could save it. In the last few months of reading, prayer, and growing closer to God, He showed me something so beautiful, so wonderful, so loving, so unbelievable and it made me realize how much I’ve grown to be the man He wants me to be. Though, I am incomplete. I feel He placed me exactly where I am to go through these trials and persevere so I can be complete.

Does that mean God is done shaping me? No, far from it. But it feels like I hit particular phase or level in my spiritual journey with God that it’s about to be completed if I’m able to hold on and persevere just a little longer. I think my story will be finished then. And only then I’ll be able to make sense of this poorly written post… really!

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters, Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger, In the presence of my Savior

  1. James 1:4:5 []

Whatever you do, do well

#yopro Wed 1/30 prayer & worship setlist

 

I had the privilege to lead worship for my small group a couple weeks ago. I came in moderately prepared. Prior to this, I haven’t lead any kind of worship for roughly seven years, so I knew I was going to be rusty in both singing and playing as well as just an overall leader. Now, my small group isn’t large (did the word “small” give it away?), but I still felt a bit nervous playing and leading people. I think I messed up at least four or five times, but it didn’t matter too much, I kept moving my focus from me to God, and the night ended in a joyous time of prayer and worship.

When I got home that night, I felt bad about how I performed. I didn’t care so much how I performed in front of my peers. Sure, it may have been a tiny bit embarrassing that it was obvious I didn’t practice as much as I could have, but felt bad how I performed in worship in front of God. When I look at what He’s given me—not things, but raw talent and skill—I felt I didn’t honor Him by not honing my God given abilities.

I’m reminded of the the parable of the three servants.1 The master entrusted his servants with bags of silver. Two of the three servants doubled the master’s fortune, while the last one horded his share of silver and did nothing with it. The last servant was so scared that he might lose what his master gave him and stored it away in a safe place effectively where no one, not even the servant, could ever make use of it. The master became upset at this third servant that he took away the silver and gave it to the first servant (whom it seemed like the master entrusted the most considering the first servant was given 3 more bags of silver over the second servant).

To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.2

In its common context, this parable represents the monetary resources God gives us and our how we ought to be responsible stewards of said resources. When He entrusts us with His resources and we do well with what He’s given us, He is willing to give us more responsibility3 to even more resources.

So how does this relate to my ability to lead in worship? I believe the talents He gifted me with is also a resource that I’m responsible over. Did He bless me to be naturally perfect in these talents? No, but He has blessed me with the desire to be better and hone these skills He’s given me… whether those skills is musically, photographically, or programmatically, I owe it to Him to excel to the best of my own ability before He grants me more responsibility in those areas. I’m not striving for perfection (only He is perfect), I ought to keep striving for excellence so that He may be glorified.

Whatever you do, do well.4

  1. Matthew 25:14-30 []
  2. Matthew 25:29 NLT []
  3. Matthew 25:21, 23 []
  4. Ecclesiastes 9:10a NLT []

Whose Will?

I may have jumped the gun on my 13 tangible goals for 2013. I did preface the post that it was initially a joke and it now seems like it’s a list I can actually accomplish. Despite the first week of this year starting very strong for me, I felt a lot of anxiety and doubt at the end of 2013’s second week. I kept thinking about this list and my approach didn’t seem right. I felt very confident about this list. I was quickly reminded of James:

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.1

I should have also prefaced the goal list that it is something I will do if it is God’s will for me to do it. I thought about that for a bit. And it sort of blew my mind. This list, of course, is more or less aligned with my own desires. I believe, for the most part, those desires are more aligned with God than the desires of the world. Sure, some things on that list I could definitely do without (like the camera and computer), and some could argue some of those things that I want is also part of the desires of this world. So are those desires, those goals, are they from God? Or are they from the world?

Here’s the part that really blew my mind. If the goals are from God—that it is His will and it will be done. As far as when it will be done? I guess that’s all up to Him and my willingness to obey. But when God wills it, it will happen. So what I need to do is assess which goals are really desires from Him or desires of the world. I don’t want to bother with the world’s desires. Achieving those desires usually requires more work than they are worth and it comes with a lot of stress, anxiety, disappointment, and—most of all—unfulfillment.2  God’s desires, His will for us, is something completely out of love and the journey to award us is in itself can be a mind blowing experience.

 

  1. James 4:13-17 NLT []
  2. Oh sure, getting that new car, that new computer, that new camera, that new toy can be fun and exciting, but that new shiny thing will never completely fulfill what I truly desire—something I’m still not sure what, but I know God knows and I want to follow Him just so I can find out []

Thirteen Tangible Goals for 2013

Well, it’s actually 12.

2013 is Going to be Easy

Within the last remaining weeks of 2012, I had an idea to do an Instagram/Facebook post of “13 tangible goals for 2013” where the joke really  is the first goal already being crossed out late in 2012 because the goal itself was to write said list. I posted the list and got its share of “likes” on their respective social sites. Then I took a look at the list again, and I though to myself, “I think this list is actually doable.” The list isn’t too broad and for the most part I already know the first steps to accomplish much of the list. So here’s the list and the explanation for it all.

1. Write a tangible goal list for 2013.

My exact words were:

2013 is going to be easy. I already finished one goal before the new year.1

Sweet, got that one out of the way!

2. Launch twinwork.net

This is a pet project that I’ve been working on the last couple of months. I always wanted to relaunch my “techie” website for the last couple of years where I focus in software development and merge (and update) Twinwork NOTES. I’m close. Very close. I expect to “beta” launch the dev blog some time in February with a dozen or so migrated articles from the original NOTES. I expect to do a full marketed launch via the Twitter-verse and name-your-social-site-here by the middle of this year. The development behind this “site” is actually a launching pad for any other web application I create going forward. This is pretty important to me because this will set myself for a new tangible goal for 2014.

3. Create a photography/portfolio blog

I don’t have a normal portfolio website to show off my creations. I figure I’d start with just my photography work in case I get a call for some freelance work. Whether or not I do get work from said site is not the goal, it’s the idea that I am able to show off the non-techie-creative side of me. Between Twinwork, Single Thread, and this new photography site, I’ll be pretty busy generating content.

4. Learn 2 lead rifts in 3 keys on the guitar

That’s what I wrote verbatim, but I really meant learn two common lead scales in three common keys. Notice I didn’t just put “practice the guitar every other day” or “learn to play the guitar better” or something along those lines. For this particular goal, I knew I needed to add something very specific to it. It also already has built-in milestones: 2 scales in 3 keys gives it 6 milestone points.

This is also a stepping stone goal. Again, the broader idea is to “be better at playing the guitar”, but writing out tangible steps as the goal and accomplishing it might just motivate me to learn more scales in more keys and I will get better at playing.

5. Serve in at least one ministry at Newsong

I’ve been out of doing any consistent church ministry for probably about 7 years now. God tells me I need to serve. It’s a desire and a command that I need to do this. As for where? I have no idea. The new church I’ve been going to has a number of ministries where I could get involved as well as a service where you can consult with them to help you discover where you can best serve. This idea is extremely important to me. Organizations need to put the right people in the right roles. Even if that organization is mainly ran by volunteers. I could serve in any ministry at the moment until I finish my FLOW consultation with Newsong, but it’s not like I’m doing absolutely nothing now. (Oh yeah, and I finally did finish the three worksheets for FLOW, so all I need to do is turn it in and wait for the appointment!)

As mentioned in my 2012 review, God has placed me in two groups: the young adults group at Newsong and a brand new small group. Sure, my current involvement in both groups isn’t formal enough to earn me any “ministry credits”2, but I feel I’m involved with a community and I firmly believe I have so much experience and knowledge in the waiting and suffering in my 20s where I can totally empathize with people in those groups. But I will find a solid, consistent ministry to be a part of at my new church!

6. Find and learn from at least one mentor

No doubt this is going to be difficult for me. I’m hoping the more I get involved in the church, I will be able to find a leader and identify him or her as that mentor role.

7. Find one person to mentor

Wait, what? How does that work? A pastor once told me that we should have these three things in life for learning (mentorships?): have a mentor, have equals or peers in your field, and be a mentor. It’s also implied this is for your field, but it could also be life in general. For me, professionally, I have many peers in my field to consult with. I don’t have a single go-to mentor who is also teaching me his ways. In turn, I also don’t have my own apprentice to mentor.3

For both mentor-related goals, I’m actually talking about in my discipline and learning God’s Word and discovering more about myself how I fit in God’s plan. I so desperately want to find a mentor to accomplish that as well as find someone I can impart my own experience and knowledge. These are going to be difficult goals.

8. Post a story to singlethread.org once a month

Again, verbatim, but I really meant some kind of post to this site at least once a month (sure beats once a year, right?). Hey! January is done with!

9. Fly to Hawaii to see Joel (and Iron Man 3) to celebrate our 20th friendiversary!

Joel is one of my best friends. I couldn’t believe we’ve known each for 20 years. Sure, like any relationship, we’ve had our ups and downs. We shared a long history, and one of these days I would love to tell part of his story.

So what’s the deal with Iron Man 3? Well, back in 2010, Joel dropped me a text one week and asked me what was I doing the following weekend. At the time, chances are I was probably planning on doing some kind of raid in World of Warcraft. He told me I should come out to Hawaii to see Iron Man 2. Yeah, and that’s exactly what I did. I figure I should book my ticket by February and I’ll be good to go on this goal!

10. …And fly Joel out here to see Hillsong

Hillsong will be out here doing a concert in LA some time in the fall. Joel is the one that told me about it. He really wants to come out here and see them. He’s still figuring out the logistics how that will happen. I don’t know if he was just planning on coming out here for a few days by himself or with his entire family. I figure I’d surprise him and just fly him out here. I haven’t told him anything about it… so, Joel, if you manage to stumble upon this post… surprise, I’ll fly you out to SoCal!

11. Build that new computer!

This computer I’m typing this article on is getting old. I mean, it works just fine as long as I need to surf the web, listen to iTunes or Spotify, and add these posts in Word Press, but when it comes to development, it’s painful. It’s time to upgrade—something I’ve been meaning to do the last two years.

12. Buy that D800 & 105mm macro lens

Both points above would be pretty easy if I didn’t already have this other goal that I never bother to put on the list: save 4-6 months worth of income in case of an emergency. That computer on my Newegg wish list: probably about 3 months worth of saving. This D800 and 105mm macro lens? That’s about 4-5 months worth of saving. So yeah, even both of these are on the list for 2013, it won’t be a big deal if it slips to 2014. Here’s my sane logic.

My goal in 2012 was to finally pay off my credit card debt that I accrued for the latter half of 2010, 2011, and 2012. I did reach that goal by January 1st, 2013. Yup, I did it, and it felt awesome! So before I go crazy to max out my credit card by buying this stuff I want, I ended up programming a Google Spreadsheet to calculate how much something would cost by the time I paid it off. Seeing the amount of interest I would pay definitely deters me from buying anything on credit—especially when that something is computer tech which gets outdated the moment they ship the product to you. Anyway, so for this entire year, I’m only buying anything if I have the cash for it (unless it’s an emergency… like car repair or something like that). That means if I fail to both build a computer and that photography gear, I still win because I have accrued a good amount of cash into my high interest savings account. Then I can finally spend a bit of it in 2014. So, I already win no matter what (as long as I continue to be debt free through 2013).

Oh yeah, I also wanted to add there’s no way I can buy the D800 without a new computer just because my current computer can’t even handle the images my D7000 produces and a D800 produces images more than twice the size.

13. Be her Adam for your Eve

Honestly, this is one goal that’s not up to me. Instead, I’ll leave this one up to God if He sees it fit for me to finally meet, court, and win my Eve over this year. In the meantime, I have 11 solid compelling goals to aim for. If I can do all these other things on the list prior to the end of 2013, I’ll pray really hard that God helps me finish out this year by completing the last goal for me.

Besides, did you see this list? I’m going to be really busy in 2013. Eve really needs to be the last one on this list otherwise I’ll never get anything done! Honestly, I’ve never been so happy to be single seeing the freedom that I have to do these things.

2013 is going to rock!

  1. http://instagram.com/p/T3tDtcsgS6/ []
  2. When I went to Azusa Pacific University, every student needed to log a certain number of ministry credits (in hours served) before graduating. []
  3. Even though twinwork.net is going to be a teaching platform for development, that’s not an intimate interaction which would take place in a mentorship. []