Year 49: Day 1

With this being the 1st day of the 49th year of my life I begin it with an optimistic outlook about the goals I have set for myself. During this year, with God’s help, through my obedience to Him, I plan on doing several things. Here are the top 5 goals for my 49th year.

Get a new job: I have several options I’m looking at right now. They include working in customer service or medical transcription (doing both from home), being an administrative assistant or office worker. The thought of becoming a substitute teacher has also crossed my mind recently.

Fully commit myself to ventriloquism & children’s ministry: For ventriloquism this means working on my performance by practicing more, writing good routines. I need to start believing that I’m “Ron the ventriloquist” not Ron, who happens to be a ventriloquist. I want to transform myself into being identified by people as a ventriloquist not just someone who does ventriloquism. Those two things are quite different. It is my goal to establish an identity as a ventriloquist.

As far children’s ministry is concerned I need to develop the skills necessary to be able to minister the gospel to children in an interesting an effective way. This means several things including: learning to play the guitar, learning magic tricks, become better at explaining the gospel in a way that children can understand.

Become a Good Empty Nester: While we’re halfway there already it looks pretty likely that by the end of my 49th year both of our sons will have moved out on their own and my wife and I will be the only ones living in our house. This opens up a whole lot more opportunities for us to arrange and design the rooms the way we want them. This also means making some improvements such as painting the walls, and other interior improvements. My wife has already told me that 2009 will be “the year of the house.” The ultimate goal of this home improvement effort is to be able to show our hospitality with our friends and fellow church members by inviting them here to visit with us more often.
"Empty Nesting" also gives us some new opportunities to grow in our marriage. A lot of that has happened already during this year but I look forward to spending even more “quality time” with the Love of My Life.

Lose Weight & Become Healthy: This has been a goal of mine for my entire adult life but this year is the time to “fish or cut bait.” I have already taken steps toward getting lap band surgery to help me lose weight. Developing healthy exercise and eating habits is the next step.
Doing this is going to take much more than a year; perhaps the rest of my life. But being healthier will allow me to serve God and other people in a much more effective way. That should be the ultimate objective in my mind.

Become a Better Christian: While the previous 4 goals are part of this one this goal refers to the pursuit of a closer spiritual relationship with God through his son, Jesus Christ. He has helped me grow so much over the last 2 or 3 years but I’ve got a long way to go. It is my prayer that God will work in my life and bring me closer to Him. I will do this by my absorbing and living out His Word, applying the Grace given to me through Jesus, and the working of the Holy Spirit in my life.

So there you have the Top 5 goals for my 49th year. I’m starting today and at the beginning of September next year, God willing, I’ll look back and reevaluate how well I’ve done. By putting these goals out here on this blog I’m kind of holding myself accountable to anyone who reads this post as well. Please feel free to ask me about my progress as the year goes on. Also please pray for me. I have a feeling I’ll need it.