A Year in Review

As most of you know, I just returned from a week-long vacation. It was, in short, everything I needed. Relaxation, connecting with my son and wife, connecting with family, and flat-out fun.

We rode waves, put my son in the ocean (he loved it), sat on the porch, laughed too hard, got too much sun, and ate way too much.

But that’s not all we did.

Each year, my wife and I use this trip to regroup. We reflect on the year gone by and set goals for the year ahead. I call it a spiritual year (read more about it here).

Much has happened in the past year, and I want to share that with you. Then, in the interest of holding myself accountable, I want to share my goals for the upcoming year.

The last year in review

Photo courtesy: ChadMacyPhotography.com (my awesome brother-in-law)

Much has changed in my and my family’s lives over the past year. Here’s a quick rundown:

  • My family became a family. We were blessed with a beautiful baby boy named Paxton (the chunker up above) on February 17th. I’m drunk with love.
  • I wrote an eBook. This was a goal from the previous year. I wanted to see if I could focus on something longer than a blog post, and this is how I chose to do it. It was actually going to be a full length book, but I decided to keep it short and give it away.
  • I grew this blog. I don’t talk about numbers here, as I don’t see that as my primary goal. But over the last year I have grown my readership modestly, up to around 500+ unique visitors per month with almost 1,300 pageviews. Those aren’t super numbers, but it beats the heck out of writing my heart out and seeing a flat line on my stats page (bloggers, you know what I’m talking about).
  • I dated my wife. That’s right, I still date my wife. It’s key to keeping the relationship fresh and exciting. Plus, she’s really hot ;) . This fell off in the second half of our spiritual year, but that’s due to Paxton being a little really fussy for the first 4 months of his life.
  • I also changed jobs (at the same place), helped launch a church, made new friends (online and off), helped build an online learning community for my church, and spent way too much time tweaking my blog theme.

Goals for next year

My goals for the upcoming year are more specific, because my wife and I broke them down into categories. Here they are:

Spiritual

  • Become more gentle and encouraging in conversation. I want to speak life-giving words each time I open my mouth. I want others to walk away from talking to me or reading my words feeling encouraged and maybe even inspired. And real men, contrary to popular belief, are gentle. Tough when we need to be, gentle when others need us to be.
  • Continue my prayer routine. This is something I started within the last month, and I want to keep it up. It’s not easy. I get up at 5:30am and immediately recite the same prayer twice to start the day (I awake in the name of the Father who made me, I arise in the name of the Son who died to save me, I rise to greet the dawn in the name of the Spirit who fills me with life). Then I grab a steaming mug of coffee (which I let cool down because I’m a wuss) and open up my Bible app where I read through 2 reading plans (currently the chronological Bible in a year and Craig Groeschel’s Soul Detox plans). Then I write.
  • Write a book. Yep, I want to write a book. I don’t care if it gets published or read. I just want to finish it. (I’ll update more on this as it develops. I have the title and general outline in mind already.)

Family

  • Work on being present. I think this is something every parent struggles with. I don’t want to miss Paxton’s life because I’m concerned about something temporal or that won’t worry me the next week. He’s too important for that. God’s too important for that. I want to learn to focus on today instead of tomorrow, because today has enough worries of its own.

Marriage

  • Develop a regular date night routine. Yep, it’s that important that we’re working on it 2 years in a row. Like I said, we got sidetracked with a little thing called a baby, so it’s time to refocus. We are thinking of going on one every other week, and once a month spending money. The other night would be where we just simply get a sitter and have some alone/quiet time at the house together.

That’s it for me.

What are some of your goals? What do you think of mine?

  • http://thomasemason.net/ Thomas Mason

    This is great, Grayson! I like how you have a direction for your life and family and you are in full pursuit of that. I’m intrigued about several things that I would like for you to answer, perhaps to help other readers in the process.

    1) Where did that prayer come from? And why do you recite it twice? What purpose does it serve?

    2)  What kind of book are you contemplating writing – fiction or nonfiction and what genre?

    3) This year’s goals are more specific, yet in the link the subject matter is generally regarding a “spiritual” year. Was this new or did you have these type of goals last year as well?

    4) How does Groeschel’s plan differ from other traditional reading plans? And why two plans rather than just one?

    Thanks in advance, friend!

    • http://aparchedsoul.com/ Grayson R. Pope

      Great questions Thomas. Here’s my best attempt at answering them:

      1) I discovered the prayer in James Emery White’s “A Traveler’s Guide to the Kingdom.” It’s a Celtic morning prayer. I recite the prayer twice for this reason: I am very tired when I begin. The first time through is nothing more than sheer memory recitation. The second time I slowly recite it, mouthing the words. This lets it penetrate my heart and mind. It prepares me for the day to come by reminding me that nothing I do is b/c of me; it all belongs to the Trinity. That should also satisfy your question of the purpose it serves.

      2) Definitely nonfiction. As far as genre, I guess Christian Living. My hope is to speak with a teaching voice similar to what I use here, but infused with more encouragement and inspiration. I want you to want to change things in your life after reading.

      3) This year is more specific. I may revisit the original post and update with this year’s logic. Last year was our first attempt at this, and it really happened almost by accident. Since we have a family we thought it logical to break it out by category like you see here. I think either way works. The point is simply to set the goals more than how you do it.

      4) Groeschel’s plan isn’t different from any other plan. It’s actually the one available for free through YouVersion’s Bible app. It uses what I think are short prompts adapted from his book Soul Detox and then assigns a verse to support. I read 2 plans for no particular reason. This may change or stay the same.

      • http://thomasemason.net/ Thomas Mason

         Thanks, Grayson, for the additional information. I would like to implement that prayer for myself. I’ll also check out that reading plan.

  • http://www.trailreflections.com/ Chris Peek

    Way to go Grayson! You’re making it happen. Writing a book is a superb goal, and I’m excited to buy my copy! 

    You’re challenging me to revisit my goals that I set at the beginning of 2012. To be honest, I need to do a better job of reading them and tracking my progress.

    • http://aparchedsoul.com/ Grayson R. Pope

      Alright!

      A good way to keep the goals fresh in your mind is to put them in a frame of some kind somewhere in your house. We have some above our bed and my wife, God bless her, made one of them into a display for our goals. It’s a great reminder b/c you see it every day.

      • http://www.trailreflections.com/ Chris Peek

        Good idea. I’ve got them posted above my computer screen in my home office, but I need to revise them and add to them.