The Fifteen (#14)

repeat…over the course of the final fifteen days of 2009,   i’m going to let you in on fifteen things that need to change in my life in the coming year.   fifteen decisions that i am making that reflect things that are important to me.

i’m going to go waaay out on a limb.   i’m going to give you my best shot at honest transparency, in an attempt to be held accountable.  some things will be  about my spiritual journey…others are simply improvements to the life i walk.   either way, they are important to me…and here’s the next one on the list:

change number fourteen

i love north point.   i tell my old friends back in the motherland that i finally found the church that i belong in, after years and years of being a square peg in a round hole when it came to church.

i eat, sleep, breathe, walk, talk, dream, plan, play, pray…north point.  every day.   sometimes 24/7.

i’m not saying this to be congratulated or praised.  quite the opposite.

without some pretty hard core accountability, i totally run the risk of having no life outside of north point.  that’s unhealthy…a horrible example…pure disobedience to the great commision…the exact opposite of the lifestyle of jesus…and, frankly…pretty dysfunctional.

and the sickest part about this is that i know better.   and not only do i know better,  i flat out don’t want to live this way.

now that my boys are grown and gone, i don’t have the natural connections to the community that i had through their lives.   and i really miss it.

if i’m ever going to be the leader god wants me to be,  i need balance in my life.   i need a wider circle of friends.   i need the interaction with people who are totally and completely different from me.   i need their insight and perspective.   i need to hear their stories and listen to their perspectives.

i need to wander out of the spiritual ghetto of church life.   not that church life is bad.   quite the opposite.   i simply need to follow the example of jesus more closely.

so here’s my plan:  i need to get more involved with my neighborhood and my community.

i’m already pretty involved.   i just want to go deeper…and make myself open to new friendships and possibilities.

we have three new families on our block.  i’m going to meet them and see what we have in common.   i’m going to ask our next door neighbors if they want to bowl.   i’m going to look into the possibility of joining the old town business association.   i need to start eating at the flying pig and tierney’s and the old town meat market more often…instead of driving down near the mall or across 35.  i’m going to figure out  how to volunteer some time at one of our local schools.

these are some starters.  i know it looks like a lot of time, but i need this.   i want this.

so…anybody up for lunch at the pig with me one of these days?

#balance #community #neighbor