brett’s morning blend (02feb10)

• I’m not in any way personally concerned with the end of winter, seeing the temperature today in Geita should reach 85 degrees (it breaks 75 every day). However, today is Groundhog Day, and this is your one-stop link for all things groundhog:  the official website of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. 
• I thought some of you might want to see where Christie and I try to eat every time we’re in Mwanza, the closest real city to us.  Tunza Lodge is a small hotel and restaurant on the shores of Lake Victoria.  We can sit at a plastic table right on the beach and eat western food like beef escalope (what I’d call schnitzel, and isn’t far from being country fried steak) and hamburgers with fries for $4-8.  But we can’t swim there….
• Bilharzia is a disease caused by parasites passed between humans and freshwater snails.  I’ve never had it, but know others who have; it doesn’t sound pleasant.  Most water near us is infected, making swimming in Lake Victoria a dangerous venture.
• David Watson has posted a  new blog titled Mentoring — First Steps.  He addresses the prevalent problem of mentors and leaders not living lives consistent with scripture, and urges us to strive for consistency.  If you are a mentor, a leader, or a church planter, you really ought to read this.  
• For those of you who are bloggers and like to read, here is a great opportunity.  Thomas Nelson Publishers has a new(er) program called BookSneeze.  If you are approved for the program (and it doesn’t seem to be difficult — they accepted me), you will receive, at absolutely no cost, new books you have chosen from a list of available titles.  You are then required to post a 200-word review on your blog and on one other retail website (such as Amazon or Borders, etc).  And the books are yours to keep.  
• And a picture of Baylor, who will be two months on Thursday:

goal-setting: to reach my full capacity

As I said in my last post… I’ve been setting goals for 2010.  There are the six areas I need to address in order to reach my full capacity as both a Christian and a human being:

1. God — my personal relationship with God, my family’s relationship with God, my church’s relationship with God, and my community’s relationship with God.  What am I going to do to improve my own relationship with God?  What about the relationships of those around me with God?
   
2. Family — my relationship with my wife and children (possibly parents, siblings, etc).  What am I going to do to improve these relationships?
   
3. Community (my church falls here) — How is my community going to be made better by God through me?
   
4. God’s Call on My Life – What am I going to do in regard to this?  How will I be the best I can in this area?
5. Self – mentally, socially, and physically (we’ve already covered spiritually…).   What can I do to ensure my health in each of these areas?
   
6. Career – What will I do to become better at my job?  How will I glorify God in it?

A few ideas:

• Because there is so much overlap in these areas, and each category necessarily and greatly affects the others, it’s difficult to place them in an “order of importance.”  That being said, I might still suggest the above order?
  
• Based on my supposed order of importance, it’s interesting that we usually begin (and often end) setting goals and making resolutions with category #5.  We think first and foremost about 1) ourselves and 2) the more physical and tangible aspects of ourselves.  I’d guess over 90% of resolutions made are in the area of personal health and/or appearance.
• It is incredibly important that we find balance in our goals, and in our energies to accomplish them.  That doesn’t mean equal time or attention, but it means appropriate time and attention.
• This list is hardly altered at all from a list I was given byDavid Watsonconcerning mentoring.  He suggests these are the six areas in which a mentor should be guiding his mentorees (seems as if the rules of English would make this word ‘mentees’).  David also suggests that every Christian should be in at least two mentoring relationships — 1) being mentored and 2) mentoring another.
• If I didn’t have a mentor, I would make that one of the first goals I set for the new year.
• If I were not aware of God’s calling on my life (area #4), I would quickly set a goal to discover what that calling is.
• Setting goals, as I understand it, is about reaching my personal capacity, and helping others to do the same.  That’s why it’s largely a personal endeavor.  But those closest to me often have a pretty good understanding of what my potential may be.  Even more often, they know in which areas I’m coming up way short of full capacity.  Getting the insights and ideas of those around you is a great idea (especially those of your spouse and mentor).
• Don’t allow the “deadline” of January 1st to rush you through this exercise. If you’re so inclined to use dates and deadlines, make January 1st the day you begin your goal-setting procedure. Allow ample time to set good goals. Abraham Lincoln said, “A goal properly set is halfway reached.”  Don’t hurry the process in order to have a list of things to do by a certain day.  It kills me how people will give an entire year to a goal they set in passing one day when they felt fat or lazy or unhealthy — or rather, how people will “promise” to give an entire year to a goal to a goal they set in passing one day….
• Pray about the setting of your goals, and about the accomplishing of them. Allow God to guide both processes.

Next post: accomplish goals, reach objectives — a strategy