Is it really 2012, already?

I cannot believe another year has passed and yet, another year is upon us.  It seems like yesterday that Tami and I made the trek up the coast to begin this new phase of our life, this new chapter of Shepherding and Pastoring a church we knew little about called Rock Harbor Christian Fellowship!  Folks, that was four years ago, wow (I'm sure you've had similar reality checks of life swiftly moving by...)!

As we embark upon the next 365 days, I submit to you a few ideas that if applied, will ensure 2012 to be a year of purpose and meaning.  Check 'em out:

• Spend time alone with your Creator - as a follower of the Way, this is an absolute necessity for my person.  Seriously, if I don't spend time contemplating, meditating, reading and praying, I shrivel up and am totally unproductive.  However, when I do bask in the beauty of my God, life is so much more colorful, so much more alive and so much more joyful.  I encourage you in 2012 to get to know your Maker on a more intimate & personal level - I'm convinced, if you do, your life will never be the same.
• Don't allow the urgent to preempt the important - especially in our western culture, we get so busy we have a tendency to miss those things that really count: our faith, our family, our sanity, our peace.  Be careful NOT to be caught in the tyranny of the urgent and remember to focus on what really matters.  A former tax collector named Matthew once wrote, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also!"  I encourage you in 2012 to treasure those things that matter and this simple focus will prevent you from getting lost in the craziness of life's demands.
• Be intentional in your relationships - time is a commodity that once it passes, it can't be recovered.  Hence, set that time aside to be in quality & quantity relationships with your loved ones.  The number two comment of one's passage from this life to eternity is, "I wish I spent more time with my loved ones!"  I encourage you in 2012 to take the advice from the most brilliant Jewish mind of the First Century when he encouraged his readers with, "...redeem the time..." (...the number one comment on one's death bed: I wished I got to know God better...)
• Invest your life into something greater and bigger than you - it is a proven fact, not only in the Bible, but also in secular circles that when humanity invests their life in something bigger than them, fulfillment ensues.  Some 2,000 years ago, a former fisherman wrote that "...he who loses his life will in reality gain it!"  In other words, this paradox of giving your life away for the blessing and betterment of others is truly the key to life.  I encourage you in 2012 to invest your life into something bigger that yourself...
• Step out of your comfort zone - it's been said, "Nothing ever good happens in one's comfort zone!"  It's also been said, "Mediocrity is just the best of the worst..."  Hence, step into what I call faith zone and try something new.  For example, run a marathon?  Go back to school?  Travel to East Africa with me?  Take up surfing?  You know, something that is so out of the ordinary that you must exercise will power to accomplish.  An ancient church in the town of Ephesus was encouraged with the beauty of language in that they were likened unto a master work of art, a work of art that was being painted daily to present the beauty of God's love.  I encourage you in 2012 to step out of your zone and step into faith zone - become what you were destined to be: a beauty work of art that displays God's amazing love.

This coming year, consider these short and brief pointers.  Set some goals within each of them, develop a plan to reach them and then, execute!  My hope and prayer, personally, for 2012 is nothing more than growing daily in my relationship with my God, my family and my friends.  To set up boundaries to protect against getting lost in doing rather than being; and, I'm considering some new ventures that are bigger than me and, as a result, I will have to step out of Randy Zone and step into that faith zone. 

Last, let's commit to make 2012, with God's help, our greatest year yet!  Blessings...