4 Personal lessons from this past year to help embrace the New Year(2015)

4 Personal lessons from this past year to help embrace the New Year(2015)

Posted on by Matthew Laker

I love the celebration of the New Year and the thought of the beginning of a new season.  A new season opens the door for strengthening rhythms  or beginning new ones that may help me walk a path of entering, experiencing, and engaging the life I was created for.  waterfeet

 

As I look back on 2015 and forward to 2016, here are four personal lessons I was reminded of that can help me embrace 2016.  Perhaps within these four, there may be one or two that can also help you.

 

  1. My identity is deeper than what I do.

Identity is a hard struggle for us all.  Coming out of this past year, I am reminded that God has not called me or accepted me based on my ability but on who he is.  I was not called to be a pastor based on what I would do or can do.  I was reminded that what I do can change, but I am more than what my hands can produce.

 

My lesson moving forward to entering, experiencing and engaging the life I was created for, is to see myself as God does.  Who I am becomes wrapped up in him.

  1. Taking care of myself.

 

Taking care of yourself mentally and physical must be of high priority.  There is no way I can serve others, reach my dreams, or achieve my goals if I do not take care of myself.  I am not where I want to be physically, but I have made some great steps this past year.

In order to embrace the new year, I must ensure that I care from my physical and mental life.

 

  1. Life changes: give margin and be flexible.

At the end of 2014, we adopted a little boy into our family. You can read a little about that here.  It has been one of the great  blessings and challenges of this past year.  We have had to redesign our schedules and rhythms, and on top of that, we had a job change and moved to a new home.  As I look at my own life, and those I have journeyed with over the last year, change happened.

In order to embrace the new year, I must understand change is just a part of life, so give margin and be flexible.

 

4. We all need community.

To be honest, I have done well and poorly with it over the last year.  God has designed us to be in relationships and so the human experience needs relationships in order to flourish.  We all need larger, small and smaller communities in our life, but  the thing is, it just does not seem to happen.  We have to work at it and it is hard work sometimes.

 

However, even though there are challenge and risks in community, the benefits far outweigh the cons.  In order to embrace the new year, I must understand the role of the different types of community in my life and build into them.

 

Looking back over the last year of your life, what are four things you have learned that can help you embrace the year ahead?

Creating a Life plan: A Second step

Posted on by Matthew Laker

Creating a life plan can help you better enter, engage, and experience the life you were created for.

Picture yourself riding a bike and that you have been riding it for some time. You have had to push to keep moving forward, you have had to overcome obstacles, and you at times feel winded. Where do you want to be in 5, 10, 30 kilometers?  Likewise in life, where do you want to be in 5, 10, 30 years? One of the questions I will often ask University Students is, “What is your hope when you are done?”  For many, they do not know.  I understand that they just want to get through their studies, but it is important they know what they want otherwise they will just bounce around in life.

Another man I know is looking ahead to retirement and trying to figure out what he wants for that stage of life. Currently he is working through where he wants to be with work and finances, while also drawing an overall picture of that season of life.

Creating a plan will help you get from the dream to the practical.  A life plan can help you accomplish what you desire and steward the resources God has given you.

Recently in a post, I shared that the first step in creating a life plan is identifying the life spokes that are important to you. On a bike wheel you have spokes and the spokes work together to transfer power and weight so that you may get to where you want to go.

Read that post here

Once you identify the life spokes that are important in your life,  the second step is to ask yourself what you want to accomplish in those areas.  Where do you want to ride your bike to?

What is the vision for each spoke of life?

What is the story you want written?

Where do you want to be in ___(fill years in) years?

What do you want to see in the future?

Here is an exercise to help:

Step one:  Know your life spokes

(Example) Financial

Step two: Vision

(Example) Life Spoke : Financial

My Vision: I want to be financially stable while also generous to others

Step three: Define purpose- What is one sentence that would clearly define the end result you want.

(Example) Life spoke: Financial

    • In 30 years I want to be financially stable for retirement. This means owning a home mortgage free and living in my means.

As you work through each of the areas, there will be some cross over as each spoke works together in your wheel of life.

In developing a life plan, when you create a vision for your life, you can leave a lasting impact upon those you care for.

A Life plan: Admitting your reality

Posted on by Matthew Laker

A personal review is a foundational step to growth. 

If you are going to embrace, enter, and engage the life you were created for– if you are to discover a life of wholeness–it is going to involve looking at reality.  To do that you will need to hit the pause button and take a look at your life in review. monkey

Jesus shares, “how can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye” (Luke 6:42 NLT).

In that passage, Jesus is speaking about how we interact with others and judge them without seeing our own sin first. There is a reminder in this statement that we are both in need of God’s grace, but to find it we must admit our own sin first. It is in this passage that we also learn the value of admitting our own reality.

I was watching a season of reruns of ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ and noticed that the same thing happens in every episode: the food is bad and there are organizational issues everywhere.  However, the biggest issues are the people refusing to look at the plank in their eye.  Often they refuse to admit reality.  

In any development of a life plan, part of that plan will involve understanding your current reality.  Not only the circumstances but understanding who you are. How are you thinking and feeling?  How are your thinking and habits are leading and contributing to where you are right now?  

For many to admit their reality they are going to have to admit and identify the plank that is in their eye.  

At the end of the year, it is common for people to set goals and New Year’s resolutions.   Many of them fail because they are done on a whim and people do not really want to change.  

If you are serious about wanting to change,   you need to develop a plan and get help to work that plan.  A good place to start is by reviewing your year.  

Each December  I sit down and do a review.  I set aside some space with no distractions.  I then take a mental walk through a reflection exercise of different areas of my life, asking where am I at.

Here are four questions to help you in such an exercise.

1.  What can I celebrate in my life this past year?

2. What would I like to see changed? What is God asking me to change?

3. What were my obstacles this year?

4. What would I like to see changed next year.

Next Step: Get out your calendar and block off some time to take a review and create a game plan for the New Year.

 

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