Another year, another seemingly obligatory “Year in Review” post. But at the same time, it was helpful to sit down and think through what I wanted to do in 2013. Even more profitable, was the time reviewing what happened and seeing all the unforeseen events that arose.

Let’s start with the goals I came up with last year and how I did.

  • I will travel to Vietnam. I didn’t make it to Vietnam but I did have the opportunity to go to India. I went with one of the pastors from my church and we met with leaders from our partnering organization. It was a research/vision trip to help determine the next steps of our church’s involvement.

  • I will run 2 half-marathons in locales that allow for discovery. I ran the Grand Valley Half-Marathon in Grand Junction, Colorado in May. It was a beautiful run through hills and vineyards. Because of my trip to India, I was unable to make any other long weekend trips to race. On Thanksgiving, I ran in a 10k put on by an acquaintance. It started several years ago as a family run and has morphed into a gathering of friends and family for races and then breakfast.

  • I will be more proactive with my friendships by calling, texting and emailing regularly. I never came up with a good metric to determine success in this area. I would say I didn’t do as well as I wanted. I did catch up with old friends at one wedding and also with one couple as they stopped over in Fort Worth.

  • I will plan events to get together with friends at least once a month. I have some friends that are great at putting things together, so they beat me to the punch many times. I did, however, plan a skeet shooting event for some friends and coworkers and everyone had a great time.

  • I will take weekend retreats to spend time seeking the Lord. I invested in a Texas Park Pass at the end of 2012 and that greatly helped with this goal. There were quite a few Saturdays that I drove to different state parks in the area and would spend the day hiking, writing or reading.

The Unforeseen

  • I had the privilege of attending the weddings of five couples. Most are good friends and I was able to see their relationships begin and culminate in their marriages.

  • My church ordained me as a deacon. This was a huge honor.

  • A friend asked me to fill in and preach for him a few weeks ago.

  • I read 63 books this year. Fiction, history, biographies, business. One of the best of the year was So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport. He debunks the myth that “follow your passion” is the best way to find a job you enjoy. I would highly recommend it.

  • I started going to counseling. I have attempted counseling in the past, giving up after only one or two sessions. I either thought it was a waste of time or I didn't like the counselor. I also feared people would think less of me if they knew I was seeing a counselor.

    My trip to India brought things to a head. I didn't have a chance to process my trip when I got back. Also the next few months at work were very stressful. I was depressed and couldn't get out of the fog. I've been going for about four months now. It hasn't been a silver bullet but it has helped.

  • I developed and presented two training sessions for our account executives at work. I really enjoyed it. I had to take technical concepts and break them down into understandable pieces for non-technophiles.