4 Things That Changed For Me In 2018
I always find it interesting to think back at the end of every year on the things I've learned, grown in, or seen change in my life over the course of the year. Specifically, things that were especially unique to the previous year. As we get ready to move into 2019 in a few weeks, here four things in particular that changed for me this year.
1) My Preaching ability
Let me preface this by saying I am not a great preacher. But I am better than I was a year ago. This was one of the things I wanted to improve most in 2018, and I've shared specifically about how I was able to stop using notes here. There are still some things I'd like to see get a lot better in the area of my preaching. But I am thankful it's not quite what it was when the year started :).
2) Seeing God move in New City Church
Since day one, our staff team has worked hard on making New City a healthy church and one that helps people meet Jesus and grow in a relationship with him. This past summer (a little over a year in as a church) God began to grow our church which has allowed us to impact more people. I still remember thinking a few months ago "why is this happening now?"The reason being, we were all working just as hard and our people who call New City home were still just as flexible and bought into the mission. But for some reason, we really started to grow. Sure, we started to get better at some of the things we were doing, but it was still such an interesting experience to go from being discouraged about many things, to then see God start to answer a lot of prayers.
3) Getting up at an earlier time more consistently
I'm not a morning person. I also don't like coffee. Which means waking up early is the worst. I enjoy being up once I am awake, but I don't enjoy getting there. This year I finally started to wake up earlier and go to bed earlier more consistently. Some of that had to do with adding baby #2 which means you always tired anyway, but also because I wanted to create more effective and efficient work days for myself.I've even started getting up early to go to the gym, something I never thought I would do!
4) Understanding the importance of rest
Specifically, because of what we see in scripture, I (and most Christians) know that rest is important. We shouldn't be going 24/7 and always busying ourselves, even if that is somewhat of an idol of our culture. This is the first year I have personally seen the need for rest. Maybe it is with having another kid, more going on with New City as it has grown, or maybe just getting older, but I've seen the difference I feel when I'm always doing something.It is hard for me to not be doing something, but it is good for me (and all of us) to rest. For me personally, I try really hard to do nothing work related at all on Saturdays and getting better at being "off" when I am off. I've still got a long way to go, but I've seen more than ever the potential dangers in always being, or thinking, I'm busy.