This is a rather boring blog; I am sorry about that; I couldn’t figure out how to jazz it up without making longer than it is. My goal is not to impress you with my busy schedule but to motivate you to make the most of your time, bear fruit, much fruit, and more fruit for the Lord. Over the years, I have taught myself to enjoy being “busy” without letting it burn me out and to accomplish as much as possible with the time I have been given.

On May 6th, Patty and I flew to Fairbanks, Alaska, to visit our daughter Shelly, her husband, and six kids. We had a wonderful time, and on May 23rd, we flew home, and on May 25th, six of us left on a 2,000-mile bicycle trip from Canada to Mexico along the Pacific Coast. We finished the trip and arrived home on June 23rd. On June 26th, I drove to Huntington, Oregon, and camped and fished for catfish on the Snake River, the Brownlee Reservoir, for five days. I then went to Twin Falls, Idaho, to visit our son Seth, his wife, and four kids for a couple of days, and then drove ten hours home on July 2nd. On July 13th, I flew to Soldotna, Alaska, to fish for salmon and halibut, and I am here now having a wonderful time at “Funny River Fellowship Lodge – where the tug is the drug.” In six days, on August 10th, we fly home, and I will bring with me a hundred pounds of frozen fish. On August 17th, Patty and I will fly back up to Fairbanks, Alaska, where she will hang out with Shelly and the grandkids, and I will go with my sons-in-law, Philip and Kyle, to the most northern part of Alaska to hunt for caribou. I plan on killing one and bringing back on the airplane a hundred pounds of frozen meat. We will fly home on August 30th, and on September 1st, I will put my Pastor hat back on.

This year I will be teaching four weekly “Leadership Classes,” a weekly discipleship hour class on “Demons and Angels,” I will be involved in five “Men’s Accountability Groups” each week, I will attend and be involved in staff meetings, Elder meetings, I will do a variety of kinds of counseling, I will travel and speak approximately once each month, I will meet with and coach three or four other Pastors in other churches, I will have a mentoring relationship and teaching time with a young guy wanting to be a pastor, I will occasionally preach at JBC weekend services as needed, and I will preach each week at our Wednesday service through the book of 2nd Peter. I will also pray an hour each day for those in JBC with the goal of praying for everybody once each week, attending three corporate prayer times at JBC each week, and praying for 40 hours in each of our four “Five Days of Prayer.” I will write 100 handwritten notes each month to people in our church; I will write my blog daily; I will write on a couple of book projects; I will study, read, and write sermons and lessons. I will coach people in JBC who want to start ministries, I will oversee the “Parking Lot Project” until it is finished, I will begin to develop and work with people in a new major ministry called “Care and Shepherding,” I will meet with various staff, Elders, and key leaders as needed. I will attend various meetings with other pastors approximately monthly, I will participate in several different seminars for pastors, I will work on and teach several seminars at JBC and other places, and I will work on plans to start another daughter church, someplace and some time.

In the midst of that ministry schedule I will I will maintain my own daily and weekly spiritual disciplines, I will keep the Lord first in my life, and seek Him diligently as I serve Him. I will be very faithful to my exercise goals and routines. I will work on home projects, I will finish the restoration project on the 1969 Mustang, I will start restoring my 1950 Ford Club Coupe, I will play golf and work on becoming a better golfer, I will visit our kids and grandkids regularly, and often, I will fish and hunt periodically, I will pray with Patty every day and take her on a meaningful date every week.

In order to maintain that schedule faithfully, I will write and read goals and daily “todo” lists.

Also, in the process of pursuing ministry, family, and personal goals, I will be flexible, not rigid; I will rejoice always and never get uptight about deadlines and schedules, I will be gracious and kind to people no matter how much I am pressed and behind schedule, I will get plenty of sleep, and I will eat right.

Then in May, I will put my “play” hat back on. Hallelujah, I am looking forward to that.