Starting on January 2nd, one of my new goals is to get up Monday through Friday at 4:30 am and go to the YMCA in Albany with Patty. She will do “Swim Aerobics,” I will run on the treadmill and lift weights. I got up fine yesterday, our first morning, to do this new routine, but last night, I didn’t get to sleep very early, and when the alarm went off, I was dead asleep. Patty said that the first words out of my mouth were, “Oh, Crapp.” I talked her into letting me skip and sleep some more. She is a wonderful wife, but I will try hard to get to bed by 9:00 tonight.

I made this goal for three reasons; the first was to do something with Patty. It is a thirty minute drive in and a thirty minute drive home, so we can talk during that time. If we pick up a cup of coffee in the snack area of the “Y” I will call it a date, and get two goals knocked off at once. The second reason is to get more faithful in my exercise. At home I kept missing and was sporatic in keeping my exercise goals because there was always something else that needed doing that was certainly more enjoyable than running on a treadmill or lifting weights. The third reason is that I was slipping a bit in my time management and was wasting more and more time watching YouTube clips of news and sports in the evening and getting up later and later in the morning. That is why I was late getting to bed last night.

I taught a class in Leadership Class this weekend on “Time Management,” and one of the key verses was, “Make the most of your time because the Lord is coming!” Yikes, how can I teach that and not do it!” So, if I miss a few times writing this blog in the next month or so, it is probably because I wasn’t disciplined enough to get it done before 9:00 pm

And the forth reason is to grow in self-control.