Things have been pretty quiet around here for the past few weeks. I have been stepping back from several things in my life to reevaluate them and see just how I need to proceed with them, how God wants me to proceed with them. I am now beginning to implement some changes, in order to regain, and maintain, balance in my life.
I have always been one who works a lot, often more than I should. As I spent a week in Colorado with several other ministers in October, I was challenged with the thought that my lifestyle is too hurried, and that I need to slow down, and maybe let a few things go.
Through most of the month of November, I stepped back from a lot of personal projects, from my hobbies, from many of the extraneous things in my life in order to gain a bird’s eye view. I spent most of that month praying about what I have been called to do, and how best to go about it.
In my life, I prioritize things in this order: first is my relationship with God. This involves my study of God’s Word for my personal relationship with him. This includes journaling, reading, praying, solitude, fasting, and all those spiritual disciplines that help me to seek him as much as I possibly can.
My next priority is my relationship with my wife, making my marriage as solid as can be. Following that are the relationships I have with my kids, and my role as a father.
Fourth is my ministry. First to the church I serve, and in the community I serve, and second through my writing and blogging.
As I evaluated these priorities, I found that there were changes I needed to incorporate into some, which requires eliminating some things from others, primarily in the area of writing. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would be eventually eliminating a couple of the websites that I have created and maintain, primarily Deliberate Men. Over the course of the next several weeks I will be incorporating much of the content that is currently on that site into this one. Some I will simply repost here, with a notation that it was originally posted elsewhere. Others, I plan on rewriting and updating as I bring them over here.
To that end, I will be adding a new category to JR.com, one that will be family oriented, including marriage posts and dadhood posts. For now, I think the either the term “family” or “Godly men” will cover both aspects of this, but I haven’t yet fully decided which is the term I want to use. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!
And, as things progress, I hope to eliminate and condense many of the things I do into fewer things, and create more space and time for those things that matter most. Please keep me in your prayers, as I strive to become more and more the man that God wants me to be. And in the meantime, I’ll pray for you to do so as well.
Question: Do you have any suggestions for a short, succinct title for this category of manhood, marriage and dadhood? I’d love to hear your ideas! You can leave a comment by clicking here.