Winding Down...

This past year has been incredible. The reality of the end being near is setting in. We've had one last rush of travel over the past couple of weeks, and this is the last week of travel for the year. This past weekend was the last bus trip. We went to eastern Kentucky. Tomorrow we fly to NC and FL, then to MS on Tuesday, then drive up to Wilmington at the end of the week. Then, it's just hanging around FBC Woodstock until the end of the year.

Here's a recap of 2008.

God has amazing things in my personal life.

He did great things in my relationship with my family!

He provided in amazing ways financially.

I finished college, met some great people, learned some incredible leadership lessons from Pastor Johnny and hit medallion status with Delta in June (now I can take 3 bags on a flight)!

I went to 2 foreign countries, 11 states (most multiple times- North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri & Indiana) and saw many parts of Georgia for the first time.

I got to attend some amazing conferences and schools (Stephen Olford school was great!).

I got to build a pretty awesome library (I just finished off my years budget with the latest Logos software, with some extras).

I enrolled in seminary. I'll begin in January.

I learned from Pastor Johnny what it means to make family time a priority.

I got to ride around in a couple of sweet private jets and Newsong's buses are awesome!

I should have bought stock in Cracker Barrell...

These are a few things that stick out from the year. So many great things happened. I look forward to the future, and what God does with Lisa and I.

One of the things I (probably mistakenly) thought for most of the year (and still to some extent) was that the financial sacrifices we made this year would be just for the year, then God would put my back somewhere making money again in January. God called us to take a huge step of faith a year ago, but I'm realizing that God doesn't call us to have faith for just a year. He calls us to rely on Him for a lifetime. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

As this year winds down, I could have never imagined what God would do in just 12 months. This year has truly been a "second chance" for time that I wasted in the past. I told Pastor Johnny this week that I will show him my appreciation with what I do in the future with what I've learned!

Now, I need to go to bed because I have a flight in the morning!