Above The Line Article:
"Uncharted Territory"
By Erik Carlson
I posted a status update on Facebook
recently that read "Already setting goals for 2010."
I love reading funny responses to my updates; one read "stop
making us all look bad." My response to that one is
that going deep with goal setting is really new territory
for me. I've always set production goals, and 'typical'
goals, but I've never gone as deep as I'm going for 2010.
I'm even setting goals for how early I'm going to get up,
and exactly what I'm going to do in those early hours. I
was inspired by friend and actor, Jim Caviezel; after he
spoke to our church two weekends ago, he told me the most
important thing he does to prepare for his career is daily
time in prayer. Talk about a kick in the pants. How on earth
could I have gotten so skimpy with the most important part
of my day?
The stakes are high. My goals and dreams are lofty, so
I need to build my foundation. My goals will be much more
detailed this year. In fact, I am consulting a coach to
help me with this. But to me, the most important part of
my goals, my day, and my new year, will be how much I draw
from and rely on the power of the Almighty that changed
mankind with a little baby 2000 years ago. It blows me away
that Jesus' life was talked about hundreds of years before
he was even born (check out the book of Isaiah), being called
"Emmanuel", which means "God with us".
Wow!
I didn't think I'd get so goal-oriented on this newsletter,
but I guess I'm realizing how important it is. My purpose
for this months' message is to get you to ask yourself “What
is my game plan for these new, uncharted times we are facing?"
Let's drink in all that this Christmas season has to offer
us, and let that launch us to a screamin' hot 2010 that
blows away 2009!
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Check
out the picture of our little Nathan in this newsletter.
This is uncharted for Sacramento: waking up to 5 inches
of snow in our yard. My wife has lived here her entire
life and has never seen this. This is simply a reminder
to me that we are living in uncharted times. Be it on
a macro-level, with our world-wide happenings, or our
day-to-day challenges; these are truly unprecedented times.
Read on as I share how I'll be approaching the New Year.
And, I sincerely wish you the merriest of Christmases,
praying for the love of the Christ-child to overwhelm
you and your loved ones!