Welcome to Nolan's World

The Goals for 2010

Here are my three personal goals for 2010, and a brief sketch of how I plan to get there:

1.  Read the Bible through--I will be following The Message: Pause edition for the coming year!

2.  Become a better (and hopefully published) writer--To get there, I will be kicking off my "100 Words for 100 Days" project tomorrow here on the blog, I am also reading everything I can about writing well, I plan to have a book proposal off to prospective publishers by no later than June 1, and Maddie and are going to write a children's book together by year's end.

3.  Complete a marathon in 2010--I start training on Monday for my next half-marathon and plan to do at least two, possibly three 1/2 marathons next year, I also plan to radically change the way I approach food and nutrition so that I can lose the weight necessary to improve my speed and finish the race, and I am preparing to run 600 miles in 2010 as my training target (I would love to set a higher goal, but I also want to allow for potential injuries and rest between races--I feel this is realistic and doable).  I will be documenting my progress along the journey through a new blog/website that will launch by no later than mid-February!

So there you have it.  Goals for 2010.

Now, it's time to get to work!

Setting Goals for 2010

New Years resolutions are worthless in my opinion.  The big reason I think they have no value is because they are often things we dream about doing or not doing anymore, but we have no plan of HOW to achieve those dreams.  

I personally prefer goals.  When I mention a goal, I am also thinking of a plan.  I personally don't publish or announce a goal to others until I have worked out a plan to accomplish it.  The plan is the most important part of the goal to me.  

A solid plan is the only way that I can reach a worthy goal.

The only goals I have not personally reached are the ones where I failed to follow through with the plan.

Life is not an accident and we shouldn't treat it like one.  

Don't be a Charlie Brown who draws the target around whatever he hits!  This is a recipe for mediocrity.

We should have goals for our lives.  Spiritual goals, family goals, professional goals, physical goals.  

Pick one or two areas where you want to challenge yourself in 2010.  Don't stop there though.  Take the time to formulate how you are going to get from where you are to where you dream of being.  Think it through and write it down.  Make a commitment to follow the plan until you reach the goal!

Fat guys aren't supposed to run half-marathons.  But I did it because I followed a smart plan!

You may be astonished about how much you can accomplish in your life by doing this.

I'll share a list of my personal goals for 2010 tomorrow.

Letters to God

In January 2003, a 9-year old boy named Tyler Doherty was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor. He received 30 radiation treatments over four months, but doctors couldn't stop the cancer from taking over his brain. So tragic.

While Tyler fought his cancer, he wrote letters addressed to God and actually put them in the mailbox. The amazing and wonderful thing is that the postal carrier Brady McDaniels started reading the letters and gave his life to Jesus as a result. Tyler died on March 7, 2005.

A film has been made about this boy's story called Letters to God.

After watching the trailer below, I cannot wait to see this movie and wanted to share it with you:

2009: A Look Back

For all of my fellow planners out there, you are probably already knee-deep in your plans for 2010.

Did you take a minute to look back over 2009 and celebrate your victories?

2009 was an interesting year for me.  Much of my "normal" life is still the same as it was at the beginning of the year: my family is doing well, I am still a shift manager with Starbucks, my ministry future is still up in the air!

The "extra" stuff has been the awesome part of the year for me.  For instance,

• God prompted me to take a road trip from Memphis to Dallas for Catalyst One Day in May and I obeyed.  This trip had a huge impact on my view of God and the journey He has laid out for me.
• Alison and I made a decision we were going to take a family trip to Disney World to celebrate our 10th anniversary and wanted to do it over Maddie's birthday.  We also committed that we would not go into debt for this trip and that we would pay cash for it...and we did it!!!
• I spent the summer working as a consultant and helped a local church launch its own coffee shop in our community.  The road trip God prompted me to go on in April introduced me to Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee and their desire to "drink coffee, do good."  Land of a Thousand Hills is the perfect coffee partner for The Common Cup and it was a privilege to introduce these ministries to each other.
• I followed a reading plan that took me through the entire Bible once and the New Testament twice.
• Oh, and in case you didn't know...I completed my first half-marathon!!!  Booyah!!!

There is a common thread woven through all of these accomplishments:

They all started with a decision to move forward and they were all dependent on executing a plan.

I'd have been crazy to jump out of bed one morning and begin to run a half-marathon with no preparation, but after six months of training, I was ready.  The Common Cup didn't come together overnight, but each day a little piece of the checklist was completed until the doors were opened to the public (on time and under budget, I might add).  Reading through the Bible can appear to be a daunting task, but when you follow a sensible plan, you'd be surprised at how easy it is!

In some ways, I feel like 2010 may be the most pivotal year I will experience in my life to date, but before I get overwhelmed with how far I have yet to go, I wanted to stop for a moment and celebrate the victories of 2009.

I'll unpack my personal goals for 2010 over the next few days for you...

The Wonderful Gift of Presence

Many of us will spend today and tomorrow unwrapping a variety of presents. 

For just a moment, I would like to unwrap the wonderful gift of presence.

Being truly present in the lives of others is truly one of the best gifts you can give to others...and it is also the most incredible gift you can receive. 

Being truly present is what makes you a dad rather than just a father, a soul-mate and not just a spouse, a life-long worshiper and not only a consumer of Christ's goodness.

I desire to live this journey of life relishing the presence of those that God places in my path, reflecting His love and character along the way, and savoring every moment growing in those relationships.

This is the greatest gift I can both receive AND give!

I'm Not a Smart Blogger

Smart bloggers made a shift a while back.  They picked one vein to write about and chose to focus all their energy in carving out their unique niche.  The smart bloggers look at their blog more as an extension of their professional "brand," rather than an extension of their personal life.

A couple of people have given me this kind of advice about my blog.  They said that if I would pick one area and only write on that one area that I could grow a pretty big readership and gain an extra measure of influence in a certain area of blogging.

Let me be quick to say, I don't have a problem with anyone having a unique voice in their blog and a laser focus in their writing and reaching a large number of readers by remaining loyal to this approach...

that's just not the approach I have chosen for almost four years.

I love to blog about what I want to blog about!  There are days that I am super-serious and others where I am super-silly.  I love Jesus, my family, ministry, leadership, helping others, reading, writing, overcoming personal obstacles, attempting to become a marathon finisher, sports, coffee, and entertainment.  On any given day, I will write about those things because those things ground me, move me, and make me me.

Blogging has served me well for almost four years in as an outlet for me to communicate the various thoughts that are running through my heart and mind.  My hope and prayer is that by blogging this way, what I write will  connect with those who show up here randomly and regularly.

I am not necessarily a smart blogger, but that's okay with me.  I will continue write regularly and honestly.  On any given day you may either be prompted to think harder, laugh louder, or scratch your head as you wonder what in the world was Nolan thinking when he wrote this!

I am super-excited about how blogging fits into my journey going into 2010.  Hope you will continue to follow the journey with me.

100 Words for 100 Days

I get passionate about communicating and growing as a communicator.  As a vocational pastor, I had the privilege of speaking a minimum of once a week over the span of 15+ years.  Currently, those opportunities are much fewer and farther between, so my outlet of choice has become writing.

And I have discovered that I have a disease common in the writing world: I procrastinate way too much!

I have great thoughts that never make it to paper because I am not working against a deadline.

Since I really want to grow as a writer, I am assigning myself a project and a deadline starting January 1, 2010.

It's simply called, "100 Words for 100 Days."

For the first 100 days of 2010, I will have a "100 Words" entry posted on the blog.  Each entry will have a random theme that I consider to be meaningful in some way.  Here are a few examples: Hope, The Power of a Moment, Finding Peace in Chaos, Integrity.  My goal is to well craft 100 words to convey my thoughts on the topic of the day. 

I plan to write a minimum of 10 days ahead, so you guessed it, I already find myself up a deadline.

Here's where I could use your help.  I am feverishly working on compiling a list of potential topics at this moment and I would LOVE some input.  Please give me one, five, ten, one hundred ideas for this project.  Can't promise that I will use every submission but I will try.  Please contact me through email, twitter, facebook, or by leaving a comment.

The clock is ticking on my deadline...PLEASE help a brother out!!!

(P.S.  I believe in giving credit where it is due--Blaine Hogan's blog inspired me to take on this project.  His spin is different because he uses guest writers for different topics and posts them frequently rather than daily.  Blaine's blog is brilliantly written and beautiful...check it out!)

Why I Hate Free Books From Mark Batterson

Over the last three years, I have gotten a free book from Mark Batterson.  I am getting to the place that I hate when those packages arrive, because those "free" books end up costing me a lot of money.  Mark writes in a way that resonates with me so clearly and compellingly, that I have to pass on his message to friends.  

And all kidding aside, it's a price worth paying!

 Mark's latest release Primal is another message that I can't wait to share with my friends!  The core of this book is that a life rooted in the Great Commandment is the ONLY Christian life worth living. Within the pages of Primal, you will find yourself deeply challenged to embrace the compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy that resonates from life of a radically devoted follower of Christ.

If you are content to be a "Sunday morning Christian," I can assure you that Primal is NOT the book for you, but if you have a desire to truly connect with God and be His change agent in this desperate world, I would challenge you to make this the first book you read in 2010.

This book was provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah.

Video Blog: The 1/2 Marathon Finish (Less than 1 Minute)

It's a little hard to see, but it was the only video we were able to get, and I loved the commentary you hear (Alison is doing most of the talking and then you also will hear my father-in-law and mother-in-law for a sec).  I am wearing a crimson BAMA shirt and black pants.  I raise my arm about 15 seconds in.

Thoughts from Sunday

I preached at our church on Sunday morning...always a great privilege and I am thankful for Duke and Paul allowing me to do life and ministry with them!

Duke (our lead pastor) and I are doing a two-part Christmas series.  I dealt with the Christmas story from Luke's perspective and on Sunday Duke will preach from Matthew's account of events.

I taught about the "beautiful absurdity" of the Christmas story.  I gave a brief history of what the world looked like through the eyes of those who lived under the shadow of the Roman Empire.  I did a very pitiful impression of TD Jakes (love his preaching style, presence, and voice).  I tried to be obedient and share what God placed on my heart.

Here are a few thoughts I shared:

• The "beautiful absurdity" of the Christmas story and the Gospel in general is that God often has a plan that looks NOTHING like my plan!
• We have allowed Christmas to become such an absurdity in our own lives that we have no need for Baby Jesus.  The party would go on just fine without Him in most of our homes!
• At what other time of year do you spend money that YOU DON'T HAVE on people YOU DON'T LIKE for gifts THEY DON'T NEED?
• To make room for Jesus means that I must give up some of my own.
• When God appears to be silent, it's not because He's forgotten us, or that we are undeserving, or insignificant--It's possibly because He's preparing our lives to more effectively communicate His glory through our story!
• How much of Jesus will be seen in your Christmas this year?