the year plan

For the end of the internship, Kaj asked Emily and I to write down where we would be in one year. He gave us 5 areas: Location, Relationships, Family, Calling, and Stewardship. I thought I would write them down here and come back to it in a year to see how it measured up.

Location
Either Seattle or Tacoma. Seattle would be if I was a research assistant at UW Seattle. Tacoma if I found a full-time job here, but I don't see that happening in all reality. Unless it had to do with the YMCA but someday I'm gonna have to give that up!

Relationships
The reason I want to go to Seattle, and maybe out of state someday is that I need to broaden my relationships. I'm still a sort of kid around here. People have known me anywhere from 5 years old to 13 years old. That's 8 to 16 years that people have known me! That's a long time. I need to spread my wings and fly and learn how to meet new people. At the same time I think of all my great friends here and all the people that I'm inlfluencing and it pains me to think of leaving them. But I know that wherever God takes me, it's in His plan and I can rest knowing that He has it under control. As far as romantic relationships, I could see myself in one, but as of right now I am no where near ready for a serious relationship. That's not to say that I'm going to "date around" because I think that's stupid and heart breaking. I'm okay with having lots of good friends and not many best friends. And I know that the person I marry has to be my best friend. I'm just not ready for that level of comittment.

Family
My goal is to keep my relationship with my dad growing. I tend to bow out and make plans with friends instead of hanging out with my dad. I need him and I can't deny that. I need to work on my relationship with my step mom as well. I need her and I can't deny that either.

Stewardship

I have sat down with my roomate who is great at finances and we wrote out a plan. Basically, in the span of 1 and a half years my credit card will be paid off. In 3 years my car will be paid off. And in 10 years (maybe less) my student loans will be paid off. That makes me so happy! It's nice to have an end in sight rather than wonder if it's ever going to happen!

Calling
Wherever I am in a year I know my sabbatical from ministry will be over with and I will be involved in either youth group or worship team or both. Right now I'm in a place that not many people are my age. I can either choose to stay there and ride mediocrity or grow. I'd rather grow. This time of rest is not a stopping point or a time of shrinking. It's more of a launching point. I don't know what exactly that means, but I'm willing to ride the wave that God is giving me. The other thing is that I will be exploring marriage and family counseling, focusing on troubled teens. I'm not sure if I want that to be in a church or in a totally secular world but either one I'm fine with. And it's taken me a long time to say that to work in a church would be fine with me. I am excited where God is taking me and I don't want to limit that in anyway.


Well, that's my life in a year. I actually haven't been that bad at predicting my life a year in advance. But God still amazes and surprises me even throuh my plans.