The Engage team is here to make a few prediction about 2016. We predict that in January of 2016, gyms across America will run out of parking spaces, Pinterest will be filled with diet plans, and the number of read-your-Bible-through-the-year app downloads will skyrocket. We also predict by February, the gym parking lots wil be back to normal, diet plans will be replaced by Valentine chocolate recipes, and apps will be deleted soon after Leviticus is started (we love you Leviticus).
But we also have a few other thoughts concerning 2016. Here are a few of our personal New Year's Resolutions.
From Nick Dean:
My resolution for 2016 is to learn how to knit my own socks. That or learn how to time travel because then I could travel into the future after I’ve already learned to knit and I can just bring back a collection of knit socks to the present. But if I have those knit socks in the present, I wouldn’t have any reason to learn to knit in the first place. And if I never learned how to knit, the socks wouldn’t be waiting for me in the future for me to have brought back to the present. But if I’m not going to have any socks in the present, I need to learn to knit. But if I learn to knit in the present then there will be socks in the future—At which point they simultaneously follow and predate the cause of my time traveling…
My new resolution for 2016 is to just buy some cool knit socks and not break the time-space continuum. You’re welcome, feet and universe.
From Wesley Wildmon:
I have decided that this year I am going to make goals that are reasonable so I can feel the sense of accomplishment. Call me lazy or smart, I’ll take either as a compliment. I want to complete one book of any size. I have read parts of many books but rarely from cover to cover. Praying with my family more consistently would also be a New Year’s resolution. I would like to give Satan fewer footholds in my life and sin less so that I can see clearly and love unconditionally for my family. Lastly, I would like to prioritize my time better on the weekends. I know there is no correlation between these, but they are a few of the goals I have for 2016.
From Breanne Tull:
I do not make New Year’s resolutions. I have done them in the past and by the time January 3rd rolls around I have broken them. If I were to make one though it would be to sleep a full 8 hours every night. I would also set a goal to eat dinner with my family while our food is still hot. Did I mention that I have three kids? That’s my number one reason for not having resolutions every year. I would probably forget what it was by the end of the first week. I would, however, like to revolutionize my six-year-old into getting ready for school in less than an hour, my two-year-old to be kind to his big brother and stop beating him up, and my four-month-old into sleeping through the night. I have hopes and dreams for 2016. I just don’t see any of them becoming a reality. Happy New Year’s and may we all be blessed with valium.
From Canada Burkhalter:
Every year I pick multiple resolutions in hopes that one of them makes it to the end. Here is my current list starting with “most likely to happen” to “meh…maybe.”
Memorize scripture. Last year I memorized most of the Gospel of John, Chapter 1 and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I didn’t rush myself and I didn’t beat myself up if I missed a day of memorizing. Meditating on the verses and letting them marinate in my brain over a long period of time worked better than any memorization technique I’ve ever used.
Find ways to reduce stress in my day-to-day life.
Sing more (also a stress reducer).
Watch less television and read/listen to more books.
Re-learn how to write in Elvish. I could do it so well back in High school and it looks cool so why not?
From Stacy Long:
My New Year’s Resolution is to make no resolutions - because I will have already accomplished and completed all the things I needed to have done before the end of year 2015. I will begin 2016 with a blank slate, open to the possibilities of what the year can bring, and hopefully without revisiting any of the issues that I dealt with the previous year. The things I look forward to for 2016 are not things I alone can decide, and so I make no resolutions for them. I’ll just leave the door open and sweep the threshold clean so that I can be prepared for what the year brings.
From Chris Woodward:
James tells us to not worry about tomorrow and instead focus on today, leaving things up to God's will (James 4:13-17). However, Paul writes about forgetting the past and striving forward to what lies ahead with Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-15). Bottom line, do not spend too much time thinking about what you want to do next year but know that it is okay to seek ways to better yourself. This would include things like "Watch Pride and Prejudice with my wife without pride and prejudice" or "Spend less time watching my hapless sports teams." Honestly, those are things I want to do in the new year. I also want to write like my teammates at Engage and One Million Dads. They get down deep, while I'm still wading in the kiddie pool. Thankfully, God is no respecter of persons and sees us all the same.
Speaking of God, I also want to pray more, do more evangelism, and be a better Sunday school teacher in 2016. It is painful to admit, but I see weaknesses in these areas, and I want to make improvements. It won't be easy, and I may not keep my resolutions. Still, I would rather try than not make an effort at all. If you aim for nothing, you will hit it every time.
Whatever you decide to do in 2016, be sure to share truth and apply Scripture.
From Teddy James:
I only have one resolution for 2016: survive. I have a three-year-old, a two-year-old and a six-week-old at home. Sleep and I have long distance relationship and I can see sanity packing its suitcases for a prolonged vacation.
But if I can move beyond the survival stage of parenting, I will keep my other goals simple as well. I want to love my wife better is 2016 than I did in 2015 (a resolution I make every year). I have a goal of having “daddy dates” with all three of my children at regular intervals.
On the practical side, I have always wanted to memorize a large block of Scripture like the Sermon on the Mount. Since I’m going to be awake 20 hours of the day, maybe this is a good time to get started on that. Lastly, I hope to move past chapter three of the novel I have been writing. I’ve been on chapter three for three years, so maybe I can write chapter four in the next twelve months and then I will have written my first novel by 2080.
There are a few of our New Year’s resolutions. What do you hope to accomplish in 2016? Have any tips for how we can accomplish our goals (for those of us who set goals)? What articles would you like Engage to cover in 2016? Let us know in the comments.
