A Year in Retrospect

I borrowed this idea from my friend Meredith. I really hope she doesn't mind.

1) Was 2006 a good year for you? Yes, it was a great year.

2) What was your favorite moment of the year? Too easy. The birth of my daughter, Cameron Alysse.

3) What was your least favorite moment of the year? Confessing (to that person) that I have not loved a brother in Christ well.

4) Where were you when 2006 began? I honestly don't remember if I was in Chattanooga or South Carolina. Sad.

5) Whom were you with? The fact that I have no idea tells you how memorable it was. I was probably asleep, in bed, with my bride.

6) Where will you be when 2006 ends? Clarity conference with Concord students.

7) Whom will you be with when 2006 ends? Let's see...Candace, Jillian, Olivia, Brooke, Josh, Adam, Shane, Ben, Michelle, Colton, Jackie, James, Courtney, Kyle, Corinne, Andrew, Abbey, Kendra, some student I've never met, and some adults while the band Leeland is rockin' the house.

8) Did you keep your New Year's resolution of 2006? I never make resolutions.

9) Do you have a New Year's resolution for 2007? I resolve not to resolve anything.

10) Did you fall in love in 2006? Yes.

11) If yes, with whom? Ms. Rice Krispy Treat

12) If yes, do they know? I hope so.

13) Are you still in love with them? Always and forever.

14) Do you regret it? No.

15) Did you breakup with anyone in 2006? No.

16) Did you make any new friends in 2006? Yes. Well, I would say that they are more like acquaintance's, but it was a pleasure to meet and know them.

17) Who are your favorite new friends? This is such an unfair question. What if my "non-favorite" friends read this and boycott our friendship. Or what if my "old" friends read this and think I've replaced them with an upgrade model?

18) What was your favorite month of 2006? May was a really good month, but it's impossible to bypass July since it's the month I was born (5th) and Cameron was born (11th).

19) Did you travel outside of the US in 2006? Yes. Peru. Amazing country. Beautiful people.

20) How many different states did you travel to in 2006? Let's see...Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Minnesota.

21) Did you lose anybody close to you in 2006? Not particularly close to me, but close to people I care about.

22) Did you miss anybody in the past year? I miss David Rainer.

23) What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2006? Nothing really stands out. I didn't even watch that many movies (small children will do that to you). However, I did really enjoy Mission Impossible III.

24) What was your favorite song during 2006? :::shoulder shrug accompaning blank stare:::

25) What was your favorite record from 2006? I wore Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God out for the past two years; The Fray's How to Save a Life ; Jars of Clay's Good Monsters;

26) Did you see any concerts this year? Charlie Hall.

27) Did you have a favorite concert in 2006? No. I refuse to declare Charlie Hall winner by default.

28) Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2006? Define "a lot". Kidding. No.

29) Did you do a lot of drugs in 2006? I have to agree with Meredith that this is a dumb question.

30) Did you hope for something you didn't get in 2006? Of course, but it doesn't mean the hope proved false.

31) Did you do anything you're ashamed of this year? Too often.

32) What was the biggest lie you told in 2006? Too many promises made (to God), too few kept. Thank God for the Gospel.

33) What was the worst lie someone told you? I am a self-made, self-sufficient, self-sustaining man. Advertisers tell me this everyday.

34) Did you treat somebody badly in 2006? Yes, but for only 1/2 the year, and not as bad as 2005. This isn't a boast; it's a blessing.

35) Did somebody treat you badly in 2006? To my face, not that I am aware of.

36) How much money did you spend in 2006? Almost all that I have.

37) What was your proudest moment of 2006? My proudest is my most humiliating as I confessed a failure to love well, and asked for grace to love better. But my boast is not in my obedient response, but in God's enabling grace to respond obediently.

38) What was your most embarrassing moment of 2006? Tearing the crotch of my jeans minutes before teaching the students at Concord while playing ping-pong.

39) If you could go back in time to any moment of 2006 and change something, what would it be? There was a transforming, redemptive, character-forming reason for every act of obedience and defiance in 2006. I pray that God uses both monumental triumphs and horrendous defeats to make me more like Jesus.

40) What are your plans for 2007? Love God, my family, my neighbors and my enemies well.