2009 Recap

2009 was a good year.

Jan-April flew by.

May was a blur.  This thing happened where I got married.

Life slowed in June.

July I was gone almost every week.

August wasn’t much better. That’s when I went to Haiti.

September I started my reading kick.

October-December flew by.

Overall, from a ministry standpoint, I am satisfied. I’ve seen a lot of growth in some of my students. I see lights going on and people getting it. I feel like I matured and grew up a bit as I realized that things aren’t always peachy and awesome in ministry, and that sometimes, the worst part about ministry are the Christians. (Well, it’s the truth.)

From a reading standpoint:

1. Your First Two Years of Youth Ministry by Doug Fields
2. Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
3. One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven by Mark Cahill
4. What’s So Great About Christianity by Dinesh D’Souza
5. Serious Times by James Emery White
6. Crazy Love by Francis Chan*
7. I ❤ Mormons by David L. Rowe
8. Letters and Papers from Prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
9. Why Evolution Is True by Jerry Coyne
10. The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose
11. Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris
12. Once A Runner by John L. Parker, Jr.
13. Forgotten God by Francis Chan
14. The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns
15. Basic Christianity by John Stott
16. I Would Die For You by The Higgins Family
17. Turning Points by Mark A. Noll

* Crazy Love could easily be the most influential book that I have ever read.

I don’t really have a goal for 2010 as far as reading goes, other than to simply read more. I’m over halfway through with Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship and hope to finish it within the next week. After that, I don’t know what I’ll move on to. I’m pretty worn out, because the final 16 books on that list were read between September 17-December 31. Overkill?  Maybe.

Like Run 4 Haiti – here’s to hoping for more than one update a week.