6 Things to Grow in 2009

I was reading a blog entry and stumble upon 41 things that ministers should do... Find it refreshing and true. Narrowed it down to 6 things I would like to grow in the year 2009. Here goes...

1. Learn from other people. Look out for those who have continued to grow, develop and learn. Be a lifelong learner. Read. Ask others questions. When you are with other people, look for the opportunity to ask good questions. Resist the temptation to spend the bulk of your conversations talking on and on about your church.

16. Cultivate and nurture your friendships. Friends are so important. Good friends have a way of replenishing a person’s soul. Sometimes, my days are very, very stressful. I have found that a brief phone call to a friend or lunch with a friend can be refreshing, like a mini-vacation in the middle of the day.

17. Remember that there is no substitute for face-to-face communication. Yes, e-mail, text messaging, and other forms of communication are all helpful. Yet, they do not take the place of actual conversation with people who are right in front of us. I once heard of a family who spent an evening together — sort of. Throughout the evening, they e-mailed one another. Hmmm. I’m just not sure that is an adequate substitute for real conversation.

25. Each weekend, take time to review the previous week. Pray about the previous week and the upcoming week. Review all of your to do lists, your project lists, and your calendar. (David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done, has been very helpful to me in this regard.)

26. Take care of your body. The whole person needs care and preventive maintenance. It is amazing how some of us can be so attentive to our souls and then ignore or even mistreat our bodies. We are whole persons.

28. Develop at least some friends outside your congregation. This is one of the most important things that I have learned in the last twenty years of ministry. These friendships have nurtured and encouraged me in many ways.

(Taken from http://godhungry.org)