November Review

I've committed to sharing my progress on 3 specific goals for 2013. With one month to go, we're down to crunch time. Here's my progress from November:

Goal 1: Read 25 books.
I read two more in November. I finished C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series with the book The Last Battle. If you've never read the series as an adult, I'd highly recommend it. I'm struggling with the idea that I don't have another one to look forward to. Brilliant stuff. I also read Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark, which was also quite good if you're interested in seeing writing advice through a different lens. I'm now at 23 books for the year.

Goal 2: Write 75 blog posts.
Not a great month for writing. This is only my 5th post, which puts me at 69 for the year. Six in December won't be impossible, but it will be tight. I did like what I did write for the month, though; anytime I can reference Paul Harvey or our Christmas tree celebration, I'm having fun while writing.

Goal 3: Write 25 letters.
I finished a letter I was in the middle of and got 3 more sent out. This was a better month than October, but I still would have liked to have gotten one or two more done. The month is done, and I'm at 21 for the year. Can I get 4 out in December? It will require my most productive letter writing month of the year.

The Outlook:
I'm at least one letter and one blog post behind where I intended to be. Being sick for 4 days in November and the beginning of the basketball season can be blamed, but it really doesn't matter. Something always comes up when you're chasing goals, so those obstacles must be overcome. It's obviously a concern going into the final month that I know I'll be out of town for 4-5 days over Christmas and I'll have quite a few basketball games on Tuesday and Friday nights. I want to come through on this, though. I've committed the year to accomplishing it, and it will be hugely disappointing to close out the year on this blog by admitting defeat.

Quotes to Note:

• "You can't catch sin. You don't catch sin by hanging out with sinners. Don't forget, you're still a sinner too. Yes, you are saved by grace and you now have the presence of the Holy Spirit. You're no longer a slave to sin, but you cannot look down on others with an air of superiority. After all, salvation is a gift of God's grace." - Matt Chandler
• "Of 100 unsaved men, one might read the Bible, but the other 99 will read the Christian." - Jefferson Bethke
• "The really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not moments of self-satisfaction but self-forgetfulness." - John Piper

Good Articles:

• Five Churchy Phrases. . .: An important look at the words we use (and abuse).
• Delayed Adolescence: As more and more people wait to simply grow up, here are some implications for the church. 
• The Guys in the Field are Right and the Staff is Wrong: Good comments from Colin Powell. 

November's great victory: the tree is up, the stockings are hung with care, and a stack of Christmas books call for attention from me and a lap full of daughters.