brockmans blog

It is cold outside (yes, even in Orlando). My back is still quite sore from my tumble in the snow. I was content working on email. Cole (soon to be nine ) was bent on going shopping for his sister Madison who will turn 14 tomorrow. He must have asked me 20 times to take him. The last time he asked I thought he really does have a good idea. I love his heart to give to his sister. I want to encourage him. I would like to spend time with him. Lets go.

As we headed to the shop Cole had fixed in his mind that he wanted to get a gift for Madison I thought about his frequent requests. If he had asked only once I know we would not have gone. It took me a while to get friendly with his idea. We did go and it was fun and productive.

We hit the store for Madison, now to the store Cole wanted to look at.

For some reason the story of the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8) who kept asking the judge for her want/need came to mind. Jesus was teaching about prayer. He basically instructed us to keep asking Him for what we want/need. I thought of some things for which I have prayed as well as some needs I need to ask of our Father. I am encouraged to ask, and to keep asking.

I hope my 2010 theme will be all about prayer. I would say that is my resolution. Prayer.  God willing I will be transformed by this. How about you? Care to join me?

A new year brings a new or continuing challenge and that is to read through the bible. Each year I do this a different theme seems to emerge in my awareness. One year it was God’s majesty, another year God’s power, another year was man’s (me) sin, and so on. To give variety I have tried various versions of the bible. I love being refreshed by the whole counsel of God each year.

Last year I listened to the bible and plan to do so again this year. The internet makes getting to various reading plans so easy. In fact, one of my favorite offerings is from a site called YouVersion.com. They have aggregated 20 different reading plans that you can use, and they are all FREE! Check these out here. As I mentioned I like listening to the bible and YouVersion has various audio programs as well, so you can look at them while you are there checking out the reading programs. Biblegateway.com has also made available  reading programs and various audio bibles. Join me (and 10′s of thousands of other Christ followers I trust) as we journey through the bible this year.

After my last surgery on my back I had acceptted the reality I might never ski again. I am so gratiful I can and I enjoyed two beautful days swooshing down the slopes. However, on the second day I hit a depression in flat light on a run and my right ski popped off. I went down pretty hard and have had to manage a very tender back since. I will heal. I will just enjoy the incredible beauty around me and maybe a good book today.

I am not the best money manager. Lisa and I participated in a Crown class a few years ago. It was a life changing experience. It was only a beginning, however. I volunteered to facilitate four more Crown classes since that time. In part I wanted to pass on what I experienced. Another part was that I really wanted to be part of the vision of Crown. However, I will admit my greatest motivation was that I wanted to become even better at all the personal finance skills. A year ago I went through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, again because I wanted get better. Hey when you were as poor at it as I was you can learn a lot, and there has been plenty of room to grow.

I can coach people in personal finance now, but I will admit that I still have more to apply. Dave Ramsey says that money is active and you have to watch it for it is always moving. Staying on top of that movement still challenges me. We have had a couple of years of our best funding, but starting in July there was a shift. Then in October we received our first short paycheck in 2 1/5 years. That was a wake up call. I had become lax and did not recognize the changes and challenges this current economy is bringing to all of us. Since October we have not had a full paycheck, and I will admit that there is a building anxiety in me. This graph of our net income over time says plenty.

Yikes!

The 6th chapter of Matthew has always been dear to me, and I am often thinking about it as we face these challenging times. Verses 19 and following to the end of the chapter is a frequent meditation for me. Pray for me that God would focus my faith on him and grow what little faith I have into something that truly glorifies Him.

If you can relate leave a comment and I will pray for you as well. Also I would like to send an occasional email update to you, and since I am not a prolific writer you will never get a ton of mail from me) so please share with me your address. Click on the “subscribe to” link at the top of this page. There will be a simple form you can fill out where you can share your email address.

Thank you to all reading this. I know Lisa would agree that we covet your prayers and we are glad that we are in this with you and not alone by ourselves.