“What’s that?” I can hear someone asking, “Hoodie-What?”  No.  It’s Hoodie-Hoo.  It’s the day wherein we are all urged to go outside and shout “Hoodie-Hoo,” to chase away winter and bring in spring.  It’s an actual holiday.  Believe me.  It’s got a website and everything.

Of course, February could change this, but so far this winter has been just fine with me.  Goldilocks would love this winter.  It’s not too hot and not too cold.  It’s been just right.

I started the new year with some readjustments around the house.  We’re back on the “healthy lifestyle” bandwagon at my home, and I’m here to tell you, it’s a major effort.  This Dr., to whom I recently went, started describing her idea of a healthy meal by drawing a circle on a piece of paper.  “Let’s say this circle is your plate,” the Dr. said.  Then she drew a line dividing my “plate” equally in half.  “This half,” she said, pointing to the left, the ‘sinister’ side, “is for all of your vegetables.”  She drew another line dividing the right half into quarters.  “This top quarter,” she advised, “is for your lean meats.  The bottom quarter is for your carbs.”  She then went on to advise me that I was limited on the carbs and proteins, but I could pretty much have all of the vegetables that I wanted.

I quickly pointed out what I saw as the flaw in her diagram.  “All of the vegetables that I wanted” could most easily fit into one of the quarter-plate slots on the right, whereas the half-plate, on the left, would be better served hosting a juicy slab of grilled steak.  She remained clinically detached and unsympathetic.

I then explained that “all of the vegetables that I wanted” consisted chiefly of sweet corn and various iterations of the potato family.  I was then told, in no uncertain terms, that neither of those “vegetables” were actually “vegetables” as far as this demonstration was concerned, and in fact, those items should properly be placed on the “carb quarter-plate” section.  To that I strongly objected saying, “But if those go there, then there won’t be any room on my ‘plate’ for my dessert!”

“Exactly,” agreed Dr. Killjoy.

I wish there were a way to say “Hoodie-Hoo” to bad health habits.  Wouldn’t it be great just to wish your troubles away: to chase away the bad and welcome in what’s good for you?  Life doesn’t work that way, does it?  We discover, often to our regret, that habits are hard to break.

But if that’s true about bad habits, then why is it we don’t put more effort into developing those good habits that life (and spirituality) require?  The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go,  And when he is old he will not depart from it.”  (Proverbs 22:6 NKJV)  I think that verse speaks something into the responsibility of parents to instill good habits into their children.  And as we grow older, we are to become responsible for ourselves.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got plenty of habits to relearn.  They won’t go away by my shouting at (or about) them.  (Just ask my wife.)  They will change through effort and discipline.  And it wouldn’t hurt to add in lots of prayers.  I’ll need those, certainly.

What about you?  Does my story remind you of something in your life you’ve been meaning to change?  Have you been hollering your version of “Hoodie-Hoo” at the problem, but it just won’t go away?  Why not take the first step towards a new life today?    If it’s a spiritual problem you’re wanting to change, then that first step begins with Jesus.

Praying for you as, together, we step into a better tomorrow,

Pastor Clint

You may be familiar with my stance in years past of being critical toward “New Year’s Resolutions.”  I have found little use for them and have scorned their practice.  I have been reading something recently that has caused me to revisit this position.

In his 2011 book, ‘Thirsting for God,” Gary L. Thomas makes a strong case for goal-setting as a part of discipleship.  He notes that, for most believers, the goal of the Christian life is salvation.  Since salvation was won by Jesus on the cross and is a free gift for the believer upon repentance, the new believer has received the goal of Christianity the moment of their conversion.  Thomas says, “We’ve started at the finish line.  All that is left to do is hold on and wait for the award ceremony to begin. (pg. 20)”

Unfortunately, this often leaves one with a stunted form of spirituality.  The church is left “more like an evangelistic club than a place where people can grow deep” in the things of God.”

Thomas goes on to posit that the first step toward “an authentic Christian spirituality” is to get a clear picture of a mature Christian.  The Bible and history gives us many examples of people devoted to Christian maturity.  If we ignore their examples our spiritual growth, if it happens at all, will be haphazard and random.  Thomas argues that believers should set goals for their spiritual development and measure their progress against them.  As John Climacus wrote in his “Ladder of Divine Ascent,” – “Regarding every vice and virtue, we must unceasingly scrutinize ourselves to see what point we have reached, a beginning, a middle or the end.”

With this in mind, I plan to spend the first several days of this new year doing some “goal tending.”  In that, I intend to spiritually survey where I am and where I should be going, with God’s help.  I am certain that Gary’s book will help me in this.  He lays out some great historical examples and explains how those people strove for God.  By this time next month, I hope to be “pressing on” and “striving” (to use some Biblical words) toward the goal that God reveals for my spiritual journey this coming year.

How about you?  What is your goal for spiritual growth?  Do you even have one?  Are you reaching for one now?  What do you believe God would like you to become in this new year?  Without a goal, how will you know if you made it, or if you were close or even got half-way?

Praying for your “goal tending” in the year ahead,

Pastor Clint

Watch Gary Thomas here: