VIRB

This is the year of TLC for TLC. In other words, I've been trying to get my crap together so that I can be the best version of myself for God, others, and myself. My New Year's Resolutions were:

- Part of my day that nothing infringes on #1: Jesus.
Reading the Word, praying, listening to Him, listening to sermons (Matt Chandler, Perry Noble, Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, and Greg Pinkner are my faves).

- Part of my day that nothing infringes on #2: Gym.
I've lost 30 pounds this year, and I'm not stopping there. Bring it.

Here are the ways that God has brought other healthy changes in my life and what I've done to work that out:

- Overhauled my schedule to where I work no more than 40 hours a week. That's a big deal for me. I used to work around 80-100.

- Tried to get 8 hours sleep at night. I spent 8 years getting 4-5 hours per night, so I'm seeing the benefits of sleep now for sure!

- Narrowed my commitments and prioritized my relationships according to the places and the people with whom I believe God wants me to spend my time. I need people who mentor me, people to mentor, and people to be on the level with -- and most of these need to be people who are in my life on a regular, frequent basis.

- Visited the doctors that I've been avoiding. It ended up being far more encouraging than I ever thought! Woo!

Most surprising thing I've learned during this time.

During this overhaul of my life, I realized that I'm more of an introvert than I ever knew. That doesn't mean that I don't love people -- I so do! It means that I re-charge when I'm alone. I need downtime. The best way that I can serve the people I meet on tour is to have lots of time alone to order my head and my heart. I've been slighting audiences for years, and it breaks my heart that I'm just now realizing this. I am so sorry to all of you who have gotten less than the best I have to offer. I'm doing what I can to fix that, but sometimes it may look like I'm not offering as much by way of time.

Here are the things I'm resolving to stick to for the rest of the year:

1. Gym. Every single day that I'm home and every possible day that I'm on the road.
2. Finish the new book by the end of September, edits and all.
3. Churn out at least 4 songs that I LOVE by the end of the year.
4. Try very hard to get at least 7 hours sleep each night. If possible, 8 hours.

Now it's out there for everyone to see. The past 7.5 months have been awesome, and I'm looking forward to the ways God will grow me and change me during the rest of 2008. Wooooo!!!