resolutions are for amateurs

I don't make resolutions.  Follow-through is not exactly my thing.  You'll see soon enough when I go weeks or months or decades without updating this blog.  I suppose I have made resolutions before, but none that I kept seriously for an entire year, that's certain.  This year I'm breaking my resolution rule in a couple of ways.  One, that I won't tell you too much about lest I jinx it, relates to this gem of a blog.  Perhaps it will just become apparent to you as the days and months unfold. 

The other one, the big one, the one to which I really feel committed is project 4:4.  Under the leadership of the wise elders at my church (maybe someday I'll devote an entire post to my church and its leadership, because I'm really a fan), we are undertaking a church-wide project to read the Bible in one year.  I've tried this once before on my own, but I only made it to I or II Kings.  Besides just getting bogged down in some of the drier passages, I kinda felt like trying to read the Bible on a timetable was perhaps not the best way to go about it.  It just seemed clinical, a task to be completed, a box to check.  I'm sure part, perhaps most, of that was in my attitude, my standard reaction to assigned reading.  I'm more optimistic that this time around I'm going to have a better attitude and a better outcome.  We're using The Daily Bible which is in chronological order with commentaries by F. LaGard Smith, and our adult classes and Sunday sermons for the next year will tie into each week's readings. The idea (besides the benefit of reading the Bible, I suppose) is to connect as many members as possible through this shared experience, build community, and stuff.  For those who are truly interested, check out PV's website for the discussion guides that we'll be using.  I can even give you the member password if you need it.

I know of several folks who are going to blog at least highlights of the process.  And while that's not necessarily my intention, I feel fairly certain that project 4:4 will make some appearances in my ramblings here--or it will if I'm doing it right.  In the meantime, I've read the first day's assignment, the first 3 chapters of Genesis, and I feel pretty good about the whole project and my ability to stay the course, and maybe even become a better person in the process.

Here are a few links to some PV bloggers I'm going to be following over the course of the year:

PV Staffer Steven Hovater (This whole project kinda seems like Steven's idea, so I'm sure he'll have plenty to say as the year progresses.)
PV Staffer Keith Brenton  (I really enjoyed Keith's thoughts today.  If you're only going to follow one link, follow this one.)
My friend Lacey Mauk  (I regularly follow Lacey's blog, and I'm pretty excited that project 4:4 is going to give her a reason to blog more often.)

So stay tuned . . . I've got big plans for the year.