Building a Tower

Quote: "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time." - Author Unknown

I've been working recently on a Seven Year Plan for my life. It has been a very challenging process. At first I thought it would be easy and that I just needed to put down the significant goal for my life (my Big Dream) and then a few steps that I would need to take to achieve it. However, it has proven to be a lot more involved than that. My goal is big so there are a lot of things I need to do to achieve it. Also, there are a lot of secondary considerations that don't relate directly to the goal but influence my ability to achieve it or the quality of life I will have at the end of the seven years.

So why am I doing this? Well, I met with the senior pastor (Tri Robinson) of my church recently to talk about my Big Dream and he suggested that a Seven Year Plan would be a good start. I didn't know exactly what a plan like this looked like so I did a little research on the internet. I found some good material and cobbled together my own format. My plan includes the following categories:

Spiritual, Personal, Relational, Ministry, Educational, Financial, Health, Vocational, Pleasure

I fretted for a while over the various categories but the list above works for me. Some of them are broken down into sub-categories. For example, the Relational category is broken down into Marriage, Family, and Friends. For now that’s about as deep as I want to go into the mechanics of the plan itself. What I really wanted to talk about is the value that I am getting from the process.

I was reminded of the alleged Harvard study that was conducted over a ten year time period. The findings of the study revealed that only 3% of the individuals in the study regularly committed their goals to writing and pursued them. The study also revealed that the net worth of that 3% exceed the remaining 97% ten years later. I don't know if the story is factual or not but I suspect that the message conveyed is true regardless. Every course I have taken that is designed to increase personal effectiveness has espoused the merits of written goals.
I also remembered the passage in Luke where Jesus talked about planning to build a tower:

Luke 14:25-33 - Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

I looked that passage up and read it because I wanted to grasp the broader context. I was taken aback by what I read. Jesus used very strong language here to communicate the cost of discipleship. He gives us two examples of the necessity of planning and they are book ended by reminders of the cost of true discipleship. I must admit that sometimes my enthusiasm for ministry wanes. In fact, at times I am downright afraid of what it will cost me. And then I am reminded that nothing else matters. When this thought makes its way down into my heart I am at peace. If only I could trap it there and make it stay.

The plan helps to stay on course by reminding me where I am headed. I think I will also add some encouraging scriptures and thoughts to it that remind me why I need to stay on course.