92 Days....

Tomorrow is October 1, the first day of the last quarter of the year. God willing, I have 92 mornings left in 2017, 92 days between now and the end of the year. I like clean beginnings, and the fact that October 1 falls on a Sunday has got me motivated to nail down some goals for the rest of 2017. Call them End Year Resolutions.Like you, I began the new year with hope, and wrote down some goals for 2017. Now, however, some of those goals seem unattainable, and some just don't interest me any more. So, I'm spending some time today to gain clarity and focus on what I really want to accomplish in the last three months of 2017. I'd like to share one of my year-end goals with you, in hopes that some of you will join me.

"Consistency is More Important Than Intensity"

I believe that consistency is more important than intensity. In other words, sustaining a behavior over time is more valuable than an intense but brief change of behavior. So, I've staked out a few habit goals between now and the end of the year, one of which has to do with daily scripture reading. I've written before about the power in spending the first few minutes of every day in prayer and scripture: it's?a keystone habit that will affect every area of your life. So, I'm re-committing myself to spending the first 30 minutes of every day in silence,?prayer, and scripture. ?(For me, my scripture reading is that day's portion from The One Year Bible.)What about you? I'd love to hear some of your year-end resolutions in the comments below. P.S. It really has to be your first minutes every morning. If you think, Let me first check my texts or see the previous evening‘s news or briefly scroll through Instagram, and then I’ll read and pray? it just won‘t work. If you crack open the door of your mind to the Cloud? even just the tiniest bit, it will force the door wide open and invite in all its distracting (but oh-so-beguiling) friends.First things first. Then and only then let the iPhone turn you into a zombie.