Roughly this time last year, upon the conclusion of the celebration of my birthday, I posted a status update on my Facebook page. It read, quite simply, “The Year of Jim.” The sentiment, offered in jest, nonetheless was meant to propose that I felt an anticipation of accomplishment in the following 365 days. Looking back, there was a certain element of truth to the statement. In the past year, I’ve been granted the opportunity to pursue my dream job, travel the country, and watch my sports teams accomplish things some thought were impossible: an Auburn national championship, a Baylor bowl game, and a Rangers World Series appearance. On a subjective ranking of the years of my life, the preceding would have to land somewhere near the top.
Birthdays are milestones, markers on the journey of life that afford us the opportunity to reflect and reconsider. I’ve been doing some of each recently, and would like to share with you my observations. That status update, while completely unintentional, was undeniably selfish. The purpose of my remark was to signal the embarking of an exciting new year, but after looking back on what I said, I can now recognize that the focus of my endeavor was entirely on myself. That must change.
If last year was “The Year of Jim,” then I’d like to publicly, humbly, offer that the next shall be given a new moniker, “The Year of You.” Annis del Vobis. I don’t know what that will entail, what precisely will be different or how it will manifest itself, but throwing down the proverbial gauntlet in quest of an outward focus. I offer this in full recognition that there will be numerous moments where I revert back to more selfish ambition, where I place the needs of myself above the needs of others. This isn’t a promise of perfection or an announcement of my enrollment in the monastery. It is, however, something that I hope will have a profound impact on the lives of those around me.
Now, those of you who know me best may ask, why are you writing this two weeks before your birthday? Well, The Year of You is getting off to quite a bang. On Wednesday, I’m headed out to Kijabe, Kenya, as part of a group of students heading into the missions field to love on the people of Africa. If you’re reading this post, it means you have at least a passing interest in my affairs, so I would like to ask for your prayers while I’m overseas. I won’t be in the States to celebrate my birthday, so let me preemptively offer each and every one of you my thanks.
This is gonna be a great year.
