Breakin' All the Rules

Many well intentioned people make New Year's resolutions each January. They hope that setting goals, restrictions, or rules for themselves will help shape their lives for the better. I am one of those people. But rather than list out my own resolutions for the new year, I think it would be more amusing to list how I broke each of them of them over the course of a single New Year's Eve youth all nighter... at a church, no less.

So here are all five infractions, each committed at Insomnia 2008 while the year was merely hours old:

1. I did not begin my Bible reading plan, or bring my Bible to the party at all for that matter . In recent years I have actually been pretty consistent at reading through the Bible each year (and after the party I started reading through it again). But I suppose hundreds of teenagers screaming in my ear, hanging off of me (literally), and randomly snapping cell phone pictures in my face does not create an ideal environment for Biblical study and reflection.

2. I did not arrive early for everything (although I was on time for everything). Our youth group arrived at Vancouver First Church of God way before the party kicked off with the inflatable prop challenges and Comedy Sportz troupe. After that, the only thing I arrived early for was the 1 a.m. pizza feed. And you can bet I stayed late for that.

3. I did not blog. My only quality computer time was spent receiving "professional" lessons on the mastery of Halo and Madden Football '06. A gamer I am not.

4. I did not get seven hours of sleep. This was an all night party. I didn't even drive the kids back to Aloha until 8 a.m., and then I worked my day job on New Year's Day. 'Nuff said.

5. I did not regularly lift weights with a newly added commitment to occasional cardio. Dodgeball balls just aren't that heavy, even when hurled for 3+ hours without a break until 6 a.m. High Schoolers, on the other hand... okay, so maybe I actually kept this resolution.

Happy New Year!