Welcome to The Year of the Bear

At some point in my relationship with my fiancee, I had the bizarre idea to call each other “[adjective] bear” – like, when you’re ready for bed, you’re "sleepy bear," or "tired bear;" if you don’t understand something, you’re “confused bear”; when you know what you should do but don’t want to, you’re “ornery bear” – you get the idea. Now I’m thinking, when we get married and buy a house, we’ll get a giant carved wooden bear for the end of our driveway. I’ve taken on this identity of the bear. Funny how things happen, sometimes.

I’ve had a lot of other identities throughout my life, maybe you can relate to some of them:

I’m the guy who was never much of a runner.

I’m the guy who would mountain bike five to seven miles, and call it a good ride. I’m the guy who never did more than one lap.

I'm the guy who ate 3 bowls of cereal for breakfast, and considered it a failure if I couldn't eat the whole box of Oreos in one sitting.

I’m the guy who was homeschooled, lived his first 18 years at home, and didn’t get out much.

I’m the guy who wouldn’t make a good spiritual leader.

I’m the guy who wouldn’t be able to find a good Christian girl to marry, because I’m divorced.

I’m the guy who has only written one book, and keeps rewriting it forever and never moves on.

I’m that guy.

But, lately, I haven’t liked that I was that guy; it’s never sat well with me. I felt like those things weren’t true, or at least shouldn’t define me. And, you know what? I’m right.

2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”

Well, I’m in Christ; have been for a while. It just took me a while to realize it wasn’t enough to read the passage – it’s not even enough to believe it; you have to decide to live it.

So, this year, because Christ is in me, I’m going to run a half-marathon.*

Because of Christ, I’m going to complete a 3-hour mountain bike race.*

Because of Christ, I'm forming better eating habits and taking care of my body.

Because of Christ, I’m traveling to a couple different states, by car and by plane.

Because of Christ, I’m going to get involved in my church and intentionally pass on what wisdom I’ve gained, wherever I can.

Because of Christ, I’m getting married to my fiancée.

Because of Christ, I’m going to write two novellas and another novel, and inexhaustibly pursue finding an agent for my writing.

Because of Christ in me, this is going to be a year full of finally doing what I’ve dreamed and hoped of doing for many, many years.

Because of Christ in me, this is going to be the year of the bear.

Want to join me? Theyearofthebear.blogspot.com

*I’ll explain within the next few posts what Jesus has anything to do with marathons and mountain biking.