2017: By the Numbers

2017 has been a good year – here are a few significant numbers that help to illustrate this.

6 – This has to be at the top of the list. Linda and I went into 2017 with 3 grandkids and as we leave 2017 behind we now have 6 grandkids. We still find it hard to believe that we are even old enough to be grandparents but we are very blessed by our kids and their kids.

5 – Linda and I were in Poland in August for a mission trip with our church and then stayed over in Europe to take an anniversary cruise around Scandinavia. 5 represents the number of countries we went to that I previously had never been to: Estonia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. This brings my total of countries visited to 47. My Mom built a love for travel into me as a young lad and it is something I still enjoy doing.

4,000,000+ – Just before 2017 started I got a Fitbit and set a goal for the year of 70,000 steps per week (10,000 per day). I am happy to say that I have eclipsed that goal by averaging 11-12,000 steps each day. My Fitbit has been a good motivation tool for me as I try to keep exercising in my older years.

59 – This is a huge number because it represents the fact that I am still alive. 59 years old. Or to say it another way – I am well into my 60th year. I know that by most standards I am an older man now but that does not stop me from still thinking of myself as a young man – and acting that way on many occasions.

24 – This is the number of years that I have served on staff at Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Durham. I serve with an awesome group of other pastors among an awesome family of believers that encourage me as I seek to encourage them. It has been said, “Find a job that you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” This is how I feel about working at my church.

23 – This year I started a series of blog posts that I call “The Pop Pop Epistles”  – subtitled “Legacy Letters For My Grandkids.” To date I have written 23 of them. It is one way that I am trying to invest in them and leave something behind long after I am with the Lord.

And since I am talking about numbers, here are a great few verses from Numbers 6:24-26 that is my blessing for you as we move into 2018…