2019: A Personal Year in Review
Here are a few notable things I did in 2019. This is mostly for my own reflection and entertainment. I did similar things back in 2018, 2017, and 2016.
Became a New Dad
My daughter was born in January 2019, which officially makes me a dad. To state the obvious, being a father is much different from not being a father. Especially in that it’s a permanent change in my life. My wife and I now have another human who is dependant on us for basically everything.
There’s too much to share on being a new dad than space to share it. I’ll just say that all of the cliches people tell you about parenting are true. But you’ll never really understand them until you become one yourself.
Moved into a New House
We bought our second home, which happened to be about a mile from our first one. Initially, I wasn’t ready to move. But I was willing to humor my wife by looking at houses in our area. This was primarily due to having a new kid and realizing that they take up way more space than expected.
We looked at a few houses that convinced me we shouldn’t move. Then the last house we looked at convinced me that we should move. Despite some annoying hiccups during the closing process, we now own a home that’s walkable to downtown restaurants, the library, and a park.
Started a New Job
Earlier this year, the company I work for (Orange) started rethinking our marketing team structure. Once they had a new org chart, they started looking internally for people to fill some new positions. I was honored that they thought of me for one of those new roles.
In September, I transitioned from my editor role with Married People to join the communications team as the Director of Church Engagement for Orange Leaders. That means I oversee every way that our church partners engage with our leadership development brand.
Published a Second Book
After releasing The Original Storyteller in 2017, I knew I wanted to write a second book. I just wasn’t sure what it should be about. I had plenty of ideas — it was just a matter of picking one. Eventually, I settled on releasing a collection of short stories that I’d been working on for about a decade.
Serial Box actually went live on Amazon back in August 2019. But because of our new house, new baby, and my new job, I waited until November before actually telling anyone about it. Nevertheless, you can get a digital or print copy online now.
In case that wasn’t exciting enough, I also released The Original Storyteller as an audiobook. Fellow author Trevor Hamaker reached out and offered to narrate. He also introduced me to the ACX platform for audiobooks. Apparently creating an audiobook is easier than I realized.
Started Volunteering at my Church
My wife and I started attending Piedmont Church in Atlanta about two years ago. Ever since then, we’ve both wanted to get more involved. I used to lead the social media team at another church we used to attend. So it made the most sense for me to start volunteering in that area once again.
That may not sound like much, but since my job is helping churches with leadership and marketing, it means more when I start helping my own church with those same things. Since I’ve got a few other things going on, I’ve started helping a few hours per week. But we’ve got big plans to grow our social media engagement and following.
Wrote and Read
As in past years, I continued to write lots of articles for online publication. I got the chance to contribute to a few new platforms, including He Reads Truth, Help The Persecuted, ChurchLeaders.com, Parent Cue, and Brian Dodd on Leadership.
I got the opportunity to edit a book (May You) from New Name Ministries in Metro Atlanta. It’s a guide to their counseling ministry, which is being republished in 2020.
I read more than 60 books during 2019. This wasn’t too much of a stretch since I like to read. You can read my 5-word reviews of all these books.
Some other things I did
- Traveled to Indiana for the first time with the Orange Tour
- Developed a website for my good friend Todd Graham
- Earned a Content Marketing certification from HubSpot
- Joined the UGA Alumni mentor program
Some things I’d like to do in 2020
- Start attending a writing group on a regular basis
- Speak at That Church Conference in September
- Meet the people in my new neighborhood
- Travel to a new state with my wife
