David Russell

Happy New Year! It’s the season to reflect on the past and for vision of the future.

I’m busy tidying up projects from 2007 and preparing for the year to come. It seems every year I get into something new. Last year, it was photography. And getting into it changed my perspective on everything. The timing of that was perfect! Andrew arrived in September and his dad had a few months to get good enough with the camera to snap some cool shots of the kid. I’ve learned so much from photography—I’ll be shooting for the rest of my life!

This year, I want to really narrow my focus even more. I had the same goal in 2006 and truly ramped up my skills in web development. I also intended that year to produce a better practice regimen for music, but due to poor prioritizing of my personal time, I failed to really take my musicianship to the next level. In 2007, Missy and I felt God nudge us to serve at Georgetown. That was tremendous for me musically as I now lead worship,  organize music and guide the band each week. But it hasn’t really spawned a good practice schedule for me personally. So I want to commit to developing musically in 2008. Of course, I’ll continue to focus on web design and photography.

If there is any gift I would like to establish in my life, it would be a better sense of financial planning. The normal family budget, savings and retirement plans are fine. But I really want to learn about money and investing. We took a Crown course this summer through an NCC small group and that really re-energized me toward focusing on our finances. I want a portion of cash to work harder for us and I’d like to “play” a bit in the stock market. My wife will tell you that the area I’m most private about is our financial life. But I will probably find a mentor or two who can help me grasp some of these concepts and invest wisely. I spent two years as a business major and six years working for a regional bank, including experience in commercial banking. And yet I feel like I am at square one as I look at this stuff! It should be fun to watch those financial channels on TV that I am so used to skipping blindly past. My dad and brother are also into the market, so I should have some good company along the way.

Other goals this year:

• Get a business license
• Buy Invest in a Nikon D300 and Nikon 28-70mm lens
• Redevelop this site
• Teach what I know about web development and music

Blessings to all of you in the new year. I pray for health and peace in your life.

Tagged: new, year, goals, future, photography, music, web design, finance, money, investing