Finishing sentences

Posted on June 27, 2014July 16, 2014 by Matt Todd

A few days ago, I asked this question on the Life in the Fishbowl facebook page:

“Pick a number between 1 and 449.”

I know. I know. An odd request. But here’s the results – 303, 52, 225, 322, 352, and pi. I know. I know. Everyone’s a comedian.

And now you’re asking, “So what?”

I know. I would be, too. In fact, I probably would’ve stopped reading this post by now because it really isn’t making any sense. Fortunately, I’m going to change that right about…now.

The method to my madness

Back when I was doing youth ministry full-time, one of my favorite games to play was “Would you rather…” Someone would pick a number and I’d read the number’s corresponding question. Stuff like, “Would you rather fly or read minds?” People who would rather fly would go to the left side of the room and people who would rather read minds would gather in the right side of the room. It was a great way to learn how other people in our ministry thought. What was important to them? What made their minds tick? It also opened the door to some more important questions later down the road.

I also had a list of unfinished sentences. I used it on occasion, but not nearly as often. I probably should’ve used it as my go-to tool because there’s a lot of potential in those questions.

I rediscovered the unfinished sentences and thought it would be an interesting exercise for this blog. Each week for the next several weeks, I’m going to finish one of the unfinished sentences that everyone picked when they chose their numbers.

You’re invited

This could be a fun writing exercise and should help force me to stretch a little out of my comfort zone. But it doesn’t have to be limited to me. You’re invited to join in the process. Each Monday, I’ll post the unfinished sentence for the week. If the unfinished sentence inspires you to write something, I’d love to share it. Feel free to send it to me and I’ll publish it here. I’m also going to encourage my family to write their thoughts, too.

I’m looking forward to doing this and I hope you are too. This could be pretty fun.

And just to make life easier for you, here’s the list of unfinished sentences that were chosen. That way, if you read one that sparks your interest, you have time to write it ahead of time.

The Schedule

June 30 “It’s difficult for me to have disciplined, consistent time with God because…” (#303)
July 7 “Next year looks better to me because…” (#52)
July 14 “If I could change one thing about the way I was raised, it would be…” (#225)
July 21 “The roadblocks that keep me from having greater faith in God are…” (#322)
July 28 “My friends pressure me to…” (#352)
August 4 “When I need to go somewhere to think, I will most often…”
– or –
“The one think I could do this week to strengthen the spiritual foundation of my life is…” (#3 or #314 – aka pi)

Are you ready? Let’s do this!

Update (July 16, 2014)

Did I mention that those dates weren’t set in stone? I’m going to follow the sequence of questions, but don’t expect one every Monday. That original schedule might have been a bit ambitious for the middle of the summer with all of the family activities that have been happening.

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Matt Todd

Howdy. I'm Matt. My wife, Christy, and I have four kids and two dogs, I'm passionate about orphan care. I'm a die-hard fan of the Evansville Aces, the Indiana Hoosiers, and Star Wars. I'm trying to live life by the Todd family motto: "It behooves us to live!"