Think About It

For the last several months I have been driving by a business that has a sign that says “Coming in 2022”. I have watched the progress with interest because there is a chance I would do business with them – but the other day, as I drove by and saw the sign once again, it dawned on me that time was running out. If they are going to open in 2022, they’d better hurry! As I processed this process, I got to thinking back to the beginning of 2022 when we made promises (I believe we called them “New Year’s Resolutions”) about what we hoped to accomplish this year. Guess what, we only have a couple of weeks to accomplish our goals. Traditionally, when we think about resolutions this time of year, we dismiss them as failures or add them to the list we plan to make in the next year, but its not too late to make the changes we proposed by in January. Some of our promises to ourselves might take more time to accomplish than the time we have left in the year, but we can get started. (It might ...

Tomorrow is my annual dip in the Potomac River. There are two reasons I am willing to go into the Potomac in December: first, because the jellyfish are all dead and second because it raises money for Special Olympics. Each year, dozens of us gather along the banks of the chilly waters of St. Mary’s County to “splash” for a good cause. Sure, there are saner ways to raise money for a good cause, but sometimes being a little bit “off” makes it more fun. People often ask me why I do this foolishness. I usually smile and come up with some kind of off-the-wall comment; but, in all honesty, I do it because it is the least I can do to help someone enjoy something I tend to take for granted. I have been able to compete in athletic events all my life; but some people aren’t as blessed as me. I am nowhere near a gifted athlete, but I have had the chance to try and if I can give someone else the opportunity to do that in their lives, it is the least I can do. I have been blessed with healt...

Thursday; December 15 ... My eating habits stink right about now! I don’t set out to mess up my diet and violate my eating plans during the holiday season, it just happens. I’ll pick up a cookie here, a pastry there, a few pieces of fudge at this party and a handful of divinity at another. Well, once that pattern has been established, there is no reason to bypass the doughnuts during this meeting or the cake at that gathering. Pretty soon, my sweet tooth may be sated, but I have a sugar hangover! It’s not that I set out to gain five pounds in four weeks, it just happens! The only way to avoid this glycemic roller coaster is to eat with purpose. The other day I got to thinking about a similar pattern – not in our eating, but in the way we live. Have you noticed how easy it is to pick up bad habits in our moral lives? We don’t get up one day intending to decrease our values, we just don’t pursue them with the intensity we once did. We lose our principles when we lose our purpo...

The other day I was around a young man who was kind of having a tough day. You could tell he wasn’t doing what he wanted to do. I decided to ask if he would like to help me with a task, and immediately, his countenance changed. He perked up and handled the responsibility well. In fact, I believe he actually enjoyed doing it. As I look back, I wonder if he enjoyed being asked to do something “grown up” or if was the fact that a “gown up” asked him to do it. Either way, his day got better and mine got easier. As I thought about this, I wondered if our children miss out on being asked to do age-appropriate tasks? I understand trying to make their lives easier, but the sense of feeling useful can change attitudes and behaviors. I believe we have an innate desire to be helpful and, when we are asked to help, it makes it even more special and more fun. I understand that projects can take twice as long when shared with a child, but the lessons they learn and the memories we make ju...

I learned to type on a manual typewriter that didn’t have any letters visible on the keys. (Actually, my first typing class was with an IBM Selectric typewriter, but we moved in the middle of the year to a school that used the old manual machines and I almost failed typing – but that’s another story for another time.) We didn’t have a “back-up-and-correct” key or a correction ribbon and we couldn’t use white-out, so we had to actually learn how to use the keys. We had to master typing basics, so now that I type nearly every day, I know what I am doing. Sure, throughout the years I have gotten into some bad habits and rely too much on the backspace key – but I do know my way around a keyboard. The reason I share this with you is to tell you this is that it has helped me understand a biblical principle. When Jesus was asked about the important principles of godliness He went back to the fundamentals, “’You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and ...

I believe that in the interest of improving self-esteem we may have given our children too much credit and assigned them too much praise. Now, please hear me out. Children should be encouraged and appreciated, but not to the point that they are the focal point of the family, church or community. Yes, they are valuable and deserve our love, but we must find balance for their lives. Now having said all that, there is at least one thing I would like to emulate from their lives – the pure joy they can express. As I write this in my office, there are several children playing just outside my door. They are loud – but they are happy – and that thrills my heart. The older I have gotten, the less pure joy I tend to find. Maybe I need to become a little more childlike in my approach to just having a genuine old fashioned good time. It is too easy to become jaded – let’s work on being joyous. There is plenty of time to be serious about life … it’s okay to let a little levity slip in as ...

I like this time of year. For one thing, people seem to be nicer to each other. There seems to be more joy and good will toward mankind. (Maybe we think that Santa really is keeping that list of his.) People tend to be more generous and – except for a few outbursts that result from a limited supply of the hottest toys of the year – there is a bit more patience with others. Another thing that tends of come to the forefront during the holiday season is a focus on religion. Whether it is the presence of reminders of spiritual living or even portions of the Bible on open display, the general public is more apt to display their religious side. Now, while there is something fun about this time of year, it can also be a bit discouraging. Why can’t we be this way twelve months each year? Why do we reserve our best for a “season” rather than striving to live it throughout the year? I understand the temptation to lament the limited presence of religion year round, but let’s do ourselve...