Your home is a sanctuary… your last defense against this crazy world.
That’s why you should be prepared to recognize the often-subtle signs that accompany a breach of your outer perimeter. Here are five things to watch for:
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Know what’s always messed me up with New Year’s resolutions? New Year’s Day is a holiday. So all those goals and new beginnings typically start around January 2 and I’m already a day behind. Then I need to put up Christmas stuff and I’m two days behind. I’m getting tired just thinking about it. So I need some mental rest from the holidays. Three days behind.
So this year I brightened up and decided that this will take a bit more planning and thought. And yes, I’m talking slap-dab in the middle of the Christmas holidays.
So I’m writing this to myself, but inviting you to come along for the fun. Here are ten suggestions to prepare for the coming year – do all these by December 31, and you can have New Year’s Day off. I know, I know! You’re welcome! Click here to get started
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It was Christmas Eve morning, I don’t know, about 12 years ago, I guess. I got up way ahead of everybody else, and for some reason had to go to the grocery store. And for some other reason I can’t remember, it wasn’t our regular grocery store.
When I walked in, I noticed that the supermarket had a case of 24 Christmas gel candles marked down to a buck apiece. On a whim, I bought an entire case of them and hauled them home.
I was inspired.
(By the way, completely irrelevant side note, but that’s just one more reason to do your Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. Black Friday’s got nuthin’ on the bargains you can find the day before Christmas. More here.)
I got back home and everybody was still settled in to their long winter’s nap. So I went to work. I sat down at the computer, grabbed a sheet of labels, and printed 24 that read, “Thanks for the light you bring to our lives every day. Merry Christmas, The Wood Family.”
Boy, was I inspired. Click here to see what happened
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This just in, in case you missed it. Christmas is less than a month away.
True confession: Yesterday I snarled in my journal, “I’ll just be glad when it’s over.”
But today, in honor of the late Zig Ziglar, who passed away yesterday, I’m “doing a checkup from the neck up.”
Every year, we have the same choice when it comes to the enchantment and the challenges of the holidays. Do we hunker down, sit tight, and hope for the best? Or do we seek to flourish? To make the most of our relationships, our worship, and even our painful experiences?
Survive or Thrive? It’s up to you. It’s up to me.
When it comes to being a thriver, here are five suggestions, for how you can come out of the bunker and actually have a season of delight:
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Sort-of-random thoughts from going over the river and through those woods for Thanksgiving…
When the weather report is rain-free and the only wind that is blowing is in your face as you’re roaming through the pasture on a hayless hay ride, that’s a sign you’re having a good week.
I wonder what would happen if there was a new global holiday and the whole world got to swing as high as they could on a swing that is big enough to hold lots of different people. Maybe people would be less on your case and more at your side. It works for little kids – why not big ones?
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Heh heh heh… You’re gonna know I’m not smart enough to make this up…
They’re trailblazers, I tell ya’. They’re not about to let a coupla’ Johnny-Come-Lately’s (or Shepherd or Cason or Fischer-Come-Lately’s either) get the drop on them. No sir. They’re the first-born, by George, and they’re assuming their rightful place on the family frontier.
Um… except that maybe that family frontier may have a few unexpected twists and turns. [click to continue…]
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(Sort-of-random thoughts after two road trips and some new journeys to come…)
For all the delight I have in seeing family, especially grandbabies, the comfort found in my own bed is irreplaceable.
I’ve been blessed by delighted voices that call me “Papa” and wordless raised hands that see in me the solution to the primal angst of not being able to reach a Ritz cracker without help. With that kind of adoration, what else in this life could be a more precious investment of time?
There was never a time I could remember when I didn’t want to be a father. But being a grandfather is like showing up at McAlister’s Deli on Free Tea Day having forgotten it was free tea day but there you are and the tea is free!
Some of life’s delights are limited to the moment – then they leave an emptiness that’s sort of like the crash you get after eating a lot of sugar. On the other hand, some of life’s delights feel as if God has poured permanent joy in me, even when I’m tired and know the “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and “Elmo’s Greatest Hits” lyrics by heart. [click to continue…]
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Well… THAT was an adventure! Apparently when the doctor said, “Let’s go,” you decided you would prefer to stay, and that sure got everybody moving!
But we are so glad that today, July 23, 2012, we were able to welcome you into this world… healthy and with a strong pair of lungs, even if you weren’t happy about having to use them yet. Your Mama, Daddy, and big sister and big brother have been waiting with excitement for a long time for you to arrive, and you didn’t disappoint. And though I have only held you once, you have already established yourself as a one-of-a-kind. [click to continue…]
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I grew up wishing I could sing like Steve Green. From his early days in “Truth” to his days in the Gaither Vocal Band to his sterling solo career and ministry, Steve had the pipes. He would melt my heart with “People Need the Lord” and “Wounded Soldier.” He would inspire me with “The Mission” and “Carry On.” He would blow me away with “No Other Name but Jesus” and his Truth duet with Art Ortiz of “It is Well With My Soul.”
I would buy his accompaniment tapes (if you have to ask what a tape is, never mind), grab a mic and belt his stuff out with gusto.
But Steve’s biggest impact on my life took place after Robin made a run to the Baptist Book Store (now Lifeway) and came home with “Hide ‘em In Your Heart, Vol. 1.” [click to continue…]
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“Where you wanna go?”
“I don’t know. Where do you wanna go?
“I don’t care. Whatcha hungry for?”
“Don’ matter to me.”
Ever get stuck in those conversations? Well, friends, I have the cure – especially if you still have kids at the house. Once you’ve played The Restaurant Game, you’ll never go back to “Oh, you just decide.”
I’ve always lived in one of two kinds of towns – either the kind where you pretty much could cover all the restaurants in a week, or the kinds that were so large, it was hard to make up your mind with so many choices. Add to that the vein-popping frustration of trying to please five different people – all of whom have opinions about where they don’t want to eat – and you have frustration long before you ever even see a menu or a bill.
Then came the restaurant game, and our lives were changed forever. [click to continue…]
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