Happy Monday! I hope your new week is off to a great start. Starting leads me to today’s word-of-the-week… Training A while back I heard a catchy little phrase that’s been bouncing around in my brain. A speaker said: Stop trying. Start training. Do you ever get frustrated with trying so hard and not getting […]
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Input And GIGO
Happy Monday! I’ve been pondering the issue of impact, and it occurred to me that I ought to turn the question around and ask, “Who’s impacting me?” That question prompts today’s word-of-the-week… INPUT We’re immersed in input. It’s a 24/7/365 world in which more voices than ever compete for our ears and eyeballs and attention. […]
Continue readingSacrifice
Happy Monday! Today’s a special day for all who embrace peace, justice and nonviolence. In honor of Dr. King, let’s think about today’s word-of-the-week…. Sacrifice August 28, 1963. More than a quarter-million people crowded onto the national mall in Washington, D.C. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stepped to the podium, introduced as “the moral leader […]
Continue readingRebirth
Happy first Monday of 2011! A new year provides a reminder of something that’s true every day for a follower of Jesus. This year’s initial word-of-the-week… Rebirth God offers a fresh start every day. The old stuff, the bad choices, the failures—they’re past, and because of Jesus’ sacrifice we get to set them aside and […]
Continue readingAftermath
Happy Monday-after! An obvious choice for today’s word-of-the-week… Aftermath Do you feel a letdown after big events? We’re in a small farmhouse with grandparents, kids, grandkids, great-grandkids. Toys are broken, parts missing, movies already watched. Cultural Christmas is over. Now what? This week shouldn’t be just about driving home or preparing for the next party. […]
Continue readingMerry Christmas
Happy Monday-before-Christmas! Today I’m breaking with tradition. Instead of a word, I’m proposing a phrase-of-the-week … Merry Christmas! My odd sense of humor always finds a chuckle in the debate between the “Merry Christmas” crowd and the “Happy Holidays” advocates. I’m a solid “Merry Christmas” guy. I refuse to back off. No “Season’s Greetings” from […]
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Happy Monday! Two weeks until Christmas—I hope you’re experiencing the peace and joy of the season. We had a Christmas party this weekend that inspired the word-of-the-week… Wonder A friend brought his eighteen-month-old daughter to the party. I watched as she checked every Santa and squealed with joy. She touched each reindeer, looked carefully at […]
Continue readingAnticipation
Happy Monday! Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent, which inspires this week’s word-of-the-week … Anticipation This is a season of anticipation, but I’ve noticed a change as I gain experience (a polite way of saying I’m getting older). As a kid, it was a kind of “can’t wait” anticipation. Gifts and surprises—waiting for the […]
Continue readingTen Keys For Holiday Traditions
Happy Monday. I hope you enjoyed your weekend and survived the inevitable avalanche of advertising. Shopping and holiday traditions got me thinking about my word-of-the-week… TRADITION This is a season of traditions. Organizations, communities, families—all sorts of groups create traditional responses to the holiday. Traditions serve varied purposes. They invoke warm (and sometimes painful) memories, […]
Continue readingLife Is Short
Happy Monday! Normally this is word-of-the-week day, but I want to do something different for the holiday. The obvious word for Thanksgiving week would be gratitude. Last week I read a great article in which Chris Guillebeau said, “When you find yourself with time to spare, don’t kill it. Respect it.” Chris’ quote got me […]
Continue readingAbundance
Happy Monday. Around here we’ve got our first snow on the ground—time to get the winter tires on the wheelchair. This edition of word-of-the-week has me thinking about… ABUNDANCE Abundance is an attitude, and it doesn’t come easily or naturally to me. I grew up in a home of scarcity. Our scarcity wasn’t material—it was […]
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Happy Monday! I hope your week’s off to a great start. Maybe I can help a bit with today’s word-of-the-week… Simple Do you ever feel like you make things harder than necessary? I’ve written about this before (Complex Simplicity) but I want to revisit it this week. Life is complex. No doubt that there are […]
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