Monthly Archives: December 2025

Happy New Year

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2026 is just a few days away so let me be the first to wish you a Happy New Year! It seems like just a short time ago I put up the Christmas decorations and now I’m planning to take them down. Each new year comes with all kinds of hope and unknowns. Many people will say “I hope this year brings…” fill in your own response. For many their hope is for better health, a new job or a little stability in their lives. How many people will take the time to write down their goals? A lot of research has been done on goal setting and one thing that is commonly found is that goals that are written down are more likely to be achieved.

Leaders who work with their people to identify goals for the new year are really helping them get the most out of their work. Goals should be set following the SMART principle – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely (time specific). What about each of us? We too need to set goals that meet the same criteria. What is it that you want to achieve in 2026? Create a timeline to get things moving. What will you have done by the end of March? What about the end of June? Be specific with yourself but make sure that you can achieve it. Don’t set a goal to get your degree by June 30, 2026 if you have two years of classes to take. Setting goals is like making a shopping list; you are sure to get everything if you know what you are shopping for.

“…Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

This is great advice to start the year – forget about what happened in 2025, it is behind us now.  There is nothing we can do to change what we’ve done (or not done) but we can focus on what is ahead. Don’t dwell on the past. This time of year can be so hard on people; sometimes filling us with regret for what we’ve done or great remorse for the things that we didn’t do. Put all of that behind you and give those worries to God in prayer.

Get it off your chest and out of your system so you can focus on what God has planned for you. The prize that Paul talks about in this verse is a life of worship in Christ that will lead to eternal life with the Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God wants us to be happy and will guide our lives toward the final goal but we have to let Him. Keep your eye on the prize of eternal life by keeping His word close to you, spending time with Him in prayer and keeping your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior. You can have goals for this life and God wants you to achieve them when they align with His plan. God will not lead you astray so leave the past behind and strain toward what is ahead. Have a great 2026!

Christmas

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I’ve posted this before and find myself returning to it every year at Christmas time. We are about to celebrate the birth of our Savior, and it is reminder of the real “new beginning” in our lives. There are two times during the year that I really focus back on God’s word; now and at Easter. We can get so wrapped up (no pun intended) in the hustle and bustle on “holiday season” that we can easily forget about our celebration. We forget about Love and Forgiveness as God promised to all of us. We rush from event to event that we miss the best present of all time. So again, I thought that I would let the word of God stand alone and reach everyone in its own way. Please have a blessed Christmas and a safe New Year’s Eve and may God bless your 2026.

God’s Love and Ours

“7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” 1John 4:7-16

Comforted By Faith

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Last month, my mother in law passed away after along fight with cancer. As a family, we have mourned the loss of a wonderful woman – Anita Crawford. I needed to wait before writing about her to let all of the emotions run their course for both me and our family. We’ve heard from several people who expressed their condolences at her passing, and we held a beautiful memorial shortly after her passing. It was truly touching. I’ve often said that I was very blessed to her in our lives and as far as a mother in law was concerned, I couldn’t have gotten any luckier than her. I looked at all of the people who came to celebrate her life and saw the same sadness that I observe at every memorial. While we are sad for what we lost, I know that we should be celebrating the joys that she brought to us as well.

Anita had expressed such peace in her final weeks that it is hard to be sad for her. I am sad for our family, her friends, and everyone who feels a loss, we lost a real special person that Sunday morning and our grief will be present for some time. Anita’s assurance of peace and trust in God’s promises were truly inspiring. This time of year, can be very sad for some people; a look back over the year that’s past and see what did and did not get done on top of the losses we experienced in our lives. I like to use this analogy: during our life, we cannot see the path that we are on but when we finish a segment of it, God sometimes gives us a satellite view of where we’ve been. We mourn the loss of another great person, but we should celebrate that we had Anita in our lives at all in the first place.

6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  1 Timothy 6:6-7

I am comforted by the faith I have in God’s promises and can see His hand in my life; sometimes by the people He put there and sometimes by the experiences He gives me. Anita did a lot in her lifetime, raised great kids, had a loving extended family but most importantly, she was a was a woman of great faith. She was very content with her life and was at peace when she passed. This verse from Timothy reminds me about the story of the DASH whose premise is what have you done with the time represented by the dash between the year you born and the year you die. We bring nothing into this world, and we take nothing out; its what we do with our time that counts.

God has given us the tools to do great things, we just need to slow down and read the instructions found in the bible and sometimes we even have examples placed in our lives. Jesus lived as an example for us but God also gives us examples like Anita in our lives today. Slow down to see them and be content with the things in your life; it ends suddenly. We will never know the impact we will have on others. We all have a life that contains a DASH; fill it with contentment, love, kindness, and worship to God who made it all possible.

Responsibility

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“Who’s responsible for this?” Most everyone shivers when they hear those words. Responsibility can often be a huge burden. We are given it through our job/position and sometimes we just take it upon ourselves. If you are the boss then you are always responsible for the things that happen in your area. If you are a parent, you too are responsible for everything that happens around your house. We all have responsibilities to something or someone and these responsibilities usually weigh us down. There are days when we don’t feel like being in charge or always being responsible, it’s natural. As a leader, you are always leading your people. You don’t get to say “I’m not feeling it today” or give away your responsibilities; we just can’t do it.

No matter what you do or what position you hold; people count on you. Think about the people that you count on every day, in every setting or circumstance. You are one of those people to someone else. We are responsible to each other; the key is also being accountable to them. There’s an old saying that one “oh no!” wipes out ten “atta boys”. Go out and make this a great week for yourself and those that you are responsible to and those that you are responsible for. See how contagious a little responsibility can be and demonstrate what accountability looks like. Own your actions, your promises and your words.

“For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.” Isaiah 33:22

Today’s verse is from the Old Testament, a time before Jesus Christ. Think about how the world was during that time period and the chaos that consumed everyone. I imagine it to be a very scary time to live in: between the wars, slavery, punishments, Kings and Rulers not to mention that God was not very happy with His people. No one was taking responsibility for themselves or their actions. Isaiah was trying to tell the people who really was in charge of their lives.

No one but the Lord was responsible for all of these things; not a single King was in control, the Lord was. Yet still, no one was listening, and people continued to ignore their responsibilities. The Lord is our Judge, our lawgiver and our King and He saved us through His Son Jesus Christ. It was God who took responsibility for our salvation and sent His Son to us. It was Jesus who took the responsibility to live a perfect life, to teach us how to live and even accepted the responsibility of paying for our sins. God gave us the laws but Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection took away our failures to follow the laws (sin). It was God who held Jesus accountable for our sins and yet, He granted each of us eternal life through faith in Him. We can count on Him to be with us in our journey here on earth; He’ll never say “I’m not felling it today”.

Better Late than Never…

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I posted this a few years ago and at the time, I said that I’ve never shared someone else’s work but given that I put up our Christmas trees and decorated our home this past weekend, I thought that this “story” of a modern-day radio interview was a good start to the month of December. While it is a little long, it is certainly worth the time. I have been following The River Walk for almost as long as I’ve been writing – please note the link below and check out what they are doing at the River Walk.

http://theriverwalk.org/2021/12/03/frosty-the-snowman-2/

At a radio station in modern day America

Frosty – People just don’t get me. I get way too much attention, and I don’t want it. Any of it.

Rudolph – Yo man, I know just what you’re saying.

Host – Hello, ladies and gentlemen. We’re here at Straight Talk with a round table of some of the biggest legends of Christmas. To my right, I have Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Reindeer. On my left, I am joined by the infamous Grinch and George Bailey, and across from me is none other than Mr. Santa Claus himself. I would like to thank you all for coming and joining us tonight.

Grinch – Hmmm.

Santa – It’s our pleasure.

George – Yes, yes. It’s just wonderful to be here.

Host – Thank you. Now, before we got going, Frosty, you said that you don’t really feel like you belong here. Could you run with that thought and explain to our audience what you were telling us before the cameras started rolling?

Frosty – Sure thing. In fact, your introduction inadvertently underlined the very problem I was talking about. You called us legends. It sounds like I’m some sort of superhero. You’ve got Batman and Flash, Wonder Woman and… frosty? You have the Justice League for eleven months of the year, but come December, the Christmas League takes over?

Rudolph – Word. Is my superpower supposed to be having a red nose?

Santa – You can fly.

Grinch – Heh. and you’ve got a nasty cold of radioactive proportions.

Host – So Frosty, are you saying you feel like you are getting too much attention?

Frosty – That’s it exactly. I mean, all over the world, when snow begins to fall. As soon as it starts to pile up, kids start rolling it into balls and making snowmen. Then one day, one of those things came alive, and here I am. Did I do anything special? I didn’t will myself into existence, and it certainly wasn’t some magic hat.

Host – So, how did you come alive?

Frosty – You tell me, sir. How does the gospel of John’s Christmas story start out? “All things were made by Him, and without Him, nothing was made that has been made.”

Host – The “him” being…

Rudolph – Jesus, man. It’s all about Jesus.

Frosty – Exactly. I came into this world when nobody expected it, just like Jesus. My arrival brought joy to everyone in the world I met. That’s Jesus. When the weather turned, I left this earth but not before promising to return. Who does that sound like?

George – Just a minute, just a minute. Now hold on, Mr. Frosty. You’re here today and tomorrow and the day after that. Then you will be back next year and the following year and every single year to come. But Jesus, He’s coming back one time, then he’s shaking the dust off this crummy little world. He’s gonna build new things. He’s building big things. How does that fit into your little analogy there?

Frosty – That’s a good question. It isn’t one I really have an answer for.

Rudolph – Yo, check this. It’s all about the faithfulness of God. You will faithfully show up the first time the snow falls. Every year my nose starts glowing at the same time. God gives us just what we need precisely when we need it. He’s faithful like that.

Host – So you are saying you agree with Frosty?

Rudolph – Sure thing. That cool dude points to some parts of the real Christmas story, and I point to others.

Santa – Ho, ho, ho. You and Frosty think you’ve got it tough? You should try walking in my shoes.

Host – Santa, thank you, but we would like to save your story for last. Rudolph, how so?

Rudolph – It’s like this. I was rejected by others, scorned, and despised by them. Then I became the one to point the way for them. I was a light in the darkness. I understand that the connection doesn’t seem all that hot, but no doubt my whole reason for being is to light the way for others.

George – Service. Your Christmas theme is service.

Host – Could you elaborate on that, George?

George – I’d be delighted to. Each one of us highlights one aspect of what Christmas is really all about. Santa here is about the gift. Frosty is joy, and our bright little animal friend here is about service.

Host – And what would your theme be?

George – I’m about memories and regrets. There’s something about the Christmas season that makes people get to thinking. Everyone starts getting together with their family but some are heartbroken over the ones who won’t be with them this year. Others might have to be away for one reason or another, and they begin thinking maybe they won’t really be missed at all. Some people will spend the holiday and the end of the year just thinking over all the mistakes and failures of the past year. Pretty soon, they get to thinking that maybe, just maybe, the world would be a better place if they weren’t in it. I get that. I was there once. Then God sent me an angel named Clarence to help remind me that each one of us is loved and valuable to him and to others as well. It’s no small fact that despite all the joy this season is supposed to bring, the Christmas season also sees a significant increase in depression and suicide. I am here as a reminder that it doesn’t have to be like that. Each one of our lives touches so many others. If we weren’t around, we would leave an awful hole in the hearts of others, wouldn’t we? But I’m talking too much. Am I talking too much?

Santa – No, no, no.

Rudolph – You’re just spitting truth, bro.

Host – Mr. Grinch, I would love to hear your input on all this. Frosty is joy, Rudolph light or service, Santa gifts, and George memories. What about you? As the villain of this bunch, what do you have to say for yourself?

Grinch – To most people, I’m the villain. For some people out there, I’m the hero. Those who say they hate Christmas absolutely love me. I’m fine with that.

Host – I’m sorry, I don’t follow.

Grinch – When people say they hate, double hate, and loathe entirely Christmas, it isn’t really Christmas they hate. It is the busyness and the stuff. There are so many parties to attend, presents to buy, cards to write… is old Aunt Mildred even still alive? We’ve been sending her a card every year but didn’t Cousin George tell us this last Christmas that she passed on a few winters back… some accident with a reindeer. Anyways, things get so busy and hectic and cluttered with stuff that people just want to cancel everything. It would just be so much nicer to just lay in bed staring at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness.

Rudolph – Cheer up, dude, it’s Christmas.

Grinch – You’re Rudolph, a freak with a red nose. Nobody likes you.

Frosty – Hey there.

Grinch – Sorry, I just slipped into character. What was I saying? Yes. People think that Christmas is all that stuff and business, trees and decorations, and the same ten songs that loop endlessly on every radio station and in every store in the world. Is it any wonder that people just want to end it all like George was talking about? Anyway, one year, I decided I had enough. I snuck in there and did my worst to cancel Christmas.

Host – What did you do?

Grinch – The food, the decorations, the tree, the presents… I stole it all. You know what? It didn’t change a thing. Christmas still came. It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes, or bags! I thought about this and then thought some more. I pondered for three hours till my puzzler was sore. Then I thought of something I hadn’t thought of before! “Maybe Christmas,” I thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more!”

George – By George, you got it! You’re the hero for all those who hate the fact Christmas has lost its meaning amidst all the business and noise of the season.

Host – And now it is time for us to go to a commercial. Be sure to stay tuned to hear what Santa has to say about all this. Also, don’t forget to tune in next week when we will be discussing the economics of the holidays with Mr. Potter and Scrooge McDuck.