I’ve never been a fighter.

I’m not the kind of person with clenched fists or the kind of person to throw a punch. It just isn’t in me to hit another person. I wasn’t the kind of parent who used my hand to discipline.

But make no mistake, I have fought for many good things. I have fought against some nasty enemies, too, and sometimes I have felt like a boxer who just encountered Muhammad Ali in the ring.  

We live on just over two acres of land--not in the country. Right in the city. That’s what makes the property so unique and special. It is filled with trees, a man-made waterfall courtesy of the previous owner, and a creek that comes alive when it rains.

I trim the trees, plant a few flowers, prune the shrubs, keep the weeds out of the flower beds, and I’ll confess: I don’t mow the grass. There’s no room for the equipment it would take or a place to put all the grass clippings. But I know the grass very well. 

Change is never easy.  Life is a series of seasons that require change, adjustments, restarts, and even, as Henry Cloud says, "necessary endings.” And few, if any, of those things are ever pleasant.  

Positive change often requires heroic effort, sacrifice, discomfort, and determination.  There have been turning points in my life where I knew I could do better.  And each time, I had to decide if I wanted to do better, if I was willing to make the changes or adjustments that would allow me to improve.  

New Year’s Day is always a mix of emotions for me. It marks the end of a year and the busy Christmas season. The week between Christmas day and New Year’s Day is typically free of schedule demands and involves a lot of rest, relaxation, and meaningful time with family and friends. 

But, New Year’s Day also means a new season is about to begin. A new year has started, and with it, new hopes, dreams, goals, and plans emerge with an optimism that insures the new year will be better than the last one.

Merry Christmas!  

Today is the day we’ve been waiting for. By now, the presents are unwrapped, the food--if there is any left--is officially called “leftovers.”  For some, you can’t believe how fast Christmas arrived; for others you can’t wait until it’s over. Hopefully, you made it to a Christmas Eve service that inspired you and gave you a dose of hope, joy, peace, and love.  

We are days away from the first of fourteen Christmas Eve services. It seems just yesterday we started talking about Christmas, but it was actually early October when we began to put the details on marker boards in conference rooms.  

And now it’s here.