Category: Uncategorized

Watch a newborn baby during the first few months of life. The infant stares at his hands and feet, having no idea what they are, or what to use them for. He must teach himself how to grip something, how to use his legs for leverage to roll over, and eventually crawl.

It doesn’t help that his vision is not yet clear. It won’t be for about six months. But once the baby is able to see clearly, she will watch you intently. Whether you realize it or not, you will teach the child to walk, to talk and to think analytically. This will happen because your child wants to emulate you. Copy everything you do. You will be that little person’s role model.

That process will never end as long as you live. Your child will continue to be profoundly influenced by you until the day you die, and perhaps even after. What he or she becomes will, in large part, depend on what you have demonstrated is possible.

Good to keep in mind.

When it comes to attending a show or an event of some sort in a theater, the general theory is that, the closer you are to the front, the better your seats. The best seats, then, would be in the front row. However, if you sit in the front row, you will also be among the very last people to leave the theater, especially if everyone is exiting to the rear.

This means you will be among the last to get to the parking lot, which will make you among the last to get out of the parking lot. Kind of reminds me of that verse in the Bible, Matthew 20:16, “So the last will be first and the first will be last.” Putting yourself in the front row of your priorities in life will catch up to you in the end.

Put others ahead of you. It makes for a much better trip to the exit.

Sharon and I recently attended a musical at a large theater. I had ordered our tickets so far ahead of time that we actually got seats in the front row. During parts of the play, the performers would walk down off the stage to the floor and dance and sing right in front of us. We could have reached out and touched them.

But one thing I noticed is that the actors, even though they were eye level with us, weren’t looking at us. They were looking past us. They were playing to the audience behind us. I can certainly understand why, but it was a strange feeling, almost like they were ignoring us. Like pretending we weren’t even there.

I couldn’t resist the metaphor. Sometimes we look past the people who are closest to us. We take them for granted. We focus on trying to impress others who are further away. Don’t let that happen.

Make sure your family and closest friends are always on your center stage.

We recently visited a very popular theme park. We parked in the middle of a monstrous, sprawling parking lot. We did our best to try to memorize landmarks so we could find our car when it was time to leave. We stayed until after nightfall and rode a tram back to the parking lot, but when we got off, we found ourselves surrounded by thousands of cars, and in the dark they all looked the same.

It had gotten cold outside and we shivered as we walked up and down several rows, desperately looking for our gray SUV. After several minutes, I pushed the emergency button on my key fob. About fifty feet away from us, our car suddenly lit up and the horn began blaring. I can’t tell you how happy we were to walk toward that light.

Ever felt lost in the darkness? Jesus can be your light. Walk toward Him.

When you are driving through busy city streets and you encounter a car on a sideroad needing to turn on to your street, will you stop and let them in? It’s a simple act of courtesy and kindness, and it’s amazing how much influence it can have on somebody’s day.

If I’m desperately waiting for someone to let me in, and no one does, I get immediately grumpy and frustrated. But if a driver will stop short and wave me through, I am suddenly filled with joy and relief. I’ll give that driver a friendly and appreciative wave, and my mood will improve dramatically.

Such a little thing, but such a big difference it can make. Keep it in mind next time you’re on the road.

If you are on an extended vacation trip, you have to pack a lot of stuff to take along. You live out of your suitcase for the length of your journey, hoping you have what you need to get by. Vacations are great, yet at some point, you become weary of life on the road, and long for the peace and stability of home.

Our lives on this earth can be thought of in this way. We are visitors here. Our earthly life is an extended trip through a myriad of experiences. We just hope we are blessed with enough talent, opportunity and circumstance to get by. If there’s a bump in the road, we try to find something in our personal suitcase to help us get through it.

But make no mistake. This world is not our home. A place has been prepared for us. A place that is meant to become our permanent residence for all eternity. Then, and only then, will we be able to unpack all of our sorrows, pain and stress. Make sure you are prepared for the day when your travels are finally over.

New Year’s Day! Seems like a good time to set goals. Maybe the amount of weight you want to lose. Or how many days you will go to the gym each week. Or the number of good books you will finally get around to reading. Or the debt you have always wanted to pay off.

Just keep in mind all of your goals don’t have to be about you. You can also commit to a ministry or volunteer work. Tell someone you love them every day. Get back in touch with a distant family member or old friend. Donate money regularly to worthy causes.

Resolve to find ways to use your talents, resources and abilities to make the world a better place. That will truly make it a happy new year for you, and those around you.

It’s New Year’s Eve. I was never much of a party animal on this night. I could never understand why folks would drink and celebrate so hard into the wee hours, and then spend the first day of the new year feeling sick with an awful hangover.

I do recognize reasons to appreciate this day. You’ve made it through another year. You came through all of the adversity that fate threw at you these past twelve months, and you survived it. You can and should feel victorious and optimistic. The fact you are still here should also make you feel grateful and humbled that a merciful God has looked after you and continues to work for your good.

So go ahead. Break out the noisemakers and the confetti. You were loved and protected in 2025. Just know that, if you live a Godly life, the celebration never has to end.

I was scrolling through the celebrity obituaries of 2025. The biggest ones which caught my eye were Robert Redford and Gene Hackman. It’s always sad to hear of the passing of famous people because they have left a legacy behind through some of their famous movies or songs. I will always remember Redford as the charming con man in The Sting and the swashbuckling cowboy in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Hackman will always be the underdog basketball coach in Hoosiers.

Ever wonder how you will be remembered? What kind of legacy will you leave for those who know you best? We will all leave a legacy, good or bad. We will be remembered. Your family and friends will tell stories about you for years.

You still have time to make sure those stories are good ones.

Was 2025 a good year for you? How will you remember it? Will it bring back happy, positive memories? Or painful, sad times of crisis?

In reality, most of us have many good and bad experiences in the average year, but we tend to remember the bad times and dwell on them. We tend to take our blessings for granted. I guess, deep down inside, we feel a good life should be the norm. We’re entitled to it. Adversity makes life unfair.

Maybe the key to a joyful 2026 is to adjust our thinking to the realization that life itself is a gift. Adversity is inevitable and everyone endures it. Focusing on the positives, even the very simple ones, will help you remember every year as a good one.