Rick Nier...Woo!

Here we are. It's 2020! Of course you know what that means, right? It's time for YMCA's, gyms, and other workout facilities to offer deals for everyone who resolved to get in better shape. This is the Black Friday for those places because we've all spent the last month over-indulging and telling ourselves we'd get back to a disciplined lifestyle after the holidays.  The holidays are over and do you want to know how many official resolutions I have made?  None. Zero. Zilch. Just like the amount of cookies I am going to let you smack out of my hand, I am not making any new resolutions. Why? Because resolutions are for those who aren't already awesome. Listen, I'm not saying I don't have things to work on, like humility .  Really, no resolutions? via GIPHY I told my kids that instead of making resolutions for myself this year, I would be making resolutions for them. They were super excited to hear that.  I should confess this id...

Well, what do you know, it's another review!  Luke 8:40-56 They  knew  she was dead. They  knew  it! There was this guy that lived a long time ago. He did things. He did amazing things. And he spoke truth. But the truth was so amazing, people had a hard time believing it. They didn't accept it, or didn't want to accept it.  But he would do these amazing things anyway. He would do them for free. So word began to spread and people began to call him for help, hoping he would do something amazing for them.  One such time these parents had a young girl who was dying, so they called this guy. He agreed to come, but as you might imagine, people who can do amazing things often get stopped and distracted by other people who need amazing things done.  And that happened. He got stopped. By another woman who was in need. She'd been bleeding. Actually she'd been bleeding for a long time. This was in a day and age before reliable healthc...

True story. My kids still talk about this. This is from August of this year.  Last month, when we had that giant storm come through and cause all sorts of ruckus, I was awoken in the middle of the night by my wife saying, ‘There’s a tornado warning. I have all the kids downstairs. You should come downstairs.’  Jen and I have been married for over 17 years. We’ve had discussions on what to do in a storm. Despite my tendency to scoff and doubt weathermen, I went downstairs and promptly fell asleep on a couch next to one of the kids. Jen stayed up for a few more hours on high alert. After about an hour of the roof not falling in around us, I went back to bed, seeking a spot where a child's leg would not be lodged in my back. I think we discovered our differences in storm situations back when we were engaged. She was spending some time in Florida one summer, when the people on TV started telling us to evacuate to nearby schools because of impending hurricane-like weather...

I'm posting some of my faves from this past year. I'll post your faves if you tell me what they are.  It's harder than it looks. That's what one of the teens said after a student led night. I wanted to respond with, 'Yeah, that's why it's called a job.' But that might have been misconstrued as harsh. Besides, if we're being honest and nice about things, we could say this about most things.  If we are to actually look back and consider what high school was like, it was harder than it looks. The other people, to whom we continually compare ourselves to, also have a job which is likely harder than it looks. And it would be nice if someone looked at our responsibilities and realized that we're not sipping lemonade with our feet in the sand. Unless, of course, your job is to taste test lemonade while sitting on the beach. Then your job is not harder than it looks. And we all hate you. Having said all this, just because a job is difficu...

I'm posting reviews from this past year, but don't be surprised if I add some new content here or there before 2015. Here's one I could have written last week and just changed the ages on and I would have still been accurate.  At breakfast one morning, my 10 year old son noted that his 12 year old sister is up before him every morning and yet always seems to be around and ready to leave last. It's a true story. Oh, she tries, she tries. But every morning we have somewhere to go inevitably ends up with me pushing the 12 year old to get out the door.  Without offering any fatherly wisdom to my son's observation at this point, I smiled knowingly. He continued. "I have, like, four main things I do every morning. She has, like, ten and I don't even know what half of those things are." Honestly, I couldn't say it any better myself.

I usually end each year by posting some of the faves and best posts from the year. It's fun to look back, plus it gives me more time to focus on Christmas shopping. With that in mind I welcome you to the first of a few faves. _________________________________________________________________________________ Recently our church had our Annual Society Meeting, a great time of mirth and merriment that makes birthday parties feel like dental appointments. Since I had so much fun writing and giving my report, I thought I would share the joy here.  Honestly, what follows is close to my heart, and only a portion of what I shared at the meeting.   I sit before a blank screen each year and think through what I want to say to this esteemed audience. Realizing this is the twelfth time I have done this doesn’t exactly make it easier, wondering how I can keep this fresh, since I am quite certain many of you have taken copious notes from previous years. Obviously there are a few things...

I remember. Its a funny thing about memories. We seem to recall what we want to recall. If we have fond memories of a time or place, we forget what was unpleasant. On the other hand, if we do not have fond memories, then nothing good could have possibly happened in relation to said time, person or place. This graphic does a pretty good job of explaining this. (visit  http://survivingtheworld.net/  for more of these fun comics.) I remember my childhood. I grew up in Florida. I remember warm weather, fun vacations, lots of boisterous noise and many hours spent playing outside. But memories can be tricky. If I'm honest with myself I also remember sunburns. That sun was hot. I remember 40 hours driving in a van to our destination. My parents didn't believe in planes. The boisterous noise may have been, at times, sibling rivalry. Oh, and during one of those hours outside, I was almost kidnapped, though I'm sure they would have brought me back. Memories, right...

Yesterday we reviewed a post from a year ago, talking about what significance isn't. Today, let's discuss what it is. Just what is insignificance? Insignificance is understanding The dictionary definition of insignificance is lacking in importance or consequence. Sounds kind of dreary, doesn't it? I can almost hear you asking why we would be searching for this. In the interest of full disclosure, I heard you in the voice of my young son, who asks why he has chores and why he can't just play video games all day. Yeah, it's kind of a high, whiny voice, but I felt like I needed to be open with you. While I'm not going to attempt to redefine the word, I think we put too much emphasis on being important and having consequence. If we understand our real role in this life, then we will understand that we do not need importance or consequence to fulfill it. Insignificance is accepting What are we accepting? We're accepting our secondary role. And when I ...

How do you handle life when it gets real and life-like? Life has a tendency to do that, you know, to become more real than Reality TV. How do you handle the changes to your schedule, the stresses from work and home, the bitterness and discouragement that can come when dreams are dashed and hopes are shattered? When loved ones are lost while the wild world just keeps spinning on, seemingly out of control? I think Psalm 5 can help us out. The fact that this is a morning prayer reveals that sometimes life’s troubles will follow us, even after we’ve had a night’s sleep. But notice that David began his day by crying out to God. 1  O   Lord , hear me as I pray;      pay attention to my groaning. 2  Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,      for I pray to no one but you. It sounds like David knows his audience. I’m not talking to anybody else here, but you God. And addressing God as King was to appeal to the covenant relat...

It was August 23, 1860 when the Free Methodist Church was born. She was 9 pounds, 8 ounces....wait, no she wasn't. She was a young upstart, founded by Benjamin Titus Roberts, proud owner of a neck-beard. (Link to FB group) It was on this day in history that the FMC adopted a Discipline and elected B.T. Roberts as the general superintendent. This happened in Chesbrough Farm, Pekin, New York. A month later a second FMC was founded in Buffalo. A month after that, the Genesee Conference was organized with two districts. From there they spread across the United States. North and East and South and West, much like a contemporary praise and worship song. Then they went Southeast to the Sunshine State. In the 1970's a young pastor and his family moved to Cape Coral, Florida and began a community church connected with the FMC. Though somewhat hidden, this church grew and extended its arms to families through youth and children's programs. It was somewhere in 1986 that a young girl i...

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of IZEA . All opinions are 100% mine. Are you kidding me? I could get paid for this? That hardly seems fair to you the reader, but then again, I'm not stopping you from blogging for years, coming up with original ideas and then discovering different ways to get apid for doing so. Am I? What I am doing is telling you about my experience. While I do, let me throw out some props for my friend Stevan Sheets , where I found out about this opportunity. He is often leading the way for me to follow. But since he is a pastor, I trust him. And since I am also a pastor, you can trust me. The sign up for this was quick and easy, even when proving ownership of my blog. Sign up for SocialSpark ">here . SocialSpark There are obviously some requirements, but nothing invasive, making this much easier than many of my trips to the doctor. Blog and make money. It only makes sense. See for yourself.