Rick Nier...Woo!

Much is said about the rush of the Christmas season. Do we even take time to slow down and remember why we asked for new tech from our wife? Or why we gave out gift cards when we didn't know what else to get our friends? What I think gets missed is that the New Year comes in with as much noise as all the Christmas songs ever could. Even if we had slowed down to read again about God become a man, the hectic pace picks up exactly where it left off once the calendar year turns over. And why not? The work our boss was kind enough to let slip in the last week of December will now require our full attention the first week of January. And those resolutions aren't going to write themselves. While I have no problem with people challenging themselves to new things this year, I wonder if we should start by resolving to know why we're resolving. My fear is that the new diet, the new exercise habit, the new reading goal, the scary business opportunity, the money saving idea....along wit...

As we were driving along one day, I told my teenage daughter that the decisions she made today would have an impact for years to come. Specifically, the choices she made now to work hard on her classes and her grades would have a direct impact come time for high school graduation. Nobody thinks about what the valedictorian is doing on an average Friday night in October their sophomore year. In fact, nobody wants to think about the hours of research and study that it takes to earn high grades. But when it comes time for the awards and recognition, then everyone wants a piece of the action. I told her to consider now how she wanted to feel later on. Life works in a similar fashion. There will be some rewards handed out for all eternity. Nobody wants to think right now about the work, the self-control, the earnest longing it takes to be a committed disciple of Jesus. But some day....