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3 Ways To Avoid A Christmas Malling This Weekend

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This weekend is the last before Christmas. There will be stress on the street, panic in the parking lot and mayhem at the mall. We are about to run into relentless rush in just about every aspect of our life. All of this to celebrate The Prince of Peace.

This weekend, in particular, there will be more people on the street, more people in the parking lot and more people at the mall. Who doesn't love the mall a few weeks before Christmas? Especially those people who want to rub face cream on you, braid your hair, fly a remote helicopter, clean your shoes or thread something.

I know when I’m under stress I get short with people. I get  temperamental and have a general sense of entitlement that translates into

How To Be Present This Christmas Without Coming Unwrapped

How To Be Present This Christmas Without Coming Unwrapped

Each Christmas I tell myself to not get caught up in the hurry and rush of the season. To keep perspective, to slow down, to enjoy the season. Listen to the music, celebrate Jesus, rejoice with others and really experience the joy of our Saviors birth. I don’t want to get so busy doing that I forget being. I want to be fully present this Christmas season without coming unwrapped.

However, at the "present moment," (no pun intended) I feel anxious about what still needs to be done, decorated, purchased and wrapped. What will it take to be fully present, in the moment, each day this Christmas Season? Here are three ideas

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How To Find The Missing Peace This Christmas

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Peace doesn’t come looking for us. Instead, like a game of hide and seek, he stands just out of our reach, out of our sight, hiding quietly in the corner. Our job, if we want it, is to find him.

I’m not talking only about finding a balanced approach to a hurried holiday season, I am also talking about finding peace in the middle of busyness and brokenness. This is a season that should be filled with joy but even though we may not always feel it.

So, if you feel broken, beaten, battered or busy this time of year take a look at how God has a plan of peace for you.


A child has been born to us; God has given a son to us. He will be responsible for leading the people. His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God

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3 Ways To Keep Your Thank-Full This Week

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How full is your “thank tank” today? Are you running low? Are you running on empty? Are you asking, “What’s a thank tank?” During this season of “Thank-full-ness” from Thanksgiving to Christmas I find myself moving a little faster than usual and with a longer to do list than normal.

As I hurriedly cross off my to do list, get Christmas Cards out, make a list, check it twice…one of the things I forget is to watch my fuel gauge. Amidst the hurry I often forget to refill my “thank.” How about you? If you are looking for a few ways to refill you thank this season here are three ideas.


3 Ways to Keep Your Thank-full This Week


1. Keep Perspective

Notice the word perspective. It comes from the Latin per (meaning “through”) + specere (meaning “look at”). Each of us has a set of lenses that we look through that either cloud or enhance our perspective. This week spend some time focusing on what you have, not what you don’t.

When He saw them

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How To Face Your Biggest Fear And Win

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"Don't be afraid!" Easier said than done, isn't it? When nothing is threatening me I can usually roll those words off my tongue in the general direction of others with such eloquence there appears to be a sense of sarcasm in my words. However, when fear has it’s grip around my throat I can’t quite choke out the words “don’t be afraid” because I AM afraid!

A friend of mine, Martin, reminds me often that “nothing is a threat to me today.” That’s a great reminder and good advice. The idea behind the words is this, there is nothing that comes into my life today that God has not already allowed. God has “prescreened” my life today and if that is true then nothing is a threat to me today because God is in control.

Now, with that in mind, how do we take steps to lean into the fear and let it have it’s perfect result in our lives? I would like to suggest a four step process found in

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3 Reasons Why You Aren’t Getting It All Done

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There is always something else to do. Another meeting, another appointment, another practice, another game. We have dinner to cook, dishes to clean, a floor to vacuum and bills to pay. 

Restlessness, anxiety and worry are often byproducts of the way we live life, which, simply stated is overloaded. There have been times in my life when I would look at my schedule and feel a sense of panic. Rapid heart beat, shortness of breath and a sinking feeling of "How am I going to get it all done?" Questions would bounce around my mind...

  • Why am I always behind?
  • Why can't I ever catch up?
  • Why am I doing this to myself?

The answers to the above questions may vary slightly from person to person however, when it comes to "Getting It All Done," there seems to be a few common denominators that link

Where You Live Makes A Difference As A Leader

Where do you live these days?

  • Do you live in the past?
  • Do you live in the present?
  • Do you live in the future?

Where we live can make or break each one of us. Let’s take a look at these three neighborhoods and, for the record, I have lived in each one of these neighborhoods and I have found the “Present” neighborhood most favorable.


Living In The Past

When we live in the past we usually dwell on past success or failure. If we live with past success we can get stuck. "Remember how it used to be? Remember the good old days?" Living in past success is just as unhealthy as living in past failure. Someone once said