I’ll admit there are very few things in this world that I personally feel like I do well but one of those things is planning.

I’m a great planner. I’m pretty good at taking large tasks and breaking them down into smaller, more manageable ones. I love creating lists of things to do. That’s a strength for me.

The curse of having a strength is that it always seems to have a matching weakness, doesn’t it? My weakness is in execution. I love to make lists and figure out what it would take to do something but I’m horrible at actually doing the things on that list. When things get hard or my passion wanes, I bail. Just ask every workout program I’ve ever started.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

If you’re reading this, that means that you’ve made it to December. Congratulations! This is the time of year when things start to wind down and we begin to start the process of reflection on the past year.

As we head into this last month, let me ask you the questions that I’ve begun asking myself lately: How about those New Years resolutions? How much progress have you made on your goals?

For a lot of us (myself included), when we take a look back, we realize that we haven’t made nearly as much progress as we dreamed we would back when the year was fresh and our hearts were filled with big dreams and possibilities.

So what do we do with the time that is left? My default, go-to answer to this question has almost always been to coast. To do nothing. The year is almost over anyway. Why bother trying now?

But there is another option. It’s one I’m going to attempt to own this year. Instead of just mailing it in, we can lean into the time we have left and do whatever we can to get closer to our original goal.

You’ve got a month left in the year. That’s a pretty long time. Why waste it? You won’t get everything done that was on your list, and that’s okay. Making any progress at all is its own kind of success.

Here are some simple things that you can do to make sure that you finish the year well.

Don’t Quit

Resolve right now to not give up on the goals that you set for yourself back in January. Decide that this time, this year, you aren’t going to give up on your goals … or yourself.

My friend Tammy Woodbury said this in an Instagram post not too long ago and it hit me right in the gut. It fits so perfectly here:

“Don’t quit on the promises you made to yourself. It’s not about a diet. Or a grind. Or a raise. It’s about remembering what you said you wanted and staying committed to the things that will get you there.“

You wanted something in particular when you set your goals. There was a purpose and an outcome in mind. What was it? Why did you want that goal in particular? Go back and remember. Then, in your remembering, make a pact with yourself not to quit.

Do whatever it takes. Say “I will not quit!” out loud. Write a contract with yourself that you actually sign. Do whatever you need to do to create a non-negotiable deal that says “I will not give up.”

This is the most important thing you can do. This has to be step #1. Resolve. Decide. Don’t give up. Never, ever, quit on yourself.

Whatever you do, don’t let resistance win.

Plan & Prepare

Okay, so you’ve decided not to quit. You’ve remembered what was so important about the goals that you set 11 months ago and why you shouldn’t let them go. I’m so proud of you!

The next step is to make a small plan. This is my favorite part! I’m a planner, remember? :)

Go back to your original goals. What were they? We’re going to chop your long list of goals down to somewhere in the vicinity of 1 or 2. Maybe 3 if you’re feeling particularly spry, but I’d advise against that. I know that you set all 50 of those goals for a reason and now that you’ve recovered your list from the bottom of the drawer where it ended up, you want to accomplish all of them. But realistically, any more than 1 or 2 and you’re just kidding yourself. Please give yourself a chance at success. Pick the top 1 or 2 on your list that will have the most impact or will set you up for success heading into the new year. Let’s focus on those.

Next, you’re going to cut each of your remaining goals down to almost nothing. A month is a pretty long time, but it’s not as long as a year. You can still accomplish something, but if you try to accomplish what you had planned in January you will end up killing yourself. You’ll hate your goals and your lack of progress. You’ll probably end up hating yourself. I don’t want you to do that.

• Take your 50 pound weight loss goal and cut that down to 5 pounds. Or even 2. What an awesome result to say that you made it through the holidays without gaining any weight or even losing some!
• You wanted to write a book. That might not have happened, but you can write 2 or 3 blog posts. Get started by writing 100 words every day. That might not seem like much, but at the end of the month you’ll have written over 3000 words. That’s enough for 6 blog posts!
• You were going to start your own business. Spend some time researching what it will take to make that happen. You’ve set yourself up for success when you turn in your new business paperwork right after the new year!

Lastly, you’ve got to write your new goal down. In the midst of all the holiday festivities that are about to encroach on your life, give yourself the best possible chance of success by writing down when, where, and what you’ll be working on. If you don’t write it down and give yourself a set time and place to work on it, it will never happen. Write it down on your calendar. Put this somewhere you’ll see it every day. Writing it down is imperative to your success.

Get Started Now

The energy with which you finish will be the energy with which you start. The last thing you want to do going into the new year is to start at zero again. With even just a little bit of effort you can begin the new year with a drive, energy, and power that you’ve probably never experienced before.

The trick? Just start.

So many people stop in December. They decide that they’ve worked hard all year and now is the time that they get a well deserved rest.

I’d be the first to tell you that rest is of the utmost importance. There is definitely a time for rest. You probably deserve some. Without rest we all would burn out and be no good at all.

But I think there are seasons when we can and should rest and seasons when we should kick things into high gear and get moving. I’d argue that this is the time of year for the latter. This is when you should probably be stepping up your efforts, not slowing down.

By starting now, we will build up a momentum for ourselves unlike any other. If we put in the effort it takes to “prime the pump” on our goals we’ll be at a distinct advantage once we hit January. We will have already overcome the resistance that everyone else is feeling and will have started new habits that will propel us ahead of everyone else who is waiting until the new year to get started.

Take advantage of the time that you have left this year. Don’t squander it. Remember why you set the goals you did. Make a plan and get started now. Most importantly, don’t quit on yourself.

We can choose how we head into the new year. There are two choices. We can choose to enter it starting from scratch once again. Or, we can choose to enter it with conviction and the knowledge that we drained every last ounce out of the year that we are currently in. That we gave it our all. We can enter the new year with momentum on our side.

How you finish determines how you start. So determine how you want to start. Now go finish that way.

I want to start out by saying that I love Christmas. It is, by far, my favorite holiday of the year. My primary love language is gifts, so when I see packages, boxes, or bags under our Christmas tree with my name on them, I feel loved and cared for.

There is just something magical about the Christmas season.

But I think we have a problem. Our American society seems to have made it a tradition to skip right over Thanksgiving. We jump from Halloween right into Christmas. Go into any store the day after Halloween and they already have Christmas decorations up and Christmas-y things for sale. We have completely skipped over a season meant for reflection and giving thanks and jumped right into a season where we want to get more stuff. Thanksgiving, once a cherished event, has been relegated to a time when businesses can hold special sales to make more money. It kind of feels like it’s been pushed down to President’s Day status but with more food.

Now, this isn’t an indictment of Christmas. It is my favorite holiday, remember? I’m not hating on you if you already have your Christmas tree up and I’m not going to stop you from listening to Christmas songs all day long.

Instead, what I want to do is to help us remember. To help us not move so fast that we forget to be grateful. This whole Thanksgiving season is intended for us to slow down and take the time to look at our lives and remember all the good things we already have. It’s a time set aside, on purpose, to give thanks.

This is a call to gratitude.

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude is, simply put, thankfulness. If you were to look up the word in the dictionary you would see “gratitude” is defined as “the state of being thankful.” But that definition feels so cold. So detached. So … generic. There has got to be a better way to explain what gratitude is.

Gratitude is what you would feel if someone brought you a cup of coffee in the morning without you having to ask or pay for it. “Here, I made this for you” makes you feel grateful on the inside. Someone thought of you … and their thought included coffee (or whatever your morning beverage of choice happens to be).

Gratitude is what the woman feels when she’s carrying six bags and a baby and someone stops what they were doing to help her carry something. “Can I help you?” generates a feeling of thankfulness in her heart because someone actually saw her struggle and was willing to help.

We often associate saying “thank you” with being grateful. We should say “thank you” as an outward expression of an inward feeling of gratitude. Saying “thank you” is never wrong. But gratitude is more than just words. It’s easy and expected to say “thank you” when someone holds the door open for you, but how many of us actually feel grateful for that gesture? Real gratitude comes from your heart.

Why is it Important?

Being grateful has so many benefits. First all of, gratitude breaks the back of self-centeredness. A life that is all about you and what you want is a sad and lonely existence. You are only focused on yourself and what you think you deserve. The world has you at its center. But gratitude requires that you put the focus on someone else. You literally can’t be at the center when you’re feeling grateful towards another person. Anything you think you might deserve gets pushed down when gratefulness for something bubbles up to the top.

This holds true for any of the other “self-” prefixed emotions as well. Self-pity, self-absorption, self-loathing, etc. The reason they all have “self” in the word is that they are all focused on you. When you start to realize that you have other people and things in this world to be thankful for, the focus of your life starts to shift. Your feelings, emotions, and problems, while still important, can start to take a backseat to other people. That’s a much healthier place to be.

There are a myriad of actual, physical health benefits that occur when you’re grateful as well. According to studies*, feelings of gratefulness have been linked to better sleep, less overeating, lowered feelings of depression, less aches and pains, better relationships, and increased overall health and happiness. That sounds like something worth being thankful for.

What Does the Bible Say About Gratitude?

There are many Bible verses that talk about giving thanks, especially giving thanks to God for all He’s done and for all He’s given us. He should get all the glory and all the praise. Without Him we would have nothing. I think though, for our purposes, I just want to focus on this one set of verses:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

— 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, NIV

Rejoice always. Always, really? I’d be willing to bet that the majority of us don’t rejoice once a day, let alone always. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t do this. Gratefulness is not a category that I run around thinking in. I’ve got that “self-“ prefixed word problem we discussed earlier. What we’re being called to here is a lifestyle of gratitude. All the time, in every way possible, finding something to be grateful for.

In all circumstances. This tells me that in every situation, no matter what, I should the thankful. No matter what I’m going through, there is always a place for gratitude. I’ve seen people do this. I’ve heard people who are going through cancer or other horrible situations say that they thank God for the burden they get to carry. This is what we are to do as well. Again, I’ll admit that I struggle with this one. But if gratitude is to be a lifestyle, then I can’t just be grateful when things are good. I have to always be grateful…no matter the situation.

This is God’s will for you. Many people ask “What is God’s will for my life?” This verse makes at least part of that answer easy. God wants us to be thankful all the time. Knowing this is God’s will doesn’t make being continually grateful easier, but it does make the idea of doing so have a purpose. If we couple the idea that a lifestyle of gratitude is God’s will with all the health benefits we mentioned before then we can deduce that it’s also God’s will that we sleep well, have better relationships, and are generally healthier and happier. That sounds like what a good Father would want for His children, doesn’t it?

Conclusion

So, let’s wrap this up. I know I started out this post by sort of ranting about Christmas running roughshod over the Thanksgiving season. As we’ve seen, it’s healthy to have time set aside to purposefully remember the things that we have to be thankful for. But the larger truth here is this:

Gratitude doesn’t have to be stored up and released just on Thanksgiving Day. We don’t have to save it up all year and then just show it to others in the month between Halloween and Thanksgiving. Instead, gratitude can be a lifestyle. We unlock something supernatural in our lives when we follow God’s will to be grateful all of the time, every day, no matter the circumstances. That’s where the real power lies.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t include some things that I’ve been thankful for lately: my wife and children, my family, the friends we’ve made (and are making) through our local community theatre, my team at NewSpring, the ability to write this blog, the breath in my lungs, and beef. I’m pretty much always thankful for beef.

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Sources:

• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201504/7-scientifically-proven-benefits-gratitude
• http://time.com/5026174/health-benefits-of-gratitude/

Do you remember when Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone? I do. It was such an exciting time to be a part of the technological world. New innovations. Pushing the bar forward on the cell phone world. I mean, the best phone I had owned up until that point was a Motorola RAZR. Remember those?

I remember wanting an iPhone so badly. It just wasn’t in my budget or best interests to get one then. Thankfully though, I eventually became part of the iPhone family with the iPhone 3GS, and I’ve never looked back.

A lot has changed in the years since the introduction of that first iPhone. Smart phones are ubiquitous. They are everywhere. It kind of feels like they are a dime a dozen, doesn’t it?

So what’s so special about the new iPhone XS? What makes it worth the investment? Here are a few of the things that have stuck out to me in the couple of months since I have owned one.

The Build

The first thing I noticed when I got the iPhone XS was that it was heavy. Not in a “Oh-my-gosh-this-is-going-to-be-burdonsome” kind of way, but more like “Oh-thank-goodness-this-phone-doesn’t-feel-like-I-would-break-it-just-by-holding-it.”

This phone just feels solid. As a web and app developer I get to play with a lot of different devices from a lot of different companies. None of them feel like this one does. It has a weight to it that I don’t think I’ve felt in a long time, even from an iPhone.

Another big plus is its water resistance. I don’t often make it a practice to dump my phone in the pool or stand out in the rain while using it, but it’s nice to know that if I did any of those things that my phone wouldn’t be in a rice bath for the next week. There is just something about having peace of mind when it comes to stuff like this, right?

I’ve also noticed that the battery is better than the iPhone 8 I previously owned. I have yet to have a day where I have had to put my phone on low power mode or frantically find a charger because I didn’t think that it was going to make it until the end of the day. For me and the way I use this phone, all-day battery life seems to be a reality.

I want to admit up front that there are a couple things that I still find off about the build of this phone. The notch, for starters. I know they needed to find places for all those cameras and sensors, but notching out the screen, really? The other thing is the fact that the rear camera still doesn’t sit flush with the phone. It’s just bugs me that when I set my phone down it doesn’t sit flat. But in my opinion, neither of these things take away from how well-built this phone is.

The Screen

This is literally my favorite part of this phone. The screen is just gorgeous. I think I probably said “Just look at this screen!” to my wife about 20 times right after I got it.

The OLED Super Retina display blows away what I previously had on my iPhone 8. There is no comparison. The edge-to-edge screen is bright and super sharp. Games, movies, even just regular apps feel so much better. I seriously wish the TV in my living room looked this good.

Face ID

I was super skeptical about Apple removing the home button at first. I was even more skeptical about using my face to unlock my phone. I thought using my fingerprint was already probably too much of a privacy thing, and here they’ve gone and removed that ability and want me to use my face? Now instead of just my thumb, any bad guys who want into my phone are going to want my whole face. Remember this conversation between Loki and Hawkeye in The Avengers?

Loki: “What did it show you, Agent Barton?”

Hawkeye: ”My next target.”

Loki: “Tell me what you need.”

Hawkeye: ”I need a distraction. And an eyeball.”

Yeah, it kind of feels like that. 😂

Now let’s jump back to reality. No one wants what is on my phone (or my face), and I absolutely love Face ID. It’s easy to set up, super convenient, and pretty fast to use. I wish I could open every app with it.

Also, I don’t miss the home button at all.

Because Mountain Dew

Portrait Mode

I know it’s not technically new, but it’s new to me and to the base model phone. It’s really fun to play with. Whenever I can I’m pointing my camera at my wife or children or random Mountain Dew bottles and testing it out. What’s not to love about automated (and adjustable!) blurred background effects to bring out your subject? I’m definitely not a photographer by any means, but I’m really enjoying this feature.

Conclusion

Overall I really, really like this new phone. It’s built really well, the screen is fantastic, and it’s got some great built in advancements in the way of Face ID and Portrait Mode.

I didn’t even mention all the new things that iOS 12 brings to the table including Screen Time, Notification Stacks, Memoji, and Siri Shortcuts, just to name a few.

I’d definitely say that if you’re in the market for a new iPhone, this one is worth the purchase. But again, this definitely is an investment. At $999 it’s more expensive than the brand new base model Mac mini. So keep that price and how long you plan to keep it in mind when upgrading.

My story is a story of pursuit. God’s pursuit of me and my pursuit of everything else. I know that God has been pursuing me since the day that I was born and I can see that He continues to pursue me today.

This is my story.

Before I met Jesus

You’ve heard stories of people that grew up in quote-unquote “Christian” homes. They went to church together every week. They got together with their extended families after church and had lunch together. They talked about Jesus during the week and had Bible studies, community groups, and other church related activities as a part of their lives.

That’s not my story. I didn’t grow up in a “Christian” home. We didn’t always go to church. We didn’t have the family over for lunch afterward. God wasn’t a part of our everyday lives.

Looking back now, it seemed that Jesus, much like politics, was something that you didn’t talk about with other people. It was something that you held inside and didn’t discuss. Who I voted for, and what I believed about God were things that I didn’t have to talk about with you because they were deeply personal issues. Oh, and don’t ask any questions about them because I’m just not going to tell you.

My childhood wasn’t horrible by any means. There were just some things that you didn’t talk about. Ever.

That being said, even as a kid, I had knowledge about God. My parents did make me attend mass at a local Catholic church every once in a while and I even went to catechism (like after-school school to learn about God). I was baptized as a baby, had my “First Communion”, and attended “Confirmation.”

I knew who God was. I knew names and places and stories and facts. But “knowledge about” does not equal “relationship with.”

To this day, I still do not know why my parents made my three sisters and I go do these things. Maybe it was tradition? Perhaps they went through it when they were kids and thought that we should too? Whatever the reason, I can say that the end result is that a foundation was laid that would have an impact later in my life. I’m really grateful for that. I may not have grown up in a “Christian” home, but looking back now I can see that this was God pursuing me when I didn’t even know that I needed to be pursued.

When I met Jesus

On my very first night at college I met the woman who would eventually be my wife. We were both incoming freshmen and she and one of her new roommates happened to be walking by our dorm room on the way to see a friend of hers from high school that also lived in our building. My roommate and I stuck our heads out of the door as they walked by and struck up a conversation. There’s a long story in there that I can tell another time about how we eventually ended up dating. It’s a pretty funny one.

In our sophomore year, another new roommate of mine met Jesus. When he did, he went in all the way. He read his Bible all the time and was genuinely curious about what he was reading. He would talk about it all the time. If I’m honest, I remember feeling like it was kind of annoying.

This roommate and my by now girlfriend (who I also knew was a Christian) would sit and discuss things about the Bible and Jesus … in front of me … on purpose. They were scheming.

All of their discussions eventually led to me moving from being annoyed to being pretty curious about what they were talking about. The knowledge I had about God wasn’t necessarily matching up with the relationship that they were discussing. I knew about God. What’s the big deal with needing a relationship? I knew the Bible stories. What’s salvation and why do I need it?

So I started asking questions. I asked Heather if I could read her Bible. I asked more questions. I laughed at some of the stuff that I thought was stupid. I asked even more questions.

Eventually, God broke me down. Bit by bit any walls I had up started to crumble. The more I read and the more I asked questions, the more it became clear that I knew about God, but I didn’t really know Him personally. So on March 22, 1994, in my dorm room in Ypsilanti, Michigan I asked Jesus to come into my heart and start a relationship with me.

God pursued me all the way into a relationship with Him. He loved me when I was unlovely. He cared for me when I’m not sure I could have cared less about Him. He came after me when I was running away as far as I could from Him.

After I met Jesus

I’d be lying if I told you that life after meeting Jesus has been easy. It has never been all sunshine and roses. I’ve been addicted to porn and been through the agony of bankruptcy. There were times where my marriage was hanging on by a thread. I experience struggles just like everyone else. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve been disappointed. I’ve tried to run away from God so many times that I stopped counting.

But my story isn’t a story of how many times I’ve run. My story is of a God who continues to pursue me despite my running. It’s a story of someone who truly loves and cares for me and how He comes for me again and again, day after day.

The reason that I went through addictions and bankruptcy and my marriage falling apart was because of decisions that I made. They were my fault. That was me running away. But it’s because of God that the addiction is gone, we are on the other side of that bankruptcy, and that my marriage is now over 21 years old.

I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff in my life. I’ve spent a lot of time, energy, and money running away from the God who loves me. Even so, I’ve seen His hand, His blessing, and His pursuit of me all along the way. He’s never given up on me. He is pursuing me even today.

That’s my story.

“Just one thing: live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

— Philippians 1:27

The gospel is good news. It is a story of how Jesus — God who became a man — came to the Earth and was executed to save us from an eternity in Hell. He died, not because of anything that He had done, but rather, because of all the things we had done. We deserve to be the ones to die for the things we’ve done. Instead, He died in our place. He volunteered as tribute.

When we realize this truth, what are we to do with it? When it finally sinks in that Jesus did what He did so that we might be able to stand before a holy God as spotless as a newborn lamb, how should we respond? When someone gives you so great a gift, what do you do?

You’ve seen movies. You’ve read books. So many times there are dire situations and one character (the “save-er”) will save another characters life (the “save-ee”). What is the thing that the “save-ee” so often says to the “save-er”? It’s usually something along the lines of “Thank you so much! I owe you my life.” In some situations, depending on the person or the culture they are in, the “save-ee” literally decides to spend the rest of their life serving the “save-er” because of the great gift they have been given.

This is how we should respond to Jesus. He quite literally saved our lives from eternal torment by taking our place upon that cross. What else could we do but spend the rest of our days serving Him?

In Philippians 1:27, Paul says “Just one thing: live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” This is how we can serve Jesus forever. We have a story, the gospel mentioned earlier, and it’s our job to live a life worthy of that story.

When we do that, we not only honor God and the gospel story, but we end up showing the world what love, grace, truth and hope can look like in a persons life. When we live a life worthy of the gospel, our lives testify.

We had no idea where we were or how long it would take us to get back.

Heather and I were on our honeymoon on Mackinaw Island in Michigan. We had seen much of the tourist stuff and were in need of something that wasn’t just shops, and forts, and salt water taffy. We decided it would be fun just to pick a trail and start walking. Who knows what we might find?

We did indeed see some pretty amazing sites. Arch Rock is beautiful. If you’ve never seen it, you should. The weather was great and Heather and I were having a wonderful time.

At some point along the way we decided to take a turn off the trail. It’s been a few years so my memory isn’t super clear on how it happened. More than likely, something caught Heather’s eye and she wanted to get closer to see it better. That’s how these adventures work with us. I’m the guy that loves a good plan. She’s like “Plan? What’s a plan?” I want to know what we’re getting ourselves into before we start something. She’s like “Oh look! Let’s go over there!”

I love her with my whole heart. For real.

So we went “off the trail” that day. We saw the wonders of nature. Trees and grasses of the most brilliant green and the deepest brown. We breathed deep of the clean lake air. Magnificent horses just happened to cross our path. We saw things that we never would have if we had stayed on the path. God truly showed us beauty all along the way.

After some time we happened to stop for a second, taking a break from our hike. We looked around, and realized we had no idea where we were. We’d been having such a good time, seeing so many wonderful sights that we completely lost track of where we were walking.

The end result of that one decision to leave the trail was that we were lost, had no idea where we were, or how to get back.

Being lost can be scary. When you’re in a strange part of town, all by yourself, being lost is probably not what you really want to be.

On the other hand, sometimes the best adventures happen when you’re lost. Sometimes being lost brings you joy. Sometimes you miss out on the fun and the thrill of an adventure by playing it safe and not trying anything that would take you off the trail.

The path is safe. The path is steady. There are no surprises on the path. Oh, but off the path…so many things await those who dare to venture forth.

I probably would have stuck to the trail. That’s my tendency. I would have done what the “rules” told me to do. There’s a trail … you should follow it. I would have seen some beautiful things, to be sure. But I would have completely missed out on the adventure. I would have missed all that God wanted to show me that day.

I reminded you last week that you only get one shot at this life. Don’t miss out on some of the best parts of your life because you’re so busy playing by the rules. It’s okay to get lost. To not know what you’re supposed to do. To try things and fail. It’s all part of the adventure. Don’t be so stuck to your rules that you miss it.

On the other hand, there is also great relief in being found. In knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were meant to do a thing. In discovering who you are and where you’re going. In no longer being lost.

We eventually found our way back to where we needed to be. We figured that since Mackinac Island was, you know, an island, that we would eventually find our way to either where we were supposed to be or we’d hit water (from which we could find our way around the island). It all worked out in the end. That was a great feeling.

But wow, what a fun adventure.