New Year's Hopes

I’ve never been one to make New Year’s Resolutions—those verbal or written commitments that give some sense of power to that which seems most on our mind at the end of the year. Whether it is a resolution to lose weight, spend more time with family, take better care of ourselves, spend time in prayer, or to take time off each week they seem to be well intentioned without having much else behind them.

It seems so easy to verbally acknowledge something we want to do rather than to follow through. That may be the challenge—following through with what we said we would do. “Follow-through” is after all the difference many times whether in resolutions or one’s golf swing. The “follow-through” is significant.

So in New Year’s resolutions we find ourselves perfecting the “follow-through.” I prefer to make a list of “hopes” for the coming year--my list of things or activities I hope to accomplish. Perhaps that let’s me off the hook if my “follow-through” isn’t what it needs to be. With that said, and that being my qualifier or dis-qualifier, let me share a list of my “hopes” for 2008.

I hope to take better care of myself. Taking days off, exercising, and eating better are some of the elements that come into play here. I enjoy exercise, especially after it’s done—perhaps this year I can be more committed to getting to the exercise. Taking days off, in my profession, is sometimes easier said than done but not the less important. I hope to put my new golf clubs—a Christmas gift—to use on those days off. The golf lesson—another Christmas gift—may help me to make those occasional golf games more enjoyable. I will not bother with talking about eating—I enjoy it too much!

My second hope is to spend more time writing. This blog is one step in that direction. Notice I didn’t say how much more time I want to spend writing—just more. It shouldn’t be hard to mark this one off as being successful at the end of 2008.

Another hope, I don’t want to say final hope, is to relax more. Relax really takes on several meanings. On one hand, to use the terminology of my children who seem to have a hipper vocabulary than their dad, by relax I mean “chill out”—don’t take life so seriously. It seems in my ministry I am always dealing with the serious. It is helpful to find time to “chill out.”

On the other hand, relax means to observe the “Sabbath.” Not simply going to church on Sunday but “Sabbath” as in “on the 7th day God rested.” So rest.

All in all, not too bad a list of hopes. How will it all turn out? I suspect some days good and some days bad. Maybe it is, after all, in the “follow-through.”

Happy New Years!!
Tommy

Learning to Laugh

This week I was e-mailed some funny Christmas websites. This one in particular involved pasting a face, yours and/or your family members on the animated body of one of Santa's elves. The images then proceeded to dance to a Christmas tune. It was quite the thing to see.

So I gave it a try. I found pictures of all my family, pasted our faces on the elves and sent it on to family and friends. My kids and my wife thought it was hilarious. I can't keep from laughing each time I see it.

It's good to laugh--at ourselves, at life, at the humorous circumstances all around us. Too often as adults we become too serious to take the time to laugh. When my children were infants and we placed them in one of those wonderful bouncy seats, they would belly laugh as our cocker spaniel ran in front of them. I'll never forget those laughs and the joy that they brought to me.

In the same way, I realize that laughter really does make me feel better about life and about myself. So in the midst of what is for me a very busy season in the life of the church, I pledge to find the occassion and the opportunity to laugh and allow my life and myself to be enriched by it.

That's the corner reflection.
Tommy