Category: Creative Vulcan

This Christmas, take a break!

The “Advent” season is upon us! This is honestly one of my favorite times of the year. I always loved Christmas growing up, but it took on new life when I got married and again when we had children. There’s something about sharing the special nature of this season with loved ones that makes the celebration even more powerful.

One of the reasons I treasure this season is because I generally take a week or more off from work and enjoy lots of extra family time. I’d encourage you to consider blocking out time for a break in your schedule at some point this month. Whether it’s a break from work or from extracurricular activities, taking a time out to focus on yourself and your family is a valuable way to refresh yourself for the season ahead. In my experience, even when I struggle to make time for a break, I find that things go better when I come back because I have a fresh perspective and new energy.

In the spirit of that “break”, I’ve decided to take the month of December as a break from my typical business/ministry blog topics and focus on reflections on the Christmas story. God is bringing new revelation to the Nativity story this year for me and I’m hoping to share those here and that they may be a ministry to others also. I’ll be back in January with writings on planning, goal setting, etc., but the next few weeks will be a little different. Merry Christmas!

Proclaiming a day of Thanksgiving and Praise

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples.” – 1 Chronicles 16:8

We have so much to be thankful for as a nation and as individuals. And it’s important that we remember who those blessings should be credited to. Here’s an excerpt from President Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation which made Thanksgiving a national holiday. It had been celebrated for many years prior to this but only on a state by state basis.

“The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God… No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

Let’s take time today to thank God as the giver of life and all good things! What are you thankful for?

Wisdom from the ant and other unlikely sources

I sometimes regard myself as a “wisdom junkie”. I try to pickup principles and insights in all kinds of circumstances and situations. I pray often for God to give me wisdom for the matters which He brings across my plate. So when I come across a Scripture that calls attention to things that are “exceedingly wise”, I take special note. Proverbs 30:24-28 describes four things in this way; here’s a rundown, plus my top takeaway from each.

  1. Ants who gather food in summer – Planning in times of plenty will pay off in times of lack.
  2. Badgers who make their homes in rocks – Choose your base of operations wisely; it will protect you from challenges in the future.
  3. Locusts go out in ranks, with no leader – A crowd of wise people can organize itself around a goal, even without someone being in charge.
  4. Lizard can be caught by the hand, but makes it’s home in king’s palaces – Even if something is a weakness, you can use it to your advantage and engage it as a strength, as the lizard does with his size.
I could delve deeper into each of these principles another time, but if you’re interested, here’s a quick suggestion I wrote for a new way to try planning for a coming season. To learn from the ant, try this exercise with a focus on resources. What resources are you currently enjoying plenty, that you should potentially prepare for a season to come when they may not be available? Money, staff, volunteers, etc. – all could change in the future. How should you plan to be ready if they did?