It is the end of the year and most of us are working around last-minute budgeting in our businesses, busy holiday calendars and clean up of either a good or a bad year.

I am sure that most of us also have a heavy feeling in regards to the economic outlook of the new year. Let me suggest you turn off the news and focus the end of the year on the following six things.

1. Make a list of the good things that happened this past year and be grateful. Actually tell God thank you for His kindness. Make the list exhaustive.

2. Plan out the holiday season with great creativity. Some of us are more event-oriented, while others want more solitude. No matter what you are inclined towards, get creative with planning. E.g. I have scheduled 2-3 movie nights with the family, a planned Christmas light expedition, taking a Saturday to create gifts for our neighbors, etc.

3. Hand write 5-10 special thank you notes to those who have impacted you the most personally or professionally this year. Make them longer than a typical note.

4. Read more biographies or fictional novels. Turn the TV off, read more. It will inspire you much more.

5. If married, surprise your spouse with an impromptu date. Don’t wait for Christmas to give them a gift. Make it personal and dote all over them.

6. Watch It’s a Wonderful Life (again). Seriously, we need some perspective in our society. Remind yourself of what is important. Reclaim your priorities.

This Christmas could be the best ever. I would bet that worry and fear will try its hardest to take away joy this year. Don’t let it.

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2009 will be a year of less for me.
Less consumption.  Less waste.  Less use.  Less.
This will be driven by two factors:  Consciousness and Reality.
First, reality.  We will all likely make less next year than this year, and costs will mostly stay the same (except for gas). There will be less money to spend, and conservation will be a survival tactic.
Second, consciousness.  We are all part of the bigger picture, either for good or for bad. When it comes to the environment, we are on a crash course with it. At …

Jo Isabella and I wish you all, our family and friends every blessing this Christmas. As Christmas approaches, we are full of gratitude for the way God has blessed and guided us this year… We wait with excitement for the great adventures which are to come! Love to you all!

Jo and I are now proud parents of Isabella Lucy! Born on Monday 13th of July at 18:47 weighing 8.7 lb at the QE II hospital near our home in Harpenden. I can’t quite believe that she is already one month old, gosh how the time flies.
Isabella is doing fantastically well, so is Jo. Our little princess is feeding well and everyday she draws smiles and awe from mum and daddy.
I remember coming home, having Isabella in the sofa and spending a long time just looking at her…admiring every tinny …

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There is a lot of humor in the Scripture…at least I see it that way.

One place is in 1 Kings 22 when Ahab, king of Israel, wants to go to war, but doesn’t feel he has enough army men to succeed. So, he asks Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to join him. Jehoshaphat rightly wants to first inquire of the Lord. Ahab quickly agrees, snaps his fingers and his prophets march in with their “Go Ahab” signs. Jehoshaphat recognizes that these are merely “yes” men and asks if there is not a prophet of the Lord around. Ahab responds by saying that there was one, Micaiah, but he hated him because he never said anything good about the king…old Ahab.

Nevertheless, Micaiah is called in. But Micaiah isn’t a “yes” man for the king and he declares that Ahab would die in the battle and dogs would lick up his blood.

Ahab sneers, “See, I told you he never says anything good about me!”

But what happens next is interesting.

Micaiah, who had sounded a warning to the king, is slapped on the face by one of the “yes” prophets for speaking a contrary word about the king’s plans. The king then orders Micaiah to be arrested, put in prison, and fed bread and water until the king returned from battle…which he never did because Ahab died just as Micaiah had prophesied.

Micaiah is not an anomaly in the line of God’s people. Yes, there are those today who say that we are not to speak out against the king or his plans. But Moses did. And Elijah. So, too, Elisha and Daniel and Jeremiah…down to John the Baptist, who lost his head because he stood before the king and said “you do wrong!” Jesus declared there was no man born greater than John.

Don’t let anyone tell you that it is wrong to speak out, nor be afraid to do so.

For if we do not, who will?

There will always be a host of “yes” men that will cry out “Go Ahab!” even when that pathway leads to destruction. We, however, are called, not to flatter and appease, but to warn…whether that is to the king, or to the citizens who hold the power of a king, or to leaders in the church, or business owners, or husbands or wives…or neighbors or friends.

Just make sure it is always done with grace…attractively winsome!

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…” Matthew 5:6

If there is a God, why doesn’t He show Himself?
Hasn’t science proven that everything can be explained by natural processes? Doesn’t this make God…unnecessary? Doesn’t this prove that God and the Bible are just fairy tales written by man?

I’ve been following Tom Peters blog for a while and I’ve decided to post this one on attitude. Tom is right on here…, right attitude wins!…always.  As a friend here always say: keep it real and I would like to add: for everyone’s sake, please!

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