To many, the word isn’t thought of positively, a sort of admission of failure or something. Retreating is something soldiers do when they’re getting whipped, the thinking goes. Like that scene in the movie Gettysburg when the Union army has far outgunned the Confederates, and the ragtag unit of misfit…
One year ends, another begins. Time marches on. How can we come to the annual calendar replacement without thinking about time? Perhaps about what we do with it? Generally, we tend to think about time in a couple of different ways. Naturally, time involves the sequential passing of seconds, minutes,…
“Don’t count your days. Make your days count!” I get the sentiment. We easily fall into the trap of day counting. Counting how many days until the weekend. Counting how many days since our last fun experience. Counting how many days until our vacation. Counting how many days left in…
Finally, 2020 is in the rearview mirror and the almost twelve months of 2021 are in front of us. It’s a great time to stop and do some reflection, assessment, and reorientation. It’s also an ideal time to take aim at some goals for our personal life, work or career,…
I should have listened. I knew better, but thought I knew better. In June of 2017, I ventured out on my first multi-day backpacking trip. Not too many lengthy trails for such purposes are found within a 3-4 hour drive from home, but a good beginner trail is only a…
Reading the title of Brandon Crowe’s little book, Every Day Matters, might leave one wondering its emphasis. Is he suggesting that every day counts, is important, and makes a difference? Or is the focus on every day, as opposed to say, every year? Or is the book about stuff—matters—that require…
“Perfect! Just excellent!” So was the assessment of the doctor after my recent annual eye exam. His remarks referred primarily to the outcome of Lasik surgery I had a couple years ago. “I’ve never seen a better outcome,” he said. He gave my cornea and eye health a hearty two…
A couple years ago, while attending a conference for those in Christian ministry, I attended a workshop on avoiding burnout. Within the previous year or two, I’d come across colleagues in the ministry who shared their experience of being burned out, and they were men in the same stage of…
Facing the end of another year often thrusts us in evaluation mode—it does me, anyway, and I suspect I’m not the only one. Usually before looking at what was accomplished, I tend to focus on what wasn’t accomplished. “Surely I could’ve done so much more!” I find myself lamenting. The…
