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…
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,…
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…
Not sure about you, but around this time every year I get to thinking about the next. The new year is fast approaching, and it’s time to evaluate, plan, and set goals. I’m not a natural at this whole process, so in the past few years, I’ve turned to some…
We had some good plans— worthwhile, helpful, and productive plans. But you know how quickly your plans can go awry, right? On the last Sunday of 2018, my wife Chris planned to stop by our son and daughter-in-law’s house to pick up our grandson for church. The whole family wasn’t…
