Each year at Christmas I create a video to remember the season. Here’s a highlight video of the boys’ experience this year. The footage is almost exclusively of them opening presents. In some ways, I wish I had captured other video of our time, but on the other hand, I love the reactions they have as the give gifts (the beginning of the video) and then open up those toys they had been hoping for. I hope you enjoy it.
I made the following video with the Action Movie FX app for my iPhone.
In case you missed past videos, I’ve embedded them below. My personal favorite is probably the first one I made (it’s at the very bottom).
I had a good day today. I got up early, even though it’s my day off, and went outside to do some much needed yard work. I mowed, weed-whacked and burned some old brush that had been sitting in the back yard (left from the previous owner). I even filled in some low spots around the house (under the sidewalk, next to the egress, etc) with some extra sand from another project.
It was productive. I was “on fire” and my To Do list was dwindling to nothing.
We have one of those little, round metal fire pits that I used to burn the brush in. By about 10:30, there were no more flames, just some ashes. I let them sit there until about 2:45, when I decided to dump them into a ditch next to the tree in our back yard. This “ditch” was where the dry brush was left from the previous owner. The fire pit was cool to the touch and I didn’t think anything of it.
Until 30 minutes later.
Bethany had gone outside to meet the boys as they came off of the bus when a neighbor came up to her and said…”Do you know your tree is on fire?”
Apparently, the ashes were still not quite extinguished and with it being so dry, they ignited some of the leftover brush….and my tree.
It wasn’t too bad, but with it being so dry it could have become a lot worse.
Thankfully the Meadowbrook Fire Department was just a phone call away.
I’ve noticed a bit of an attack on resolutions this year. Okay, “attack” may be a strong word, and it may not be widespread. However, I’ve come across several blogs that expressed some negative sentiment towards the idea. I’m not sure where this is coming from, but on one of the posts I read, the author expressed her disdain for resolutions. To her, they were never kept, because they were too radical. Instead she said, we should look to improve areas that we are already excelling in. She then proceeded to make goals for what she wanted to do in 2011. Maybe I was missing something, but they seemed like resolutions to me, regardless of what you call them.
Life works in cycles. We need to experience the ebb and flow that these times bring. For me, the New Year is a time to reflect on the past and find vision for the future.
The Past
It’s healthy to slow down and consider the road we’ve been on. For me, 2010 has been marked with transition. I’ve changed my role in ministry, moving from being a Youth Pastor to Executive Pastor). And we’ve moved from Chicagoland to the St. Louis area. This past year has been a time to heal and be restored. I had to let go off some things as a result of our move that were incredibly important to me (family, friends, familiar environment, etc.). The end result, however, is that my family and I are healthier and stronger because of it. It hasn’t always been easy, be we have great new friends and a church family who have walked with us through the process.
I made 3 commitments/resolutions/goals last year.
One-Year Bible Reading Plan – I completed this…though I missed a lot of days and had to make them up along the way.
Read one book per month. – Didn’t make this one, but I was probably more diligent in my reading than I have been in past years.
Spend more time with family. – I’d say this year has been great for our family and we’ve been able to spend a good deal of time together.
Future
Read one book per month. – I wasn’t going to quantify it this year, but I’m tired of not reaching this goal. This one is important to me. I’m at a point in my life, where I realize how incredibly important this is for me. Part of this will involve cutting distractions out of my life (and that will be the hard part).
Physical Activity – I’m not saying I’m going to exercise everyday or anything like that, but I need to be more active. People may role their eyes at me when I say this, but I’m getting older…and I’m starting to feel older too.
Develop my skills in two areas: Design (general principles as well as skill with the tools) and Web Development (specifically WordPress and Joomla!). I like doing this. Setting up WordPress and Joomla! sites is incredibly satisfying to me. I want to hone these skills and learn more about coding and development. I’m certainly no pro, but I’d like to continue growing in these areas.
So, there you go. That’s my list. What’s on yours?
