Congrats to Me

I would like to be the first to congratulate me on being Time Magazine's 'Person of the Year'. Honestly, I can think of thousands of people who have had better or more interesting years, but it would be in bad taste to turn down such an honor.

After all, this year has had it's ups for me. I was honored to be able to be a reviewer/reader for Sarah Cunningham's book, Dear Church: Letters from A Disillusioned Generation. I have also had the opportunity to contribute to the writing of The Voice Bible Project, which I'm extremely honored by. I was blessed to teach at both the winter ACU Lectureship and Pepperdine University Lectures on topics which I think are important to the church. In addition, I've had a pretty full speaking schedule, speaking to hundreds of teens, ministers, and other adults -- which is always needed when a family is living on one income. Plus, this year my wife became pregnant with our second daughter. And my brother -- whom I come to love and appreciate more ever day -- became engaged to a nice young woman who obviously loves him. Most importantly, I'm still the husband to an absolutely wonderful woman and father to an incredible 3-year-old girl.

I've noticed since high school graduation that life seems to move pretty fast -- faster every year, it seems. Ferris Bueller was right, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it." I have to confess that I'm one of those people who can easily become so engaged with projects and work that I forget to "look around."

That's why it's probably a good thing that Christmas is so close to New Year's Day. The combination of the two forces us to reflect on where we have spent our time, and what we have done with our minutes, and the whole time the birth of Jesus looms over us reminding us of what is most important. As I reflect on my year, it's not the projects or production that make me feel like the person of the year, it's the people whom I love the most that make me feel special, wanted, and loved. Those are the things that last.

Plus, you have to remember, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Nikita Kruschev have all been Time's "Person of the Year." Not the best company!

Merry Christmas.