As 2009 approaches, I can’t help start thinking about how I want 2009 to be better than 2008 – or more specifically, how I can be a better person, better follower of Christ, better husband, better dad, better friend, better boss, better organized, better EVERYTHING. I know a lot of people poo-pooh “New Year’s Resolutions.” I’m not sure if they are just realistic or have simply given up on improving themselves or allowed the fact that they are human discourage them. I’ve never kept any “resolutions” for twelve months, so I don’t think that’s the point. (has anyone?) For me, December is often impacted more than January – as I desperately try to “get ready” to be better in the next year. Rethinking how I do life and ministry – and decluttering my life. I’ve been going through stuff and getting rid of a lot of stuff I don’t need. (Even the Star Wars ‘museum’ in my basement has been gutted!) I’ve been reorganizing my paper stuff as well as my electronic stuff – of which I have much more and is more chaotic and difficult to keep up with. This week I have spent hours reorganzing all my computers…

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I really rarely use the word ‘hate’ – but even Jesus would have pointed at my my snow blower and made it wither. I finally splurged and got me a decent snow blower at the after season sale in the Spring of 2007. It worked great except that it couldn’t blow snow. At first I assumed the snow was: a) too thick, so I’d shovel b) too heavy, so I’d shovel c) too wet, so I’d shovel Finally, I did some poking around and found out that the cord that goes from the handle to the motor was too long and wasn’t putting the engine in gear all the way, bending the pull bar worked! WOW! I could blow snow… for about three rows, and then the pull bar snapped. I took it to Ace Hardware, who promised to replace the pull bar and redo the metal cable at the right length (something you can’t do yourself) and have it back to me in six days. Anyone remember how much snow we got last year? RECORD SNOW. And they kept my snow blower until Spring, and I shoveled all winter. Not that I MIND shoveling, I’ve done it for years.…

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