These Things I Wish

Recently I read an article by that title, purporting to be from Paul Harvey. Though Mr. Harvey used this piece in his September 6, 1997, broadcast, he attributed it to its original author, Lee Pitts, who wrote it in his 1995 book titled People Who Live at the End of Dirt Roads. It also appeared in Chicken Soup for the Golden Soul in 2000. I hope it’s meaningful for you.

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We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I’d know better.

I’d really like for them to know about hand-me-down clothes and home-made ice cream and leftover meatloaf. I really would.

My cherished grandson, I hope you learn humility by surviving failure and that you learn to be honest even when no one is looking.

I hope you learn to make your bed and mow the lawn and wash the car — and I hope nobody gives you a brand-new car when you are sixteen.

It will be good if at least one time you can see a baby calf born, and you have a good friend to be with you if you ever have to put your old dog to sleep.

I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.

I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother. And it is all right to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he’s scared, I hope you’ll let him.

When you want to see a Disney movie and your kid brother wants to tag along, I hope you take him.

I hope you have to walk uphill with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.

If you want a slingshot, I hope your father teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books, and when you learn to use computers, you also learn how to add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get razzed by friends when you have your first crush on a girl, and that when you talk back to your mother you learn what Ivory soap tastes like.

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on the stove, and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.

I hope you get sick when someone blows smoke in your face. I don’t care if you try beer once, but I hope you won’t like it. And if a friend offers you a joint or any drugs, I hope you are smart enough to realize that person is not your friend.

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your grandpa or go fishing with your uncle.

I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through a neighbor’s window, and that she hugs you and kisses you when you give her a plaster of Paris mold of your hand.

These things I wish for you — tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness.

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Though those wishes were written specifically for a grandson, most of them could also be fitting for a granddaughter, her siblings and friends.

Here’s one more wish I’ll add to Mr. Pitts’ and Mr. Harvey’s list:

I hope and pray your parents instill within you a genuine appreciation for God’s grace and his bountiful blessings of life and love, health and happiness, family and freedom, faith and forgiveness.

These things I wish also for you, dear reader. God bless you. Abundantly!

What Lies on the Other Side?

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What Lies on the Other Side?

Several years ago Terry and I began the practice of sending special monetary gifts as memorials, in loving memory of relatives, friends, and friends of friends who have passed away.

Though we miss those about whom we do not hear, last year we gave memorials for 77 people.

That’s not intended to be braggadocios, simply illustrative of the realities that we know a lot of people and that death is non-discriminatory. It will happen to everyone, sooner or later.

In funeral sermons I’ve preached, I usually have at least mentioned what I call The Miracle of Life, The Mystery of Death, The Marvel of Eternity. With appropriate explanations, those words sum up quite well my thoughts about those three topics: life, death, and eternity.

Sometime ago I read this simple explanation of death. It doesn’t cover the miracle of life or the marvel of eternity. It only offers one man’s simple understanding of the mystery of death.

A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said,
“Doctor, I’m afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.”

Very quietly, the doctor said, “I don’t know.” The man replied, “You don’t know? You’re, a Christian man, and don’t know what’s on the other side?”

The doctor was holding the handle of the door. On the other side came a sound of scratching and whining. As he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with eager joy.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said, “Did you notice my dog? He’s never been in this room before. He didn’t know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death. But I do know one thing… I know my Master is there and that is enough.”

These selected words of a familiar hymn (LSB 461) are simple, straightforward, and true:

I know that my Redeemer lives; what comfort this sweet sentence gives!

He lives triumphant from the grave; He lives eternally to save.

He lives to bless me with His love; He lives to plead for me above.

He lives to silence all my fears; He lives to wipe away my tears.

He lives, my kind, wise, heav’nly friend; He lives and loves me to the end.

He lives and grants me daily breath; He lives, and I shall conquer death.

He lives, all glory to His name! He lives, my Jesus, still the same.

Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives: I know that my Redeemer lives!

What lies on the other side? Though I can’t answer that question completely, I know that my Redeemer is there. And that is enough!

Valentine’s Day

Unless you’ve been hibernating all week, you’re no doubt well aware that two days ago, February 14, was Valentine’s Day. Perhaps you celebrated the occasion. Or maybe for you it was just another day.

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There are lots of historical tidbits about this day of which I haven’t always been aware. Here are a few:

• Valentine’s Day was named after its patron saint, St. Valentine, a third century priest in Rome.
• One legend is that Valentine defied a ban on marriage imposed by Emperor Claudius II, who thought Romans should be totally focused on Rome instead of a spouse. Valentine illegally married couples until he was caught and sentenced to death.
• A different legend is that Valentine was killed for attempting to help Christians escape from a Roman prison and signed his own escape note: From Your Valentine.
• Valentine’s Day has its roots in an ancient pagan fertility festival called Lupercalia, celebrated by sacrificing animals and smacking women with animal hides, thought to encourage fertility.
• Though fifth century Roman Pope Gelasius officially declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day, it wasn’t until the Middle Ages that it became associated with love and romance.

When I was a kid in elementary school, Valentine’s Day was not a big deal to me. I remember exchanging a few homemade cards with classmates. We also shared a few heart-shaped candies.

Today, Valentine’s Day is a big cotton-pickin’ deal! This week I read the following statistics about how Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the United States:

• Total spending last year on Valentine’s Day: $23.9 billion.
• Average spending per person: $175.41.
• Men spent almost twice as much ($235) as women ($119).
• Amount spent on jewelry: $6.2 billion. On flowers: $2.3 billion. On candy: $2.2 billion.
• Marriage proposals made on Valentine’s Day 2022: Nine million.

Valentine’s Day prompts a special expression of love and affection between spouses and sweethearts, family and friends. Some spend lots of money in that process. Others do so with time and attention.

Many years ago I learned that spouses and children spell LOVE: T-I-M-E! So do sweethearts.

Valentine’s Day is difficult for those who have lost their special Valentine sweetheart. If that’s true for you, I pray that the reflections of the past and remembrances of special times, together with the assurance of God’s love, will fill at least a portion of your sometimes empty or broken heart.

If he were still on earth today, do you think Jesus would celebrate Valentine’s Day? Maybe so. Maybe no. Without a doubt, he encouraged folks to manifest their love.

When asked what he considered the greatest commandment (Matt. 22:36-39), Jesus replied:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Love is not just a commandment. It’s also a joy. Especially on Valentine’s Day!

What a Fiasco! What a Friend!

In more than one way, the past 10 days were a fiasco where we live and across our country. Fiasco is defined as debacle, disaster, dud, mess, failure, flop. Perhaps the word fiasco is a bit strong to use today, but I like the alliteration it affords when paired with friend. So work with me here, OK?

Of international significance were the discovery and subsequent destruction of a Chinese balloon floating across the United States at an altitude of 60,000 feet, allegedly a weather balloon. At best, China is not our strongest ally. At worst, it may very well be our most formidable enemy.

As this article was written, remnants from the balloon, shot down after days of debate, were being recovered from their watery grave in the Atlantic Ocean, six miles off the coast of South Carolina, for evaluation. Perhaps the balloon was harmless. Perhaps it was scoping out our weather. Or our highly classified military information. Perhaps we’ll soon know the truth. Perhaps we never will. A fiasco.

This week our U.S. president gave his State of the Union (SOTU) address. Some, mostly Democrats, agreed with what he said. Others, mostly Republicans, were disappointed in what he didn’t say.

That speech was followed by a rebuttal from a young Republican governor. Some, mostly Republicans, agreed with what she said. Others, mostly Democrats, disagreed with what she said.

Regardless of one’s opinion about those speeches, it’s clear that our nation is divided, looking and longing for a leader who could truly unify our country. Currently, national unity is another fiasco.

Also last week where we live, and beyond, unusually cold temperatures in the teens and twenties, mixed with light precipitation, produced a sheet of ice over everything outside.

Schools were closed. Mailboxes were frozen shut. Beautiful live oak trees were covered with ice. So were all the bushes, shrubs, and hedges enhancing property perimeters. Power lines, outdoor light fixtures, lawn furniture, all covered with glistening icicles, took on a new form of beauty.

On the one hand, it was winter wonderland. On the other hand, it was a fiasco, with the weight of accumulated ice taking its toll. Broken limbs. Split tree trunks. Damaged homes and vehicles in the way of unforgiving fallen limbs.

Ice-covered roads and bridges became friction-free, slippery slabs with sliding vehicles of all sizes and shapes, some coming to rest in the inanimate arms of other helpless and hapless vehicular victims.

In the midst of the damage-induced difficulty, many examples of care and concern were manifested:

• Neighbors helping neighbors clear limbs and debris from driveways.
• Church members helping other church members, and strangers, clean up fallen tree limbs.
• Power company providers working all night restoring electricity to storm-darkened homes.
• Friends checking in with one another to be sure no unmet, unattended emergencies persisted.

As temperatures rose above freezing, life began to return to normal:

• Grocery stores jammed with folks replenishing supplies.
• Businesses and schools returning to normal schedules.
• Vehicular traffic causing familiarly frustrating delays.
• Mail delivery punctuality at least partially restored.

Last week’s Perspectives noted the importance of friends. I began my list with my friend Jesus. What better way to end this week’s article than with Jesus, who’s also your friend. This hymn says it well:

What a friend we have in Jesus., all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear.
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge. Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee. Thou will find a solace there.

At times like these, with fiascos that produce both temporary and long-term impact on life and liberty, we do well to lay our burdens and worries at the feet of our friend Jesus.

He knows. He cares. He loves.

Friends

That’s the name of an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004. The cast included Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lis Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer. Frankly, I’ve never even heard of some of those folks.

Though it was apparently fairly popular during its time on air, I never watched Friends. I’ve never seen a single episode. That’s neither bragging nor complaining. Just a fact.

For me, Friends has a much different meaning than young people on a TV show. My friends are real people. Many of them, both past and present, sent birthday cards to me last week. What a blessing!

Friends come in different sizes, shapes, ages, categories, and relationships. Here are a few of mine:

• Family: Next to Jesus, who is in a category all by himself, the members of my family are my most important and closest friends. I dearly love my family. Always have. Always will.

• Current and former parishioners: Members of the churches where I’ve belonged and served have a special place in my heart. Many are already in heaven. More are still in line.

• Classmates: All the way from elementary school to high school to college to seminary. Some are closer than others. Many are already at the feet of Jesus in heaven.

• Coworkers: The folks with whom I’ve worked in the past and even now are very special. Lots of time together with them in the trenches of life and ministry.

• Our church body’s District Presidents: There’s a special bond between and among these great servant leaders. No one can possibly understand the DP bond unless he’s been one.

• Fellow pastors: This group is almost like an ecclesiastical labor union. We all are similarly educated and united by vows of ordination. A motley crew, to say the least.

• Neighbors: Terry and I have lived in 17 different places during our 57 years of marriage, half of those in our first seven years together. That’s a long story. We are exceptionally close to many folks who live in our current neighborhood. Being the second family to move into a new ‘hood almost eight years ago makes a difference and has created lifelong bonds of friendship.

The Bible contains many stories about close friendships. Here are just a few:

• Abraham and Lot
• Ruth and Naomi
• Elijah and Elisha
• Paul and Timothy
• Jesus and Lazarus

The Book of Proverbs says this about friends:

• A friend loves at all times. 17:17
• A friend sticks closer than a brother. 18:24
• The sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. 27:9

Jesus said: Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Friends are some of life’s greatest treasures. I am blessed to have many. I hope you are too.

The Year I Was Born

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This coming Sunday, January 29, is my birthday. I’ll reveal the year a little later in this column. Here’s a brief look at what life was like the year I was born:

Famous people who were born the year I was born:

• Chevy Chase
• Janis Joplin
• Robert DeNiro
• John Denver
• Oliver North
• George Harrison
• Geraldo Rivera

Cost of living the year I was born:

• Average cost of a new house: $3,600
• Average annual wages: $2,000
• Average monthly rent: $40
• Cost of a gallon of gasoline: 15 cents
• Average price for a new car: $900
• Bottle of Coca Cola: 5 cents
• Doughnuts: 15 cents per dozen
• Eggs: 64 cents per dozen
• Five-pound bag of flour: 25 cents

Public personalities, political leaders, significant events the year I was born:

• President: Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Vice President: Henry A. Wallace
• The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) began broadcasting
• The Great Depression officially ended in the United States
• Shoes were rationed
• General Dwight D. Eisenhower was selected to command the Allied armies in Europe
• World War II was well underway

What is the year I was born? The year of our Lord 1943. A long time ago!

To put it mildly, lots of changes have occurred in the past eight decades. I’ve been hugely blessed with parents, siblings, wife, children, grandchildren, co-workers, friends too numerous to count, and a variety of challenging vocational callings.

The best birthday gift I’ve received came on my 23^rd birthday in 1966. Terry and I were married that day. Every January 29 since then, we’ve had some interesting conversations about which event to celebrate on that specific day. She says birthday. I say anniversary. She usually wins.

The Bible says: We live for 70 years, or 80 years if we’re healthy, yet even in the prime years there are troubles and sorrow. Psalm 90:10 (ISV)

My father died at 66 ½ years of age. My mother lived to be 102 years and nine months. Proof that the general rule written by King David many years ago is simply that. A general rule.

As I approach that significant number, aka four score years (a score being 20), I do so with thankfulness to God for excellent health, clarity of mind, abundant blessings. Though there have been some challenging times, I’ve been truly blessed since the year I was born.

To God be all the glory!

Winning and Losing

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Sports fans know a lot about winning and losing. So do sports participants, who perhaps experience a different level of intensity when winning or losing than do those who simply watch from the sidelines.

Note the word perhaps, which was intentionally chosen. Need I say more?

In the collegiate realm, football fans have already seen all the winners and losers they’re going to see, at least for this season. The College Football Playoff national championship has been decided.

The Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Frogs had a sensational season, nearly going undefeated before pretty much melting in the final game against the Georgia Bulldogs. The final score of 65-7 was nowhere near what some of us expected. At least the Frogs made it to the dance.

Many of us Texans whose teams flamed out early (Aggies, Longhorns, Red Raiders, Mustangs, Cougars, Bobcats, et al.) were pulling for the only Texas team that actually got to the finals. Alas. The Horned Frogs were simply outplayed, outmanned, outcoached, and unprepared.

This month’s focus is on the National Football League. Already 24 teams have been eliminated, including many of my favorites. Of said favorites, only the Dallas Cowboys are still in the hunt, at least for now.

Of the eight remaining teams, only two will make it to the 57th Super Bowl (Super Bowl LVII). That contest will be on February 12, 2023, at 5:30 pm CST at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

The NFL team that wins Super Bowl LVII will soon be forgotten by many. In the overall picture of life and death, a football game pales into relative insignificance. Two years from now, will it really matter?

The phenomenon of winning and losing is not restricted to football fields or basketball gymnasiums or baseball diamonds or volleyball courts or Olympic swimming pools. People win and lose in life every day.

In my numerous decades on Planet Earth, I’ve celebrated wins and suffered losses. By the grace of God, more of the former than of the latter. What I’ve discovered is that people who almost always win and almost never lose are rare as hen’s teeth. And sometimes hard to get along with.

What I’ve also discovered is that losing does not bring the end of the world. After any defeat, the sun will come up in the morning. Birds will chirp. Bees will buzz. Babies will be born. Life for some will end.

Another truism, in a form of articulation that I’ve never heard from anyone but me, goes like this: A person’s education is not complete until he learns how to lose.

In the game of life, there will always be winners and losers. While winning is more fun than losing, I believe it’s important for winners to understand what it feels like to be a loser.

Though we might find faults with athletic competition, at any level, I watch with interest the interaction among opponents after a game is over. Winners are ecstatic! Losers are disappointed or deflated.

Yet shaking hands with each other or high-fiving or fist-bumping is at least an expression of awareness that though half of us are winners today, we could very likely be losers tomorrow.

The Bible is anything but silent on winning and losing. Here are only a few examples:

• In a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize. 1 Cor. 9:24
• The last will be first, and the first will be last. Matt. 20:16
• Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 15:57

Ultimately, our final breath is the only time winning or losing is truly important. Only by God’s grace are we winners when it really counts.

The Other Woman

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Several months ago I read and filed the story below, which had been sent by a friend. This week seems the right time to share it with you.

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After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner. She said, “I love you and I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.”

The other woman my wife wanted me to visit was my mother, who had been a widow for 19 years. The demands of work and children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally.

That night I called to invite Mom to dinner. “What’s wrong? Are you well?” she asked. Mother was the type who suspected a late-night call or surprise invitation was a sign of bad news.

“I thought it would be nice to spend some time with you,” I responded. “Just the two of us.”

She thought about it for a moment, and then said, “I would like that very much.”

That Friday after work as I drove over to pick her up, I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be a bit anxious about our date.

She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. The smile on her face was as radiant as an angel’s. “I told my friends I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed,” she said, as she got into the car. “They can’t wait to hear about our evening.”

We went to a restaurant that was not elegant, but very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print.

Halfway through the entrees, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her face. “It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,” she said. “Then it’s time that you relax and let me return the favor,” I responded.

During dinner, we had a pleasant conversation, nothing extraordinary, just catching up on recent events in each other’s life. We talked a lot. As we arrived at her home later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.” I agreed.

“How was your dinner date?” asked my wife when I got home. “Very nice,” I answered. Much more so than I could have imagined.”

A few days later my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly I didn’t have a chance to do anything to help her.

Sometime later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place where mother and I had dined. An attached note said: “I paid this bill in advance. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two dinners — one for you and the other for your sweet wife. You will never know what our night together meant for me. I love you, Son.”

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying “I love you” and of giving our loved ones the time and attention they need. Nothing in life is more important than your family.

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This story has special and timely meaning for me. Like the man in the story, my sweet wife Terry is the most important woman in my life. Our dear daughter Angie and our favorite granddaughter Kayla are right up there next to Terry.

Two days ago, January 10, was the fourth anniversary of my dear mother’s passing from this world. Elda Maria Sophia Hellman Kieschnick was born April 10, 1916. She went to heaven January 10, 2019, at the tender age of 102 years and nine months.

I thank God for my mother’s love for her family and for the legacy of faith she shared with her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren, and countless others she encountered. She was and always will be a very important “other woman” in my life.

The Predictability of Death

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Some of you may be thinking this is not a happy topic with which to begin the new year. You’re right. Death is not a happy topic. No one I know likes to talk about death and dying. We like life!

Having said that, I quickly add that death is one of the realities of life. Plants live and die. Fish live and die. Animals live and die. People live and die. Even Tesla batteries live and die. Death happens.

In the past several days, the world has been reminded of that reality. Here are a few examples:

• Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, whose birth name was Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, died December 31, 2022, at 95 years of age. Because of his advanced age, his death was fairly predictable.

• Barbara Jill Walters, well-known TV interviewer, reporter, and journalist, died December 30, 2022, at 93 years of age. Again, being older than nine decades, her death was not unexpected.

• Closer to home, last month the husband of a classmate of my dear wife passed away in his sleep at the tender age of almost 81. Though not as predictable as the death of a nonagenarian, the death of an octogenarian like Steve, even when totally unexpected, is not a rarity or anomaly.

• A couple weeks before Christmas, a friend of our dear daughter died in an automobile collision. She was 54 years of age. That morning when she left home in her vehicle, no one would have been able to predict Stephanie’s tragic and untimely death.

• This past Monday night, January 2, in a professional football game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, 24-year-old Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest only five minutes into the game. As of yesterday, Damar remained hospitalized in critical condition. No one could have predicted this tragedy in the life of a 24-year-old professional athlete.

The Bible says a lot about death, its predictability, and life expectancy. Some statements are easier to comprehend than others. Here are just a few illustrations:

• Now Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron 83 years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh. Ex. 7:7

• Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. Josh. 24:29

• Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” Gen. 6:3

• Noah was 600 years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. Gen. 7:6

• All the days of Methuselah were 969 years; and he died. Gen. 5:27

• Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you [God] are with me. Psalm 23

• Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:15

• If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. Rom. 14:8

• The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 1 Cor. 15:26

• He [God] will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Rev. 21:4

• For I am sure that neither death nor life … nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. 8:38-39

Forty years ago my father died, to me prematurely, at 66 years of age. Four years ago my mother died at 102 years and nine months. Who can predict the timing and circumstances of anyone’s death?

The promise of Jesus is certain: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. John 11:25-26 

For me, it’s more important to remember that promise than to focus on the predictability of death, whether yours or mine or anyone else’s. I think I’ll go outside and plant a tree.

Remember this: Today is the first day of the rest of your life! That’s not just predictable. It’s factual!

New Year’s Resolutions for 2023

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Thought you might appreciate or at least slightly enjoy this list of Funny New Year’s Resolutions, courtesy of Caddy Shack Sports Bar & Grill in Omaha:

1. Check my work e-mail account at least once this year.
2. Switch my username to “password” and my password to “username” to make each a lot harder for hackers to figure out.
3. Start using Facebook for something other than stupid quizzes.
4. Start a blog about how I would write more often if I had something important to write. Only make one blog entry and leave it published for years.
5. Stop setting three alarms on my phone just so I can turn the volume off after the first one.
6. Play more computer games. Studies show that they improve visual skills, reflexes, and dexterity.
7. No longer sit in front of the computer screen all day. I will only stay one hour a day. This will be difficult to do because I am not a clock watcher.
8. Lose weight by hiding it somewhere you’ll never find it.
9. Gain enough weight to get on The Biggest Loser.
10. Buy new clothes big enough to account for next year’s holidays.
11. Eat more fruit, like Starburst, Skittles, Jolly Rancher, Gummi Bears, and Twizzlers.
12. Buy a brand-new scale because my mind keeps reading the same old numbers.
13. Drive by the fitness center at least once a week to pay my respects.
14. Use my treadmill for something other than hanging my jacket.
15. Instead of losing weight I vow to not gain anymore. First figure out how to maintain weight, then plan how to lose it.
16. Start eating more healthfully but finish all the junk food first so I don’t get tempted.
17. Pay off my credit cards every month in full … with my other credit cards.
18. Save money for a rainy day. That way I can shop online instead of going to an actual store.
19. Look for investors for my “home office” business.
20. Visit the grocery store more often than restaurants, especially when free samples are being served.

On a more serious note, here are a few on my personal list:

1. Purge my computer files and the file folders in my home office credenza.
2. Reorganize the tools, bolts, nuts, screws, and junk on the work bench in our garage.
3. Be a bit more sensitive to the actual feelings, sometimes camouflaged, of people I encounter.
4. Continue to send memorial gifts to favorite charities, in loving memory of the friends and loved ones of Terry’s and my friends and loved ones.
5. Continue to thank God for abundant personal and family blessings, especially considering the political, economic, social, financial, and spiritual problems in our country and world.
6. Make a renewed, concentrated effort to model every day the Christian virtues of faithfulness, humility, generosity, sensitivity, respect, patience, gentleness, love, joy, and peace.

A Blessed New Year to each of you!