This Christmas season, there were two countdowns. Shopping days 'til Christmas. And days 'til the new "Star Wars" movie opened.
Thirty years ago, my kids begged to get the first Star Wars action figures for Christmas. Now their kids are begging for the new movie's rolling droid, BB-8, and TIE fighter Legos. Three generations. Captivated by what has become a modern mythology for our times.
There was a miracle in the wildfire the other night. On an Indian reservation where we have many dear friends.
We've watched the news with growing concern - and intensifying prayer - as the path of the fire's destruction has grown steadily. We learned some of our "family" there have their church and some loved ones in a town surrounded by the flames.
A part of my heart's been in Charleston, South Carolina the past few days. So has a part of America's heart. As the hate-driven murder of nine Christian worshipers - in the church - has devastated a city and riveted the nation. With seasoned reporters groping for words. Like "horrific." "Heartbreaking."
But even more overwhelming than the brutal crime has been the response of the families whose loved ones were murdered. "I forgive you."
Wow, they had my attention. When the reporter started talking about a young woman being attacked by a lion. In a game park. In South Africa.
I've been to a game park in South Africa. Where lions roam freely. And the lions were an issue.
My South African friend, Ted, was driving me through this massive game reserve during a break at the conference where I was speaking. It was winter there. The grass was tall. He said, "You'll see the big animals - but not the cats. But they'll be there - in the grass."
Health clubs and spas love January! Business skyrockets as December bulges turn to January workouts.
A "new year" sounds like a great time to work on a new you. Thus, the infamous New Year's resolution. "A firm decision to do or not to do something."
Sadly, research shows that about 88% of our resolutions won't happen.
It was a Kleenex moment in the Christmas season, for sure.
Like the first Christmas, there was a newborn baby involved. But no manger. How about a Jumbotron screen at an Anaheim Ducks hockey game, of all places?
A strange sight, for sure. Ferguson, Missouri in flames. With Christmas lights all around. A "Season's Greetings" banner, shrouded in tear gas.
Seems like a disconnect. Or maybe not.
Heart-wrenching.
Brittany Maynard's medical death sentence. A young wife, in love with her husband, looking forward to having children. Told that her incurable cancer would, after a painful decline, take her young life.
Robin Williams, one of the funniest men in America. Successful in movies. TV. Even Broadway.
This last batch of killer tornadoes missed our area. But the lives and places devastated this time hit a little closer to home.
The Mississippi folks at the conference we were at were getting some pretty scary reports from back home. Others from North Carolina were still talking about the toddler who died in a tornado that struck nearby. Friends in a ministry organization we know were deeply wounded by the death of a coworker and his daughters in Arkansas.
