Christmas

Let’s Remember to Celebrate This Christmas Gift All Year Long

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Babies are One of the Biggest Little Gifts There Are

“A child is born to us, a son is given to us, and authority will be on his shoulders. He will be named, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 CEB version.

This sounds like a lot of gifts in a little baby doesn’t it.

Anyone who has held a newborn has experienced the wonder of this new little human. I remember when my first son was born. When I held his head in the palm of my hand, his feet came to the inside of my elbow. It was mind blowing how God had given me this present.

We have seen how language is always changing. A medical example of this is that in some places now babies are called “obstetric products”. I’m sorry, but I don’t think this is going to work for me. I don’t think a baby is something that has been manufactured or refined by a doctor’s office.

Babies are little human miracles. They are gifts from God. Babies are amazing.

This is especially true for the baby born in the manger of Bethlehem.

Christmas has come and gone for another year. It’s easy to get caught up in the season and then we move on to the next big thing once all the presents have been unwrapped. After all, there’s a life to live and we’ve got to get back to it.

Just like any Christmas gift, if we don’t use it, it’s no good to us.

The Baby Jesus is the same. If we don’t use Him, He is no good to us.

In times when we are down or sad, a child’s hug can make us feel better. It helps us to put things in the proper perspective.

When Winston Churchill came to America asking for help with the war, it was Christmas time. He was extremely busy meeting with people. He was staying in the White House and, at the same time, the daughter of one of the President’s advisors was staying there.

It was Christmas and after Winston had gone to his room, he was missing his family. He asked the staff if they could bring the little girl to his room. They did; he gave her a hug and sent her back. It was the closest thing he had to his own granddaughter.

A child’s hug can work miracles.

God sent His Son to earth as a baby. This baby is the biggest Christmas gift we’ll ever get. But it won’t be any good to us if we don’t unwrap it and use it.

There is a Charlie Brown story where he breaks his piggy bank to find he has $9.11 to do his Christmas shopping. Lucy tells him that it’s not enough. He says he will spend it all. She told him they wouldn’t be very expensive gifts. Charlie replied, “They are if they cost you everything you have”.

This is what God did for us.

Remember the gift God has given us and its cost.

The true value of gifts is not about how many dollars it costs. It’s about the joy that comes from using it.

It’s Christmas Time and This Is the Most Wonderful Time for Giving

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However, Proposal Systems are Not What We Normally Think of When We Think About Giving

Giving is an interesting word. For such a small and simple word, I had no idea how complex it was. In the Meriam-Webster dictionary there are sixteen different definitions with several sub-definitions for the word give. This is just as a verb, plus there are additional ones for uses of nouns, etc.

Just like the large number of definitions for the word give, there are a lot of great ways of giving.

One way of giving is the traditional wrapped presents under the Christmas Tree. And who doesn’t look forward to getting together with the people we love and sharing in the excitement of unwrapping that unknown gift?

Another great way of giving is sharing our knowledge and experience.

In my forty years in the construction industry, I learned some things. 😊 After struggling trying to figure out how to do accurate proposals, communicate clearly with customers and prepare a production budget, I knew there had to be a better way.

While a lot of construction companies are great at “constructing”, they often struggle with the business side of things. There’s a lot more to owning and operating a construction company than just building.

Unexpected costs, changes to projects and poor communication plague the construction industry.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

That’s why I developed the Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal system. This proposal system will give you the documents and instructions needed for preparing proposals that communicate clearly and accurately with the customer, while allowing you to be profitable.

This system includes templates for:

            Bid sheet – A Word document with all the construction sections and individual items already listed out with space for filling out the scope of the work to be done, dimensions, materials, locations, etc.

            Worksheet – An Excel spreadsheet with all the construction sections and individual items already listed out with optional overhead and profit markups already inserted in the appropriate cells.

            Estimate – A word document with spaces to fill in the pertinent information, i.e. customer’s information, what will or will not be supplied by the contractor, the scope of work, the estimated price for each specific element and a total estimated price.

            Proposal – A word document with spaces to fill in the pertinent information, i.e. customer’s information, what will or will not be supplied by the contractor, the scope of work, the proposed price for each specific element, a total project price, payment arrangements and project duration.

            Contract – A word document with spaces to fill in the pertinent information, i.e. customer’s information, list of referenced documents, construction funding information, property specifics, project start date and legal terms and conditions.

            Proposal-Contract – A word document that is a combination of a proposal and contract in one.

It also includes:

            Data Base – An Excel spreadsheet with prices for material and labor for a wide variety of specific construction tasks. This information can be copied and pasted to the worksheet.

            Instructions – Complete and comprehensive instructions for how to use this system and put it to work.

            Example documents – Complete Bid Sheet, Worksheet, and Proposal for a hypothetical construction project.

Back to the spirit of giving –

I want to give of my experience and knowledge because I want to see more successful construction contractors and more happy construction customers.

So, this Christmas we’re giving by reducing the $497 price of our Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal system by 80%.

The Christmas price is only $97!

This reduced price will allow contractors to give clearer more accurate proposals to their customers.

If you know someone in the construction industry that you think would like the chance to save $400 on this proposal system…give them the link to the Blueprint for Building a Better Proposal or give them the link to this blog post.

We also have a free document you can download called the 7 Bid Mistakes. It will walk you through the common mistakes that cost contractors a fortune and how to avoid them. And because it’s free…we’re giving it too.

Life is Crazy Busy, and it Only Gets Worse Around Christmas

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The Real Question is…What Are You Going to do About it?

Most of us have too much going on in our normal daily lives, with work, family, personal task, etc. You know…life. This only ramps up around the holidays.

Why do things get so crazy busy at this time of the year?

There are several reasons for this. Most of the things we do are important, some not as much. I know our family starts holiday activities before Thanksgiving and continues through New Year. This can make things a little crazy.

This includes things like family gatherings for Thanksgiving, decorating for Christmas, Church events, etc. As families grow and kids marry, there are multiple activities that need to be organized. Other family members’ schedules affect our schedules. It’s a little like a game of holiday musical chairs.

Decorating, gift shopping, baking, gift wrapping, gathering to open gifts, traveling to the next family gathering and on and on. It’s easy to get caught up in the process and forget the reason for the season.

The key to holiday crazy is to be clear on what the most important thing is and to enjoy the crazy season.

Baby Jesus is the small center of sanity in the insanity of Christmas. Jesus is the ultimate gift and we need to remember that.

John the Baptist knew what the most important thing was. He makes this clear in his conversation with the Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew 3:1-12. He explains the importance of not just going through motions, but knowing who Jesus is and changing your heart and lives accordingly.

He explains the importance of repenting. Repenting is more than just feeling regret for something you’ve done.

Repenting requires change.

We’ve all experienced our GPS telling us we need to turn around. Granted, our GPS isn’t right 100% of the time, but we as humans think we know better and too often just keep on driving, even though we’re going the wrong direction.

Pastor Lee told us a story that makes this point. He was going to a town that he was sure was one place when, in reality, it was not. After listening to his GPS telling him to turn around for two hours, he realized the GPS was right. This cost him a lot of unnecessary time and heartache.

We all tend to do things like this in life as well. We think we know what’s best and we ignore God telling us to turn around. 

In this crazy Christmas season, embrace the busy, enjoy the season and listen to your life GPS (God’s Positioning System) for direction.

There’s A Lot More to the Day than Just Opening Presents

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Just Like That, Christmas is Over…Now What?

With every passing year, Christmas seems to come and go faster and faster. It seems like it was just last week that we were celebrating Christmas 2020.

It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of the Holidays and lose sight of the “Reason for the season”. With all the excitement building up to Christmas, what’s left after can be depressing. All those decorations need to be taken back down and put away for another year (week).

Don’t let the fun seasonal activities cause us to forget that we’re celebrating the coming of our Heavenly Savior.

In Matthew 1:18-25 Joseph is told to accept Mary as his wife and to name the baby Jesus because He will save people from their sins. This all happened as the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isiah. “They will name Him Immanuel.” Immanuel means “God with us”.

God is with us… Not just for the day. He is with us every day.

We’ve been falling short of God’s plan from the very beginning. Adam and Eve in their desire to be like God, fell for Satan’s pitch and did the one thing God commanded them not to do.

Like Adam and Eve, we still are persuaded by Satan to do things we shouldn’t. We’re fortunate that we were given the gift of Jesus.

God’s gift of Jesus is like any present we get, if we don’t open it and use it, there’s no benefit to getting it.

We’re like Paul when he writes about how he struggles with doing the things he wants to and not doing the things he doesn’t. We’re pretty good at messing things up.

A couple was eating pizza with their son who is in a group home. While they were still eating, the cleaning lady came in. They apologized for the mess and said they would clean it up. The cleaning lady just kept cleaning and said, “This is what I do.”

This is what Jesus does for us. He cleans up our messes.

This doesn’t mean that we should just go be as messy as we can be. If we accept God’s gift, we will do all that we can to keep the messes to a minimum.

As we move past this Christmas and into a new year, remember that Immanuel, God with us is that Gift which we’ve been given.

Use this Present today and every day and enjoy it!

It’s Amazing How Much of an Effect Little Things Can Make

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Big Things Can Come in Small Packages

When we think God…we think big. He is God after all. The Creator of the universe in all its vastness. In a few days we celebrate His coming into the world. What’s amazing is that He didn’t come big, He came small. He came born a baby to a couple of scared teenagers.

You want to talk about an overwhelming mission…just think about what that was like.

There are three lessons that Mary would share:

  1. God is working in the small things –

God could have come as a conquering warrior, a charismatic king or a commanding emperor. Instead, he came as a helpless baby, dependent on Mary and Joseph to feed and clothe him.

He loves us enough to be born into our lives. It’s like the butterfly effect. The small things we do have a big impact…either for good or bad.

It’s up to us to decide what kind of impact we’ll have.

2. God is working through the difficult circumstances –

Jesus was born in a difficult time. Throughout the Bible, God doesn’t choose the easy path and it’s no different today.

You know there were scandalous rumors about Mary being pregnant and her not being married. When Jesus was born Harrod was a ruthless king willing to kill infant boys to keep his throne.

Why didn’t God choose an easier path?

God’s light shines brightest when it’s the darkest. God’s power is greatest when we’re at our weakest. God’s grace shows up in the times when we least expect it.

It’s up to us to see it.

3. God is working in everyone who opens their heart –

In Luke 1: 39-45, we see Mary’s open heart in her conversation with Elizabeth.

God never forces anyone to accept Him. He came in the most unlikely manner, to the most unlikely people, at the most unlikely time. He did this so that we wouldn’t be overwhelmed…but overjoyed.

The actor Richard Crenna grew up in downtown LA living in a family run hotel. Many of the people who stayed there were unhappy and less desirable types. Young Richard would make fun of them to his friends.

After landing an acting job in New York as a young man, he was going to be leaving shortly after Christmas.

Growing up his family wasn’t big on celebrating Christmas, but this time was different. His parents had a Christmas celebration at the hotel with these “less desirable people”. These people celebrated Richard’s opportunity and gave him gifts and shared a meal.

On the train to New York someone asked him how his Christmas was. He replied, “It was my best Christmas ever. I spent it with children of the Most High, my family.”

This event showed Crenna the importance of an open heart and lead to his becoming part of God’s family.

Everyone is invited to be part of God’s family…we just have to open our hearts.

It’s amazing how much of an effect the little things can make, if we’ll just open our eyes and our hearts.

The Francesca Battistelli song Be Born in Me, sums up this whole amazing big/little Christmas gift thing really well. Listen to the song here.

Open your heart to the Joy of Christmas!

Where Do You Find Your Real Christmas Joy?

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It Comes from the Inside, Not the Outside, No Matter How Much “Stuff” You Have

It’s almost Christmas.

Last night my wife came to me and said, “Do you realize Christmas is next week?” I told her that I did know that. She said, “I can’t believe how close it is. I’m not ready.”

This is a common sentiment this time of the year…okay, every year.

It seems that the conversation of time going by faster is a familiar, not just at this time of the year. I don’t disagree that it certainly can feel this way. But time is not moving any differently than it ever did.

The time issue is more about us trying to squeeze in too much. I believe we’ve been given exactly the right amount of time to do whatever we’ve been put here to do. The problem is with how we spend our time rather than how much we have.

And so much of what we’re trying to squeeze in, is the wrong stuff.

This issue only increases with Christmas.

The focus can become the activities, events, competing with the neighbors when decorating and gifts…rather than family, friends, celebrating and the real gift of Christmas.

There is a story about a little boy who only wanted a specific red toy truck for Christmas. This truck was had the boy’s full focus. Nothing else mattered. There under the tree was that red truck on Christmas morning. All the other presents were overlooked. He had his truck.

Later that day the little boy came to his dad crying. His truck was broke. Through his sobs, he said, “My Christmas is broke.” We can sure tell where his focus was. His whole Christmas was wrapped up in that truck.

Our Christmas focus can end up being in the wrong place if we aren’t careful.

We need to have the kind of attitude that Paul exhibits in Philippians 4:4-7. He wrote, “Always be filled with joy from the Lord…Don’t worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks for what you have. And because you belong to Christ Jesus, God’s peace will stand guard over all your thoughts and feelings. His peace can do this far better than our human minds.”

He wrote this while in prison.

You would think we should be able to be joyful, living the blessed lives that we live.

We need to take Paul’s passion to heart this and every Christmas.

This is where real Christmas joy comes from!

Monday is a Special Day…It’s My Second, Ninth Birthday

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Every Day We Get Second Chances, Don’t Wait Until You’re Smacked in the Head

That’s right…it’s my second, ninth birthday. Most people don’t get to have two birthdays a year, but I’m one of the fortunate ones.

There’s my original birthday…the day in which my mother gave birth to me. And then I have a second birthday…the one in which I got a second chance at life.

Too many people live their whole lives never finding their purpose. My second birthday helped me to find mine.

Let me explain. On December 6th, 2012, I was working, standing on a plank, approximately 8’ above the ground when it broke. Luckily, I don’t remember any of the ordeal from the time that I was measuring for a piece of wafer board until I woke up in the hospital three days later…

As I recovered from the fall, I realized this situation could have ended differently. I was still here for a reason.

God wasn’t done with me yet.

Some of us are a little slower than others and it takes a board upside the head, to get our attention.

As I was watching one of my favorite Christmas movies a few days ago I was thinking about why it is that I liked it so much…. then I realized that it was the opportunity for second chances. It was like my fall.

It’s never too late to start building a better life.

The movie, A Shoe Addict’s Christmas (Not a title that most guys would probably have on their movie list.) is about a woman, Noelle, who accidently gets locked in a department store where she works. While waiting to be rescued, a quirky woman named Charlie appears. Over the next few days Charlie, Noelle’s guardian angel, helps her rediscover the life she has been avoiding, by visiting Christmases past, present and future. (Sounds a little like another movie, doesn’t it?)

We’ve all had situations that we can look back on and wish we’d done different.

We can’t change the past, but things we do today will affect the future.

In the movie, Charlie tells Noelle a story. You’ve probably heard it (or some variation of it).

It goes like this, there was man who was out in the snow. Someone came by in a sleigh and offered him a ride. The man refused. He said, “God will take care of me”. Later as the snow continued to get deeper another man in a sleigh came by and offered to help. Once again, the man refused. “God will take care of me.” The next time a sleigh came by the snow was up to the man’s chin. For a third time the man declined the help and said, “God will take care of me”. Then the man is in Heaven and asking God why He didn’t save him. God answers, “I sent three sleighs and you ignored them all”.

Don’t ignore the sleighs that God sends.

I love Christmas movies. They offer us a perspective that too often is overlooked in real live. They are a great example of God’s love shared through people in the world.

My wife and I like Christmas movies so much that we make a long list (currently 146 and growing) and we implement a plan for watching them. (I also love making plans 😊) Besides that…there won’t be any NACAR races to watch until early February.

My friend Shep and I talked about the Christmas movie list which prompted him to compare Christmas movies with God’s love in his most recent Monday Morning Moment. (Follow this link to Shep’s post)

All of this is to say, that if you’re still alive…it’s not too late. You don’t need a second birthday to make changes in your life.

Be aware of the sleighs that God sends. Don’t wait until you’re hit in the head with a board.

Be Patient, the Day is Coming…You Can Count on it

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The Heart of the Advent Season is the Coming of Christ

We live in an “I want it now” society. We’ve been spoiled by the speed at which things move at. Instantaneous access to the internet on our hand-held devices, drive through restaurants, etc. Not that there is anything wrong with efficiency, but in the process, we’ve lost the ability to wait patiently.

This sense of immediacy makes us a demanding people.

It seems that this has always been the case. Throughout the Bible people were unwilling to wait for things to happen according to God’s timing and inevitably they would have to wait longer. They would take things in their own hands and then pay the price.

Jerimiah speaks to this in Chapter 33. He is sharing a message with the people. It was the promise of Jesus’ coming. They were feeling hopeless, and Jerimiah gave them hope.

Early on, Jerimiah was a preacher of righteousness, in the last chapter of his book, he speaks words of comfort. Before the people needed to be confronted, now they need to be comforted. Before they needed words of judgement, now they need words of grace. Before they deserved condemnation, now they need hope. So instead of offering a word of punishment, Jerimiah offers a word of promise.

Behold the days are coming.

Jerimiah uses the phrase, “The days are coming.” throughout his book. This is God’s promise to us of Christ’s coming. This doesn’t mean everything is going to be easy, it just means that that we’ve been promised something better.

During a live presentation of the Wizard of Oz the good witch Glinda was being lowered on to the stage when there was a problem, and she was left hanging above the stage. When something like this happens during a live performance there’s not much the actors can do other than improvise and wait patiently.

We need to do what we can and be patient with things that we have no control over.

We live in a fallen world. We can’t change that, but we can control how we live in it. We aren’t perfect, we are a people under construction.

Enjoy this season of Advent and the coming of Christ as we celebrate Christmas time.

An Unexpected, Modern-Day Twist to The Christmas Carol

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It’s Never Too Late to Build A Better Life

An update of the December 29, 2018 post.

As I’m working on goal setting and planning for the new year, I’ve been reviewing the past several years. Looking back can be disappointing and discouraging if things haven’t gone as well as you had planned. And this year certainly didn’t go as planned

While thinking about places I fell short and opportunities I missed or ignored, it caused me to think about the Hallmark Christmas movie, “A Shoe Addict’s Christmas”. In this movie a woman, Noelle, accidently gets locked in a department store where she works. While waiting to be rescued a quirky woman, Charlie, appears. Over the next few days Charlie, a guardian angel, helps Noelle rediscover the life she has been avoiding, by visiting Christmases past present and future.

We all have situations that we can look back on and wish we had done something different. We can’t change the past, but what we do today will affect the future.

You may have heard the story (or some variation of it) that Charlie told Noelle in the movie. It goes like this, there was man who was out in the snow and someone came by in a sleigh and offered him a ride. The man refused. He said, “God will take care of me”. Later as the snow continued to get deeper another man in a sleigh came by and offered to help. Once again, the man refused. “God will take care of me.” The next time a sleigh came by the snow was up to the man’s chin. For a third time the man declined the help and said, “God will take care of me”. Then the man is in Heaven and asking God why He didn’t save him. God answers, “I sent three sleighs and you ignored them all”.

Too often we ignore the sleighs that God sends us.

As long as we’re still alive, even if we’ve missed or ignored sleighs in the past, it’s never too late to use the next one. It is up to us to decide. There is a balance of faith and doing. Dave Ramsey says to “Pray like it all depends on God but work like it all depends on me.” We need to take of the blinders off and be more observant of the sleighs. “God moves mountains to create the opportunity of His choosing. It is up to you to be ready to move yourself.”, “The Traveler’s Gift”, Andy Andrews.

If I don’t want to get buried in the snow, I need to shovel what I can when I can and take the sleighs when they come along. I was presented some sleighs this past year and took them.

Learn from the past, look to the future, live in the present.

Watch for the sleighs and make this year the best year ever.

Make My Heart a Manger

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A place Where Jesus Can Reside

This time of the year the Christmas story is a big part of things. You know the one, the on where Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger. As we reflect on this story here are a few things to think about.

When Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem is was full of people going about their required duties. There were so many people there was no place left for Jesus to come into this world except an animal shelter. He was given the leftovers. Too many times this is what we give Jesus… We give Him our leftover time and attention. We don’t give Him anything but some space out with the animals.

Give Jesus more than your leftovers.

A manger is a trough or box for feeding livestock. Yet this was the place where our Savior was first laid. This was the place where He began to change everything. It was the starting point.

Jesus doesn’t need a palace or a king size bed. He just needs a place to reside.

This story from “1001 Illustrations That Connect” edited by Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elsolf about Rose Kennedy, mother of President John Kennedy, explains this well. (Make your heart a manger)

Rose Kennedy’s story:

“I was a spoiled young bride of a strong-willed man, a socialite who attended every function possible,” she began. “We were expecting a child and elated at the prospect. The day came when our child was born. She was a beautiful child.

“But it wasn’t long until we realized that there was something terribly wrong with her. We took her to the doctor, who confirmed our fears. She was [mentally handicapped], and nothing could be done.”

“Anger grew in my heart,” Rose said. “How could God do such a thing to this child — to me? I turned my back on God, my husband, my closest friends — and became a recluse.

“One evening, a major event was happening in the city. I wanted to go, but I was so filled with wrath that I thought I might create a scene. My husband feared it, too, so we decided to stay home. A lovely woman, who was one of our maids, gently said to me, ‘Please excuse me, Mrs. Kennedy, but I’ve been watching you the last few weeks. I love you very much, and I hate to see this destroy your life. Mrs. Kennedy, you’ll never be happy until you make your heart a manger where the Christ Child may be born.’

“I fired her on the spot! Yet later that night, my mind ruminated relentlessly, keeping me awake. I could not forget that lovely face, the sweetness of the maid, the joy in her spirit, and especially her words.

I have loved Christ my whole life, and tried to be a good Catholic, but now I knelt beside my bed and prayed, ‘Dear God, make my heart a manger where the Christ Child may be born.’ I felt a fresh, new, divine entry into my life, and there was born in me a love for [mentally handicapped] children.”

“Oh, by the way, I rehired the lovely maid,” Rose added. “She was with us until her death.”

Make your heart a manger where the Christ Child may be born.