Categories
Christmas holiday writing

Writing a Christmas Letter

dad watching her daughter make a christmas letter
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A recent podcast made me consider the advantages of writing a Christmas letter instead of sending friends and family images from the year.

“You just can’t do [it] with a collection of selfies or any other kind of scenic images.

It requires a story. And the act of having to commit yourself to tell a story is an invitation to tell the full dimensions of that, or the fuller dimension.”

From Good Faith: Advent with Friends: Rethinking Heavenly Peace (with Andy Crouch), Dec 7, 2024

Curtis Chang explained photos, while they are good, can’t tell a complete story. We either choose the best images, because we desire to put out best foot forward, or we attempt to show an image that can exploit a situation.

Regarding Santa, a mood board with all a child’s requests is not quite the same as a handwritten letter. If you have a lot of hopes and fears to convey, a handwritten letter may be the way to go. It may be the only way for clearer Christmas requests.

Cartoon of a boy and a letter carrier at the post office. The boy says, "It's a letter to Santa. My hopes and fears of all the years are mailed with thee tonight."

It may be too late for me this year, but I may reconsider writing a Christmas letter next year. Check back with me then and see if I follow through.

Categories
motivation

Nobody Drifts to Success

jellyfish swimming in the sea
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It doesn’t matter what you want to achieve. Nobody gets there by happenstance. Nobody drifts to success. Sure, we hear stories that may convince us this is the case. Some are born with silver spoons in their mouths, but nobody drifts into doing something meaningful and successful.

Show up and do the hard work. Every Monday, be the one who faithfully puts in the hours and the effort because drifting isn’t a strategy. It’s a recipe for failure. I would rather make the effort and fail, than fail by default because I have never tried.

Let’s face it: it’s too easy to drift. The good news is that you can wake up and correct your course once you realize you are drifting.

Categories
communication writing

Is it too cold?

women s black zip up hooded jacket
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We’ve been in Indiana and Ohio for Thanksgiving the last few days. Coming from Florida, it was a shock to the system when the wind chill recently dropped below 9° Fahrenheit. But is it too cold?

If you go by the headlines, the answer is yes. Of course, they have to add some drama to their spiel.

Snow and Arctic cold will blast the Midwest and Northeast

Is it too cold? man in rainy weather spots a melting snowman.

The guy in my illustration may think the icy rain makes it too cold. But if the snowman could speak, he may disagree. A nine-degree windchill may seem too frigid to a midwesterner, but it may sound like a heat wave in Barrow, Alaska.

Generalities can cloud your communications. Be specific when you describe a situation. Otherwise, your intended receiver may think you are too vague.

Now, excuse me while I find a nice, roaring fire.

Categories
motivation

Consider it pure joy

man and woman playing tug of war
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How can anyone consider it pure joy when we face trials? How can anything good come from the pressures and challenges in our lives?

James 1:2-3 Consider it pure joy.

Untested faith is unproven. How can you know if your faith holds without putting it into practice? In a story, a hero without a trial is a hero without a story. How can the hero save the day if there is no problem to confront?

We don’t like trials and tribulations. Yet, problems have benefits. We need them. So when it comes to trials of various kinds, consider it pure joy.

Categories
love

To Love and to be Loved

woman carrying a baby
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We strongly desire to be loved from the moment we are born. Our survival depends on it. If someone doesn’t care for an infant, they are doomed. All of us are here because someone cared for us. Oh, to love and to be loved!

to love and to be loved by Nicolas Chamfort
Nicolas Chamfort Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved November 24, 2024, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/nicolas_chamfort_143427

Yes, we all want love. However, our adverse experiences, fear of rejection, and selfishness make us skittish about loving others. Yet, how can we expect love to increase if we are not part of the solution?

What the world needs now is love, sweet love. That’s the only thing that there’s much too little of.