Top 25 Moments from 2011

It's New Year's Eve and time to take a look back at 2011. It's been an amazing year. I can't wait to see what God does in 2012.

Here's my Top 25 Moments of 2011:

25. Unexpected trip to NC to visit family.

24. Christmas Eve at FCBC.

23. Signing my son up for his first international mission trip.

22. Watching the Cowboys beat the Redskins (second time in season.)

21. Operation Christmas Child - ALL of it. It's an amazing thing to see!

20. Catalyst Conference.

19. Travelling to Nashville with Marsha for a friend's wedding.

18. Watching the Cowboys beat the Redskins.

17. Seeing all the amazing results of our Kenya Team's work.

16. Our family's visit with Mike, Alice, Daniel and Ben in England.

15. Visiting my brother and his family in Berlin.

14. Dinner with Marsha in downtown Berlin.

13. Visiting Cathy and Alex in France.

12. Having Alex give us a tour of his home town, Pavilly, France.

11. Taking a picture of the four of us crossing Abbey Road.

10. Seeing my kids faces on their very first airplane ride.

9. Pastor Charle's last minute visit from Nairobi.

8. All the weddings, baptisms and baby dedications. Those never get old!

7. Orange Conference - truly an amazing group of folks leading leaders!

6. Pappadeaux's in Atlanta. Now that's some good food!

5. Dinner and great conversation with long-lost friends in Atlanta.

4. Watching our church showing God's love to the homeless in our community.

3. Hanging out with the guys in my coaching network and learning from each other.

2. Celebrating another anniversary with Marsha - 18 years and each one gets better.

1. Baptizing Abbey!

Merry Christmas

As I'm writing this it's Wednesday, four days until Christmas. I had an interesting conversation this morning with a kid in our neighborhood. He's in the 6th grade and comes to our house each morning to have breakfast and walk to school with Abbey and me. His mom's a single parent and works long hours in order to provide for three kids. She leaves early and comes home late most days.

Last week he noticed some Christmas presents under our tree and jokingly asked which one was his. He was surprised, and thrilled, when Abbey went over and pointed to his Christmas present - it had his name on it. Everyday since he's asked "When can I open my present?"

But today, as we were walking out the door he asked a different question. He asked "Did you get me a present because I'm poor?" I have to say I was not expecting the question and something inside of me broke when I heard it. But somehow, God gave me a quick response. I said "You're one of the richest people I know."

On the walk to school he asked me what I meant when I said he was one of the richest people I knew. I told him that everyday when he comes to our house, regardless of what's going on, he always has a smile on his face and is always happy about something. I told him he was rich in joy and that everyday he makes my day better because of who he is. I'm not sure if he understood what I was saying but someday he will.

It's hard to have joy sometimes, especially when things are not going well for us but are going well for others. But if a 6th grade kid can find joy in the middle of a difficult life, surrounded by friends and peers who have so much more than him, then so can we.

I think that's a big part of the Christmas story. So many people, in difficult circumstances, finding joy because of a baby that changed the world. I hope no matter what the circumstances are in your life this Christmas that you will have an experience like mine this week to remind you of what a joyful time this is.

Merry Christmas!