“How is your life better now than it was a few years ago?” That’s the question that stumped a friend of mine. He didn’t know how to respond and he’s not alone. He knows he’s not been in the best place, but by God’s grace he’s now beginning to make some progress. I’m proud of him. He’s now putting a plan in place to move to a better place in his spiritual growth.

Everyone wants to get better. I certainly do. In fact, I’m recommitting to some things that will help lead me to a better place by this time next year. I don’t just want to go through 2012; I want to grow through 2012!

“I’m in love with hope!” I’m not sure who first said it, but that really resonates with me. How about you? When we have hope we have expectation that the future will be better.

Are you low on hope right now? Do you wonder whether things in this world and in your life will ever get better? A friend just called to report that after five years, a broken relationship with his sister had suddenly been restored. He had no idea it was going to happen at all, much less so quickly!

I may be the only guy that sings to his dog! Each time that I feed Molly Brown the Dog of Renown, she hears the same song. “God we thank you, God we thank you, for our food, for our food, and our many blessings, and our many blessings, amen, amen!” During the song, Molly lays down to “pray” and only heads to her food dish when given the command, “Bon Appétit, it’s time to eat!”

“This is an awesome day!” I overheard those words in the baptistery last Sunday—and it’s true! Seventy-nine (Yes,79!) responded to the invitation (and I have no doubt that some still will!) including forty-two (Yes, 42!) in baptism!

Someone once said, “Until there is commitment, there is hesitancy!” We all know that until we make a commitment, change rarely happens. It applies to everything from regular flossing to kneeling daily in prayer.

What good thing have you been putting off? We all have things that we one day intend to do. Many of these things are truly God-honoring. So, how will your life be improved if you wait even longer to do them?

Some of the notes and emails that we receive are so encouraging that they deserve a wider audience. That’s certainly the case withthe messages below. These came in response to our recent blessing blitz in honor of first responders within our community.  These will inspire you!

One of our men was amazed that he had misunderstood something so important for so long. When he watched a video in his small group he was at first confused because the speaker kept talking about the activity of the Holy Spirit. Up to that point my friend thought that the Holy Spirit was restricted to either the early church or now to the written Word.

“Molly Brown the Dog of Renown” loves to be unleashed. It’s a great joy for her to run free, fetching a Frisbee or hiking for hours in the mountains. God made Molly to move; and as a result, she keeps us on the move as well!

God has made us all for movement—not just physically but spiritually. We were designed for meaningful activity. We have been called into partnership with Him. We are prompted by His Spirit to do things that we would never even think to do or dare to do on our own.