Yesterday I was travelling home from a great vacation to see family in Texas. Call me crazy, but I wasn’t really up for a 2 day car trip by myself, so I flew there and back. Yesterday was time for me to fly back to Michigan.

Don’t get me wrong, I most definitely appreciate the fact that I can fly in 2.5 hours what would otherwise take around 18 hours, but I’m just still not a good traveler. You see, I get motion sick …easily. It’s stupid, I’m not a fan, but it’s the way it is. Because of this fact, travelling is always just a little bit of a pain in my side - but I deal with it.

I deal with the craziness of security checkpoints.

I get a drink, maybe a little food.

I check and re-check that I’m in the right spot.

I wait for boarding to start.

I chuckle inside at everybody anxiously waiting for their group to be called.

I get on the plane.

I try to scurry and get in my seat as quickly as possible, to get out of the way of all the people staring at me from behind.

I get my headphones and iphone situated for the musical enjoyment to come.

I watch as everyone else deals with that whole… everybody’s staring at them… thing.

They eventually close the door to the plane. The sardines are all situated and ready to fly.

We taxi.

We all pretend to pay attention to the safety instructions.

And then usually a flight attendant comes on and says the usual thank you for flying type stuff. If you’re really lucky, the pilot will come on, who you can barely hear and he sounds like he’s pretty tired of flying all you sardines around.

That’s what usually happens. But no, yesterday was no usual day. The whole list was the same, except that last part. We did get lucky and it was the pilot that welcomed us all as we were getting ready to go - but no “sick of flying sardines” voice, and by golly - the microphone actually sounded good…I could understand what he was saying.

It was pilot Bob B. and he was so happy sounding!

WOAH. Catch breath. Could this be real? Yes, yes it is.

This pilot was the most enthusiastic airline employee I have ever heard. You would have thought he handed me a hundred bucks, but no - I was just happy, because he was happy. He didn’t share anything really different than all the other people usually do, but he was happy, he was articulate, you could hear he was happy to be flying us. It was so refreshing and made me so much happier than I usually am when dealing with flying. I felt like part of his family.

What an awesome reminder - focus on those little things, like sounding excited when you talk, being enthusiastic, spreading joy. Wow, so good. Thanks for the lesson pilot Bob B.!

Here we are in 2011, day 1. Why not focus on one thing, like smiling more? I bet we’d all be amazed at all the changes that came from that one thing.

Just a few of the things I am thankful for from the past year…

• The opportunity to work at Fellowship Tech and learn so much and work with such awesome people.
• The opportunity to now work at NorthRidge Church, again, with so many awesome people.
• Moving to Michigan and all the change that came with it, and for it going smoothly and feeling like home again.
• Having a family that loves and supports me from 10 miles away to 1,200 miles away.
• Health.
• A God who always loves me, regardless of how screwed up I am sometimes.

Looking forward to another great 2011. Regardless of the circumstances, I will choose to have a great 2011!

Let me guess… you’re busy, right? Busier than you had hoped you would be a couple of days before Christmas. I get it. I’ve been working long days and will continue to including Christmas Eve, and then I’ll spend Christmas day traveling.

I have no difficulty filling my life up with things to do. But the question I need to be asking myself is whether or not I leave room for reflection, quiet, stillness…? These are things that, at least in my life, don’t happen by accident, I have to plan them. Sometimes it means choosing a quiet state of mind while I’m on a drive - so that I can calm myself down, talk to my Creator and just slow down mentally - and it’s amazing the difference it makes.

Are you leaving room to slow down this holiday season? Don’t expect it to all of the sudden change to having a full day of stillness - just make progress. Choose to not look at your electronics 1/2 hour before you go to bed and after you wake up. Maybe choose to take one drive without the radio or iPod on. Leave room and see how much it helps you - I’ll be working on the same thing this season!