​Hours after our first son was born, the pediatrician after glancing at the name Joshua Champ Rhodes on his chart, joked: “Is that a family name, or is this going to be some great kid?” Our son’s middle name was meant to honor Joe’s grandfather, while we planned to call him Joshua, based on hours of discussion and pouring over birth name books. But when we brought our five-pound bundle of energy back to the small village where we lived as missionaries, the Eskimos insisted on calling him Champ and added their own middle name—Boyukbuk, loosely translated as little big smoke. The name Champ has stuck ever since, and to answer that doctor’s question, yes, he was a great kid and has become an even more amazing adult. 

​This week Joe and I are packing suitcases for a trip around the world to visit the amazing people we’ve been blessed to work with for the past five years. Right now, it feels like the entire house is in disarray as we try to figure out how to cram everything we need for a month into two suitcases. I have visions of bouncing up and down on top of mine to get it closed, only to hear that it is over the weight limit when I check in. Surrounded by irritated travelers looking at their watches, I throw things out helter-skelter, no time for rhyme or reason. (This may or may not have happened to me a time or two in the past).

That suitcase seems an apt metaphor for the way many of us feel about life today. Hemmed in on every side, pressured by things that must be done and decisions that can’t wait, we end up tossing things out helter skelter, oblivious to what we’re losing in the process. Driven by the tyranny of the urgent, we fall into bed at night exhausted, only to wake up with dread that we have to do it all over again. 
For the full devotional, click on Week Four below. (Or if you're new here, begin with Week One!)

​He has been dubbed one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, having received four Pulitzer prizes. He was a prolific writer, with some of his poem titles imprinted on our cultural psyche. One of my favorites is The Road not Taken, in which Robert Frost opines the struggle of choosing between two paths, wondering if he’ll one day regret which one he took. In the end he chose the less traveled one, and that path, his final line notes, “has made all the difference.” 

Speaking of paths, did you know that your brain is like a massive transit system, with major freeways and highways, medium-sized roads and smaller pathways that are continually being formed and reformed by the signals your billions of neurons send to each other? ...This explains a little how those negative messages from painful experiences end up like earworms we can’t get rid of (Week Two). 
For the full devotional, click on Week Three Below. (Or if you are new here, start with week one!)

​Since our theme for these devotionals is “all things new,” here’s some interesting trivia. People who like doing new things are more likely to experience earworms. What’s an earworm, you ask? The Germans coined the word to describe those pesky songs that get stuck in your brain on an endless loop, kind of like a worm crawling around in your ear.
I had an earworm over Christmas that drove me nuts. It started when I heard The Prayer sung in our churches’ Christmas show. It’s a beautiful song and I found myself singing it throughout that day and the next. But then I heard it again on the radio and suddenly I could not get it out of my mind-day and night. Before long, a song I’d once loved had become a nuisance!  For the full devotional, click on WEEK TWO below!

I wouldn’t call her a role model given her felony conviction for lying about insider trading, but when it comes to all things homemaking, Martha Stewart has been a trusty guide. From pie crusts to flower arrangements to furniture placement and kitchen makeovers, her creativity and simple steps have shown millions of people ways to make their homes places of beauty and enjoyment for decades.  I get new ideas every time I watch one of her old shows.
Martha is known for her one rule of life--learn something new every day. I thought about making that a New Year’s resolution, but...I don’t do resolutions. It did, however, make me think of a powerful invitation that Jesus gave related to learning:
To read the rest and get WEEK ONE DEVOTIONALS, click below: