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For 2021, I chose the word “Basic” as my focus for the year. It was a good year to focus on the Apostles’ Creed and be reminded of the basics of my faith.

Like 2020, I worked from home all of 2021. In fact, I haven’t returned to my office at the Johnson Space Center campus since March 2020! I’ve also traveled far less than in the past. In 2018 & 2019, I traveled once per month. For the last two years, I’ve traveled twice each year. That helps from a family perspective—I don’t miss the boys’ games and events. However, that leaves less time to read, as I completed 22 books in 2021–down 33% from a year ago. Fortunately, I have plenty of summaries available for my blog in 2022.

As our Pastor for Adult Ministries Dr. Garet Robinson encouraged, we’re “starting new in 2022.” Look for our family’s one-word focus tomorrow, and keep shooting for the stars!

Click here for my family’s year in pictures for 2021

Today, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who forever changed our world!

Have you ever thought about changing the world? When I was growing up, I heard often about the “starving kids in China” or the impoverished in Ethiopia.

In 2018 the Brookings Institute reported, “Something of enormous global significance is happening almost without notice. For the first time since agriculture-based civilization began 10,000 years ago, the majority of humankind is no longer poor or vulnerable to falling into poverty. By our calculations, as of this month, just over 50 percent of the world’s population, or some 3.8 billion people, live in households with enough discretionary expenditure to be considered ‘middle class’ or ‘rich.’ About the same number of people are living in households that are poor or vulnerable to poverty. So, September 2018 marks a global tipping point. After this, for the first time ever, the poor and vulnerable will no longer be a majority in the world.”

Wow—that’s significant change in the world. John Maxwell argues that “changing the world happens one life at a time.” He and co-author Rob Hoskins wrote Change Your World: How Anyone, Anywhere Can Make A Difference earlier this year because they’re committed to helping people like us become a light of hope within our communities.

The people who change the world are those who want to and don’t wait to. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not because the nature of the thing itself has changed, but that our power to do is increased.”

A wise coach once told John Maxwell, “Excuses are like armpits. Everyone has them and they all stink.” The reality is that we can make excuses or we can make changes, but we can’t do both.

Click here to learn more about how to Change Your World