What's the Plott?

A New Year reflection on what we’re leaving and where we’re going.... This time of year always invites reflection. As conversations turn toward New Year’s resolutions, I find myself pausing—not so much over what people are resolving to do, but over what has already been resolved. There’s a difference between the two. A resolution is a decision aimed at the future. It’s an intention. A hope. A plan. But resolve is something deeper. Resolve is settling what’s behind you. It’s bringing something to completion. It’s choosing to no longer carry what has already served its purpose. Sometimes—often, really—what we hope to resolve in the future can only succeed if we first resolve something from the past. Scripture reminds us that while seasons change, God does not. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” — Hebrews 13:8 In a world that is constantly shifting, He remains steady. Faithful. Unchanging. In our desire to grow, improve, or become more intentional, we often need t...

My Saturday didn’t go as planned. I was supposed to be on the road before sunrise, driving two and a half hours to an all-day wrestling tournament. Gas in the tank. Road snacks ready. A long day of bleachers and whistles and waiting. But at the end of an incredibly full week — with no ornaments on the tree yet, a million things still undone, and Christmas Eve barreling toward us — I dropped wrestlers off at the bus… and didn’t get on the road. Instead, I came home. I crawled back into bed. I slept until 10:00. When I finally got up, I did the things that had been waiting patiently for me. I opened the boxes from the attic. I went through every single one. Every trinket. Every ornament. Every fragile, memory-filled piece of Christmas. I found the perfect place for the Nativity. I filled every nook and cranny of our tiny house with lights and meaning and warmth. By mid-afternoon, I stood back and thought, December 13th feels awfully late to be doing all this. But I was so glad I did it a...

A  reminder to savor the season and the Giver of every good gift... Every year as Christmas approaches, something inside me stirs — the part of me that delights in beauty, joy, sweetness, and celebration. Maybe it’s because life can be so serious the rest of the year, but during these few short weeks of the holiday season, I find myself thinking: Go ahead and indulge a little. Eat the chocolate. Order dessert. Buy the box of Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes — or two. If your heart lights up at the sight of peppermint bark, gingerbread, or sugar cookies with too many sprinkles… enjoy it. Why? Because Christmas already is  in moderation. It only comes once a year. The lights, the music, the flavors, the gatherings — we get these things for a brief moment before time turns the page again. I’ve lived enough seasons to know that some years overflow with abundance, and some years don’t — and both seasons are holy and wonderful in their own ways. There have been many years...

A Christmas-season reflection on endings, beginnings, and steadying our eyes on Jesus. Every now and then, God uses something small to whisper something big. A few years ago, when I attended a photography business conference, I came home with the usual stack of promotional items — pens, pamphlets, sample prints, and one soft t-shirt that read:  “Focus on what matters most.” At the time, it was just clever photography language.  Choose your focal point.  Highlight the subject.  Tell the story sharply.  I kept the shirt because it was comfortable and cute… but I didn’t know it would become a phrase God would weave into my daily life.  Suddenly, I was whispering it to myself while cleaning the house, writing grocery lists, reminding boys to pick up their socks, and choosing how to respond in tense conversations. Focus on what matters most. Somewhere along the way, the phrase stopped being a photography motto and became my quiet mantra — my steadying inner voic...