This will come at little surprise for the reader, but I had second thoughts about the exclusion of butter and coffee from my diet. They did not cause the missteps of The 25th Expedition. Long have they played a role in this adventure! Of course, my intent today was to journey without them—until a wave rolled out of my hallway into the living room, the joint activity of a clothes washer and a garbage disposal! Sometimes, a simple cup of iced coffee with fat can be a comfort.

While Christmas is but days away, I recognize that the year draws to a close. As such, I find the brevity that remains can frame the nights that lie ahead in 2022.

Sure, to better understand how we can be successful moving forward, we glance backwards as we consider our wins and losses. And yet, the undercurrent for all of this is in the value of the objective—what is our chief purpose/end? What value are the wins if the sight is misaligned? Many things people strive for just don't have any lasting value—it's the farthest thing from laying up for heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). I've definitely have lost when I thought I won; I've elevated earthly things that are gone forever while still hot off the press. And while fitness goals are fine, they are sub-optimal and are most assuredly NOT sustainable. In the end, our fitness will fail us. Despite how many dumbbell curls I pump out, the last rep will come.

O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

Psalm 39:4-6

Unlike past years for as long as I can remember, I'm developing New Year's resolutions as it relates to 1) my zeal for God (Psalm 119:97-104); 2) citizenship in eternity ( Philippians 3:20-21); and 3) identity in Christ:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

1 Peter 2:9-12