Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Here's a great gift idea -- a well for a community that doesn't have clean water. Some friends of mine, Tom and Deb Henderson, are raising money to purchase a well for a community through World Vision. Lack of clean water and proper sanitation kills 3,975 children every day.

The Hendersons are doing this in memory of their son, Ian Henderson, who died Feb. 19. To donate, visit the FirstGiving page.

The Ultimate Journey

I recently traveled to Des Moines to participate in a session called "The Ultimate Journey:  Christ-Life Solution Phase 1." The best way to describe Christ-Life Solution is from its Web site -- "a discipleship ministry focused on helping participants move past head knowledge into an incredible love relationship with God."

I would like to say that the three-day session was "good," and it was. A more appropriate adjective, though, is emotionally draining.

Think about your life and all of the lies and put-downs people shot your direction. Christ-Life Solution takes through all of those hurts and replaces those lies with the truth -- the truth of Jesus' love for you. It's good stuff, but very exhausting. After I was done, I just wanted to lay in bed.

A key part of the program is teaching participants how to be their own adult allies. (Think the movie "The Kid.")

It was a very worthwhile process, and I highly recommend it to anyone. (You might want to go a time other during the middle of winter. Des Moines got slammed with a blizzard while I was down there. Our group persisted and still got together, though.)