Authentically leading and empowering others to flourishing life in Christ
All in Jesus
Advent joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness shifts with circumstances, but joy is something we choose to practice. That choice requires honesty. If we want to choose joy consistently, we also have to own the things that get in the way—unresolved grief, comparison, control, disappointment, and busyness that crowds out reflection. Advent doesn’t ask us to manufacture cheer; it invites us to anchor our joy in the nearness of Christ, even when life feels complicated.
At FCA last week, someone asked me why I do what I do. Years ago, God formed a life mantra in me — to authentically lead and empower others to flourishing life. And that conviction has shaped everything: ministry, officiating, sports announcing, developing interns, training younger leaders. Leadership isn’t measured by what you build but by who you develop. Your greatest legacy won’t be your accomplishments—it will be the people who learned to lead because you showed them how.
Peace is easy to talk about and hard to hold onto — especially in December. I don’t usually lose peace in dramatic ways; I lose it subtly, one small distraction or pressure at a time. Advent reminds me that peace hasn’t left me… I’ve drifted from it. This week, I’m reflecting on the four ways we unintentionally lose sight of peace — and how the arrival of Jesus invites us to return to it. If peace feels far away, this Advent might be God’s invitation to hope again.
Advent doesn’t just invite us to remember Christ’s coming—Advent interrupts us with hope. Mary and Joseph’s entire world shifted before the world even knew a Savior had arrived. And that same hope still interrupts our lives today. The question isn’t whether God is moving. The question is: Are you open to the interruption of hope He may bring this year?
Chris Berman used to say, “Nobody circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills.” Leadership works the same way. Great leaders don’t withstand pressure because they’re strong—they withstand it because they’re surrounded by the right people: encouragers, wisdom-givers, and truth-tellers.
Obedience is more than doing what God says—it’s aligning your life with His voice. Scripture shows us that some things Jesus calls every disciple to obey, and some things the Holy Spirit calls you specifically to. The goal isn’t matching someone else’s assignment. It’s responding faithfully to your own. So the real question becomes: Will we obey?
It’s easy to coast when your eyes are fixed on what’s safe. But when you start looking for what Jesus looks for — when you decide to see people the way He sees them — it changes everything. Focus isn’t accidental; it’s intentional. And it’s the work that makes transformation possible.
I’ve spent the last year and a half fully engaged in pastoring here at home, but this season feels like a call to give again—to add something to the world through words. I’m convinced this is a season to contribute, not just consume—to offer a voice that helps others slow down, refocus, and run after the one God has placed in front of them.
People will let you down. People you respect. People you look up to. People you lean on. People who have been there for you at one point. People that have encouraged you. People who have invested in you. People will let you down. But that doesn’t mean that they are inherently evil. It means that people are inherently human.
365 days ago, I was sitting at my parents house after a day of visiting with friends and community members who had known my grandpa. I was thinking, praying, and processing what I would say to eulogize him; all that he had influenced in my life, the memories that our family had shared with him, and the life that he had lived in his 80 years.
Man's best laid plans often pale in comparison to the promises of God’s providence in our lives. The pain of our paralysis can be the very thing that God will use to push us forward. Ultimately, it is God’s purposes that will come to fruition and will bring the best possible fruit in our lives.
For most of my adult life (Geoff), I was the thorn in my mom’s side when it came to contributing to the annual Christmas Card. Eventually, she just started writing one with what she knows took place in my life. It was easier that way and better for everyone involved. BUT, it’s a good idea. So, consider this the inaugural Tara and Geoff Christmas…. we'll call it a note, to commemorate the previous year.
The sudden loss of death is so jolting and so altering and it is never something that you are completely prepared for. But there is this urge to say something that matters; something that will encapsulate it all. When death comes, there comes with it a deep-seated desire to have words that somehow make sense of the whole thing.
In an American culture that has turned the gathering of the people of God into the main thing, we begin to miss the wholistic approach that happened in the first days of the New Testament church. Not only did they gather together for the proclamation of God’s Word and celebrating His faithfulness, they had a number of other customs; customs that made more disciples and made them to be more like Jesus.
If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair. - C.S. Lewis
