Over the course of a year, the digital junk in your computer can build up to one massive mess. Files get scattered everywhere except where you want them to be, email piles up, photo files become unruly, and downloaded PDFs and programs you thought you couldn't live without (but actually never looked at) take up hard drive space. It's time for a bit of end-of-year cleanup. Here are a few suggested tasks to take on. The time required will depend on how organized you've been all year— about an hour if you're neater than Monk, and much of the day if you're like, well, me...

The hectic season of Advent has come and gone, and a new year awaits you! The last week of December is a perfect time to review your ministries and look closely at what is working, what is not, and what is coming up next year. Here are ten questions and suggestions for your year-end review. Get out some paper or fire up your word processor, grab a cuppa your favorite warm beverage, and do a bit of reflection. Ask yourself...

A Prayer for Christmas

A Prayer for Christmas

Are you getting the most out of your teacher trainings? One way to explore this question is to ask yourself what happens after a teacher training event. How do you take the next logical step...or do you? Here's an example...

Most "Daily Voice" readers live in North America, in the time of year when the sun seems distant and days become shorter. The promised coming of the child we sing about in songs like, "I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light" mirrors the promise that shortly after December 21st, the days will again seem to lengthen. It’s easy for us to think of Christ’s coming as synonymous with the return of the sun.

If you happen to be in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Dec. 21, you might stop by First United Methodist Church, sit in quiet contemplation and mark the Winter Solstice. First Church is an appropriate location because, as the northernmost United Methodist church on earth, the parishioners will see only 3 hours, 42 minutes of daylight that day. ...

Sure, it's a little cliché to do a best books of the year list in December, but such a list is an easy opportunity for me to share three great books with you. I read a lot of great stuff each week in many different genres—not just Christian education or religion-related books—so it's hard to narrow it to three. At first I thought I'd restrict myself just to books that came out in 2008, but I'm gong to cheat and recommend one slightly older book. Here then are my three favorites. Settle in...this post is just a little longer than usual... (and click the titles to order them and support The Daily Voice.)

Sure, it's a little cliché to do a best books of the year list in December, but such a list is an easy opportunity for me to share three great books with you. I read a lot of great stuff each week in many different genres—not just Christian education or religion-related books—so it's hard to narrow it to three. At first I thought I'd restrict myself just to books that came out in 2008, but I'm gong to cheat and recommend one slightly older book. Here then are my three favorites. Settle in...this post is just a little longer than usual... (and click the titles to order them and support The Daily Voice.)

Providing children with opportunities to serve nurtures their natural generosity. Several years ago, the third grade Sunday School class at our church began a prayer bracelet ministry as an extension of the church’s prayer shawl ministry. Making prayer bracelets is a service project that both younger and older children can participate in and it can be a short-term or a long-term project.

Scraps of paper...stickies...Daytimers...PDAs...multiple calendars...browser bookmarks... all these and more are the common ways we try to keep track of the vast amount of information that comes at us each day. Some systems work better than others at reducing clutter (e.g. PDAs or iPhone) but those have their downsides too (e.g. dead batteries, forgetting to sync with your computer).

Now, I am not an expert on information management by a long-shot, but I do have several digital tools that help me to stay organized and to file away information in such a way that I can usually find it again. Among my favorites is a little application called Evernote...