The new year has come and it feels like only yesterday that I was writing my 2013 year in review. Wow, where has the year gone? Since my last year in review a lot has happened on Heartstone Journey and in my own life. There is so much I could share, but here are some highlights:

• We celebrated my Granddaughter’s first birthday!
• My son started his first year of college at UNH. What a minute?!? …now I have two kids in college and double the tuition!
• Celebrated three years with the amazing Proverbs 31 woman that God brought into my life.
• My dog Harley turned two. Still a pup!.
• My book Heartstone continues to open doors to radio and other great ministry opportunities like the Great Men’s Adventure!.
• Haven’t been deep sea fishing since I was a kid so I headed out to sea with an awesome group of men deep sea fishing and also had the opportunity to go ice fishing for the first time!
• Being a HUGE 80’s rock fan…saw Def Leppard and Kiss together in concert.
• Took a road trip out to Cedar Point with a group from the Robotics Team!
• Became an advisory board member of the New Hampshire Christians Business Network.
• My church asked me to take a leadership role in the Men Of Honor men’s ministry.

Here are the top four Heartstone Journey posts by category for 2014. It is always pretty cool to see which posts resonated with people the most throughout the year. Was your favorite post listed? If not, which was your favorite?

Life

• 5 Things About Forgiveness You Need To Know
• Life Is A Beautiful Struggle
• What I Learned From Jumping Out Of A Plane
• What Mary Poppins Can Teach Us About Life’s Disappointments

Faith

• My Colors Will Be Clear!
• Because He Loves Us That Much!
• Are You A Christian Or A Disciple?
• What Does Walter Mitty And A Fire Pit Have To Do With Finishing Strong?

Journal

• Why We All Need A John Sculley In Our Lives
• How A Quadriplegic Taught Me How To Run!
• How Ice Fishing Exposed The Need For More Margin In My Life
• 3 Life Lessons From A Falling Leaf

Leadership

• What The Movie Gladiator Can Teach Us About Ourselves!
• How To Become A Navy Seal Without Joining The Military
• Do You Have The Courage To Stand?
• Dealing With ‘Being A Coward’ Once And For All

Community

• Social Media Timeline
• My Top 10 Quotes From Andrew Murray
• Remember The Fallen
• How I Organized My Life For Maximum Efficiency

Here is a view of some of the big trends and events of 2014 from the social sphere:

Google

…or check out the Google 2014 Year In Search!

Facebook

…and here is Twitter’s Year in Review!

Now that you’ve spent some time navigating through highlights hand picked from the major social networks, I wanted to share some thoughts that I encourage you to take with you into the new year:

Are you living life like a snapshot?

Are you playing it safe?

Are you just settling?

I don’t know about you, but God created me to be so much more than to just play it safe!

Instead of focusing on New Years resolutions which typically results in a “to do” list for the first week of January, I wanted to focus more on my priorities for the upcoming year.

I want to lean in closer to Christ, I want to impact more people, I want to do more meaningful work, I want to love well the people that matter the most in my life and I want to be a better leader. If I had to add one more thing to my narrative it would be having the perseverance to keep running towards the finish line, so when I look back on my life I know that I ran the race well.

If you want to make this next year your best year ever, stop living life like a snapshot and come alive. Stop playing it safe and ask God to give you boldness and courage to face any mountain in your path. Stop settling and step into the story God has already written for you.

Despite your shortcomings, be the person God created you to be…no matter the cost.

You just might be surprised what a great year 2015 will be.

So what’s it going to be?

What story will 2015 tell others about your life?

Remember this. In the presence of a victorious God, the only personal battles we fail to win are the ones in which we fail to engage. God is looking to show Himself strong on our behalf, so choose to engage this year. The victory is already yours.

Join me in shouting out loud, “2015…bring it on!!”