“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One trip around the sun takes 365 and a quarter days. During that time, we all travel 584 million miles. Today, I’ve finally crossed the 25.1 billion miles. That makes 43 years feel like an exceptionally long time. But nonetheless, here I am. You would think after more than 25 billion miles around the sun, I’d have learned at least a thing or two. I probably haven’t learned as much as I should have, and some of what I have learned may not matter very much. But, for something a little different and maybe fun today, here are a few things I have learned.

1. If you have one of those top racks for silverware in your dishwasher, if you put all the silverware of each type in the same section, unloading it goes a lot faster.

2. You don’t have to drink coffee to learn how to make a good cup.

3. Solomon was right: A gentle answer turns away wrath. But sometimes love has to be tough. Firm and harsh are not the same thing.

4. The more time you spend on a screen, the shorter your attention span will get. The more time you spend in a book, the longer it will get.

5. Classical music may not make you smarter, but it really can help you focus more than other genres.

6. Hearing and listening are not the same thing.

7. If I don’t write it down, it probably won’t happen.

8. In my senior year of college, I was recognized by the Chemistry Department as the best chemistry student of the year as I had the highest GPA in the entire department (I was also a valedictorian). My son is taking high school chemistry this year, and I mostly can’t help him with his homework. Unused knowledge will not stick around. If you want to keep something in your head, you have to use it.

9. My freshman year of high school, my dad made me take a speech class. I was not happy. When I gave my first speech, my knees were shaking so badly that at one point I tried to straighten them a bit and the effect literally jolted my body. Most of the room gasped in shock, wondering what was wrong with me. Now I do public speaking as a career and don’t ever get even a little bit nervous. If you put a skill to use frequently, you will get more comfortable with it.

10. Time in the Scriptures each day really does pay off over time.

11. If you are an introvert, you probably need to spend some more time around people.

12. If you are an extrovert, you probably need to spend some more time by yourself.

13. It’s okay to zone out every now and then.

14. Read a good book at least once a year.

15. Read a fun book at least four times a year.

16. There’s nothing like the church, and if you are missing out on that, your life is not the same as it will be with it.

17. You can’t follow Jesus well without the church. You can talk a mean game, and you can ride for a while on the past, but without the fuel of the church being regularly put in your tank, you are going to grind to halt eventually.

18. Most battles aren’t worth fighting. If you try to win them all, you’ll exhaust yourself and drive away everybody else.

19. Some battles are worth fighting. If you don’t figure out which ones are which, you’ll lose ground that will be very hard to recover.

20. You can’t have it all in this life, and that’s okay. When you learn that you can be content with remarkably little, you’ll be a lot happier most of the time.

21. Most people won’t know about most of the sins you commit. You can hide an awful lot for an awfully long time. But eventually, that weight gets so heavy that it all comes crashing down. Those crashes are typically pretty messy. Confessing sin and otherwise getting rid of it isn’t fun, but you’ll never regret it after the fact.

22. Jesus said to pray for our enemies. The reason for this is that when you pray for someone consistently, you eventually stop thinking about them as an enemy and start to love them like Jesus does. If you have an enemy, pray for them. They probably won’t stay an enemy for very long.

23. When you have a problem with another person, the first question to ask is whether your own selfishness is getting in the way. If you ask that question only of yourself, though, the answer will almost always be no. You’re wrong. It probably is. Find someone who knows you well enough to tell you the truth and ask them. Once you eliminate your selfishness from the equation, finding a solution will be much easier.

24. Pretzel M&Ms are better than regular ones.

25. Ice cream without some texture to it isn’t worth eating.

26. If your church isn’t thoroughly invested in a local school it needs to be. If you are a pastor, you need to get to the point that you are on a first-name basis with most of the staff, and with all of the PTO executive board. If you do that, your church will probably start growing.

27. If you have teenage boys and you pick something up off the floor wondering if it smells bad…it does. Just take it to the washing machine and save yourself the trouble. This goes double for folks with a weak gag reflex.

28. Dad jokes are a superpower that kicks in all by itself when your oldest child reaches the preteen years. God gives this to us because there are few joys as sweet as making your kid roll his eyes because what you said really is funny, but he doesn’t want to encourage you by actually laughing.

29. My spouse is better than yours, and my kids are better than yours. I’d rather be able to say they are mine than to say the same about yours. Read that statement out loud, and you’ll always be right about it. And if you read it out loud and discover that you’re not right, you’re wrong. The grass isn’t greener somewhere else.

30. Looking up at the stars on a clear, dark night is good for the soul. Do it on occasion so you don’t forget just how big of a world God made for us.

31. Being present and being involved are not the same thing.

32. When someone hurts you, forgive them as quickly as you can. The longer you wait, the harder it gets. Unforgiveness will eat away at your very soul if you let it linger for long.

33. You need a best friend. It takes time to invest in a relationship, and it’s dangerous, but if you don’t, you’ll be lonely, and being lonely isn’t much fun.

34. Invite someone to church. When they say no, invite them again. When they finally come, make sure you sit with them.

35. Visiting a church for the first time is terrifying. If you’ve been a member of a church for a long time, go visit a different one every now and then just so you know what it feels like. It’ll make you more consciously welcoming of guests.

36. When your kids are young, drive into their hearts and minds the fact that there is nothing they will ever do that will make you love them any less. Remind them of that until they are sick of hearing it. Someday they’ll need to know it, and if they don’t already know it then, their decision matrix in that moment will lead them in a very different direction than if they already do.

37. Read to your kids. Read long books. Read good books. Try to do different voices for different characters even if you don’t do them very well. Make reading together a way for them to stay up past their bedtime. You won’t regret that time. Ever.

38. To the extent that you are able, for the first 15-20 minutes’ worth of attention when you get home for the day to your spouse, not your kids. Debrief, reconnect, catch up, and generally spend undistracted time together. Make your kids wait. Let them know you are making them wait. Your marriage will be stronger for it, and your kids will have better marriages one day because of it.

39. Unless something goes badly wrong somewhere along the way, at some point your kids will move out, but your spouse will not. Treat both parties accordingly.

40. Learn to say thank you and to express gratitude graciously.

41. Prayer can happen anytime and anywhere, and it doesn’t have to be formal or fancy. When prayer becomes an instinct rather than a checklist item, you’ll start to get a great deal more out of it.

42. If you don’t speak your spouse’s love language, you’re probably not going to be heard. If you want a healthy marriage, get over yourself and get bilingual quickly.

43. In the end, God wins. That knowledge will let you bear a great deal in this life that otherwise will be far more difficult without it. Invest richly in a Biblical hope. The dividends of that will sustain you through many meager seasons.

Forty-three years, forty-three things learned. I suppose there’s more, but that’ll be enough for now. I’m going to enjoy my day, and I hope you do too. Tomorrow we’ll start wading into the fun of Romans 13 which I’m certain will offend someone. Can’t wait!