Create Memories that Last Forever

Create Memories that Last Forever

“Christmas is the perfect time to celebrate the love of God and family and to create memories that will last forever. Jesus is God’s perfect, indescribable gift. The amazing thing is that not only are we able to receive this gift, but we are able to share it with others on Christmas and every other day of the year.” ~ Joel Osteen

Memories that last forever are the ones where something significant happened. When I was growing up, many Christmases were the same; get up early, run into the other room, look for presents under the tree (on the years we had one) and rip into the presents! I also remember a bowl of nuts – not normal ones – but some that were weird looking. I recognized the peanuts, walnuts, and some weird shaped triangular ones that I always used the metal nutcracker we had to open them up. If you follow my blogs you know that I am a slow learner, so I ate them every year and thought, “Yuck, why are these out?” Still there they were, every year. In fact they may have been the same nuts over and over! Then at night Mom would get drunk and what had started as an amazing day usually ended with yelling and tears.

My incredible wife Noell and I decided to make new memories. One of the things we started doing that has since caught on is giving gifts. Not just presents, but gifts. These gifts are given more infrequently than most other gifts, but are free and unlimited! And they can literally change someone’s day and make a memory that will last forever.

You don’t have to be strong to do this; just a little brave. And you have to take off the mask you usually wear, which is something many first learn how to do in The Journey Training. 

Just sit down with someone you love, hold their hand and look them in the eyes, and tell them the gifts you see in them. For example, I would do this: I hold my wife’s hand, look her in the eyes, and tell her, “The gifts I see in you are an INCREDIBLE wife, one that knows when I hurt and won’t show it, one that gently nudges me to put the phone away and pay attention to the kids. You are the mother of my kids that I prayed for all my life. Your love for others is one that is unparalleled.” Then I hug her and tell her I love her.

Then I’ll move on to my kids; I do this individually with each of them in the same way. I would share with them how proud I am of their leadership (Connor), how their optimism and smile helps motivate me daily (Casey), how they amaze me with their musical talent (Chase), how their heart for giving and to help others makes me want to do more for others (Cameron), how I love watching them take care of others around them, and that I can’t last a single day without a hug from her (Savy), and how she has the gift of tenacity and pushes through until she gets what she wants (Sydney), and how it inspires me. I do this one by one; looking each of them in the eye and making sure each of them know how much I love them.

Sure, they can open a toy that they may forget about later, but they won’t forget when time stood still, and I as the man of the house I showed them my love, and at the same time I showed them how to love others.

Try it this Christmas. I know you (and they) won’t be disappointed. You’ll give a gift that will never grow old, be forgotten, or be something they didn’t want!

If you’ve ever wondered exactly what The Journey Training is all about, this pretty much sums it up. We just show God’s love in a new and different way.

FREE Mini Journey Training

Discover How To Find More Passion and Purpose In Your Life!

Click here for instant access to FREE Training

Thank You For Investing in Me

Thank You For Investing in Me

When I was growing up, Thanksgiving at my house would start pretty much like everyone else’s Thanksgiving. But as the day wore on, things would begin to change. Mom would drink more and more as the day progressed. By the time dinner came around 4p, there would normally be wine or beer at the table. When the sun went down and night time came, the fighting began.

Some of you can relate to this while others can’t fathom what it was like.


As I got older and more mobile, I was able to switch things up a bit. I had a number of close friends around town and, being a teenager, I was pretty much hungry all the time. So my strategy on Thanksgiving included showing up at 3-5 Thanksgiving dinners throughout the day. I would find out when friend or family was eating and plan my day accordingly. When I was engaged to Noell, she went with me on what she called my “Turkey journey”. At that time it included my mom’s house, the Colliers, the Connors, and often the Tedfords.

Even after we were married, the Colliers would often save a seat for me in case I decided to show up.

There is a time and place for everything.  Even for giving.  It was hard for me to focus on giving to others when my life was in turmoil.  The problem is, that even though I may have felt justified in my lack of thanksgiving, the choice to engage in it, kept me in that frame of mind.

Recently I was doing some research on Oxytocin, the enjoyment chemical in your brain. When you give something to someone, you release Oxytocin. It is released when you think about good things, when you go on an enjoyable vacation, and when you see an old friend again. It may be released when you go shopping on Black Friday (Noell Greeno). If you’re enjoying something, your brain doesn’t know one activity from another.  When you think about good things in your life.  Maybe a vacation you’re going on, maybe seeing an old friend.  Maybe Black Friday shopping. (Noell Greeno!!) In this context, your brain can’t tell the difference between actually doing an activity and just thinking about it, so it releases Oxytocin in both cases. Therefore, just THINKING about things you’re thankful for can actually put you in a better mood.

Recently I started making a list each night of what I am thankful for that day. Doing this puts my mind where it needs to be in order to be truly thankful. An added bonus is that instead of checking off tasks from the day, it helps my brain actually search for meaningful things.

One thing that stands out to me right now that I am thankful for is the amount of time people have invested in me over the years. They may not have been aware of it, but that open seat held for me each Thanksgiving was an investment in me. And there were so many who did similar things for me back then. Because of those investments in me so many years ago, we now reserve extra space at the Greeno table for people who need to just “drop by”. I can’t remember a holiday meal where we didn’t have at least 1 extra person at our table and I remember some where we had nearly 20.

So today I am thankful for so many things, but right now I am grateful for the opportunity to invest in other people. I know that through “small” investments like these we really can change the world.

FREE Mini Journey Training

Discover How To Find More Passion and Purpose In Your Life!

Click here for instant access to FREE Training