This month, Girls in Action, Royal Ambassadors and Children in Action will explore the city of Boston. Children will also have the chance to learn about the Mahon family and their important work sharing the gospel and reaching out with the love of Christ to their friends and neighbors. But before you teach your first lesson, it might be a good idea to brush up on a little Boston, Massachusetts, trivia.  

Did You Know?

I guess I'm like most men. I really don't like shopping. Oh, I'll go to the hardware store. That's okay. Or, I'll go to the sporting goods store if I really need something. But, most of the time when I have to shop, I'd rather do it online in the comfort of my own home or office. And when I shop online, I love the fact that I don't have to wait in long lines to accomplish the task at hand — you know, "Need it, find it, buy it and wait for it to be delivered to me."

Once a year, national WMU offers an incredible clearance sale that even I like — great items, great variety and really great prices! All I have to remember for this particular sale is that when the stock has been depleted, it is sold out. There are no back orders.

Right now is the time for the annual clearance sale! There are some great items available — at great prices — for children's missions leaders like you! But if you don't want to miss out on these great deals, you'd better hurry. Once an item has sold out, it is gone for good.

The following items are included in this year's WMU Clearance Sale:

I recently had the opportunity to re-read the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.

To recap, over 5,000 people came to hear Jesus and even be healed by Him. Gathered out in the middle of nowhere, people started getting hungry as the day wore on. Jesus perceived the need at hand and asked His disciples where they could find food for the people there. His disciples were not very optimistic. Even if they could find something for everyone, it would cost as much money as a single man could earn after 200 days of work just to give 1 person a tiny piece of bread to eat. What they did find was a small boy who offered to share what he had: 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

Spoiler alert: with those 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish, Jesus was able to abundantly meet the needs of the people. Not only was He able to meet their stomachs, but there were also 12 baskets of food left over! It was a miracle! Something only God could do.

I've never been very good at making—much less keeping—New Year's resolutions. Oh, I'll give it a passing thought as I hear others talk about their resolutions to lose weight, exercise more, spend more time with their kids, etc. However, I've learned over the years that many, if not most, of those people who made those resolutions never kept them for more than a few weeks. Don't believe me? Visit a local gym on January 2 and then again on February 16. See if you notice the difference!

What it comes down to for me is not so much about making yearly resolutions I won't keep as it is about digging in and doing the hard work to accomplish what needs to be accomplished—in other words, setting goals and accomplishing them.