Stephen De La Vega

At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  It’s not only a declaration of, “It’s a boy!”  It’s the coming of a Savior – the one the Jews waited for some 2,000 years. Some of them maybe even forgot He was coming. And when He did come, they didn’t realize it because they expected a King, not a baby. But this was no ordinary baby. He was the Son of God! ↭↭↭ (This post can be read aloud to a group. It is a gospel presentation and a celebration of the birth of our Savior. If you want to share this with a group, you have my permission to read it. That’s why I wrote it. Or, feel free to make it more interactive. Ask questions. Solicit thoughts to get listeners engaged. And pray that they will understand, appreciate, and accept the Savior and His gospel.) ↭↭↭ Most of us have lived long enough to realize we’re not perfect. Sometimes we fail people. Sometimes we wrong them. And deep down inside, we know we don’t measure up to what we consider to be God...

[If you’re able, read Part 1 , then Part 2 , then this post.   This trilogy includes some extraordinary but true animal stories and offers insight into some of our human tendencies, a.k.a., animal instincts.] My dog Izzy has grown almost completely blind and deaf, and her sensitivity to odors is failing as well.   We rescued her from a shelter so we don’t know her complete care history or even how old she is.   But she’s been in our family for over 10 years and she’s definitely showing signs of old age.   Often, when she stops during her walks, she loses her bearings and starts up again in a different direction.   Even when I tug on her leash, she somehow believes that her poor sense of smell is a better compass than her master's guidance.   And, inside the house, she bumps into walls and furniture, and often bumps around in circles because she doesn’t know which way is right. Izzy is out of her comfort zone.   As her owner, I’m also...

[This is Part 2 of Animal Instincts Trilogy.  Also read Part 1 and Part 3 .] I stepped out of my comfort zone one day and walked into a GRIT Cardio class at the gym.  Well, I wasn’t out of my comfort zone as much as I was out of my lazy zone, but that's another blog.  Either way, the cardio class was still pushing the envelope for me.  GRIT Cardio is a high intensity, teacher-based, half hour span of utter desperation.  After every 1- to 2-minute set of jumps, squats, planks, donkey kicks, and other humanly impossible actions, I wished I could claim my incessant panting as sufficient aerobic exercise for the day. I realize there are certain humans who can manage this insanity while hardly breaking a sweat, but I'm not one of them.  These other humans somehow reached a point where executing the unnatural movements of GRIT Cardio was not as heavy a burden for them as it was for me.  It still takes effort, they still get a workout, but the...