Driving Notes

I probably need Monday Motivation as much as anyone today. My week has started well, but to be honest, I’m just tired of bad news. Maybe you’re feeling it, too. 2025 has not started as any of us expected. New Orleans, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, the snow, the cold, family and friends dealing with health struggles. So today (and every day) I’m claiming this truth and this song from Francesca Battistelli: God is Good.

Joy comes, tears fall
I’m learning there is beauty in it all
It’s not hard to find it, you just have to look
Oh, God is good

I’ve said Hellos and goodbyes
and I’ve held my friends while they’ve cried
Tasted bitter and sweet
Those moments between
Oh, He’s had his hand on everything

Other than chocolate chip, name a popular cookie:
1 – Oreo (51 votes)
2- Oatmeal (22)
T2 – Sugar cookies (22)
4 – Peanut butter
5 – Girl Scout cookies

Congratulations to Lisa from Mount Vernon, who guessed the top two answers and wins the $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica.

Brandon from Mount Vernon!

Thanks for listening!
– Joe

On a snowy Monday coming out of the New Year, it might be really tough to think of beauty. Cold, snow, ice, slush, mixed with plows, cars, trucks and snow blowers might not be our idea of beautiful…so today’s Monday Motivation comes from artist Dan Bremnes and his song ‘Beautiful,’ which has nothing to do with external beauty, but the beauty that comes from a life renewed in Christ.

Dan cites the inspiration for the song from one of his favorite verses, 2 Corinthians 5:17 which says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” He shares: “I wrote this song a few years ago when I came back to God as a prodigal. I was a wounded and a broken person and God really took my life and changed it. He made something new out of it. I hope when people hear this song that their reminded of the work God has started in their life and the work that God continually does.”

Name something that you might associate with a bookstore other than books.

1. Magazines (23)
2. Greeting cards (21)
3. DVDs, records or CD’s (20)
4. Coffee (19)
5. Chairs or reading areas (17)

Congratulations to Regina from Mount Vernon, who guessed the top two answers correctly and wins the $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica.

Thanks for listening!
– Joe

I’m not a big ‘New Year’s Resolution’ guy. Yes, I care about self-reflection and getting better, but I feel like I do this throughout the year, not just at the end of one year and the beginning of the next. One of the sermons I heard recently that really caught my attention was our MVNU Chaplain, Rev. Dave Mills, sharing about the Christmas concept we hear about all season, “good tidings of great joy.” Dave challenged us to embrace that phrase by identifying and pushing back against what steals our joy.

One ‘joy stealer’ Dave mentioned was the labeling we allow to define us. The things people say about us that we allow to define us. Honestly, one label I’ve been wrestling with this year is ‘old.’ I turned 56 this year and it’s amazing the sub-labels that start flying your way when you hit that 55+ mark. It becomes even more difficult when you’re surrounded by 18-23 year-olds all the time! I realize that I need to draw closer to the Holy Spirit so I can find joy in my years and my experiences and also focus on the only label that really matters – child of the one true King!!

Dave reminded us that our calling is TOO GREAT to live in these joy-stealing areas! Here’s a song to lead you there – Megan Woods, “The Truth.”

Name a household chore that no one likes to do!
1- cleaning the bathroom (45 votes)
2- washing dishes (25)
3- vacuuming (20)
4- doing laundry (10)

Congratulations to Lori of Mount Vernon, who guessed correctly and wins the $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica.

Thanks for listening!
– Joe