Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders. God intends you to be. I'm your host, Chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, fellas. This is your fun Friday episode, and this is the last one of this format, guys. So several years in the making. But next week, we have a brand new fun Friday format. So this is going to be your last one of this way. So hopefully you enjoy it, okay? So this scripture, Isaiah 43, 18 and 19 says, Do not call to mind the former things or consider things of the past. Behold, I'm going to do something new. Now it will spring up. Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the desert. Rivers, a roadway in the wilderness, rather. Rivers in the desert. Love that verse, fellas. And look, we unpack those. You guys know about this by now. In our spiritual kickoff episodes of the podcast, they always come out on Mondays. And we do these Monday through Friday in the Lion Within Us community. So it's a new year. 2026 is here. Happy to be here with you guys. So look, go get connected with thelionwithin.us right now. Head over to the website. Start your daily spiritual kickoff. You want a great way to get in and dive into the word. We do it Monday through Friday for you guys, right here. Okay. So I'm telling you, this is so so excited to be here with you. Um, got a again, new format coming next week. It's gonna be a great way to spotlight and highlight our members of our line within us leadership mastermind. So I'm I'm super pumped and excited. So we've never dreamed we'd be able to do something like this. So to be able to roll this out next starting next week, I'm pretty encouraged and hopefully you're gonna be excited. Jump in in here. So this is gonna be our last set of health, wealth, and self uh uh tips that we do, fellas. And again, we've done these for several years now: mind and body, career and finances, husband, father. How do we improve in these areas? Okay, so the last health tip for you read the Bible in 2026. Start a plan on the Bible app. Open it right now, today, because there's no better way to start a new year than by grounding yourself in God's Word. So that could be the year. This could be right now. If you've never read through the entire Bible, this could be it. Or at least commit to a consistent reading rhythm. Because the Bible app has countless plans, fellas, to make it simple to stay on track and get connected with it. You don't need perfection, you just need consistency, fellas. So just a few minutes a day in scripture will change your life. It's just gonna change it. It's gonna change your mindset, it's gonna strengthen your faith, it's gonna realign your priorities. And don't try to wait for the perfect moment. Just start today. Start today. And again, we have 50-something plans on the Bible app, okay, fellas. So if you're looking for something that's a little bit more practical that you can just walk alongside with, check out the lion within us on the Bible app. All right. Now, for your wealth tip, sometimes we gotta look back to move forward. And a new year is a great time to audit the past to budget for the future. Okay, so before you start setting financial goals for this year, do an audit. Okay, audit your spending, audit your giving, all that audit your saving, and see where things were working well and where things weren't working so well so well. And then ask the question all right, how am I honoring God with what He's given me? Okay, and am I drifting in a simple review uh review that can help you make smarter, more intentional decisions or the year that God's blessing you with, right? Because good stewardship is not just about cutting costs, fellas. Dude, please hear me there. It's not just about that. It's about aligning with his finances with his purpose. That's what it's about. All right, self-tip. All right. Think about in 2025 what habit fell off with your wife or your kids. Okay, that you need to start back. And it's easy. Things slip through the cracks like family devots, date nights, one-on-one time with your kids. Let's just face it, life gets busy, right? But we have to understand where we slipped. And then once you identify that gap, I mean, for me, it was it happened in the last quarter of 2024, uh, 2025. I recognize family devotions have fallen off because we are letting all sports and all things get in the way of that. So once you identify what it is, of course, correct. Okay, don't overcomplicate it, fellas. Just choose one thing and re-establish and commit to it with your family. That's a big deal. Your spouse and your kids are not going to remember the schedule, but they'll remember that you showed up. And it's these small, consistent moments that build the connection and really the impact that you're looking for. For us, we recognize we had to start changing our devo time from the evenings to the mornings. So now we we leave at seven in the morning to head out for our school day and all that stuff. 6:45, we're talking 10, 15 minutes. Family Devo. We wrap it up with a prayer, and guess what? They got a little bit of God's word in them, and they've been prayed over before they walk out the door. And to me, as the father, as the leader of the home, there's nothing I can do that's gonna bring them any greater value to their day than that. So if you're not doing that and you're hearing this podcast right now, just do that. If you're well, I don't have kids, do it with your wife. Just read a little scripture, pray together, and then before you leave each other for today, you have put the most important thing at the center of your marriage. Christ. That's it. Simple, I'm telling you. Lion within us. We're not about complicating things. How do we simplify and apply God's words? There you go, fellas. They're your last three tips of uh for a line within us uh fun Friday episodes. Read the Bible in 2026. Think about looking back before you moving forward as a steward, and then identify that habit that's fallen off, get re-plugged into it. Now, the book of the week, the last plug, I promise. I'm not gonna do this in 2026. Uh I'll try not to. Okay. But unleashing the line within, guys. I keep talking about it over and over and over. Please get a copy of the book. A great way to get you started into your into 2026, is just take this book, unpack one little nugget a day, just work through it within you know about a quarter of the year. Like you'll you'll just you'll you'll be amazed at what guy's doing in your life and and just how simple and applicable these items are. So just go to Amazon.com. You guys know how to get Amazon. Most of you guys have an Amazon app. While you're on there, when are you looking up your your protein power, all the stuff you're trying to do for your New Year's resolutions? Go in a copy of Unleashing and Lion Within. It would be huge. Definitely would thank you for doing that. All right. Now, dad jokes. Let's get some dad jokes. Let's get let's do some New Year's dad jokes. So now number one, what's a cow's favorite holiday? Hmm. Well, that would be Moo Year's Eve. All right, fellas. That's a good one. That's the end for the win. Guarantee if you got kids under eight, they're gonna like that one. Number two, what happened to the guy who stole a calendar? Well, he got 12 months, of course, fellas. Come on now, so you should know that. So, number one, what is a cow's favorite holiday? That would be Moo Year's Eve. Number two, what happened to the guy who stole a calendar? Well, he got 12 months. So let me know which one you like, fellas. Again, it's all about the eye rolls, the size, they turn around and walk off. You got a really good dad joke going on, right there, guys. All right. So let me know what you think. Love to hear from you. If you have a dad joke that you want us to use, by the way, hey, send that thing in. Support at the linewithin.us, okay? We'll give you a shout-out on the show for helping us out with your dad joke. And uh, we're always looking for some good ones, okay? So, question of the week: how can you stop clinging to the past this new year? You're in a you're in a brand new year's guys. 2026 is here. If you're listening to this when this thing's going live, it is just tipped calendar, right? What are you holding on to that you need to let go of? If you need help, if you need support, if you need encouragement, the Lion Within is here for you, guys. I'm telling you, we've built some resources, we've built some great things that are here to support you. But they're only available if you head over to the LionWithin.us. So thank you for listening to the Fun Friday episodes. They've been an honor, they've been a blast. I'm so excited about the new ones because NG podcasts, and you do episodes like this, you you kind of get into a rhythm. Um, but the chance for you guys to meet some of these incredible men at the Lion Within Us, it's it's I'm so stinking excited about this, I can't even stand it. Like it's just this is gonna be such a fun opportunity for you guys to meet them. And again, obviously they're sharing the things that they talk about and the leadership mastermind and recognize leadership masterminds aren't for everybody, right? But if you don't have that band of brothers that are walking alongside you, if you don't, if you don't have them, guys, I'm telling you, the thing, the the way we've we've uh architected this and put this together, uh, it really is powerful. I've seen some really, really great moments come from it. And uh I think it can bring a lot of value to you. So I'm looking forward to it uh for you guys hearing seeing this. Again, new year, happy new year, welcome to 2026. Let's go, let's get into it. Connect with us at thelionwithin.us, start your daily spiritual kickoff, start your your access to the lion's den, or put in your application for the leadership mastermind, guys. All that stuff, ratings and reviews. If you're looking at 2026 and what do I want to support this year, if the lion wants to be one of those, hey, stop set up a monthly donation to the Lion Within us to support because it takes a lot of work to put this this amount of content out, this amount of resources out, thelionwithin.us, okay, slash donate, connect with us right there. All right, guys. Blessed, honored, thanks for listening. Looking forward to see you on our next fun Friday. I'm telling you, this is gonna be exciting. So have a great day, get after it, and keep on leasing the lion within. If you're like me, you don't need another book just sitting around collecting dust. What I enjoy is something to help guide me when my feet hit the ground in the mornings. And that is why we put together Unleashing the Lion Within. It has honest stories, scripture you can apply, and simple steps to help you lead at home, at work, and everywhere in between. So if you've been feeling stuck or scattered lately, you may find this resource encouraging. Read a few pages, take one step and watch what God does with your obedience. Hey, and if reading's tough for you right now, no problem. The book is also available in Audible version so you can listen on the go. So if this sounds interesting, check out thelion within.us slash book or search for unleashing the lion within directly on Amazon. So there's no pressure here, just a resource that many guys are finding helpful. So grab the format that fits and take your next step.