Tag Archives: life

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Positive Social Media!

“If You Can’t Say Something Nice…”

Social Media is a place for me to share my life with family and friends. I enjoy letting folks know about my everyday human challenges and what they are teaching me.

I am grateful for my blessings, especially getting to cook, feed and share fellowship with those that I love. I love our great big crazy family that is all over the place, but always right at home whenever we are together.

I do my best to stay out of politics, although I can assure you that I most definitely have an opinion, but I learned a long time ago that it’s not worth arguing over.

I don’t air my dirty laundry, frustrations or disappointments in others, because let’s face it – there is already enough negativity in the world and if I’ve got a problem with you, that’s worth my time, then it’s worth a face to face conversation and it really isn’t anyone else’s business.

I love taking pictures and letting others get a glimpse of some of the things that intrigue, excite and challenge me. My new wrinkles, an adventure with one of our dogs, another nature discovery, what I am getting ready to eat or just something that caught my eye are all fair game to be captured in a photograph.

I’m not anything special, just a middle aged guy, who is learning that I still have so much to learn and my best learning, seems to have occurred through my shared experiences with others. I decided a number of years ago that if I can’t keep it positive on social media, then it would be time to get off, which is why through the years, there has been a break here or there, but I usually find my way back and have managed for the most part to keep it fun, encouraging and hopefully challenging.

Thank you to each of you that are a part of my social media tribe. I love seeing your life and learning from your posts. I hope that 2020 will be an amazing year of blessing and growth for all of us and that social media will do her part to help us along the way…

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Just Breathe!

Get up, get ready, get in the car, drive like a maniac, run into work, grab a cup of coffee, get busy and now what’s next? Some times in the midst of my hurry, I catch myself going through the same “rush routine” day after day and at other times I go through it without even giving it a thought. It is possible to live our lives in a “rush routine” and the great tragedy is: This is not really living.

So, I want to encourage you to stop and take a moment, the next time you catch yourself caught up in the “rush routine”. Stop, take a moment and breathe! That’s right – breathe in, hold it and now breathe out. Now try it again and focus on getting it right – breathe in hold it, hold it, hold it and now breathe out. Now, try it one more time, just for good measure.

There is life in your breath, so if you don’t do anything else today, you need to make sure that you take time to breathe. When I actually slow down enough, to stop for a moment to take and recognize my breath, I realize that there is more to this life than the chase that I so often tend to find myself caught up in.

Crazy thing is: When I actually stop to breathe and realize my breath, I am very often, not even sure what I am chasing. I sometimes find that I am in a hurry just to be in a hurry, not because I necessarily have a dead line I’m trying to meet. These are the times, that I’m glad I listened to that little voice inside of me, reminding me to breathe.

On the grand scale of Eternity, this human experience is a very short thing and we need to make sure that we are not so busy and rushed that we miss what really matters. When I take the time to just breathe, then I realize how nice it is to sit and sip on my hot cup of mocha coffee. I appreciate grown up conversations with friends and begin to understand the role they play in helping me to become a better person and vice versa. I am grateful for this amazing, beautiful gift called life and feel priviledge to get to live and share it with so many amazing people.

So, slow down and take the time to breathe and recognize your breath, you will be glad you did…

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The Right Perspective!

 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”  -John 14:1-3

BELIEVE!  Life is tough and it is going to throw you curve balls.  In fact, life will throw you a knuckle ball right upside the nose every now and then.  On the best days, it’s not easy, but it is possible to live a blessed life and a blessed life makes all the difference.  You have access to control how you take it and what you do with it.  Jesus said:  “Let not your heart be troubled!” indicating that we make the choice.  Sometimes, you just have to grab hold of your emotions and let them know who the real boss is.  The best way to do this is by fighting your fear with faith.  Jesus said:  “Believe in God, believe also in me!” and if your really believe, then this is a “game changer!”  No matter what you are going through, remember:  Don’t Panic – God’s got this!

CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE!  After we get our belief fixed, we then need to focus on changing our perspective.  We do this, by moving from the finite limited time and space of this moment to the infinite, unlimited time and space of eternity.  Whatever you are facing right now, ask yourself this question:  “What’s the worse thing that can happen?”  Ask this question enough times and you are probably going to come up with the answer:  Death!  Well, death is no big deal for Believer!  Jesus moved from a present perspective to an eternal perspective when he said:  “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places and I go to prepare a place for you!”

Next time you find yourself fretting over something, ask yourself this question:  “What is this going to matter 100 years from now?”

The Scriptures teach us in Philippians 1:21 that to live is Christ and to die is gain!  This physical body is simply my “FLESH SUIT!”  One of these days when this body dies, I am going to take off this flesh suit and then I will really fly!  Death is not a big deal, because it is just me separating from this body and the 70, 80 0 r 90 years, which are a small blip on the radar screen compared to ETERNITY!

The enemy wants to put blinders on you, so that all you can see is your problem, challenge or frustration, but don’t fall for the trick!  The enemy wants you to lose and forget about your eternal perspective, but don’t you dare trade in the good stuff of your Creator!  Use your memory and look back at all the times that you thought your ship was sunk, but the blessings came through and you can say with the Psalmist in 103:  “Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not none of his benefits!”

Now this is living blessed and it is what you were created for – get you some of that and live blessed!