Categories
Daily Post

Stick to Itiveness Award

Earlier this week while we were messing around Innoventions at Epcot, we ended up in a ‘game show’ that was to teach us about the merits of Velcro! Turns out this involved audience participation, and yes both Alex and Andrew were a team in one game and Amy and I in the other.  We both lost.  But we did receive a reward anyway the Stick-to-it-iveness Award. YEAH!

And today I extend that reward out to you.  Its Friday, its the end of a long work week for some of you.  For others it’s just another day in the long days of life.  Well here is your reward.  Keep going, keep sticking to it!

7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.  2 Chronicles 15:7 (New International Version)

Categories
Daily Post

Fiesta Hoy

Yesterday I spend some time in Epcot and was able to visit one of my most favorite rides in the park. No not Soarin’. We always head over to Mexico and ride the ride formerly known as El Rio de Tiempo. For some reason i just love that silly little ride.
Anyway there is one section I like to call little its a small world. When you enter that section there is a big banner that says Fiesta Hoy.
That’s one of the my favorite things about this place its a celebration everyday. I think the trick for us is to figure out how to turn the stress that Joel wrote about yesterday it something that helps us celebrate and find joy in the day. That’s tough, but it’s something this place and the mercy given to me from my Father help to inspire in me.
For instance read this from my good friend Tamara whose grandmother is dying this week.

With her vitals fluctuating that tells us the end is near. I am so sad, but cannot wait for the moment God takes the old oxygen cords from her and gives her brand new lungs & whole new body. What a day that will be!

Lets find a way to enjoy the journey while keeping an eye on the destination! Fiesta Hoy!

Categories
Daily Post

Stress!

I have had it, you have had it…. we have all had it.  Stress effects each one of us differently.  Sometimes emotional, sometimes physical and sometimes even spiritual.  To categorize any one person’s stress would take more time than I have to write. 

For me, it eats at me emotionally and then over time, I start to see the physical side effects.  For instance, at my last dental cleaning, the hygentist asked me, “have you been grinding your teeth?!”  I said, “not that I know of, why?”  She went on to explain that the small cracks I had in one of my mollars were caused by grinding my teeth.  I had no idea until I caught myself grinding my teeth one night as I lied awake in bed thrashing (work-related) thoughts around my brain.  All the mental and emotional wear of work finally caused physical damage!  Albeit only a minor and very fixable situation, but still, a result of STRESS.

So what’s the solution to our stressful lives?  Less work, more play?  I honestly don’t have an answer, but I do know what helps… Family!  Knowing that their love is unconditional and that I will always have a shoulder to lean on gets me these stressful times.  What helps you in the endless battle of Stress?

Categories
Daily Post

Scouting it out

My oldest Son, Patrick, has reached that age dreaded age! No not puberty or driving, the age of being a cub scout! I know you are thinking thats not so bad but for an inside kind of guy, scouting pulls me out of my comfort zone. This weekend we will be heading to camp out in a tent. I have to honestly admit that I have been dreading this weekend since we decided to do this. I am going, though, because he is very excited about this experience.

You know God has had to do things he didn’t want to do us since we were created.  Check out these old testament examples:

Exodus 3:4-5 (New International Version)

4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”

5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Numbers 7:89 (New International Version)

89 When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the Testimony. And he spoke with him.

God has done things for us and limited Himself since the begining to be close to us and to speak with His people. So, Patrick wants to go camp in a tent for the weekend, I guess that I can do that to grow closer and to be with him.

Categories
Daily Post

Lifeguards

Today and all week you have a special treat.  While I am off on vacation, others have joined the fight to keep the encouragement coming. Today’s post is from Joey Davis who also blogs at www.clearcreekaveragejoe.blogspot.com.
Enjoy!

Lifeguard…usually a part-time Summer job given to young men and women.  I remember being a kid and thinking that being a Lifeguard was the best job in the world.  Plenty of sunshine, fresh air, and I could go swimming anytime I wanted.  I’m sure that’s what the subject of my story thought as well.

He’s a lifeguard.  And like most other lifeguards, when he took his training, he could almost smell the fresh air, feel the sunshine in his skin, (and let’s be honest) he could envision all the pretty girls wanting him to came to their rescue.

Somewhere along the line, something went dreadfully wrong.  He got a job guarding the children’s splash pool at the local city park.  Day in and day out he sat by a pool that was too shallow to drown a cat and watched little children splash water all over each other.  At night, in his dreams, instead of the sounds of pretty girls begging for his attention, he could hear the squealing of playful little children.

One afternoon, he was watching my kids.   My wife sat by the pool and watched as well.  On this particular day it was a good thing that she was watching.  Olivia and Sawyer were fine, but the lifeguard wasn’t.

As Melissa watched the children, she began to wonder when the splash pool would be closing for the summer.  So she went over to the lifeguard to ask him.  When she got to his chair, he had the bill of his cap pulled down to shade his eyes, his hands were resting on his cheeks and his body was fixed in a posture that made him appear to be totally focused and attentive to the happenings in the pool.  There was only one problem; he was asleep!

Imagine what could have happened.  Parents had entrusted their children’s lives to this fellow and he fell asleep on the job.  Maybe he was tired.  Maybe he was bored.  Maybe this job just wasn’t what he had in mind when he became a lifeguard. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter.  He should have never fallen asleep on the job. . .

Our expectations of Christianity aren’t always grounded in realism.  Being a Christian doesn’t make us healthy, wealthy, or wise.  It makes us forgiven and hopefully grateful.  And with this blessing comes great responsibility.  God entrusts us to reach the world with his life-saving message.  We’re lifeguards so to speak.

Being a Christian isn’t always fun.  Sometimes we are called into circumstances we would rather avoid.  But who we are, and what we provide for the world, is important. God is counting on us to bring living water to a dying world.  Don’t fall asleep on the job!