Categories
Daily Post

Motivation for Gold

I like to watch the Olympics.  Unfortunately, I had to DVR the Opening Ceremony and have not returned to watch it yet.  Last night, I was digging the Snowboard Cross -that’s pretty cool stuff.  However, there’s the crazy part of the coverage.  As my youngest came into the room last night and said “Dad, the Olympics are the Talklympics.”  We all know it.  NBC likes to talk talk talk talk and talk some more when the Olympics are on.  And then there’s that part that I know I should enjoy watching, but for some reason cringe every time they start – the special interest pieces.   So last night as I was getting ready for bed, there was a piece of Alexandre Bilodeau.

You know him right? Well, if you are Canadian you do.  He’s the first Canadian Gold Medal winner on Canadian soil, and last night they had a special interest story on him, and afterward I was glad I watched it.  Alexandre has a older brother with cerebral palsy.  His brother Frederic, who is 28, was supposed to stop walking at 10.   He’s still walking.   Alexandre mentioned that makes him wonder how far he can push himself – what are the real limits – if his brother can push himself to still be walking 18 years after he was told he would not be able to.   He also credits his brother as his motivation for his success in skiing.  Read this quote, and think about these words

“as an athlete you always have good days and bad days, there’s so many days you just don’t want to go train. I realize that I have the opportunity [to train] and that I need to use that opportunity because my brother does not have that chance.”

That’s pretty powerful stuff.   How many times do we complain and not do things, because we don’t want to, but we are fully capable of it.    This is a good thought to consider today.  Take advantage of opportunities.  Look for ways to push yourself, and to impact others.  You have the ability, don’t let the rain slow you down.

Hebrews 3:12-14 (New International Version)

12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

Galatians 6:9 (New International Version)

9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Categories
Daily Post

The Glory of Presidents Day

Today is President’s Day as you all know – a day that we stop and remember those Presidents of the past and provide them with the honor and glory due them.   The honor of the Office of President or the POTUS, as we like to say, is incredible.  I am alway impressed ( and bored) when I go to the Hall of Presidents at Disney World.  It’s impressive because you can see – by the wonder and magic of Disney’s animatronics- all of the presidents lined up together have a gay old time. (Bored, because they actually speak, but its a great place for a rest, and a bit of air conditioning if its hot outside).   Ok, seriously,  the POTUS is in a position to be hailed and given glory, but despite all the greatness of any of these men, they are made or broken by the men around them.  The people, the judges, the men in Congress and the press, can help or hurt the legacy that any of these men have left behind. 

But consider for a moment the POTU ( thats the President of the Universe).  The POTU, or God, has made everything.  His glory is completely his.

 11“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
   to receive glory and honor and power,
   for you created all things,
      and by your will they were created
      and have their being.”  – Revelation 4:11

And the best part is that he made you, and passed that glory on to you

 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth,  and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

 27 So God created man in his own image,
       in the image of God he created him;
       male and female he created them. – Gen 1:26-27

Stop and think about that.  God is so glorious, and he made us.  So today remember you favorite past president for their accomplishments – whether it be Reagan and the Wall, Carter and inflation, Lincoln and slavery, FDR and The NewDeal,  Wilson, Washington, Kennedy, Clinton, Taft, Cleveland, Adams(squared), Bush(squared), McKinley, Jefferson, and so on.  Give them their due!  Thank God for them, Praise them, but also remember God put them in power and he made you! 

“You make everthing glorious, and I am yours. So what does that make me?” – David Crowder Band

Categories
Daily Post random thoughts

Random Thoughts <3 Day Edition

Its Friday again, and since this is a double bonus weekend- Presidents Day and Valentines Day, I thought I would provide some extra motivation

lolmart shirts, nerd love
see more Lol Celebs

Hey Guys – need some Valentine Cards that will definitely keep the romance in the air.  Check these out.  I used them – the work great!

I remember making Valentine boxes. Well, I guess I remember just decorating a bag.  Not anymore, my oldest made a pirate ship one year for Valentine’s Day and this is what my youngest is taking today.  Complex:

And you know, no Valentine’s Day would really be complete with a reference to 1 Corinthians 13. Make sure you are doing everything with love not just this weekend but all the time.

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Categories
Daily Post

One Word – “Intense”

“Intense”.

Several years ago that was the word that a co worker of mine used when asked to describe me in one word.

“Intense”.

At the time I thought that was cool.  I thought it was great – even awesome. And that’s how I was – “intense” – focused on the goal. Come hell or high water, I was getting the job done, not paying attention to the human carnage I left along the way.  The crying in the office – weak.  Calling people on the weekend and demanding they fix the problem – of course, they should be in here working as well.  Get it Done!  Deliver. Destroy.  That’s good.  Right!

Over the past week I watched my son’s basketball team beat two opponents by the combined score of 106 – 6.  Yes, that’s correct.  49-3 in the first game and 57-3 in the second.  The boys kept the half court man to man press going the entire game – pressuring the opponents into mistakes.  Some of the starters were always on the floor. They pushed the ball, fast break after fast break, up and down the court.  They destroyed the other teams.  Destroyed!  That’s good! Right??

No, its not.

I have learned that relationships are more important than the work, and the way you win is just as important as the win.  I have lived and played with intensity and I have seen the pain and carnage it brings.  I have worked with such intensity and disregard for others, that my job has hung by a thread, only saved by the good will of others.  Sometime,  in some way, that intensity must give way to mercy.  It must give way to grace.  We are called to give our very best to God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (New International Version)

31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Colossians 3:23 (New International Version)

23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,

We are called to play as hard as we can.  Give 100 percent – always.  But sometimes 100 percent means playing with control.  Whether on the court, in school, or at work we must know that doling out mercy and compassion and grace are equally as important as pushing and driving and forcing.

And that’s why my heart is heavy.  I sat at the scorers table for both games.  I saw the angst and brokenness of the players.  I saw the overwhelming helplessness and frustration of the coach, and the exasperation of the parents.   Did we have to run a half court man to man press when we were winning by 25, and it was obvious this team was not coming back even if we played with 3 players?  One of the teams only had 5 players.

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (New American Standard Bible)

24Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

25Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

There is a time to push it and to go right to the edge, and even more. But there is to be something different about those followers of the Christ.  There is also a time to be in control and to pull back, and to show restraint.  Both of these games demonstrated one of those great teaching opportunities, where we could taught our children the importance of  displaying control and restraint and modeling Christ is all that we do.

I still am a very intense person, a driven person, but I hope that if my current coworkers where asked to describe me in one word that they would pick something other than “intense”.  Maybe something closer to  “servant”, or “merciful”. (Most would probably just say “Jerk!”)

It maybe that I am so sensitive to this because I am in such need of mercy and grace myself.  Well, who isn’t?  And that is why I want to teach our children that control, and extending grace, and extending mercy, are a very important part of giving 100 percent to God.

So, I write about this to use the opportunity to teach, I hope that as you read on, you consider your life.  Is there a place where you still are running the full court press, where maybe you should drop back into a 2-3 soft zone and reach out to that person and provide the mercy that you have been all so freely given.

36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Luke 6:36 (New International Version)

Also, what word would people us to describe you?

Categories
Daily Post

Understanding the Value of Weakness

Sometimes in the car I listen to Way-FM. There is a DJ in the morning named Brant.  This guy has a sort of dry mono toned voice, one that on the show has been compared to Kermit the frog, which gets you in the general direction of his voice, although its not the best comparison. Anyway, when I first started listening to this guy, I really didn’t enjoy it, so much that when the song was over and he started talking, I would change the station.  That’s crazy isn’t.

But I suppose my hands had better things to do, like driving the vehicle, and so I began to listen to what he was saying and got past the idiosyncrasies of his voice.  The more I slowed down and listened the more I liked the what I was hearing, so much that I actually enjoy his commentary now. That’s crazy isn’t.

A few weeks ago, he was talking about where are strength comes from, and how God uses us when we are weak. Its stuck with me over the days, as this is a truth that I have heard from when I was little, but really I don’t it’s been well explained . I mean, we are taught to be strong, to be tough, to be rugged.  Although on a physical level there is merit to buffeting the body in a way that it is in its best physical shape, more on that another day.  So, we are taught to be strong, however, its not always when we are the strongest that we are used.  I think mainly because, when we think we are strong, we look at ourselves.  “I have this all under control!”  When we are weak, we look other places “God help me”.

So the trick is, staying weak.  Staying in a place where we need God – where we recognize our need for God, and not making it all about ourselves.  I think that’s called being humble!

9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor 12:9-11)

So three things this mornings. First don’t judge  so quickly, sometimes you may end up missing some great things, Second, if you are in an area where you can listen to Way-FM, I think you may find some encouragement and some challenges listening in sometimes.  And finally, lets delight in our weaknesses, and we ready to be used.  Stay lowly, stay meek, and He will use you in ways you cant even imagine or blog!