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Focus on What You CAN Do

[shareable cite=”Charles R. Swindoll”]We spend more of our time concentrating and fretting over the things that can’t be changed than we do giving attention to the one that we can change, our choice of attitude.[/shareable]

Attitude, it seems, is the one choice we can make each day that will have the most impact. But just because it is a choice within our reach and ability, that doesn’t mean we will make it purposefully. If you are anything like me you can drift into auto-pilot when it comes to your attitude. Unless I resolve to make my first waking thought positive and grateful – to play offense if you will – Satan will offer me a failure or frustration to chew on. If I fall for that, I will be playing defense for the rest of the day. And I have handed over way too many of my days that way!

Going into 2017, I am completing some goal and “why” homework for our business coach. Page 1 in his workbook features a quote on Attitude attributed to Charles Swindoll – an evangelical Christian leader which whom I am familiar. So, being the internet quote skeptic that I am, I googled “attitude + Charles Swindoll” to see what came up. Lots of images with the same text citing Charles Swindoll. Lots of creative fonts and frames and backgrounds. But I was looking for Charles’ personal blog or website as confirmation and I could not find a direct connection.

What I DID find was a couple of blog posts on attitude from Charles Swindoll that generally convey the same message on the subject of attitude.

Here’s the Quote

[shareable cite=”Charles R. Swindoll”]Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitude toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it. I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there’s no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.[/shareable]
God

My Name is NOT “The Universe”

A block of marble got struck by lightning and when the dust cleared… this was what was left.

Forget Michelangelo. I don’t believe he even existed. No one can really prove that he did… Can they? I think there was an explosion of some sort that caused the marble particles to heat up and burst apart. Resulting a big bang. Shards of marble burst into the air and a cloud of dust and chaos ensued. It had to be some special force of nature because the result was this beautiful intricate statue.

“The Statue”

I have no idea what the special force of nature was that created this statue. In fact, the man people claim this looks like probably did not even exist either. There is no other instance of this happening that I know of. Furthermore, I contend that this statue was not really “created” – it was merely the accidental result of a random event. A “leftover” if you will.

So, the next time I see this image I am just going to refer to it as “The Statue”. Actually what I mean is that I will use “The Statue” to encapsulate the whole event and the man-shaped thing that is left over. Perhaps I will just call it “The Thing”

 

I Marvel At It

I marvel at this man-shaped marble figure. It seems to evoke a story! But that could not possibly be true. It’s a by-product of an energy event produced by a momentary bolt of lighting that just happen to hit a block of marble at just the right spot – at just the right angle – at just the right time – with just the right amount of…energy. I think it is quite miraculous! But I don’t want to get too wrapped up in that. So I will refer to it as “The Statue”. That will keep it at a safe distance. That will keep it in its proper place.

Michelangelo?

Let’s just say for the sake of argument that there was someone named Michelangelo. And, that he was a sculptor. He would probably be highly offended after spending his creative talents and energy creating the above statue if people refused to even acknowledge it as a purposeful act. As the story goes it took him two years to create the statue. If he was like most artists who pour their heart and soul in to their work, he would have labored over this night and day. It is almost incomprehensible to think that all of that talent, vision and hard work could be “deleted” from history and replaced with another account of the events. Forget the creator. Let’s just admire the creation. And call the whole thing “The Statue”. Make sense?

 

Creation

I see people arguing incessantly about the creation story in the Bible. They debate the age of things and that God could not possibly have created the universe in 6 days. Really? I have a much harder time buying into the theory that there was an immense explosion and DNA popped out the other side when the dust cleared. No life – then life. And, not just life. Unfathomably complicated life at that. Life doctors thousands of years down the road still can’t fully explain.

No, I believe there is a God. For me God is not worth worshiping unless He is capable of creating the universe out of thin air. I don’t have to prove or debate whether He did or did not create the universe in six literal days. In fact, I don;t have to prove anything. We are all taking leaps of faith in what we believe. I believe there is a God and He revealed himself through regular everyday people in the Bible. I believe He is a God who wants (or rather – quietly demands) credit and our respect. But, He’s not going to force it. God will not sit quietly forever while being ignored, denied and referred to only by his handiwork. I think He might say: My name is God and when we meet in person, you will have no problem calling me that. You will find out, my name is definitely NOT “The Universe.”

 

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What Will Your Legacy Look Like?

I woke up this morning contemplating and celebrating 54 years on this planet. Wow. December 11, 1962. I am 54. So I’m thinking… What will my Legacy be? What will I do in this next year to grow personally and to help make others better? How will I be intentional? I know Living a Legacy is possible. In fact, Leaving a Legacy is guaranteed.

We All Have an Expiration Date

One day we will all breathe our last breath. One day our heart will beat its final time. One day this physical body will be nothing more than an empty shell. It is deteriorating and will eventually die. That’s a promise.

It is appointed to man to die once, then stand before our maker. What type of Legacy will you leave behind? What will others remember about you?

Growing Up

I’ve often pondered the influence that my parents had in my life, the man and woman that raised me in those formidable years. Yeah. They stayed together through all the peaks and valleys. They stayed together when life was tough. They weathered the storms and recently celebrated 55 years of marriage. Good job momma and daddy.

They taught me, Kristi and Adam many life lessons. They were also some things that they didn’t teach us. They didn’t teach us how: To lie. To steal. To cheat. To violate others. To show favoritism. To be a racist. They taught us to be: Responsible. Honest. Trustworthy. Dependable. They taught us to be on time. To tell the truth. To honor your word. To treat all people equal. They taught us that to love unconditionally can be a reality. They taught us that we were valued and special. They taught us that talent and giftedness had an expiration date BUT living a life of integrity would last.

I learned that money didn’t define you. I learned that your your level of education did not have to determine your destination in life. I learned that working hard to provide for your family was honorable. I learned that a stay at home mom that showered affection and on her family was not inferior because she had no income. I came to realize that these values prepared my heart to understand God’s love in a tangible way. Mom and Dad were living a Legacy and will leave a powerful Legacy for future generations.

Dad’s health has been brutal for the last five years. He has had open heart surgery, back surgery, battled infections, fought diabetes, just to mention a few.

My Sister Had This to Say

Our Daddy has such a love for us. We have done things he doesn’t approve of but he doesn’t stop loving us. Our Heavenly Father is the same. But I know my Daddy has provided for us to his best ability. He has this crippling back pain today because of how hard he worked to provide for us. Daddy has always been an awesome provider. We are very fortunate. What a Legacy.

Ponder This

A Godly legacy begins when we are intentional parents who create a home that honors God. Here are a few keys:

  • Provide a safe environment in which deep emotional roots can grow.
  • Foster confidence through having a stable home.
  • Communicate a voice of trusting support.
  • Nurture a strong sense of healthy identity.
  • Create a “resting place” for the soul.
  • Demonstrate unconditional love.

One of My Favorite Examples

Dennis Rainey shared these thoughts years ago that are worth pondering. Have you ever heard of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards?
Jonathan felt God’s call to minister. He and his young bride began a pastorate in a small congregation. During the years that followed, he was influential in beginning the Great Awakening. They produced eleven children who grew into adulthood.
Sarah was a partner in her husband’s ministry, and he sought her advice regarding sermons and church matters. They spent time talking about these things together, and, when their children were old enough, the parents included the children in the discussions.
The impact of the Edwards’s lives have been far-reaching, but the most measurable results of their faithfulness to God’s call is found through their descendants. Here is a brief look at the Edwards Legacy:

  • 100 lawyers and a dean of a law school
  • 80 holders of public office
  • 66 physicians and a dean of a medical school
  • 65 professors of colleges and universities
  • 30 judges
  • 13 college presidents
  • 3 mayors of large cities
  • 3 governors of states
  • 3 United States senators
  • 1 controller of the United States Treasury
  • 1 Vice President of the United States

Leaving a Legacy is Guaranteed. What will Yours look like?

God, Jesus, Married

TRUE Love Holds No Record of Wrongs

Love is a way of Life

  • If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
  • And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
  • If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is Counter-Cultural

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love