Motivation

It's the bleak time of winter where experts say that depression can set in. I'm not really feeling that right now though. I have several things on my plate right now, don't get me wrong but there are a few positives in my day that make me smile. Here's my list and in no particular order:

1. Coffee. I really enjoy coffee. I just took a sip of coffee...and I really enjoyed it.
2. Squirrels. From where I sit in my office I can see 2 squirrels running around a tree chasing each other and for some reason, I think that's cool.
3. Checking stuff off my list. I didn't used to have a list. I would just kind of wing it. Kind of like throwing darts into the wind...I'd hit what I was aiming at. Now I have a weekly list...and yes blogging is part of it. Check.
4. Cooking dinner for my wife. Ladies don't "awwww" me just yet. My wife works until 7 each night since she's in tax season and if I don't cook...well we will be eating a steady diet of pb & j. However, I do enjoy looking up a recipe and making it. I am not a good cook. But I can follow directions. That is satisfying.
5. Coffee...just took another sip
6. Playing games with my wife. My wife has declared that in order to take her mind off of taxes, the hours from 9-10 every night shall be game night for us. I don't wanna brag but I can lay the smack down in the game of Life. It's nice because we will usually turn off the T.V. and play cards or something like that. Other than the time I bent her fingernail playing Egyptian Ratscrew...it's been some great bonding for us.

Last and definitely not least 7. Waking up early and not going back to bed after my wife leaves for work. My wife leaves at 7:15 and for some stupid reason a while back I started going back to bed until 8:25...I have to be at the office at 8:30. Very dumb of me. Plus I was missing out on some great devo time with the Lord during that hour. So last week I started kicking that habit and I had an amazing week. It's not easy but it's worth it....with a little help from #1 & #5.

What's your list?

The Thoughts of a Demon

Been reading the Screwtape Letters by C.S.Lewis. It's a very thought provoking book and amazingly profound for it's time. If you haven't read it, it's about an older demon named Screwtape sharing advice with his nephew Wormwood on how to control the human soul. Read this part today and wanted to throw it out to you to think about. Feel free to comment if you'd like.

Screwtape- "He really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself-creatures whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not because He has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His. We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally becomes sons. We want to suck in; He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy wants a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct."

Who the heck are you?

Just spent a half hour going through my Facebook friends list deleting a bunch of "friends". I would feel bad for this but I don't. Why? Because of a few reasons: 1) I have no idea who some of them are. I mean how the heck did I click accept on some of these people?!! 2) Some of them I met back at a summer camp or some event about 5 years ago and we have not communicated since the time that we became Facebook friends. 3) Some people just annoy me(Farmville folks) and 4) Some of them have statuses that are less than encouraging.

I only made it to the J's....so if you saw this on Facebook and your last name is from A-J...I must like you for some reason or another. If your last name is from K-Z...your fate is yet to be determined.

It occurs to me that the term "friend" is thrown around rather loosely in todays' Facebook influenced culture. Now understand that I think social networking is a good thing and it's cool that I can connect with people that I wouldnt be able to otherwise. It's just amazing to me how going down through my list of friends that I do not know who 30 of them are...or at least I can't remember.

Here's what hit me though a few minutes ago that made me write this. I am considered God's friend. Now God has a bunch of friends yet he considers me one of them and a close one at that. There's have been times that I have not connected with God for quite some time. There have been other times that I have done things that most certainly hurts our relationship. I have made promises to Him that I have not been able to keep. I have been less than a friend to God time and time again...yet some how...some way...He still calls me his friend. He hasn't decided to "delete" our friendship. He still sees value in me...and in you.

That's a very elementary thought I know...yet at the same time it is very profound. I am glad that our Lord is not like me when it comes to friendships. How cool is it that God actually cares about our "status"?! Hopefully I am open enough to hear his "comments" on it. Okay...that's enough cheesy Facebook analogies. But seriously though...what would you do if God poked you?

Wish I Owned a Radio Station

Bet you didn't expect that sound to come out of that mouth did you? Neither did I. Just another lesson in the "don't judge a book by it's cover" class. 

We took the kids to Camden, New Jersey to work at a homeless shelter the weekend before Christmas. A staff member they called "Detroit" got up and told his story. He actually had 2 or 3 college degrees and was doing great early in life but got mixed up in a messy divorce from his wife and other bad circumstances landed him on the street. He lived in a box and begged for money in front of a Dunkin Donuts until the manager finally came out one day and asked him if he wanted a job cleaning. He said yes and did such a great job there that other surrounding businesses hired him to do the same. He now helps other homeless people get on their feet.

I haven't been around too many homeless folks but when I am...I get nervous. While in Italy studying abroad for ten weeks I would often run into gypsies who would beg for money and shake a cup in your face. My initial thought, whether in the US or abroad, has always been the same: do they really need this money or am I being cheated. But the more and more I experience people like Ted Williams and Detroit...well...you know what I'm feeling. Is it possible that my heart needs to change a bit? How would Jesus respond to this guy? How would you respond to this guy?    

Think about it and say a prayer for Ted...hope to hear his voice on the radio sometime soon.  

New Year's Side Effects

It's a brand new year and for some reason I find myself wanting to blog. I have no idea why. The last time I wrote was 2009. This very morning I also got up early, made a pot of coffee, had breakfast, and read a book. For many people this is normal but that is not my typical morning ritual on my day off. I typically get up around 10am and then lay on the couch until 2pm watching TV and movies. But this morning i wanted to be more productive and have a feeling of accomplishment. Why you ask? Well I'm not sure but I think it has to do with this whole "new year thing".

I also have renewed my commitment to lose weight...again. I am also trying to become more faithful to my daily Bible reading and time with God...again.

What the heck is going on?! It was Friday night, time passed, and Saturday came and with it this renewed since that I could change and do the things I want to do and not be stuck in the habits of the previous day. What's up with that?!

I find it very cool that God let's us start again. We are not stuck where we are and have to put up with the habits we've formed. We have the ability to change and make choices. That, to me, is very refreshing. While I may or may not keep the habits I'm trying to form, God allows me to make that decision. And for some unknown reason, I find myself making those decisions on Jan 1st. Will it continue...well tomorrow shall tell. Happy New Year!