Little things...

Today my wife was worried because our ice maker had been shut off. You see, she wanted to take a lot of ice to school this morning. As a first grade teacher, she's been instructing the children about Native Americans and Pilgrims. Today is candle making day. Ice cools the wax as the children make the candles.

I mentioned she could ask a parent to bring some, or ask me or turn on the ice machine and get more at lunch. Well, she moved on to other topics and left for work,without answering me or making other plans. Then it occurred to me, I could stop by the coffee shop, Jamocha Jo's Java & Ice Cream, (the owners had their daughter in her class last year). I took my cooler in and they donated the ice! I picked up a couple coffees too. One for her and one for me.

Boy was she surprised this morning when I showed up with my gifts. Later in the morning, She sent me an email: "OK you are definitely in the running for husband of the year award. THANK YOU!!!"

Its the little things in life that make a big difference.

How about you? What little thing can you do today or tomorrow to make a difference for someone you care about?

Friendship

Someone mentioned a Scripture from the Bible the other day. The letters in Red. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey my commands." Wow - that's quite a statement. Who in your life could say that to you and get away with it?

My mom or dad could have said that to me. "If you love me, son, you would not do this to us and you would clean up your room and put your dirty clothes in the laundry basket."

I could have said that to my parents. "If you love me, you would call me when you're going to be gone out late because as your 20 something year old son I come home and don't know if you are okay." That definitely was before cell phones, but my parents were in their 60s.

Okay - so who could you say that to? Or maybe how do we say that today? I say to my kids, "I love you and I want you to suceed at school, so do your homework." Okay, okay - so maybe that's not exactly how I say it. But that is what I mean.

We're not big on commandments in our culture today. We're big on connections and relationship. I'd like to suggest that we follow Jesus' advice. If you love him, show him that you love him by doing what he asks of you.

Do you have a friend who asked you to do something for them recently? You did it because you have a relationship with him. Not to prove it. Not to be liked better. Not to gain points on a grading system of who owes who.

You did it because - Get this - You love him or her. That's relationship. That's connection. That's Friendship. That's just like it is with Jesus.

I love God. I strive to do what he tells me. Sometimes I don't. (We'll save that for a conversation on Forgiveness).

How do you show love to God? I'd love to read your thoughts.

Have a great day!

Perfection beyond me, Excellence my goal

Excellence is willing to be wrong.
Perfection is having to be right.

Excellence is risk.
Perfection is fear.

Excellence is powerful.
Perfection is anger and frustration.

Excellence is spontaneous.
Perfection is control.

Excellence is accepting.
Perfection is judgment.

Excellence is giving.
Perfection is taking.

Excellence is confidence.
Perfection is doubt.

Excellence is flowing.
Perfection is pressure.

Excellence is journey.
Perfection is destination.

Being Excellent blesses others.
Being Perfect hurts others.

I choose to be a blessing today!
How about you?

Simple Prayer

How Simple Is Prayer?

My friend told me about his nephew who wanted a dog. This little 6 year old boy prays. He prayed for a dog. The other day he prayed and said that God told him he would find his dog today. Sure enough that day he found his dog. I wonder, what if we all prayed like that? How would your world be different?

Sabbatical

On sabbatical, I'm slowing down, getting time together with family and friends. I'm even getting time by myself to be with myself. I especially loved my time last week at the Oregon Coast. I stayed at the Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport. (http://www.sylviabeachhotel.com/ ) I ate at Mo's everyday. (http://www.moschowder.com/ ) It's some of the best chowder in the world and its one of the best small businesses in America. Really - 2nd place in 2002!

Time to think and reflect on self and life and God. Time to enjoy a walk downtown, to sit on a bench in the sunshine, to read on the patio near the beautiful greenery at my friend's house, a walk on the beach, a sunset at the coast, my Bible, my journal and me in the quiet or some beautiful Jim Brickman playing in my headphones. (http://www.jimbrickman.com/ )Ahh, Life is good.

Being is just as important as doing. We give to much emphasis on Doing here in America. Some other countries I admire would be Italy and Ireland or Scotland. To me, those seem like the kind of places where you don't work, work, work. Community, relationship, being with one another and being alone in the presence of self and our Creator can easily have a higher importance. I had a friend tell me about his time in Ireland. He spent six months on a project there with a computer company. When he came back, he went through culture shock or 'fellowship withdrawals.'

He said that often they would work all day and then go to someone's house and sit everywhere, the whole lot of them, even on the stairs, someone had a guitar and they would sing and talk into late in the night and then they would go home to bed. Here in America, it often seems like when people want to get together, you have to look at your calendar and plan a time, often a week or two or three in advance in order to have an evening together!

Why Blogg?

So - Why Blogg? I'm on sabbatical and i'm venturing out and trying something new. Sitting in a coffee shop in Oregon, watching it rain of course, the reflections i place here have something to do with a person coming fully alive, engaged with the heart as well as the brain. In our hi-tech world us boomer/buster types (since i'm on the cusp) have been trained by our culture to perform. This is my opportunity to reach out and speak in a non-perfomance mode (as best as i can, lol). I hope that readers will be encouraged and inspired to experience life to the full due in part to sharing the journey with me. Why do you Blogg?