Thursday, December 11, 2008
Awakened
A time comes in your life when you finally get it...when, in the midst of all your fears and insanity, you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out - ENOUGH!Enough fighting and crying or struggling to hold on.And, like a child quieting down after a blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you shudder once or twice, you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes.This is your awakening.You realize it's time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change...or for happiness, safety and security to come galloping over the next horizon.You come to terms with the fact that neither of you is Prince Charming or Cinderella and that in the real world there aren't always fairy tale endings (or beginnings for that matter) and that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you...and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are ... and that's OK.They are entitled to their own views and opinions.And you learn the importance of loving and championing yourself...and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval.You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you (or didn't do for you) and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.You learn that people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and that it's not always about you.So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself...and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance.You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties..and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness.You realize that much of the way you view yourself, and the world around you, is as a result of all the messages and opinions that have been ingrained into your psyche.And you begin to sift through all the junk you've been fed about how you should behave, how you should look, how much you should weigh, what you should wear, what you should do for a living, how much money you shouldmake, what you should drive, how and where you should live, who you should marry, the importance of having and raising children, and what you owe your parents, family, and friends.You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view.And you begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with ... and in the process you learn to go with your instincts.You learn that it is truly in giving that we receive.And that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a "consumer" looking for your next fix.You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life.You learn that you don't know everything, it's not your job to save the world and that you can't teach a pig to sing.You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.You learn that the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake.Then you learn about love.How to love, how much to give in love, when to stop giving and when to walk away.You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be.You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes.And you learn that alone does not mean lonely.You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs.You learn that feelings of entitlement are perfectly OK....and that it is your right to want things and to ask for the things you want ... and that sometimes it is necessary to make demands.You come to the realization that you deserve to be treated with love, kindness, sensitivity and respect and you won't settle for less.And you learn that your body really is your temple.And you begin to care for it and treat it with respect.You begin to eat a balanced diet, drink more water, and take more time to exercise.You learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear, and uncertainty and so you take more time to rest.And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul.So you take more time to laugh and to play.You learn that, for the most part, you get in life what you believe you deserve...and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen.More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance.You also learn that no one can do it all alone...and that it's OK to risk asking for help.You learn the only thing you must truly fear is the greatest robber baron of all: FEAR itself.You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your own terms.And you learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom.You learn that life isn't always fair, you don't always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people.On these occasions you learn not to personalize things.You learn that God isn't punishing you or failing to answer your prayers.It's just life happening.And you learn to deal with evil in its most primal state - the ego.You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you.You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls.You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.Slowly, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never, ever settle for less than your heart's desire.And you hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind.And you make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.Finally, with courage in your heart and God by your side you take a stand, you take a deep breath, and you begin to design the life you want to live as best you can
Friday, October 31, 2008
"How in the WORLD?"
"How in the WORLD?"
I was just thinking how in the world did I ever go out on Friday nights (& stay up sometimes 3am) & get back up early to start all over again the next morning for the football game????
Now, I go to bed about 8pm! Wow my life has changed so much. That is just one of MANY things but it just hit me when I saw all the ole miss students out on the town tonight. I would not trade my life for anything now eventhough I did have a great time in college! My mind set has shifted in such a different direction. Maybe it's just now I actually realize how much I value life & the lives that were given to me!!!
Sent from Casey's iPhone
Friday, October 17, 2008
Picking President
"Shouldn't we pick our president based on more than just faith issues?"
Let's consider those other issues, starting with the economy.America's national debt is $10 trillion. Add in unfunded Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the like, and it tops $59 trillion, or about $200,000 per American. We are no longer talking about how to pay it off, but how to keep making the interest payments when the baby boomers retire.If those numbers don't impress, consider this. The stock market bubble and crash of 1929 was driven by extreme leverage. People could buy stocks with just 5% of their money and 95% of borrowed money. After the crash of 1929, the SEC limited stock investment leverage to 50%.But the SEC did not cap the leverage on other types of securities, including derivatives, which now tops $450 trillion - 35 times larger than the US GDP. The leverage in the derivative market is still 95%, which means that $428 trillion, a sum 33 times larger than our economy, is a bubble. On the energy front, we imported 26% of our oil during the 1970's oil crisis; today that figure is 70%. On the social front, 40% of our children are being born out of wedlock. 48 million people lack medical cover. Even more are hooked on drugs, gambling and pornography America hosts 89% of the world's pornographic webpages). On foreign policy, we are stuck in two wars Iran is about to go nuclear. Radical Islam is on the rise. So are "natural" disasters ... Is any President really going to solve these and other issues? The challenges facing us are such that they can't be solved even if McCain, Obama, Palin and Biden's best Presidential attributes were combined. What America needs today isn’t some superhero President, but God.Four centuries ago, God saw a boatload of people leave the comforts of Europe to worship Him unhindered in a new land, and blessed their descendents into a mighty nation. At the height of our prosperity, however, that "Christian" nation turned away from God, who is withdrawing the prosperity and security that always was and is His.Israel was in a similar situation after the prosperity of Solomon’s reign when it turned away from God and ignored repeated warnings to turn back. God eventually destroyed Israel and sent its people into exile, not out of hate but out of love because they wouldn’t have turned back to Him - whom they needed more than prosperity or even freedom - without the persecution.But such an outcome doesn't have to be. The Bible also speaks of Nineveh, a great power in its day that like Israel was about to be destroyed. But unlike Israel, the Ninevites heeded God's warning and led by its king, humbled themselves before God in time.This election should be first and foremost about our contrition both as a nation and as individuals before God and a cry for His help. As a nation, we can express that by electing the Presidential ticket more likely to rely on God's help, one that will pray, "Yes HE can" instead of rebelliously chanting, "Yes We Can." As individuals, we need to restart with what God really did and why
Let's consider those other issues, starting with the economy.America's national debt is $10 trillion. Add in unfunded Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the like, and it tops $59 trillion, or about $200,000 per American. We are no longer talking about how to pay it off, but how to keep making the interest payments when the baby boomers retire.If those numbers don't impress, consider this. The stock market bubble and crash of 1929 was driven by extreme leverage. People could buy stocks with just 5% of their money and 95% of borrowed money. After the crash of 1929, the SEC limited stock investment leverage to 50%.But the SEC did not cap the leverage on other types of securities, including derivatives, which now tops $450 trillion - 35 times larger than the US GDP. The leverage in the derivative market is still 95%, which means that $428 trillion, a sum 33 times larger than our economy, is a bubble. On the energy front, we imported 26% of our oil during the 1970's oil crisis; today that figure is 70%. On the social front, 40% of our children are being born out of wedlock. 48 million people lack medical cover. Even more are hooked on drugs, gambling and pornography America hosts 89% of the world's pornographic webpages). On foreign policy, we are stuck in two wars Iran is about to go nuclear. Radical Islam is on the rise. So are "natural" disasters ... Is any President really going to solve these and other issues? The challenges facing us are such that they can't be solved even if McCain, Obama, Palin and Biden's best Presidential attributes were combined. What America needs today isn’t some superhero President, but God.Four centuries ago, God saw a boatload of people leave the comforts of Europe to worship Him unhindered in a new land, and blessed their descendents into a mighty nation. At the height of our prosperity, however, that "Christian" nation turned away from God, who is withdrawing the prosperity and security that always was and is His.Israel was in a similar situation after the prosperity of Solomon’s reign when it turned away from God and ignored repeated warnings to turn back. God eventually destroyed Israel and sent its people into exile, not out of hate but out of love because they wouldn’t have turned back to Him - whom they needed more than prosperity or even freedom - without the persecution.But such an outcome doesn't have to be. The Bible also speaks of Nineveh, a great power in its day that like Israel was about to be destroyed. But unlike Israel, the Ninevites heeded God's warning and led by its king, humbled themselves before God in time.This election should be first and foremost about our contrition both as a nation and as individuals before God and a cry for His help. As a nation, we can express that by electing the Presidential ticket more likely to rely on God's help, one that will pray, "Yes HE can" instead of rebelliously chanting, "Yes We Can." As individuals, we need to restart with what God really did and why
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Voting Because It Matters
I have been surprised by the number of Christians who have given up on politics this year. "I don't like either candidate, so I'm staying home," some say.
I get fed up with the vain posturing and empty promises, too. But not voting is not an option—it's both our civic and sacred duty. Voting is required of us as good citizens and as God's agents for appointing leaders.
How do we go about choosing the best candidates? Not by pulling a partisan lever—that's knee-jerk ideology. Christians live instead by revealed truth, never captive to any party. Thus, the best place to go for wisdom is not the candidates' websites, but the Bible.
Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, advised him to appoint as rulers "able men" who "fear God, men who are trustworthy and who hate a bribe." The standard is competence and integrity. Later, God ordered Samuel to pick Saul, who "shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines." This passage reminds us of Paul's teaching in Romans: Government's role is to wield the sword to preserve order and restrain evil. So we should seek leaders best able to do that and to pursue justice.
Today, God no longer chooses our leaders directly (although some of us wish he did, if only to spare us the years-long political campaigns). We live in a democracy, so God entrusts to us the job of choosing leaders he will anoint. Like Samuel, we are commissioned to choose leaders of competence, virtue, and character. That's why not voting or rejecting candidates because they are not perfect on some biblical or political score sheet is a dereliction of our trust.
In casting a vote, judgment should ultimately be guided by what we perceive to be the common good, a term not often heard in today's special interest–charged political debates. Our founders understood this, which is why they used the term commonweal, or commonwealth. But today's politicians pander to special interests, as we saw last year when congressmen dumped over $13.2 billion into earmarks, paying off special pleaders.
But if we look at politics from God's perspective, we see that he has a deep and abiding interest in all people being treated fairly. If God favors any "special interest group," it is the poor, the hungry, the unborn, the handicapped, the prisoner—those with the least access to political power.
This is why we Christians should never allow ourselves to be, as the press has often characterized us, just another special interest group pleading for our agendas only. But if we were a special interest group, we would be lobbying for the dignity of all, especially those who can't always speak for themselves.
So maybe a particular candidate isn't going to cut your taxes or vote for your favorite program, but the real question is, will he serve all the people, or only the loudest?
On Election Day we should be the best of citizens, voting for the candidate best for all the people.
I get fed up with the vain posturing and empty promises, too. But not voting is not an option—it's both our civic and sacred duty. Voting is required of us as good citizens and as God's agents for appointing leaders.
How do we go about choosing the best candidates? Not by pulling a partisan lever—that's knee-jerk ideology. Christians live instead by revealed truth, never captive to any party. Thus, the best place to go for wisdom is not the candidates' websites, but the Bible.
Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, advised him to appoint as rulers "able men" who "fear God, men who are trustworthy and who hate a bribe." The standard is competence and integrity. Later, God ordered Samuel to pick Saul, who "shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines." This passage reminds us of Paul's teaching in Romans: Government's role is to wield the sword to preserve order and restrain evil. So we should seek leaders best able to do that and to pursue justice.
Today, God no longer chooses our leaders directly (although some of us wish he did, if only to spare us the years-long political campaigns). We live in a democracy, so God entrusts to us the job of choosing leaders he will anoint. Like Samuel, we are commissioned to choose leaders of competence, virtue, and character. That's why not voting or rejecting candidates because they are not perfect on some biblical or political score sheet is a dereliction of our trust.
In casting a vote, judgment should ultimately be guided by what we perceive to be the common good, a term not often heard in today's special interest–charged political debates. Our founders understood this, which is why they used the term commonweal, or commonwealth. But today's politicians pander to special interests, as we saw last year when congressmen dumped over $13.2 billion into earmarks, paying off special pleaders.
But if we look at politics from God's perspective, we see that he has a deep and abiding interest in all people being treated fairly. If God favors any "special interest group," it is the poor, the hungry, the unborn, the handicapped, the prisoner—those with the least access to political power.
This is why we Christians should never allow ourselves to be, as the press has often characterized us, just another special interest group pleading for our agendas only. But if we were a special interest group, we would be lobbying for the dignity of all, especially those who can't always speak for themselves.
So maybe a particular candidate isn't going to cut your taxes or vote for your favorite program, but the real question is, will he serve all the people, or only the loudest?
On Election Day we should be the best of citizens, voting for the candidate best for all the people.
Busy Mommy
Busy Mommy
I guess from now on the end of the year is going to be a busier time for me. Camden's birthday falls right before Halloween so I have to prepare for both. I want to always make sure to give the boys great birthday parties so they can have fun memories when looking back. It's not about all the gifts but it's a special time to get to be around friends & family so I prepare much in advance. After cam's birthday we have Halloween to look toward to. Steven is really into it but for me I never celebrated it growing up rather went to church fall festivals which always made us happy! So, I want to make sure the boys get to experience a little of both. I don't want them to focus on the dark side of it but the excitement of dressing up & fellowship of others- oh yeah and the candy! After dealing with hyper boys from all the sugar-we have thanksgiving! We have it here 3 times in OB & then off to Oxford! It's a great time but goodness it's alot with going and going
with 2 boys! I love having special times on thanksgiving but then there's caden's birthday! He is now old enough to be excited for his birthday so we got to make it fun & exciting for him! 3 days later... Christmas!! I have been making out their Christmas list now for a month & finally got it edited & ready for Santa! I have a lot of shopping to do & with Steven always being out of town for work it's hard to to but I have manage to get a little done. I'm excited for Caden this year because he will understand it more. I love the holidays & special times but of wears me out to say the least.
Sent from Casey's iPhone
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