Legacy

Our Daily Bread
I lead a small group at church last year for gay men over 50 years of age.  One of the topics we discussed was our legacy or what we wanted to leave behind in this world after we died.  Some said "being thought of as a Godly man" and some wanted themselves to be thought of as loving and supportive.

I had to think a lot about this question again this morning.  I put it in a different context this time -- howI live my life each and every day to make the legacy I want come true.  I don't want to write my own eulogy and have everyone laugh at it as fiction!

I know I speak my mind too much and don't temper my words.  I thought a lot about this over the weekend during my travels and reflective times.  An unbridled tongue and too much pride will be my downfall if I don't finally get them in check.  Please with me and for me about that!

What will your legacy be?  How are you living your life for God to make that happen?

Lord, thank you for showing us the right way to live.  Please help us all live that way and leave a legacy of your love!

Psalm Sunday
Psalm 65 is the psalm for this week!  Great psalm.  Please read it out loud to get the full effect!

Psalm 65^[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.

¹ Praise awaits^[b] you, our God, in Zion;
    to you our vows will be fulfilled.
² You who answer prayer,
    to you all people will come.
³ When we were overwhelmed by sins,
    you forgave^[c] our transgressions.
⁴ Blessed are those you choose
    and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
    of your holy temple.

⁵ You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
    God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas,
⁶ who formed the mountains by your power,
    having armed yourself with strength,
⁷ who stilled the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    and the turmoil of the nations.
⁸ The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
    where morning dawns, where evening fades,
    you call forth songs of joy.

⁹ You care for the land and water it;
    you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
    to provide the people with grain,
    for so you have ordained

¹⁰You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
    you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty,
    and your carts overflow with abundance.
¹² The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
    the hills are clothed with gladness.
¹³ The meadows are covered with flocks
    and the valleys are mantled with grain;
    they shout for joy and sing.

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Let go, my friends!  God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!

Drop 'em!

Our Daily Bread
Have you ever met someone that can't talk without using their hands?  ha!  I tease them that I have to tie their hands down to shut them up!

There are times as Christians that we need to drop our hands.  Dropping our hands means that we can't talk.  Can't do much.  Ever try to eat without your hands?  Dropping our hands makes us defenseless, vulnerable and almost powerless (for those of us used to having both hands).  That is where God works best in us -- when we turn ourselves over to him.  I like this saying:

When we put our problems in God’s hands,
He puts His peace in our hearts.


I am going through something right now that I need to put in God's hands and stop struggling.  God told me to stop struggling with this.  I am a "doer" and have trouble putting my hands down (away from my phone or computer keyboard!).

What are you supposed to let go of today?  And I mean today!

Lord, thank you for working on the behalf of those who love you. Please help us put down our hands and let you do your work!

Simply Saturday
We can choose
As I thought about what to write this week, I drew another blank until I remembered a Facebook conversation with a close friend.  He mentioned how some rude emails from coworkers were going to ruin his entire day and it wasn't even 8:00 am yet!

I gently responded that they didn't have to.  ;-)  Circumstances cannot rob our joy as Christians unless we let them.  That goes for any circumstance whether it be some rude emails or illness or loneliness or financial worries or .  Life is not just about the things that happen to us.  The biggest blessing of living life in Christ is that life is also about "reacting".  We can move beyond the human nature way of reacting to things and move on to a Godly way of reacting to things.  Human nature slaps back.  Godly nature turns the other cheek.  Human nature holds a grudge.  Godly nature forgives and loves.

Yes, there are times in our lives when we feel everything is falling in on us.  It is during those times I recommend talking to God in the most honest and sincere way possible.  It is almost child-like in nature.  Remember how children are brutally honest and open.  Be that way with God in your prayers.  He knows anyway, right?  I feel like a six year old again (if I can remember back that far!) when I pour my heart out to God that so and so did this or what's his name did that and hurt me.  Be honest.

I won't leave you with scriptures or sayings or other words that can seem patronizing during a difficult time.  I will leave you with this -- God loves you. He wants to love you and support you as you follow his will.  Make it so!

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May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit - Romans 15:13

Run, Christian, Run!

Our Daily Bread
Sorry for the Forrest Gump reference, but it seemed appropriate today!  You remember that movie about a simple man that had an extraordinary life?  Christians have two things in common with him: we can also have an extraordinary life in Christ and we need to run-- to God!

The devotional talks about tempting it is in the world today.  We are constantly bombarded with the enemies' attempts to doubt our faith or stray from God.  Run, Christian!  Run to God!  ;-)  Yes, we can run to him to avoid the snares of the tempter.  To overcome evil and walk in the way of Christ!  Run today!

Lord, thank you for being our source of strength in our times of temptation and trial.  Please help us run to you!

Foodie Friday
So I leave for vacation in Orlando tomorrow.  Is there anything for a foodie to eat in Orlando, especially in the wonderful world of Disney?  Frankly, Disney is known for being the land of chicken nuggets, burger, hot dogs, etc for children.  Adults can have a hard time finding anything else unless you look.  Here is what noticed during my trips:

Downtown Disney
This is a open air shopping and eating area on a beautiful lake.  Lots to eat and do.  There are also a lot of adult eating places Raglan Road Irish Pub (great beef stew) and Bongos Cuban Cafe (owned by Gloria Estefan and family).  There are lots of other places, too!

Hotels
I think all of the Disney hotels have some kind of restaurant in them.  They vary a lot!  I like the restaurants in the Swan and the Dolphin hotels.  Very nice places.  Very nice restaurants for adults.

Universal Studios
The City Walk at Universal Studios had a nice selection of restaurants as well, though most are "bar food" kind of places.  There is an Emeril's, Hard Rock Cafe and Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville.

We will see what kind of places we go to.  We will also do some cooking in our condo, but probably breakfast the most.

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Let go, my friends!  God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!

Timing...........is everything

Our Daily Bread
I confess I have a funny habit of making people laugh just when they take a bite of food or a drink of their favorite beverage.  Lots of laughs follow as they try not to spit out their food or spray us with liquid from stemming their laugh.  Good times!

The devotional this morning taught me another lesson about God's timing.  It was a reminder.  God told me in my prayers the other day "Wait. Things are still baking..."  I understood that expression from my mother and aunt's cake baking as a child and my ex's cake baking in my adult life.  Taking the cake out of the oven too soon causes it to fall!  Trying to make something happen before God's timing can cause it to fail! Be patient (and I am saying this to myself).  God does keep his promises.

Lord, thank you for the gentle reminders that you are faithful to your promises.  Please forgive my unbelief!

Technology Thursday
Here are a few stories floating around the technology world:

Samsung releases the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the U.S. - they had been barred from selling it here due to a lawsuit with Apple.  Check it out.  It is pretty cool if you aren't an Apple fan.

Netzero 4G data plan -- I bought one of Netzero's 4G wireless Internet devices last week.  Buy the device for $50 plus shipping and get 200 meg of data downloads per month free for a year.  The other data plans are reasonably priced as well.  You have a choice of a laptop USB device or a hotspot device.

Apple announcement?  There are rumors that Apple will announce an iPad mini next week.  I haven't seen any official invitations yet.  We will see.  I don't want rumors!  I want hardware!

New stat: more than 50% of adults in the US own some kind of smart phone or tablet device.  Wow...

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May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit - Romans 15:13

Not a burden

Our Daily Bread
I worked a year after high school before going off to college.  I paid rent.  I kept my own hours.  The first break I visited home, my father initiated a curfew of 11:00 pm (which I never had when I lived at home).  I looked at my mother and said "Please take me back to school or I will hitchhike!".  We get used to our freedom!  He was only trying to protect me from myself (even though I really didn't need it!).

A lot of people think that God is like my father -- giving us unreasonable rules and boundaries.  I have thought about this a lot in my Bible studies and my life.  Even though reading some of the Old Testament rules and laws is almost painful at times, they were necessary for folks to live the way they needed to in God.   Here is a simple equation:
Living in God = peace and harmony
NOT living in God = chaos!

Like our parents, God loves us and gives us rules to help us live the right way and to protect us.  Praise God!

Lord, thank you for the rules and directives.  We praise you!

Wellness Wednesday
Have you set your goals yet?  Why not?  ;-/  Get to it!

So this week I want to talk a little bit about eating.  Yikes, like I know anything about this!  ha!  If you have read my blog for a while, you know my pet saying:  "I hold onto my bad eating habits tighter than a box of Hohos on a Saturday night!"  ha!

Seriously, try these simple things that I do to be healthier:

1. Reduce portions.  
2. Eat healthy snacks (100 calories or less with some nutritional value) instead of treats.
3. Don't salt stuff so much. 
4. Cut down on processed foods (and I LOVE ham, sausage and bacon!)
5. Do a rough plan of your meals for the week (but don't be rigid because it can reduce your happiness).

These things helped me start my weight loss and have developed into habits.  If I can do it, anyone can!

100 Simple Secrets of Happy People -- Secret number 20: Develop a household routine.
I am a planner.  I have a household routine that I try to follow as my schedule allows.  I feel like I am not overwhelmed with all the things a single homeowner needs to do!  That is important for our happiness!  I also find that NOT being hard on myself when things don't look the way I want is also important for my happiness.

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May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit - Romans 15:13

Contentment

Our Daily Bread
I have to admit that I have been whining a little the past few days.  My faith has been tested with some things that happened the past few weeks.  I am doing my best to be the man that God wants me to be.  I fall short way too often.  One area that I need to work on is contentment.  The devotional strikes home once again!

I loved the tag line of the devotional:
"Contentment is not possessing everything but giving thanks for everything you possess."

This is part of the "gratitude therapy" I mentioned in several posts.  Being truly thankful for what you have is the first step towards contentment.  My joke with my friends is what I call the second step -- being thankful for what you don't have!  ha!  There are always trade offs.  Yes, you could be in some kind of relationship, but being alone is much better than being in a bad one!  Having an expensive house could be nice, but there are the responsibilities of upkeep, taxes and large house payments.  There are always trade offs.

Appreciate what you have.  Appreciate what you don't have.  Love God.  Serve others.  It is not rocket science!  ;-p

Lord, thank you for all the things in my life --what I have and what I don't have!

Teaching Tuesday
I had to finish two lessons this week since I got behind last week when I missed class.  I finished the reading I wrote about last week -- the first chapter or so of Genesis containing the P creation story.  The second reading was the second chapter of Genesis - the JE version of the creation story.

After reading these very different stories again, I can understand why folks question and doubt the Bible.  My faith tells me that the explanations in our book make sense.  Like any historical event, the perspective of the writer dictates how they write about it.  This is the case of the two creation stories.  The P writer again takes the priestly and more historical writer role.  The stories were probably passed down through the priestly ranks.  The JE writer sounds more like the traditional stories passed down through other oral traditions that have the perspective of popular culture.  The JE writer tries to explain why some things are the way they are in their time period by shaping the creation story.  It is interesting, but confusing at times!

Please remember it is by faith that we believe.  We may never know all the answers until we can ask God!

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Bonus entry!  hehehe
A friend posted this on Facebook:

God's three answers to prayers:
1. yes
2. not yet
3. I have something better in mind

Let's all remember this when we pray and when we receive God's answers!

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May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit - Romans 15:13

Swirled peas

Our Daily Bread
There are thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of bumper stickers in the world today.  Some are upsetting.  Some are confusing.  Some are humorous.  One of the silly ones that I like is 'Visualize swirled peas".  It is supposed to be about "world peace", but somehow the original message got lost in the translation!

Our lives can work that way, too.  God tells us about the peace he offers -- the peace that passes all understanding!  That peace is not always felt as we move through our busy and stressful lives!  It becomes swirled peas at times!  Let us pray for each other to always remember who the Prince of Peace is.  He is there for us if we remember to call upon his name!

Lord, thank you for the peace only you can give.  Please help us always remember that!

Movie Monday
I had another week with priorities higher than seeing a movie.  ;-(  I am going to write about two DVDs that are out now:  Avengers and The Cabin in the Woods.

Avengers
Even if you aren't a sci fi or comic book geek, there is a very good chance you will like this movie!  It came out on DVD, Bluray and digital copy last week.  Check it out and enjoy!

The Cabin in the Woods
Directed by Josh Whedon, one of my favorite directors, The Cabin in the Woods is not your typical horror flick.  At the beginning you think it is a typical "college kids go to the cabin in the woods and get killed" movie.  It is far from that!  Be patient.  Wait for it.  You will be surprised!

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u r a bcog.  u r fawm.  Now believe it!