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(Sort-of-random thoughts at 30,000 feet with a lot of free time on my hands…)
It takes minutes to make paper fly; to build something capable of carrying you long distances takes months, and a lot of helpful, smart people. The same is true with your important dreams – and your character.
You were created with the language of Forever in your heart, and nothing else will satisfy.
“I will” spoken with resolve has power, but your resolve will be tested and the limits of your willpower will be exposed.
You were not born with the wisdom and capacity to wait, but wisdom and reward waits for those who learn to.
God created the world for you, not you for the world – but He does hold you accountable for leaving it better than you found it.
A thousand opportunities dance before those whose eyes are open to see them. Ten thousand chances pass by those too lost in fear or consuming to notice them.
Summers are God’s way of showing that you don’t have to be in a classroom to learn.
I just saw a man express his gratitude by giving up his first class seat to a woman… who happened to be wearing a United States Army uniform. I wonder how I can say thank-you to somebody today.
I will always respect the one who can wait (there’s that word again) with discipline, but then decisively act with courage.
I’m not so sure that God has a plan for you so much as God has a plan period and invites you to participate joyfully in it… Or bruise yourself on it. [click to continue…]
Grace is not a loan to be repaid with interest. It is a gift to be received with gratitude.
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The greatest benefit of perseverance is not the prize you attain, but the person you become in the process. [click to continue…]
(Seven More Half-Baked Ideas I’m Working On)
“Bad news does not get better with age.” -Eddie McBride
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What you don’t want to hear your discredited rapture-predicting biblical numerologist guru say: “It has been a really tough weekend.”
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What you don’t want to hear your mechanic say: “We’re fixing what we find as we go. I’ll let you know…”
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What you don’t want to hear your husband/landlord/Ph.D.-in-anything-but-plumbing say: “I can fix this.”
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What you don’t want to hear your plumber say: ”Hmmm. This isn’t good.” [click to continue…]
Did you that Visine WILL clean out your nose if you squirt it in? But neither Johnson & Johnson nor I recommend that you use it for that purpose. (Don’t ask me how I know.)
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There are two ways to learn by experience – be amazing without realizing it, or be imperfect and realize it. Either way, it helps to have someone else to help you do the realizing. The word for that is, “teacher” or “mentor.”
If you’re amazing and know it, fine. But that’s not learning. If you’re imperfect and remain clueless about it, that’s not learning either, because you’re still, well, clueless.
The role of the teacher or mentor is to be a “realization specialist.” Sometimes that means being a passionate encourager. Sometimes it means being an honest critic. Always, it means pointing toward excellence and inviting someone to join you on that journey.
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Be amazing in your grace. [click to continue…]
So many random and not-so-random thoughts… so little time… Here are the latest places and spaces where my mental wheels are turning. You can find others here, here, and here. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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“It takes just as long to be great as to be mediocre.” -Brian Tracey
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“Every day you live there are more things you are never going to do.” -Al Mohler
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Good teachers answer your questions. Great teachers question your answers.
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Have you ever noticed that the people who holler the loudest about grace are the ones who seem to need it the most? Uh huh. [click to continue…]
(Something of a “life lessons year in review,” in no certain order. I’d love to hear yours. Feel free to add your own in the comments section.)
1. How awesome your cancer surgeon is.
2. How nice people can be, even when you wish they would just hate you.
3. How God provides, even sometimes for fools.
4. The sun really does come out tomorrow.
5. How to spell “aneurysm.”
6. Life goes on, with you or without you.
7. Contrary to the words to the MASH theme, suicide is NOT painless.
8. Failure doesn’t stop people from loving you.
9. Rejection does not come with a cocoon to wrap you away for a while.
10. Nobody is more committed to your success than you are. [click to continue…]
Here are seven more ideas, thoughts, or “wish I’d said thats” baking in my mental oven lately. How about you? Do you have any half-baked ideas you’d like to share? Drop it in the comment box below.
Want to see more? Try here, here, or here.
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“God is a violent pursuer of a wayward soul.” – Brandon Gilbert
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“Even when we fail to validate the gospel, the way we respond to failure can validate the gospel.” -Nathan Ables [click to continue…]
So many random thoughts or snippets of wisdom (or something)… so little time. Here are seven more ideas that are still in my “oven”. And if you’re a sucker for these kinds of things, and just can’t get enough from Facebook or Twitter, check this out. Or maybe this or this.
Not long ago I read about this great procrastination test on the Psychology Today website. The test helps you target patterns of procrastination, then do something to change them. I clicked on the link and left it on my browser for a couple of days until I could get to it. Yes… I procrastinated taking the procrastination test. Until the browser locked up and I had to restart it… and lost the test. Ugh. The good news is, I found it again (thanks, Google). The bad news is, I’m still procrastinating. If you’d like to load it up and procrastinate taking it with me, you can find it here. [click to continue…]
Here are seven more random things I’ve had in my oven lately. Did I mention it’s really random?
Why is it that some people can believe the gospel or trust God simply and quickly, and others require more… either convincing or extended confession? It’s all about what it takes to activate their faith.
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First sign your wife may not be ready to give a statement at the accident scene: When asked by the EMT if she knew who the president was, she said, “Osama bin Laden… No… Wait… That’s not right… I don’t remember – I just know I don’t like him.” (She’s doing fine now.) [click to continue…]
I have been greatly encouraged and motivated lately by a simple little thought that has helped me with larger tasks and goals – particularly helping me with attitude. The idea: Win little victories. I may not be able to climb the whole flight of stairs, but I can take the first two. I may not be able to lose 100 pounds, but I can lose 2. I may not be able, metaphorically, to take the Promised Land, but I can cross the Jordan River. Tom Peters calls this milestoning. And it’s a critical thing to do.
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Thirty-seven years I have followed Christ, and somehow this hymn and its lyrics have passed me by. I saw the words last week, and it blew me away. Written in the mid 1800s by Anne Cousin, before it was a hymn it was a poem inspired by the letters and the last words of Samuel Rutherford. Only later was it set to music. (Sorry hymn purists, but I’m ready for a 21st-century musical update.) It actually has 18 or 19 stanzas, but here are the ones that are typically sung: [click to continue…]
(Sort-of-random thoughts at 30,000 feet with a lot of free time on my hands…)
