Business Travel

The truth about business travel; lots of time in airports and hotel meeting rooms with a diet of junk food.

Racing

How to build winners?

a little competiton

Room Service

Room service is a definite perk of business travel. Today I have spent the day with dozens of people I haven’t met before, working hard to learn as much as I can about my new company and the job I just started. I am just a little worn out and it is nice to just come back to the room and relax; just me the laptop and dinner, AHHHHH.

All New

Hanging out waiting to board a plane. It's a new start yet it is very familar.

The 1st business trip with the new company and I haven't offically started yet.

I'm excited for the change and ready to make a difference. A difference in me as well as the new company.

Outside Looking In

Have you ever felt like you are jut on the outside looking in? Have a feeling like you are missing out or not being included?

Last week I gave my two-week notice. I will be going to a new job with new opportunities. This move was my choice. Here it is one week later and I am still sitting at the same desk with nothing left to do. I have gone from receiving over a hundred emails a day to fewer then 20. I went from having at least 3 hours of meetings a day to attend to none. I hear people in the cubicles around me working on things that just a few short days ago I was a key contributor for and now I am excluded from the discussion; on the outside looking in.

Sometimes we end up on the outside looking and it is totally outside of our control. The other night there was a call to pray for the Hispanics in our church. I was so excited for them, but at the same time my heart breaks. I am not Hispanic and yet God has given me such a heart for that people that I my first reaction was to step forward too, but then I caught myself and backed out of the way; on the outside looking in.

Other times we are not included because we don’t make our desires known. I have attended the same church since 1992 and yet it wasn’t until 2004 that I told anyone that I played guitar and wanted to be a part of the worship team. No one knew I had the desire or the skill to belong on the team; on the outside looking in.

In those times of feeling left out; we need to examine ourselves first and make sure it is not our fault. It is not because of the choice we made or that we have kept ourselves hidden. We need to examine our heart and make sure it is right and if it is beyond our control, we rejoice with those that rejoice and we weep with those that weep and trust God that He has planted us exactly where we are always included with Him.

What Where You Doing at 28?

Yesterday I got a text from a friend asking me what I was doing when I was 28.

It was 1984. A leap year starting on Sunday; The LA Raiders with their 3rd NFL Championship; the first Apple Macintosh goes on sale; Michael Jackson’s scalp catches on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial; the Winter Olympics are held in Sarajevo; the Summer Olympics are held in Los Angeles; the first MTV Video Music Awards are held; and Ronald Reagan was elected president.

I was living and working in Illinois, had money, a career, a motorcycle; I had lots of things but was not happy or fulfilled. I was not a Christian yet, that would come two years later.

My oldest son is 28 and on Monday he and his family left in a rental truck to move to Phoenix to chase his dream to become a full time fireman. I thought about my mother, at 28 she was working a job had two children and my parents struggled to achieve the American dream.

At 28 we are fully grown up, but still trying to figure out who we are.

What were you doing at 28?

I Need a Heart Change

I have written a number of blogs about not being fulfilled in my job, May 22nd – Am I Being Used; Aug 16th – How Honest Should You Be; Aug 23rd – Do I Dare; Sept 16th Crushed. My current employment lacks just about everything except the ability to pay the bills. I have been actively looking for a different job since October 2006. I have had interviews and once I even thought I had found my dream job only to have the deal fell through at no fault of my own. I became extremely disappointed, disappointed to the point that the attitude about my job was affecting pretty much every other area of my life.

Proverbs 13:12 (New International Version)
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

By December I had reached the end, I just was done taking the flack, the disrespect, and the disorganization. I stood in the parking lot on December 12th and told a friend of mine that I didn’t understand why I was still there and a new job had not come available, but if God wanted me to stay in that position He would have to change my heart so that I didn’t hate my life.

On December 31st after updating my resume I saw a position on Monster that looked promising so I submitted my resume for consideration. Less than 90 minutes later the hiring manager called and for the next 1 ½ hour I had my 1st phone interview with that company. Over the next 2 ½ weeks I interviewed in person and on the phone with six others from that company until finally on January 17th at 5:30pm I was offered a job.

Why did this job go through? Why did the others fall through? I had asked God for a heart change about my job before. I had prayed and had the elders pray for me about my job. I may never know why, but this I do know, God is never late.

So first thing Friday morning, January 18th, I walked into my boss’s office and gave my 2 week notice. God gave me the best birthday gift possible for this season.

New Chapter in Our Journal of Faith

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 21
Mark 11:23; Romans 10:17; 12:3; Hebrews 12:1-2; James 1:2

Hebrews 12:1-2 (New Living Translation)
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

I am not a runner, I’m not so sure that if someone pointed a gun at me I would run, however I used to ride a bicycle for long distances. In fact I used to ride over 200 miles a week and I even did the STP (Seattle to Portland) event in one day. In just over 13 hours I rode 200 miles on a bicycle. To be able to do an event like that it is all about only carrying what you need, making sure you are properly trained, your attitude is in the right place and you properly hydrate and eat along the way.

God has called us to run a marathon not a sprint to be able to endure life we need to make sure we have shed anything that may inhibit us; this could even include things that seem to be very good. We need to make sure we spend the “training” time in The Word, worship, and prayer to be able to endure. We must have the right attitude or heart. Finally we must make sure that everything we are putting into our bodies is edifying, that we are being fed regularly in the local church.

Life is a race but it is a long race, run to win.

New Beginnings

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 20
Isaiah 43:18-21; 2 Corinthians 5:17

Isaiah 43:18-21 (New International Version)
18 "Forget the former things;

do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the desert

and streams in the wasteland.
20 The wild animals honor me,

the jackals and the owls,

because I provide water in the desert

and streams in the wasteland,

to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21 the people I formed for myself

that they may proclaim my praise.

Claim To Fame

My husband and I went away just to spend some time together. This morning after breakfast we drove to a little of Coupeville, WA, a small town on Whidbey Island with about a dozen shops on the waterfront. We decided to park the car and take a stroll through the pouring rain and visit the shops. As we walked up to our first shop I noticed a sign on the side of the building.

I walked up closer and here is what was on the sign.
Now looking at the at the front of this building it looked like all the rest of them on the street and we even went into the shop in that building to purchase a few things and a nice warm cup of tea. A little later as we were walking back from the end of the pier and I got a look at the back of the building it was pretty obvious why that building got its Claim to Fame (its the one on the left end).

New Influence

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 19
Proverbs 3:3-4; Acts 9:31; 11:21; 17:6

Proverbs 3:3-4 (New Living Translation)
3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!

Tie them around your neck as a reminder.

Write them deep within your heart.

4 Then you will find favor with both God and people,

and you will earn a good reputation.

Be faithful and trustworthy because it brings honor with God and man. Loyalty is essentially fidelity to obligations arising from a relationship; kindness is essentially that which can be relied on, that which is stable. These words show that the content of a disciplined life is faith in the Lord.

New Church

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 18
Isaiah 62:3; Matthew 16:18-19; Acts 2:42-47; Ephesians 5:25-27

Ephesians 5:25-27 (Amplified Bible)
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
26 So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word,
27 That He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless].

The love of Christ to the church is an example, which is sincere, pure, and constant, notwithstanding her failures. Christ gave himself for the church.

Originally the Greek word we translate “church” meant an assembly of citizens. It identifies all believers everywhere, as well as local groups. “Church” is never used in the Bible of a place or building. Church always focuses our attention on people: on believers who are called together to experience a unique relationship with God and each other. The church as a body is to minister to people, who continue Christ’s ministry to others inside and outside the fellowship of believers. The church as a family is a loving community. The church as a sanctuary is a place to worship God.

New Church Plants

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 17
Acts 1:8; 6:7; 13:49; 16:5

Acts 1:8 (New Living Translation)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 13:49 (New Living Translation)
So the Lord’s message spread throughout that region.

New Buildings and Lands

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 16
Leviticus 20:24; Deut 6:10-11; Joshua 1:10-11

Joshua 1:10-11 (New Living Translation)
10 Joshua then commanded the officers of Israel, 11 “Go through the camp and tell the people to get their provisions ready. In three days you will cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

"Inheritance" in the OT at first refers to the inheritance promised by God to Abraham and his descendants--the land of Canaan. Israelites came to learn that the Lord himself was the inheritance of his people and of the individual believer. In the NT, Christ is the heir by virtue of being the Son. Through Christ's redemptive work believers are sons of God by adoption and fellow-heirs with Christ. As a guarantee of "the promised eternal inheritance", Christ has given to them the Holy Spirit. The inheritance is the kingdom of God with all its blessings.

New Leaders, Workers

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 15
Exodus 18:21; Luke 10:2

Luke 10:2 (New Living Translation)
These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.

“To serve God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God. Service is expressive of that which is fitted to my nature: God’s call is expressive of His nature; consequently when I receive His nature and hear His call, the voice of the Divine nature sounds in both and the two work together. The Son of God reveals Himself in me, and I serve Him in the ordinary ways of life out of devotion to Him.” Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.

New People

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 14
Mathew 28:19; Acts 2:2; Titus 2:11

Titus 2:11 (Amplified Bible)
For the grace of God (His unmerited favor and blessing) has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for all mankind.

Salvation is the whole process by which we are delivered from all that interferes with the enjoyment of God’s highest blessings and the actual enjoyment of those blessings.

Human beings must experience a radical inner transformation. Nothing we can do, no good deeds we perform, can change this reality. What each of us needs is an infusion of spiritual life. Only a new life within can encounter the grip of death on our personalities. Our new nature comes from God himself. Inherited from Him, that new life will be transforming and eternal.

Salvation has past, present, and future aspects. We have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved. Salvation in each of these senses rests on the death and resurrection of Jesus and in ours through trust in him.

We have been saved: there was a specific time when an individual consciously trusted Christ as Savior or was “born again.”

We are being saved: God is presently at work in our lives, delivering us from the power of sin that we might live a new holy life. The transformation is gradual, involving growth but as we grow in Christ toward the person the Lord is helping us become, we know the meaning of present-tense salvation.

We will be saved: One day the very presence of sin in our lives, and every reminder of its pull, will be gone, the universe will be cleansed from every taint of evil. Then we will know the meaning of the fullness of the salvation that God has won for us in His Son.

New Harvest

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 13
Psalm 22:27; Matthew 9:37-38; John 4:38; 1 Corinthians 3:4-9

1 Corinthians 3:6-9 (New Living Translation)
6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.

Since we are merely God's servants, we cannot ourselves produce any spiritual results. Only God can do that. Our various functions are all united in God's work. Though we are one in the work, we are individually subordinate to God and responsible to Him who will reward according to our labor. All is from God. He uses people of different talents and temperaments to help him cause the church to grow. Each of us reaps the benefit of our forerunners, and the succeeding generations in turn gain from the accomplishments of our predecessors.

Harvest time is a time of great work, but also great joy. It is at the harvest that the fruits of our labors are realized. Harvesting fills the barns to get us through the long winters.

New Manifestations

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 12
Isaiah 53:5; 58:8; healing, open doors, miracles, freedom, praise

Isaiah 53:5 (New Living Translation)
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

If I spend any amount of time reading this verse and reflecting on all the the Lord has done for me I can do nothing by praise Him. It was for me that He suffered the terrible pain on the cross and it was for me that He sits on the throne of Glory today.

Yes, I have witnessed first hand the miracle of healing in my life [read my post from May 25th http://reflectionsofkj.blogspot.com/2007/05/me-big-c.html ] But the greater miracle is the wholeness and freedom I walk in today. I was crude, rude and obnoxious before I accepted Jesus as my Lord and savior. Rebellion was who I was not something I did. I was a broken mess from what had been done to me and what I had done to others.

Jesus has taken that pile of failure and healed me, released me from my own prison and continues to mold and shape me into His own image. How can I not Praise Him?

New Levels

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 11
1 Corinthians 2:9; Ephesians 3:20, 4:23-24

Ephesians 3:20 (New Living Translation)
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

God’s Work Within: Living and loving each other as family is our heritage in Christ. But it is only possible because God is able to do immeasurably more than we can imagine, “according to His power that is at work within us.”

Ephesians 4:23-24 (New Living Translation)
Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

God's capacity to meet His people's spiritual needs far exceeds anything we can either request in prayer or conceive by way of anticipation. It is actualized through "His power," which continually operates within our lives as believers.

In a contrasting positive statement, Paul reminds us that instead of being subject to progressive deterioration, we are to be perpetually renovated in mind and spirit. Christians are to undergo a radical reorientation of their mental outlook. This can only take place under the influence of the Holy Spirit, acting on the human spirit as it affects the realm of thought. God is both the author and the pattern of this changed life.

New Anointing

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 10
Isaiah 10:27; 61:1-7; 1 John 2:20

Isaiah 61:1-7 (New Living Translation)
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.

2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.

3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities destroyed long ago. They will revive them, though they have been deserted for many generations.

5 Foreigners will be your servants. They will feed your flocks and plow your fields and tend your vineyards.

6 You will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God. You will feed on the treasures of the nations and boast in their riches.
7 Instead of shame and dishonor, you will enjoy a double share of honor. You will possess a double portion of prosperity in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.

Jesus quoted part of this chapter when he announced himself as Messiah (Luke 4:16-20). The prophet promises that through him the oil of gladness will cleanse away the ashes of mourning when the devastated city of God is restored.

There are three kinds of anointing:
1. Ordinary anointing – after bathing; as a mark of respect [Luke 7:46], purification or burial.
2. Sacred anointing – both things and people such as kings, prophets and priest. To memorialize an event, to confirm a covenant, to set apart or to institute into office.
3. Medical anointing – for the sick and wounded [Is 1:6; Luke 10:34]

The words Messiah and Christ mean “the anointed one.” He came to set us free, cleanse and purify us of our sins, to set us apart, and to heal our wounds. It is time for us to step into a new anointing our Messiah.

New Strategy

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 9
1 Corinthians 16:9; Colossians 4:2-4

Colossians 4:2-4 (The Message)
Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Don't forget to pray for us, that God will open doors for telling the mystery of Christ, even while I'm locked up in this jail. Pray that every time I open my mouth I'll be able to make Christ plain as day to them.

So Christians must be watchful and active in prayer, alive in the fullest sense, never careless, mechanical, or dull and heavy. Paul requests prayer for himself while being imprisoned in Rome. His concern was that he and his associates might have clear opportunities for witnessing and that Paul might make clear the great secret ("mystery"; of redemption in Christ in a worthy manner. There was no selfish motive behind this prayer; Paul's consuming interest was for the advancement of the Gospel, not for his own blessing.

New Territory

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 8
1 Chron 4:10; Isaiah 54:2-3; Romans 16:20

Isaiah 54:2-3 (Amplified Bible)
2 Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes,
3 For you will spread abroad to the right hand and to the left; and your offspring will possess the nations and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Territories are areas that are governed over but not necessarily an integrated part a good example is Guam. Guam is a territory of the United States, but it is not a state or a part of a state. Its government is subject to the rules and laws of the US and the people of Guam are US citizens with all the rights and privileges that comes with being a citizen.

As an individual new territories can include physical areas such as a new home, a new job or even addition of children. But territories could also include non-physical things as attending collage, taking bible classes, learning a new skill or taking on a new leadership role.

What we are praying for here is to take control and dominion over new areas in our lives and to “inhabit the desolate cities”.

New Provision

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 7
Deut 8:18; 28:12-13; Phil 4:19; 2 Cor 9:6-11




2 Corinthians 9:8 (New Living Translation)
And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

Philippians 4:19 (New Living Translation)
And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

Need versus wants? Everything you need with plenty left over to share with others? As I mentioned in an earlier post at one time I got way in over my head with debt. I tried to live a life style I couldn’t afford. I went from working a corporate job to working full time for an international Christian ministry and took a more than 50% pay cut. Too bad I didn’t make the adjustment in my style of life when my income changed.

But even though I had messed up, I kept tithing through it all and the Lord kept His part of the deal and provided all my needs. During my time of need, He provided me with food in a very unique way. At the time I was involved with the street ministry at Cornerstone Christian Center. One of my responsibilities was to go over to one of the local grocery stores and collect up the old bread and bakery items that were past their pull date and bring them to the church for distribution to people in need. Once everyone had left for the day then I would take some of the bread or hot dog buns that were left over home for my meals for the week. On good weeks I had hot dogs or bologna to put on the bread, but many days I had catsup sandwiches for lunch and dinner. A little oleo and catsup makes for a tasty and nutritious meal, or so I told myself.

I made it through that time in my life and will never forget from where I have come. God met every one of my needs during that time and I even had enough to share with others. I know that He will do the same for you if you make Him first.

All the money of the world belongs to God. My gift to Him does not make Him any richer; it makes me richer spiritually because of the realization that everything I have is His and that I am giving because I love Him and want to give.

New Peace

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 6
Romans 5:1-2; 14:17-19; 15:13; Philippians 4:6-7

Philippians 4:6,7 (New Living Translation)
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Paul is not calling for apathy or inaction, for as we make plans in the light of our circumstances, it is our Christian privilege to do so in full trust that our Father hears our prayers for what we need. The answer to anxiety is "prayer". Paul attaches to this classic exhortation to pray the beautiful promise that when we turn from anxiety to prayer and thanksgiving, God will give us His own "peace." This peace of God "transcends all understanding," for it is not only sufficient for us but far surpasses human comprehension. It acts as a sentry to guard our hearts and thoughts from all anxiety and despair.

Peace is the presence of God, not the absence of conflict. Christ brought, preached, and is our peace.

New Blessing

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 5
Gen 12:2-3; Prov 8:21; 10:22; Ecc 5:19; 3Jn 1:2

Ecclesiastes 5:19 (New Living Translation)
And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God.


For the last few weeks I have been asking the Lord to change my attitude about my job. I have a job that pays me enough to meet my financial responsibilities with a little left over for other things. I am good at my job and have the ability to excel given half a chance. This job is not fun, fulfilling or edifying and the worst part of it is that I have let the job affect other areas of my life. I sometimes come home from work cranky and I am dealing with some major disappointments from this past year when I interviewed with other companies and for various reasons I was not chosen for the new position. As I was studying these verses on blessing I see where I need to look at my job for what it does give me and see it as a gift from God. My job is a BLESSING.

New Wisdom

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 4
Proverbs 3:13; 4:5-7; James 1:5

James 1:5 (Amplified Bible)
If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.

Christians everywhere face many kinds of external trials and internal temptations. When the pressures are great, and we do not know how to cope James says simple, “Ask God.” He assures us that God is not upset by our weaknesses or uncertainty, God unconditionally offers us guidance.

People facing trials often lack wisdom. It is God-given understanding that enables a person to avoid the paths of wickedness and to live a life of righteousness. Here wisdom is understanding the nature and purpose of trials and knowing how to meet them victoriously. Such wisdom is available to the one who will "ask God" for it, not once only, but repeatedly; the promise is that wisdom will be given to him.

New Grace

21 Days of Focused Prayer – Day 3
John 1:16, 17; 2Cor 12:9; Eph 2:8; Eph 4:7; Heb 4:16 NIV

Hebrews 4:16 (Amplified Bible)
Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].

Grace is the medium or instrument through which God has affected the salvation of all believers. Grace is the sustaining influence enabling the believer to persevere in the Christian life. Grace is often defined as the “unmerited favor of God” but most importantly, it is God acting powerfully to do for you and I all those things which we could never do for ourselves.

Jesus experienced the full impact of every temptation; he knows our weaknesses so thoroughly that we never need to draw back from Him in shame. He knows what it means to be Human, so we can come with bold confidence to the throne of grace. We can be sure that He will extend us mercy when we fail and will provide help to meet our needs when we require strength to overcome as he did.

Shotgun vs Sniper Rifle

Last night we were discussing the value of concentrated effort, in particular with everyone at church currently praying the same thing. Often when we pray we just scatter a bunch of prayers out there and hope we hit something just like when a hunter goes after ducks, they use a shotgun with buckshot to spread a lot of tiny pellets hoping that it hits the duck. The shotgun isn’t very lethal unless you are at very short range. On the other hand when we all focus our efforts and pray for the same thing at the same time is it much like a sniper using a rifle. The bullet is much more accurate at a longer range and can bring down a bigger target.

It is pretty obvious to see how that would be helpful with prayer, but how about other areas of our lives. I remember a time in my life when my finances were out of control. I had too many credit cards and loans with outstanding balances on them. The finance charges were killing me. I had been using the shotgun approach and was throwing a little at all of them and not making a dent, then I started focusing al the extra money on the one with the smallest balance and paid it off, then took that payment and added it to the next smallest one and on to the next until I had all of the balances paid off. Today I don’t carry a balance on a credit card and hope I never have to again.

What about at work? We all strive to be ‘Multi-Taskers’ in fact it is a requirement for many jobs. But how much more effective are we when we truly focus in on a task and block out all the distractions. Not just the emails that are constantly popping up in the corner of the screen but even the music we play in the background. Yes, we all believe that we focus better when we have music on but more than one study has proven that the brain is more effective when it is only working on one task. Quiet really does help.

Here’s another one, what about our hobbies? Volleyball, basketball, snow skiing, water-skiing, scuba diving, motorcycle riding, bicycle riding, skateboarding, roller-skating, golf, softball, reading, jigsaw puzzles, cross word puzzles, writing, hiking, camping, snowshoeing, ice hockey, walking, photography, guitar, snorkeling, clarinet, swimming, fishing, Cross country skiing. These are all hobbies that I have been actively involved with. I can still do these things, but I just can’t do them all at the same time, I have chosen at different times in my life to give up some for the sake of another. A good example of that was when I was training to do the STP (Seattle to Portland) Bicycle ride, a 200-mile trip. I gave up snow skiing and volleyball because of the time and the risk of injury. I was focused on completing that goal of the STP in one day. I could still do all of these hobbies, but I have made choices to cut down or eliminate some so that I can improve and enjoy more of others.

So are you living your life as shotgun hoping to hit on something and make a difference o or sniper rifle, focused approach to life?

Life on Purpose

I need to live a life full of purpose. We all want to know God’s purpose for our lives don’t we? So here is what I will do to have a purposeful life:

I will purpose to live a life of discipline – a life where we have the discipline to do what we say we will do, the discipline to do what we know we should do and the discipline to avoid what should be avoided.

I will purpose to be grateful for the life we have, not focus on what we don’t have.

I will purpose to love and be a friend.

I will purpose to have a “good day” every day and not let the day effect us.

I will purpose to have fun; it is a dull life if you aren’t having some fun.

I will purpose to help someone else; if we only focus on us we miss so many opportunities.

I will purpose to explore new things, what is life if it isn’t about new experiences, what if we had never tasted chocolate?

I will purpose to seek God and love Him and to know Him more and more each day. It is in Him that our lives are complete and purposeful. Through Him that we have the disciplined and the strength to get through the day, through Him that we owe our thanksgiving for all that we have, through Him that we can risk stepping out in love, fun and serving. It is only through Him that we have joy indescribable.

Gift of Time

What if you couldn’t get yourself out of bed in the morning? What if you had to have someone get your clothes together and help you get dressed each day? What if you couldn’t get yourself from one place to the next? What if this was you and you still were able to think clearly and know everything that is going on around you? What if?

This is the situation that my mother is in, due to Parkinson’s she is in a wheelchair and can’t do much for herself these days. My mother retired from a very prominent position with the Dept of Public Health for the State of Michigan. She managed dozens of people over saw the well being of 100s of crippled children that needed assistance in one form or another. Her mind is as clear today even though her speech is becoming more slurred.

What do you give a woman that even the simplest things like brushing her teeth is a challenge. You give her the gift of time. Not time to sit around alone, but your time.

You give her the time to be around people even if she can only watch from the background; you take her home with you and have her soak her feet as you prepare to trim her toes. You put fresh finger nail polish on each week so she feels good. You sit and do a jigsaw puzzled with her and give her time to struggle with putting the pieces in even when you could do it faster.

Today we finished the puzzle we started at Christmas then headed off to see a movie, Alvin and the Chipmunks. Tomorrow I will take her to play bingo. All I can give my mom is my time and for now I will make the time.