The purpose of blogs

like mine is to keep people updated with pertinent, helpful, and potentially enlightening reading. In this regard I have failed miserably but in the are of directly impacting the lives and families through the ministry of CAAMidsouth.org---AWESOME! Thanks God...

Overcoming Addictions

I read about an herbal remedy that contains:
Agrimony, California poppy, morning glory, red poppy, self-heal, scullcap, walnut, and wild mountain iris flowers in 8% alcoholic solution.
This solution is supposed to cure any addiction problem we may have from shopping to drug abuse. It is quite the miracle eh? I guess my profession is useless. I guess we don't need to invest our lives into seeking Truth, investing our lives in our friends, or reaching out to those that just need. It is a crazy world that we live in where people pay 11.95 for their addiction elixir. It has been on the market since 1974==I don't think I will be able to resist buying it! Do you think I am addicted? Grace and Peace...

Friends

Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God's greatest gifts.  It involves many things, but above all the power of going out of one's self and appreciating what is noble and loving in another.   Thomas Hughes

I am a person who is blessed to have friends and one that is smart enough to know that I could use some more.  Thanks to all of you have made my life so much of a better place!

Where did you go?

Now that it is Christmas break you hear from a lot of friends that are home from school. It is really an awesome feeling and really good times. Some of them have had great semesters and a lot have really messed up. It is important to me to encourage all of them that they are so young and nothing is impossible. Nothing has been done that can't be changed without effort. God says in James, "Draw close to me and I will draw close to you." So where did we go? Doesn't matter, just so long as we come back. Doesn't matter about yesterday as long as today we are getting closer. Grace and Peace my friend...

Did you ever love

kids, family, people so much that it bout drove you crazy to try and keep it all straight? I do.

Trust issues

"(Jesus speaking)'Don't be troubled. You trust God, now trust in me.'"John 14:1 NLT

There is a lot to be said when Jesus says "chill out, I got this." This seems to be a way in which we all need to be there for our friends. Don't worry so much! You can trust me and from that trust you know I am here for you no matter what the situation. No matter what, no matter what! Those are the friends I need!

A church's apology for all of us?

We Were Wrong
"We followed trends when we should have followed Jesus. We told others how to live but did not listen ourselves. We live in the land of plenty, denying ourselves nothing, while ignoring our neighbors who actually have nothing. We sat on the sidelines doing nothing while AIDS ravaged Africa. We were wrong; we're sorry. Please forgive us."

A message from SpringCreek Church in Garland Texas. They actually took out an ad and gave a public apology! Pretty bold for a group of Christians to outwardly promote their hypocrisy, but wow, thank God for it.

"I must begin with some words of disclosure. I am a hypocrite. I can be arrogant and cynical. I am sometimes inconsiderate and insecure. My ego often rages out of control, and I battle foolish pride. I can be lazy and foolhardy with my time. I get angry, petty, and ill tempered. I am sarcastic and cynical.
I am a Christian."
An excerpt from the book When bad Christians are good People.

I am with Max Lucado--God accepts us as we are but he refuses to leave us that way-- Grace and Peace my friend.

Prayer is the least I can do...blah!

Once again you hear a clueless pastor say this ridiculous statement. Prayer is not the least you can do, it is the most you can do. How can not the creator of all existence not take care of any and every request. Heck, I ask for everything! The stuff I do under my own power is the least I can do. How do we get this backwards? Hey, I pray the best for you and yours!!

"The degree of our preparation will equal the extent of our obedience, which will determine the measure of our peace of mind"

Think about that statement.  If you are confident because you are prepared then you are ready to go out and do battle, or just live!  Your preparation for events as well as past experiences will help to give you peace of mind.  It sounds really simple but I have found it to be true over and over again.  So do your best to be prepared.  Like you always hear, "No plan is a plan to fail."

What to do with my life? Hmm... that is tough!

What to do with your life--Don't decide!

1.  Decide what success means to you.

2.  What are your non-negotiable needs?

3.  What are my core values that I will not compromise?

4.  What if anything, do you want to be remembered for?

5.  Trying to find your ONE true purpose is a waste of time.  Life has lots of meaning.  It has a lot of things you are supposed to do, it has a lot of things you aren't supposed to do.  Answer the above questions and then navigate your journey with the least number of mistakes as possible!  Now you know everything so get out there and enjoy...

Ultimate Justice

You know, there are a bazillion problems in the world that are very obvious to us all.  It is hammered at us through the media, trials and heartaches of loved ones, death, and family issues.  I always TRY to take comfort in the notion that eventually good prevails!  Whether your focus is on the criminal justice system or spiritual system, realize that those who have wronged the world will eventually pay some price.  It is the waiting for them to pay that is hard :)

Regardless of the experiences subjects personally dealt with, whether they had personally been the victim of a crime or known someone close who had, those who believed the world is ultimately just retained a 13 percent higher level of life satisfaction. (Lipkus, Dalbert, and Siegler).   I'll take my 13% and roll with the punches!

Out of no where

Many years ago our church started a program called random acts of kindness.  You would go through a drive-thru and pay for your meal and also pay for the car behind you.  You simply asked the cashier to give the car behind you a card that said have a great lunch on us.  It was cool.  It was actually fun.  You never met the people (except the ones that actually visited the church because of the kindness!) but it certainly was rewarding.  Don't you love it when good things, great things, or miracles hit you just out of no where.  I feel like I am getting hit with kindness and love out of no where!   It is awesome... I pray the same for you.

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

Chinese proverbs...eh.  Seems like a ton of my friends are so worried about "life."  It really is tough on a lot of people to deal with career choices, marriage, money, kids, depression, all sorts of things that make you make a choice.  I don't have a lot of good advice there other than the fact that I agree with the old chinese guy.  Don't just sit there and think or sulk or whatever.  Go with Nike and just do it.  Right or wrong at least you are moving.  I know that with the right kind of leadership, friendship, and Lordship you are going to be going up no matter what.  It might be slow or down a winding crazy path but you are going to get there!  Believe in you, I do.

I hate to lose

at anything, for any reason, at anytime!

I met

a 15 year old this weekend with a 2 kids and one on the way.  His girlfriend got pregnant on his 13th birthday for the first time.  He is an awesome kid.  Yeah, he has a lot to deal with, but truly an awesome kid.  Problem, he feels like he has nothing.  He believes as soon as he leaves therapy he will go to jail.  There is nothing I can do to change that fact.  He believes I can't help him.  He is right, Jesus help us, I can't do it!

Open up!

You know sometimes the Lord calls on us to let go of something in order to show our willingness to obey Him. Sacrifices are solely Old Testament stuff. He may call on us to do something to actively atone for our shortcomings. He may call on us to offer something, to give of ourselves when we think we have nothing to give! So when the Holy Spirit prompts you to give or give up something in His name then we must trust in His wisdom to know what is best. Don't ever hold on to anything so tightly that you can't be free to grasp God's hand!

Unconditional Love

An excerpt from Kristin Armstrong's book that is cool...

"We are not withholding our affection from you... As a fair exchange... open wide your hearts also. 2 Cor 6:12-13

When we are hurt it is a common reaction to be withholding. Parenting experts say the worst thing a parent can do is regress to a childlike state and punitively withhold affection in response to a child's behavior.

A child's heart grows properly when tended to with unconditional love. Affection does not depend on behavior, mood, or circumstance. Being pleasing does not equate to being lovable!

Open wide your heart--I would love to walk in

Ok college kids, before school starts...

Reasons to succeed Surround yourself with reminders of the reasons you have chosen to do the work you do. Keep the thoughts of those reasons foremost in your mind.
Achievement never happens for its own sake. Achievement is built when there are solid, meaningful reasons behind it.
The only enduring impediment to success is the lack of a reason for that success. Connect with a good reason, keep that connection strong, and you will find your way through whatever challenges you encounter.
When you have a reason, you have a stake in the outcome. When you have a reason, you're able to summon the discipline, commitment, persistence and creativity necessary to get the job done.
The best motivation is not to be found in some sophisticated secret technique or procedure. The best motivation is to constantly keep yourself in contact with your reasons.
Give yourself plenty of reasons to succeed. And you most assuredly will.
I BELIEVE IN YOU!

Lucky with friends...

I had a great friend in high school that taught me a valuable lesson. He was really popular in school and normally the popular kids are snobs. He was the farthest thing from a snob. He was friends with anyone and everyone. He told me that "everyone could use another friend, but no one can use another enemy." Awesome philosophy. So don't be a hater to the poor, or the ugly, or the whatever you want to categorize a person. Everyone is a potential friend. Everyone is a potential noboby or even enemy too. I choose to live my life wanting more friends, don't care who you are!

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