How Valuable is This One Week to You?

April 9, 2014

Here we go. It’s that time of year. We’ve been going through Lent for almost 7 weeks and that means that HOLY WEEK is almost here. As soon as I mention the coming of Holy Week (more traditionally known as Pascha Week), there are two responses that might come forth

a) (church people) YES! It’s Holy Week. Services every day. More prayers, more hymns, more readings…MORE CHURCH! YES!!!

b) (non-church people) Oh no! It’s Holy Week. Services every day. More prayers, more hymns, more readings…MORE CHURCH! NO!!!

Same event, completely different responses. Why is that? Why do some people approach Holy Week like a kid on Christmas, while others approach it like a turkey on Thanksgiving? How can that be? How can they be talking about the same thing?

You Find What You're Looking For

October 23, 2013

Once upon a time there were two 8-year old twin boys – completely identical in every way except one. THEIR ATTITUDES! One of the boys was always upbeat…always smiling…always cheerful. To him, the cup was always half-full and there was always a silver lining in every situation.

But the other boy was quite the opposite. Seldom would you find him in a good mood. To him, the cup was always half-empty and there was never a silver lining. He was always worried. Always depressed. Always down on life.

Their parents began to worry about these unhealthy extremes in their boys. One boy took life way too seriously and had too much anxiety. The boy was the polar opposite. Life was a party for him. He needed to be brought down to earth a little bit. So the parents came up with a plan. For their 9th birthday, they were determined to find a way to balance their children out.

First they went to a toy store and spent hundreds of dollars on all the latest toys, games and electronics for their depressed son. They filled his room with these items while he was out at school and thought to themselves “When he comes home and sees all these toys, that’ll cheer him up a little.”

For the other son, they filled his room with something different...much different…HORSE MANURE! Yep, that’s right. 30 cubic yards of horse manure, fresh from the stables!

They had the perfect plan…or so they thought.

A “Whatever It Takes" Mentality

August 13, 2012

I know a guy who throws away the batteries in the TV remote control whenever he checks into a hotel.I know a guy who cut the internet service out of his home.I know a young lady who will hug everyone in the world except for her fiancé. She won’t even hold hands with him until they’re married.I know a man who refuses to look up when in line at the grocery store – he just stares at the ground and barely makes eye contact with the cashier because he wants to avoid seeing the trashy tabloids by the register.

Are these people insane? What’s wrong with them? I mean, I understand they’re trying to remain pure and avoid temptation, but it seems a bit extreme doesn’t it?

What they’re doing is what we’re all called to do in a sense. I’m not talking about what they did specifically, but rather the way they approached their problem. These people all have something that many of us lack today: a WHATEVER IT TAKES mentality.

Being Thankful for the Right Things

April 5, 2012

One of my favorite things to do is to look through my journal and read some of the entries that I wrote in the past. I’ve always found that practice to be extremely uplifting and encouraging. There’s nothing like seeing where you WERE to give you better perspective on where you ARE. Below is a journal excerpt from about 4-5 months ago – around Thanksgiving Day.

Everything I wrote about back then – especially the things that didn’t make sense at the time – now are crystal clear. They weren’t back then, but in looking back, truly I can say that “God makes all things work together for good to those who love who Him, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28).

Below is the excerpt (modified to fit blog post form of course). Enjoy!

SPIRITUAL GROWTH | PERSONAL GROWTH | RELATIONSHIPS | ENCOURAGEMENT | STSA Church | GUEST POSTS

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