It’s not enough to just worry about what I am SAYING.
I need to understand what others are HEARING.
You aren’t yourself when you’re hungry. That is true not only physically but emotionally as well. We all handle stress and conflict in different ways.
But based on our temperaments, we can understand some of the patterns that probably have plagued us for years and (hopefully) find ways to actively work on improving in those areas.
That’s this week’s message in part 3 of DISCONNECTED.
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Is it just me or is life getting faster? It can’t be just me can it? I don’t know what it is but the more I desire to get my life in order and under control, the faster and more chaotic life seems to get.
Always on the run…late to an appointment…stuck in traffic…got 2 hours worth of errands to run in 45 minute lunch break. Busy, busy, busy. Finish one busy season and the next one is even more busy. ENOUGH!!!!
Believe me, no one knows the stress of a busy life more than me – especially these days. Between the responsibility of shepherding a church or leading my family or just trying to be faithful in my walk with the Lord, it just seems like I can’t get caught up on everything. One task gets done and two more are waiting right around the corner to take its place.
I’m not alone am I???
Read MoreA picture really is worth a thousand words. I saw this infographic below and I felt its message is quite powerful.
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Busy, busy, busy. Everyone is busy. Deadlines and pressure at work… a mile-long to-do list at home… I need to start exercising… I need to spend more time reading my Bible… I need to find time with the kids. UGHH!!! I just have too much on my plate!
Sound familiar? These days I don’t know of single person who isn’t struggling to keep up with everything. Everyone has more than they can handle and it doesn’t seem like there’s an end in sight. Is there???
Somehow in the midst of all the chaos around us, we find the Word of God giving us a beautiful promise in Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”
Peace? Where is that peace? How can I get it? And how can I make sure I keep it?
The Bible is clear that God has promised to give us His peace. But so many of us struggle to have peace. So clearly there's a disconnect here. There's something wrong with our view/expectation of "peace" and how to find it.
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I am NOT a natural born driver. Never have been and never will be. I'm not one of those people who just gets into a car and "just knows” how it works. In fact, the first time I put my foot on a car pedal I was so anxious that my nose began to bleed.
Despite the effort it takes, there’s great value in trying to learn something new. Since learning is multiplied when shared, I decided to share some lessons I’ve learnt whilst learning to drive a car. These lessons can be applied on the road just as much as they can on your spiritual path.
So buckle up because here we go!
Read MoreWe wrapped up the Burnt Out: Finding Peace on Earth series this week and the topic was RELATIONAL margin (aka, emotional margin).
Like our finances and our time, there are limits on what we can handle emotionally. We may not think about it often but when we go past those limits, trouble is sure to come. We lose our cool... we snap at our kids... we become unpleasant people. Why? Because relationships require margin to thrive.
So if you struggle to set healthy boundaries, check out the message above and see how you can start building margin into your relationships.
We kicked off a new series in The Well yesterday and I think you'll agree that it is EXACTLY what the doctor ordered - especially as we approach the happy holiday season. The series is titled Burnt Out: Finding Peace on Earth.
We'd all agree that our lives are busier and more fast-paced than ever. We're running at full speed, operating at maximum capacity and living without any margin or breathing room. This inevitably leads to struggles in all areas of life - specifically in our time, our finances, and most of all our relationships.
This goal of this series is to look at ways to create and/or restore margin and breathing room in our overloaded lives.
Anxiety. It’s something we all face. Whether it’s coming from work, or from school, or from marriage, or from money (or lack thereof), it’s something that everyone deals with. The consequences of having anxiety are well documented – hyperventilation, nausea, feeling loss of control, and feeling on edge. No one likes being anxious.
Anxiety results from our interpretation of situations. An assessment of a situation as threatening, damaging, or challenging, coupled with doubts over our ability to cope and respond in a manner that produces a desirable outcome can lead to anxiety. But often our interpretation of those situations is distorted – leading to misguided concern rather than the peace of God which surpasses all understanding.
“The servant of the Lord will be afraid only of his Master, while the man who does not yet fear Him is often scared by his own shadow.” St. John Climacus
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Tests, assignments, deadlines, speeches!! The list goes on and on for a student like me. God knows I try… try to do well, try to please my parents, try to excel in what I’m doing with the hope of one day doing a job that I “love.” Oh and yes, I forgot to mention I try not to worry too! Yes, all these things God knows… but it was one day when He showed me just how much I did NOT know.
I had a speech due for an accounting unit (can I get a BORING up in here?) the first Monday back after the mid-semester break. And – in the true spirit of university life – it wasn’t until the last weekend of the 2 week break that I gave myself a kick in the pants to actually start writing the speech.
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It's Thanksgiving week and that means some good old fashioned R&R for me. So no post today. But I didn't want to want to leave my faithful readers high and dry, so here is the post I wrote last year, just after Thanksgiving. It talks about how I spent my holiday and how I used Thanksgiving week to get plenty of REST - but not exactly as you might think. Take look below and see for yourself. It's a crucial reminder for all of us as we head into the holiday season.
“Best week ever! Gotta make this a yearly tradition! I definitely got the rest I needed!”
That’s what I keep telling everyone who asks me about my Thanksgiving Week. We did something very special this year. We rented a large house out in the mountains and spent the entire week there along with the rest of our “medium family” as my kids like to say.
(fyi, little family = mom, dad, kids; medium family = grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunts, cousins; big family = church family)
Totally away from everything. No commitments, no email, no phone calls, no meetings... no agenda at all! In fact, the only thing on the calendar all week was a little football game that took place on Thanksgiving Day. You may have heard about it – those who live in the DC area sure did. In case you didn’t though, let me fill you in…
Washington Redskins 38, Dallas Cowboys 31.HAIL TO THE REDSKINS! Skins fans – it’s time to go ahead and make those Super Bowl reservations now!
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What do you NEED for Christmas? That’s the question I’m asking this year. Forget about "what do you WANT for Christmas – what you want isn’t as important as what you need (ie, chocolate fudge brownies vs spinach & broccoli for dinner). I want to know what you think is your #1 NEED this year for Christmas.
For me, the answer is simple. It’s the same topic I spoke about the other day and that I will continue to speak about till the end of my days. Any time someone asks me what I want, I give the same answer. It’s the one thing that you can never get enough of and if I could find a way to sell it in a bottle, I’d be a ba-zillionaire.
What is it? The one thing that every single person on this planet desires and needs more than anything else is REST. R-E-S-T.
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“Wow! He’s incredible! He’s amazing! This is a going to be our year! I’m so glad he’s on our team!”
That is what I’ve found myself thinking and saying ever since Sunday afternoon. What happened on Sunday afternoon? For those who don’t know, this past weekend was the one that I – and men like me all over the country – have had circled on our calendars since early February. It was the weekend that wives from coast to coast (including the one in my house) have been dreading and hoping to avoid. Oh yes, boys and girls, it’s that time of year…
FOOTBALL IS BACK!!!
How could I blog about anything else this week? Football and Sundays go together like peanut butter and jelly, and now that football is back, order is restored to the universe and my life.
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I promised myself I’d never say this but here I am – about to say it. This is the official sign that I am no longer young and have turned into my parents. Ready? Ok… here goes…
WHERE DID THE TIME GO?
I know it sounds cliché, but it’s true: time really does fly. You get married, have kids, and before you know it, they’re off to college and you’re stuck with the bill. I am not quite at that point yet, but I am at the point of realizing that the pace of life continues to get faster and faster, and our ability to keep up with it becomes less and less with each passing day. Life seems to speed by so fast that we often don’t know what hit us.
I remember back to a time when I was driving out to an area about 3 hours away to visit someone in prison. This was back before the days of GPS so I had to do it the old school way – with MapQuest! You youngsters out there below the age of 21 probably haven’t even heard of MapQuest have you?
SIDE NOTE: For those old people like myself, do you remember MapQuest? When it first came out, it was like God’s gift to mankind – a computer program that knows where and when I should turn. It was the greatest invention ever. But now that we’ve gotten used to our GPS, using MapQuest feels like using a compass to fly a plane!
Anyways, back to my story…
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