This has been a time of major changes, some good and some bad....one of the things I have come to realize is this: The only constant in our life is change. We can deal with it or we can choose not to do so...just remember that life will go on, whether you are a part or not. Why take the time out of your day to mourn those things that you cannot change? Why lose sleep over a door that has been slammed shut in your face when clearly there is a window being opened for you?
I have come to realization that life is too short. In the grand scheme of things, half of the things we worry about won't matter in 5 or 10 years. What will matter is the impact we have made on the others whom we touch through our character. The true test of a man is determined not by where he stands in comfort and prosperity, but rather how he endures during times of adversity. Then he can truly see where he is in light of where he needs to be and make changes accordingly....
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sweet Nothings
Sweet Nothings
His words were sweet, endearing yet mysterious…
“come over…its not a problem..”
How simple and innocent they sounded.
And yet…
I felt an emptiness there, like a hollow that couldn’t be closed.
Even still, with the feeling held in my heart, I moved further away from the point at which I started..
I forged ahead, to a place where there was
No beginning, no end, just a middle from which nothing emerged…
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me that, I would find myself here…again…
And yet…
Here I stand, back in the days of yesteryear, when I was young and dumb, or so I thought…
Back at a place where…sweet nothings whispered in the ear led to a touch here, a caress there…
Back at a place where…you get upset at the littlest comment or seemed lack of
acknowledgement of my presence…
Back at a place where…you try to fill the void only He can fill…
And still I forged ahead…
Through those places, through those feelings, through those thoughts…
To a place where red flashed frequently…
Red at the thought of…random indescretions that allowed me to come into being…
Red at the thought of…the liberties that weren’t quite so decent….
Red at the thought of…the many questions that were asked from time to time to time and time again…
And still I moved…
Moved past the place of yesteryear, past those sweet nothings, past the feeings…
Moved past the nothingness that emerged..
Sweet nothings whispered in the ear…have a big impact
They can move the mountain called…respect, jump over the hurdle called…decency
Move the burden known as...friendship
Till there is nothing left but a shell and what remains…is unrecognizable…
You are left shaking your head and wondering…how?
You are in the midst of the sea, swaying back and forth…
All due to the sweet nothings…whispered in the ear.
Focus on Your Strengths
Work where you’re strongest 80% of the time. Work where you’re learning 15% of the time. Work where you’re weakest 5% of the time. Is that wise? Absolutely! We have been given the ability to do certain things well. What happens to a team when members play ‘out of position?’ First, morale weakens because the team isn’t playing up to its capacity. Those working in an area of weakness resent that their skills are untapped. Soon they become unwilling to work as a team, everyone’s confidence erodes and the situation gets worse. Then the competition takes advantage of their weaknesses, and they never win. When people aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do, things don’t run well.
Are You a Thermometer or a Thermostat?
Are You a Thermometer or a Thermostat?
In any event you undertake, you either have a passive role or an active one. It can be equated as the role of a thermometer and a thermostat. The role of a thermometer is simply to record the temperature. You may walk outside in July, and the thermometer indicates that the temperature is 98 degrees. At that point, the thermometer has done its job. You can ask no more from the thermometer. Its role is passive. However, when you go into your house, the temperature may be set at 72 degrees. The role of the thermostat then is to set the temperature. You can either set the temperature, or climate very high or low.
Equate that to teachers. There are some teachers who will simply talk about a particular issue, and nothing more. These are the thermometers, who take a passive role in educators. Then you have the individuals who will not only talk about an issue, but will do something about it. These are the thermostats—they set the climate or tone of whatever environment they come into. The thermostats are those people who never seem to have issues because they have found ways to resolve them on their own. The thermostats are those people who often think outside the box, they are the ones who hold the power to make changes that have an effect on everyone as a whole.
The question remains, are you a thermometer or a thermostat?
Let It Go....
Came Across this and thought it was worth reposting....
Let it go for 2007
By T. D. Jakes
There are people who can walk away from you.
And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk away from you: let them walk.
I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you. I mean hang up the phone.
When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left. The bible said that, they came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would have
continued with us. [1 John 2:19]
People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make them stay. Let them go. And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person it just means that their part in the story is over. And you've got to know when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead. You've got to know when it's dead.
You've got to know when it's over. Let me tell you something. I've got the gift of good-bye. It's the tenth spiritual gift, I believe in good-bye. It's not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm
faithful, and I know whatever God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat I don't need it. Stop begging people to stay. Let them go!!
If you are holding on to something that doesn't belong to you and was never intended for your life, then you need to...... LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to past hurts and pains ..... LET IT GO!!!
If someone can't treat you right, love you back, and see your worth..... LET IT GO!!!
If someone has angered you ........ LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to some thoughts of evil and revenge...... LET IT GO!!!
If you are involved in a wrong relationship or addiction...... LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to a job that no longer meets your needs or talents ... LET IT GO!!!
If you have a bad attitude....... LET IT GO!!!
If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better...... LET IT GO!!!
If you're stuck in the past and God is trying to take you to a new level in Him...... LET IT GO!!!
If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship....... LET IT GO!!!
If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help themselves...... LET IT GO!!!
If you're feeling depressed and stressed ....... LET IT GO!!!
If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling yourself and God is saying "take your hands off of it," then you need to...... LET IT GO!!!
Let the past be the past. Forget the former things. GOD is doing a new thing for 2007!!!
LET IT GO!!!
Get Right or Get Left .. think about it, and then .... LET IT GO!!!
Monday, December 13, 2010
The Throne of Grace...
Ok, so for some reason the word grace had been in my spirit lately. I went to dictionary.com and looked up the word just to see what it meant. According to dictionary.com, grace is defined as the following from a theological standpoint:
a. The freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.
b. The influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.
c. The virtue or excellence of divine origin: the Christian graces.
d. Also called the state of grace, the condition of being in God's favor or one of the elect.
Grace in my opinion means to extend favor toward a situation in which it is undeserved or unmerited. In the classroom, if a student has shown effort in the time period toward their work and takes pride in it, then I am more likely to extend grace to that student, though they may not necessarily deserve it.
Why is it that we find it so hard to extend grace to others? Do we honestly feel that we are owed that much that we are not in a position to extend grace to others? Just a random thought...maybe I will expound on it as I walk the walk....
a. The freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.
b. The influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.
c. The virtue or excellence of divine origin: the Christian graces.
d. Also called the state of grace, the condition of being in God's favor or one of the elect.
Grace in my opinion means to extend favor toward a situation in which it is undeserved or unmerited. In the classroom, if a student has shown effort in the time period toward their work and takes pride in it, then I am more likely to extend grace to that student, though they may not necessarily deserve it.
Why is it that we find it so hard to extend grace to others? Do we honestly feel that we are owed that much that we are not in a position to extend grace to others? Just a random thought...maybe I will expound on it as I walk the walk....
Saturday, December 11, 2010
The Broken Building
I had a dream 4 years ago that I still remember very vividly to this day. In my dream, I saw how over a short period of time, a building under which I was standing crumbled. The thing is, nothing catastrophic happened. It was a simple crack in the pillars that held the building together that crumbled one by one. The amazing thing is that the dream never showed the building being reconstructed, and I have never had another dream like it.
That dream though it was brief, however brief showed me a few things. It took a brief time for the building to crumble. In the body of Christ, if we are not constantly feeding ourselves with the Word, then our spiritual lives will crumble. This is not to sound super spiritual, but to state fact. It happens even in the workplace. If an employee works in a company where they are not being nurtured properly, they will wither and die, or they will find other means of recourse. We must constantly check to ensure that we are growing and moving forward. This requires work because we have to look inside ourselves to do so and face some hard truths about ourselves.
Secondly, the crumbling of the building was not an overnight one. Buildings do not fall without notice. In other words, there are signs associated with the process. In either situation, dissatisfaction is one of the biggest red flags that can be thrown. If a person constantly complains, then there lies a cause of their complaint, and chances are they are not happy with their current situation.
It takes longer for a building to be rebuilt than one that was torn down. My dream never showed this part, yet I know that this is a process. One of my church members built a restaurant in about 4 months. Yet, there were tornadoes in my town that destroyed houses. While the houses were rebuilt, it was a process to reconstruct things to the way they once were. It was a process to restore those things to their rightful place. I had a situation occur in my professional life that shook me to my core. While I have since picked up the pieces and moved forward, there are still some places that have to be rebuilt. The trouble is, I didn't know those areas needed to be rebuilt. I just knew that something was missing and I couldn't put my finger on what it was. That's when the impact hit me full throttle.
While the tornado victims' homes were rebuilt, it may be a day where they are looking for something that they lost in that tragedy before it hits them the impact of what has happened to them in the storm. However, the tornado victims had an advantage: they were determined to pick up the pieces and do the work to restore their homes to their rightful place. If only we were so grateful for the grace of God here, because He does it for us. We just get so wrapped up in the social constructs of what has happened to us that we feel it is hard to rebuild the buildings that have been torn down in our lives. We simply have to remember our foundation and move from there. In my dream, the foundation was never shaken. As I move, I intend to remember my true foundation and continue from there.
That dream though it was brief, however brief showed me a few things. It took a brief time for the building to crumble. In the body of Christ, if we are not constantly feeding ourselves with the Word, then our spiritual lives will crumble. This is not to sound super spiritual, but to state fact. It happens even in the workplace. If an employee works in a company where they are not being nurtured properly, they will wither and die, or they will find other means of recourse. We must constantly check to ensure that we are growing and moving forward. This requires work because we have to look inside ourselves to do so and face some hard truths about ourselves.
Secondly, the crumbling of the building was not an overnight one. Buildings do not fall without notice. In other words, there are signs associated with the process. In either situation, dissatisfaction is one of the biggest red flags that can be thrown. If a person constantly complains, then there lies a cause of their complaint, and chances are they are not happy with their current situation.
It takes longer for a building to be rebuilt than one that was torn down. My dream never showed this part, yet I know that this is a process. One of my church members built a restaurant in about 4 months. Yet, there were tornadoes in my town that destroyed houses. While the houses were rebuilt, it was a process to reconstruct things to the way they once were. It was a process to restore those things to their rightful place. I had a situation occur in my professional life that shook me to my core. While I have since picked up the pieces and moved forward, there are still some places that have to be rebuilt. The trouble is, I didn't know those areas needed to be rebuilt. I just knew that something was missing and I couldn't put my finger on what it was. That's when the impact hit me full throttle.
While the tornado victims' homes were rebuilt, it may be a day where they are looking for something that they lost in that tragedy before it hits them the impact of what has happened to them in the storm. However, the tornado victims had an advantage: they were determined to pick up the pieces and do the work to restore their homes to their rightful place. If only we were so grateful for the grace of God here, because He does it for us. We just get so wrapped up in the social constructs of what has happened to us that we feel it is hard to rebuild the buildings that have been torn down in our lives. We simply have to remember our foundation and move from there. In my dream, the foundation was never shaken. As I move, I intend to remember my true foundation and continue from there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)