Think About It

          As we begin our Vacation Bible School at church this week I am reminded of some of the lessons that I learned at VBS several years ago.   Some of them involved the great stories and characters of the Bible, but there were others as well, including: 1)   Studying the Bible doesn’t have to be boring. 2)   There is always a Mom watching – even when it isn’t yours. 3)   A little dirt on a sandwich cookie never hurt anyone. 4)   It is rewarding to bring someone to church with you. 5)   You may not be able to carry a tune in a bucket, but you still have fun singing your favorite songs. 6)   It is the quality of the company you keep, not the name brand of the snacks you eat that makes it special.   7)   It is okay to yell at the devil. 8)   The fun of five (or ten days) at VBS is variable and often measured by the age of the person attending.   9) ...

Can you imagine what it would have been like to have been the parents of Jesus?   Going into the pregnancy Joseph and Mary knew that this was something special – literally something “holy”.   Jesus’ birth was proclaimed by a heavenly host and His early life drew the attention of wise men from afar and the local ruler.   By the time He was an adolescent He knew the focus of His life was going to be to doing His “Father’s business”.   It must have really weighed on a couple of humans to rear the Son of God, but in the end, it appears that they did a good job.   In fact, a summary of Jesus’ early life succinctly said, “ And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52) There is a lot of talk about the way we should be raising our children in today’s environment, but if it was good enough for God’s Son, shouldn’t it be good enough for modern children of God?   When we study the parenting of Joseph and Mary we f...

Oliver Wendall Holmes was an American judge who came to prominence at the turn of the 20 th Century.   He sat on the bench of the United States Supreme Court during some of the most interesting times in our nation’s history.   The other day I was reading some of his non-law quotes and came across a few interesting thoughts.   The first one is the fodder from some great inspirational posters, “ A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”, but it was the second one that really got me to thinking, “ A man is usually more careful of his money than of his principles.”.   As I pondered our association with our finances I found that many of us have a close attachment to our money.   We are well aware of where we are finically – not only how much money we have in our accounts (and our pockets) but where we stand on the economic ladder.             What would happen if we spen...

          Jeane and I like to travel.   We have been blessed to have had the chance to see some neat things and experience some incredible places.   Interestingly, I even enjoy shopping for our adventures – well, sort of.   I like to explore what is out there on the ‘net, beckoning us to them.   I get a kick out of shopping for the best deals.   You can usually tell when we are looking at vacations because there will be notepads with flight details and hotel rates scattered all around the house.   While I do enjoy the process, there will be a point in time in which the joy turns to angst.   Have I found the best deal?   Is there something better out there?   Is this really what we want to do and where we want to go?   When I get to this point, I kind of wish that I was content to throw a dart at the map and book the first trip I find.   Sometimes too many choices can create issues. ...

Have you ever heard yourself say, “Here’s what I’d do if I were you?” ... now think back to the conversation immediately preceding our statement ... was there a request for our advice or were we just being “proactive”?   Do we wait for people to solicit our advice or are we willing to provide it without being asked?   The problem with offering up what we would do if we were them is really two-fold: 1).   Most people don’t care what we’d do if we were them .    More often than not, when people are complaining about what is going on in their lives, they are looking for someone to listen to them rather than someone to guide them.   Sure, if they ask our opinion we should be willing to offer advice, but until then, we might as well save our breath – and our opinions. 2).   We don’t always know what is going on in their lives .   Often, when we offer advice we do so from our own perspective – here is what I would do if this happened to ME. ...

          Have we lost our ability to say “No!”?   I realize we live in the freest time in history, but have you noticed how difficult it has become to confidently and civilly say “No”?             The other day I was watching a new story about a national firm that put pressure on their employees to sell more and more, so they began to try to coerce their clients to buy more and more.   While the story focused on the problem with pressure-driven sales, I began to wonder how much of it rested with our inability to make up our minds and stick with a decision.   When the vacation getaway people pester us to “upgrade” our reservations or the tele-markers call us can we just say “No, thank you.”?    When someone tries to overpower our will on political or social issues can we just say, “No, I disagree with that.” and move on?   When someone turns on the pressure to become involved in a...

The other day I heard a comment that really hit me.   The speaker challenged us by asking, “What would you do if you knew you wouldn’t fail?”.   On the surface this appears to be a procedural question, but the more I thought about it, the more powerful it became.   How often do we limit our potential even before we try?   We momentarily ponder what might be possible, then we quickly dismiss it out of fear of failure.   That fear might come in form of the futility of defeatism (“Why should I spend my time doing this because I am just going to fail anyway?”).   Maybe more critical for many of us is the fear is born of our being perceived as being a failure (“If I try and fail people will make fun of me or I will let someone down!”).   We give up before we start because we are sure that we are bound to fail.   How would our lives and our attitudes change if we adopted the confidence of success?   Interestingly, we get to choose how we begin a p...