Think About It

It is once again time for one of my Public Service Announcements.  Today is Valentine’s Day!  Now, if you are just now realizing this, you are probably already behind the curve, but, hopefully you still have some time to make this work out for you. For some, Valentine’s Day is just one of those commercially generated holidays, but for others, it represents something special in a relationship.  It is a day to renew and revisit the romance in a relationship.  (By the way, it doesn’t really matter whether you like Valentines Day or not – if it is important to your sweetheart it should probably be to you as well!)  Through the years people have invested a lot of expense and effort in gifts and events and, while that’s a step in the right direction, there is another aspect of the day that is important.  Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but often the quickest way to someone’s heart is through a few simple, well-chosen words.  A creative way of saying “I...

Who is “that” person in your life?  You know the one – the one you can’t seem to get along with … the one that, whenever you think about them, you grow angry or worried.  While I would like to think that we have moved passed this in our lives, most of us still have a person (or two) we would consider our nemesis.  Some might be considered full-fledged enemies, but many might just be a consistent thorn in our sides.  Whether we dislike them or they just get under our skin, most of us have people who can ruin our mood just by thinking about them. Okay, now that we have described these folks, the big question is what are we going to do about them?  I guess it is possible to constantly avoid them or maybe even move away from them, but that typically isn’t practical and may be a bit overkill … so how can we live with them around us?  There are a variety of ways to deal with people we don’t get along with, but the New Testament has a novel way of approaching it –...

I have known that I have had an issue with stress and anxiety for a lot of years – and I have done better with it during some times and no so well with it a other times.  Over the last few weeks I have really been focusing on what is creating the anxiety in me, so I am probably more aware of my stress levels recently and I am realizing something … stress wears you out!  In addition to the primary feelings of stress, there is the secondary symptom of feeling fatigued.   Whether it is because you are investing so much emotional energy in worrying about things or the fact that the anxious part of your brain never shuts down, anxiety drains you.  In addition to losing a positive outlook, you also just feel exhausted. As I reflected on this, I realized this shouldn’t be a surprise to me because anxiety is the gift that keep giving.  When we are in that cycle, the issues never end.  For those of us who deal with anxiety, it isn’t necessarily the problem, it ...

Most of us have been raised with a belief that we are responsible to others for our actions.  We have been taught that we must be careful of how we treat people because what we do may have a negative impact on them.  We must keep the feelings of others in mind when we choose to do what they do.   While this is a good way to check whether we should do something, it can be a stressful way to live.  When we constantly worry about the impact our actions - no matter how simple - have on others, we are constantly evaluating and reevaluating what we do.  We are constantly watching for signs of how we MIGHT have caused hardships to others.      Considering the repercussions of our actions is a good system-backup process, but it can be an exhausting primary system.  It wears us out to constantly be worrying about how our actions influenced what happened to others.  Let's be sensitive to what we do ... but let's not allow it to run (or ruin) our c...

When you think about the Apostle Paul, what comes to mind?   For most of us, we see a spiritually convicted individual who refused to back down to anyone.   Even when he was wrong (like his early years when he persecuted the church), he had a fire in his belly.   Yet, there is another side to Paul – one mentioned in the book of II Corinthians.   In this letter to one of the churches close to him he describes a “thorn in the flesh”.   While he doesn’t elaborate on the exact nature of the issue, he tells them about a struggle he is having.   Here this almost unflappable spiritual leader admits to struggling.   While he doesn’t describe the issue, he mentions that he had asked the Lord to relieve his burden, to which the Lord responds “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (II Corinthians 12:9).   Paul may not have liked what was going on with him, but he saw that God could use it to His glory.   When we struggle...

I know there are some Chiefs and Eagles fans out there who have been anxiously looking forward to this weekend for a while.   This Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday!   Through the years I have had my teams in the Big Game – and have even rooted for a few who won the Championship.   It’s exciting as it is happening and fulfilling when the final whistle blows.   For those of you who care more about the game than the guacamole or commercials, I hope your team does you proud!   Americans have come to embrace Super Bowl Sunday in the last few years, but there was another Sunday that makes the one centered on a ballgame pale in comparison.   The New Testament writer, Luke, describes it this way, “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” (Luke 24:1-3).   ...

Do you have a “bucket list”?  For those of you who might not be familiar with this term, it refers to what you want to do before you die (aka “kick the bucket”).  I am sure there are some people who actually have a list of items they’d like to accomplish before they die, but I would imagine that there are many more of us who have an unofficial wish list.  (By the way, I tend to believe that the more detailed your list the more apt you are to accomplish it, but that’s another article for another time.)    Now, while I think a bucket list can be a cool thing, I believe it can be balanced with an “appreciation list”.  In addition to identifying what we’d like to do, we should be just as diligent about remembering what we have done.  It’s easy to get side-tracked by what we still have left to do, but think about how much more contented we could be if we took the time to remember the cool things we have gotten to do?  Maybe a more useful list would inc...