A Pound of Thoughts

Here’s a little free association:

• Groovy :: Feelin’
• Jealousy :: Ire
• Watching :: Listening
• Kenny :: Rogers
• Games :: Patriot
• Bread :: Winner
• City :: Lights
• Stems :: Stalks
• Birds :: of a feather
• Listener :: Ear

Wanna play along? Go here ! Just thought I’d post something a little fun

Since I couldn’t post yesterday, I’ll go ahead and count today as day two.

Scripture: “I am your Creator, You were in my care even before you were born,” says the Lord. - Isaiah 44:2

Point to Ponder: I am not an accident.

Question to Consider: Knowing that God created me for a purpose, what areas of my personality, background, and appearance do I need to accept?

Growing up, my parents as well as others in my family would jokingly tell me that I was an accident. I was not planned by my parents. They wanted to stop having children after they had my sister. So this day’s topic has special meaning for me.

Here’s a little tidbit from the book:

Long before you were conceived by your parents you were conceived in the mind of God. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you!

This is a very powerful realization that we all should come to. None of us were born by chance. God has a purpose for everything that He does. And so, each one of us has a special place in the Kingdom of God. The trick is to find that place. And the only way we can is to talk to God and ask Him to reveal to us His will for our lives.

Going back to the question, there are several things that I have difficulty accepting about myself. One thing is my size. I have put on a little extra padding in the last several years. I have a difficult time disciplining myself when it comes to exercise. I am becoming more and more determined to lose this padding before the year is through. I would also love to change a few aspects of my personality. I am definitely an introspective person, although in the last few years I have become less and less shy about expressing my thoughts and feelings. I still have trouble expressing myself every once in a while, though. (Hence the reason I started this blog). I also can get pretty upset, if the situation calls for it. I have gotten better, though, as far as controlling my temper. However, sometimes I wish I just wouldn’t get so upset. It’s not good on the stomach!

As much as I would like to do a total “overhaul” sometimes, I realize that God created me the way He did, and let me experience the things I have experienced, for a reason. And the same goes for everyone else out there. That’s just one more step in the direction of discovering God’s true purpose for us on this earth.

One more thought in closing from Rick Warren’s book - one I especially like: “We discover the meaning and purpose only when we make God the reference point of our lives.” Lord, I pray that we all make you the reference point for our lives, that we realize that we would be nothing without You. Lord help me to be what you created me to be. In Your precious name, Amen.

Well, I didn’t get to post anything yesterday, due to it being a busy day. I went over to my brother and sister-in-law’s house last night, because they cooked dinner for my birthday. They fixed chips and salsa, taco salad, and quesadillas. Man, was it good! My sister-in-law even made brownies for me! All in all, it was a very good night. I enjoyed it tremendously. Anyway, I’ll be posting some stuff later on today.

I have also started to (re)read a book I bought a while back, entitled The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.  Today marks day one, the first chapter.  If anyone else reading this blog reads this book, please feel free to leave your comments.  Let’s share what we encounter as we read this book.

Today’s Scripture:  “For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible…everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.” – Colossians 1:16

Point to Ponder:  It’s not about me.

Question to Consider:  How can I remind myself today that life is really about living for God, not myself?

This question can be a difficult one to ask sometimes.  Mankind’s sinful nature dictates that everything is all about “me”.  What can “I” do?  What’s in it for “me”?  What does life owe “me”?  Well, to serve God we have to get out of this mind set.  God created us in His image, so that we might bring Him glory. 

Just look around at the the sky, the sun, the trees, the animals.  Where did they come from?  Who created them?  Not man.  Not you, not me.  God created them.  Just like He created us.  He created us so that we might come to know Him, worship Him, and praise Him.  In all things think, “What would God have me do?”  “Would this please God?”  “Would I want God seeing me do this?”  If the answer to the latter two are “No”, then stop doing what you’re doing.

However, we can’t always be perfect.  We’re not always going to be able to do a self-check before we do things.  We’re going to mess up.  That’s where God’s grace comes in.  He will forgive us, if we only ask Him.  But we have to ask, and we have to confess that we were wrong.

I guess that’s my way of remind myself that life is about living for God.

Recite this prayer from your heart:  “Father, As I begin this journey, help me to realize that building my life around myself instead of you will only lead to emptiness and meaninglessness.  I was made by you and for you, and I want to discover my purpose in you.  In Your name, Amen.”

I have a little book that I try to read every day, although it’s been a little while since I’ve read it.  Below is the text for today, from the book every day for every man by Steven Arterburn et al:

Evaluate your treatment of your wife.  If it’s unkind and uncaring, confess this to hear, ask her to forgive you, and being the journey of finally discovering who God intended her to be.

You may find it difficult to recognize your wife’s ministry, but you’ll always be able to hear its urgency if you keep your antennas up.

A bondservant always made room for his master’s gifts and ministries so his master might fully live and blossom.  That’s why we must keep talking with our wife, not so much to understand, but to hear her feelings.  We must make room for what God places on her heart and respect her gifts, although those gifts may be tough to recognize.  Yet our effort to make room for her gifts frees her essence to find its place in the marriage.

I have noticed in the five years of our marriage one of her many gifts.  Children love her.  She’s great with them.  I guess that is why God is calling her into the ministry of elementary education.  I know that once she starts teaching, she will be a wonderful one.  She already does a great job at church when she helps in the nursery.  She has that special touch.  Sometimes it is hard for me to recognize her gifts, simply because I don’t take the necessary effort to listen and hear her feelings.  I should try to identify and respect those gifts and allow them and her to blossom.  But listening without the intent of replying is an arduous task for everyone.

Well, today my wife and I went over to her brother and his wife’s house to celebrate our nephew Noah’s birthday.  It was very interesting watching him with his cake.  I think he had lots of fun.  We ate hamburgers and chips, and had a good time visiting with everyone.

We also went by and saw my sister and brother-in-law’s new house (new as in they moved in in November), and I got to see my other nephew, Alexander.  He just turned four months on the 21^st.  Then, on our way home, we stopped by to see her cousin’s  house.  Unfortunately they weren’t home.  But we did find the house!

I also tried to find me a new charger for my PDA, but I didn’t realize that Office Max and Office Depot both closed at 8 on Sundays.  How crazy is that?

Anyway, Happy First Birthday, Noah!  You are definitely loved.

Here’s a little video in closing…

Now here’s a story you don’t hear every day.  Apparently, some wasabi wanted to see what it was like in a zero-gravity atmosphere.  I think I would definitely call this a “toxic” spill, too!

You have to read this article…Just click right here.

How can weightless wasabi be “dangerous”?

Today I went to Wal-Mart to get my hair cut and get some groceries.  As usual, I had to wait an hour before I could get into that illustrious chair.  But while I was waiting, I witnessed something that has to be extremely rare.  Now, before I tell you what it is, I must say this.  I do understand that there are guys out there who enjoy being always primp and proper.  And I also understand that there are guys out there who wear an earring in their ear.  I further understand that there are some guys who get perms so their hair can be curly…But what I witnessed today takes the cake.

This is the totally honest truth.  I saw a male of Hispanic origin in the chair — getting a perm!  I nearly fell out of my seat!  A Mexican?!  Getting a perm?!  You have got to be kidding me!  I just couldn’t believe it.  Now just so you have the full picture – He did have a big gold chain around his neck and a big ring on his left hand on the middle finger.  And…he was wearing an earring in each ear.  I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions.  I just wish I had a picture to post.

And I thought I had seen it all…guess I was wrong.

Recently I have started listening to Michael Savage on our local radio station.  He’s a very vocal conservative radio talk show host out of San Francisco and also the author of several books.  Well, he began discussing a topic the other day about people’s minds being destroyed by Prozac, a drug prescribed by psychiatrists for depression disorders.

Well, I thought he was being a little over-the-top with it…Unfortunately, I am beginning to agree with him.  Here’s an example if you don’t believe me.

Also, someone was telling me about a situation they were going through (I will not be specific to protect their anonymity) regarding their wife, soon-to-be ex-wife.  He was telling me about how her character totally changed after a traumatic experience she had.  Prior to 1995, she had been a devout Christian woman who taught Sunday and vacation bible school classes for 23 years.  Then, when her mother died in 1995, she completely changed.  She became withdrawn, began drinking, and was prescribed Prozac for depression.  Well after he has lived with her and supporting her for the past 12 years, she has now filed for divorce.

What makes this situation even more tragic is she accused him, wrongfully, of various types of abuse.  Later on the stand, she denied that he did abuse her.  He also told me how she has lost probably close to 70–80 pounds in the sixteen months he has not seen her.  My thoughts and prayers are with this couple.

The point I’m trying to make is this:  Instead of talking through problems and trying to work things out – in any situation – people in general tend to take the easy way out.  And, in my humble opinion, psychiatrists (again, in general) tend to make matters worse when they prescribe synthetic drugs to help people cope (like Prozac and Ritalin).  When you start messing with the human body, you better know what the heck you’re doing, otherwise you will royally screw something up.

These cases, as well as countless others, just confirm what Dr. Savage has been saying for years…and it’s time for people to start waking up to this fact.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a naturalist whack-o who believes that no one should take any prescription medicine.  I just think that some of these inhibitors and MAOI’s like Prozac really need to undergo further scrutiny by the FDA to make sure that they do not cause more damage than the problems they try to resolve.

Let me know what your thoughts are!

I have installed an interesting application - BlogJet. It’s a cool Windows client for my blog tool (as well as for other tools). Get your copy here: http://blogjet.com

“Computers are incredibly fast, accurate and stupid; humans are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant; together they are powerful beyond imagination.” — Albert Einstein