Monthly Archives: March 2024

#inspiration, #spirituality

The Eyes of a Child

Children are a true blessing. Well, they are until they reach their teenage years. Then the script flips! But they do grow up.

When my children were toddlers, I got to view the world through their eyes. Everything they experienced was a new, exciting thing, and they noticed everything. The neurons in their little brains were exploding, creating new neural networks. I loved watching them grow and learn. Their sense of awe and curiosity was infectious.

We should try to be more like little children. See the good in the world around us instead of focusing on the bad. Children have no prejudice, nor do they hold hatred or fear in their hearts. They accept everyone.

Turn the news off. Spend time seeing the world through the innocent eyes of a child. The rest of the world will always be there…

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#inspiration, #spirituality

Something We Don’t Talk About

In the 25 years since the Columbine massacre, 394 kids have been killed in school shootings. It’s unthinkable that a place where kids should feel safe has been compromised. But there’s something else.

For every one of the 394, 426 kids have taken their own lives over the same period of time. This equals almost 168,000 dead children. Every 50 seconds a child is admitted to the emergency room because of a suicide attempt while every 79 minutes a child is successful. Yet, our focus remains almost exclusively on the school shootings.

Shooting up a school is wrong. I’m not glossing over it. But we aren’t doing enough to address the mental anguish our young people are experiencing.

It’s easy to point out problems but there is hope. Rachel’s Challenge is the best, most effective school program that truly changes the culture of the school. Kids who used to have issues with each other are now high-fiving each other. Rachel’s story has caused a drop in the youth suicide rate of 3%, but the program is only in .77% of schools. Rival gangs have become friends and bullying behavior goes away because of a story, Rachel’s story.

More on this to come. In the interim, please check out Rachel’s Challenge:

http://www.rachelschallenge.org

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#inspiration, #spirituality

Possibilities

Anything is possible when you believe it is. Finite thinking will only produce finite possibilities. When you open and expand your thinking into the infinite greater possibilities exist.

God is infinite intelligence. Nothing, literally nothing escapes Him. He exists in the past, present and future at the same time. His power is unlimited. We box Him in with our doubts.

Unleash your mind to consider the impossible dreams you hold in your heart. Pray about it. Be audacious.

With God on your side, who can stop you?

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#inspiration, #spirituality

Greetings

I serve as a greeter at my church. I call myself the “Head Greeter” because I’m ambitious, but I’m simply a volunteer like everyone else.

I enjoy saying hello to the men, women and children who are walking in from the parking lot. If you are paying attention you can read their moods. One guy was walking in, pushing a stroller with one hand while holding coffee in his other. When I asked him how he was doing, he didn’t skip a beat when he replied “pretty shitty.” No guesswork there!

I encourage you to speak kindly to others, even when you aren’t feeling it. They need it, and what you give to your fellow man you get back…

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#inspiration, #spirituality

Obey, Or Else

Obedience is a scary word for some. It means compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority.

Ah, the submission part gets us every time. We are rebellious by nature. Our rebellion began with Adam and Eve, and it has been handed down generationally for thousands of years. Rebellion is in all of us.

God has given us a perfect blueprint for how to live our lives. It’s found in the Bible. Many people want to pick and choose the areas they will obey, yet consider the others outdated and irrelevant for today’s society. There are no outdated or irrelevant parts of the Bible. If God’s Word was true a hundred years ago, it remains true today. He didn’t change.

Are you frustrated with your life? I encourage you to pick up your Bible and look for ways to grow out of the frustration. Get a version that is written in English and provides context. Start with The Book of James. James was the half-brother of Jesus, and he was the “in your face” Apostle. There’s a lot of wisdom in that short chapter. And it might interest you to know that James didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah during his life. He believed fervently after the resurrection.

Obedience to the only Authority over your life isn’t scary. In fact, it’s freeing…

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#inspiration

Pizza

Everyone loves pizza! A pizza can come with a variety of toppings, or it can be just plain cheese. We all have our favorite pizza.

Just like pizza, people come in all varieties. Some people are positive while others are pessimistic. Some are in shape while others have not seen the inside of a gym in decades.

Unlike pizza, people are thinking and feeling beings. We have different goals, dreams and desires. We have experienced different pains and struggles along the way. But as different as we seem, we are more alike than we might consider.

Take the time to get to know your fellow man. Maybe go out for a pizza together!

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#inspiration, #spirituality

I Might Be Wrong

I might be wrong. Those four, simple words can change the course of a conversation in an instant. They are simple words, so why are they so hard to say?

Pride gets in the way, it blinds us from the truth. It’s not a weakness to be wrong. In fact, studies have shown that we are wrong way more than we are right.

A developed, open mind adapts when given a reason to. Closed minds are closed. The self-righteous ones must be right every time. They see being wrong as a threat. It’s not a threat.

We need more conversations in our society. Open conversations where we give our counter party margin to express themselves. We can learn from each other when we are willing to listen openly.

Try using the word “consider” in your conversations. Guarded people lower their guard and open themselves up when you use that word.

It’s a great word to consider…

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#inspiration, #spirituality

Chain Reactions

In a paper titled, “My Ethics. My Codes of Life,” Rachel Joy Scott wrote the following: “Compassion is the greatest form of love humans have to offer. I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, it would start a chain reaction of the same. You never know how far a little kindness can go.”

Rachel was the first person killed at Columbine High School in 1999. Since her death, her story has been starting chain reactions of kindness and compassion worldwide. In fact, she’s started over 30 million of them.

Around the same time, the two shooters talked about a different kind of chain reaction, one of violence and murder. It’s shocking when you consider the contrast, especially since they were interrelated.

Our actions have consequences. What we put out into the world comes back to us. Always.

I encourage you to start your own chain reaction of kindness and compassion. Your fellow man desperately needs it…

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#inspiration, #spirituality

You’ve Changed

When God gets ahold of you, you change! Many people are scared to seek God because of false beliefs about how He will change them. Some of those beliefs are: I’ll become weird, I’ll lose all my friends, or, my favorite, God will make me a missionary and send me to some desolate country.

None of those fears are true. It doesn’t make sense that God would turn you into someone other than who He made you to be. God will change your heart and mind to where you start thinking the way Jesus did. Then your actions will reflect this new, better way of thinking. Have no fear. You will still be you!

Jeremiah 29:13 tells us: “You will find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Take the plunge. The waters fine…

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#inspiration, #spirituality

Ready

Have you ever read something that you have read before, but this time you got something completely different from it? There’s a message there.

This just happened to me this morning. I was reading a chapter in The Book of Matthew and part of it practically jumped off the page. This time I was ready to receive the message.

Being ready is an ongoing process. We evolve. We grow. And as we change our receptivity changes, too. This comes from having an open mind and an adaptable mindset. You are not restricted by limiting beliefs.

I encourage you to keep growing. Embrace the new. You never know where life will take you when you’re open to possibilities…

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