Too many people put off something that might bring them joy simply because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home tonight because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched a show on television or read the newspaper?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would hessitate and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, it looks like rain” And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches... We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!
We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Stevie toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids through college. Life has a way of accelerating as we get older.
The days get shorter, and the list of promises we make to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a long list of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday I’ll get around to it."
When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.
My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to...not something on your SHOULD DO list. You can’t borrow from yesterday and you can’t redeem tomorrow. Live today as if it were your last and go to bed with a smile on your face. And if you are fortunate, you will awaken to do it all again tomorrow!
Author unknown
A good friend sent this email to me and I wanted to post it on the blog. Why? It is pretty obvious, don’t you think? I know SO MANY PEOPLE who don’t go on our trip to Honduras. “It is the wrong time of the year; it costs too much money; I have too much to do; it just isn’t a convenient time; I don’t have the vacation time; I have to take summer classes; the economy is going down the toilet; I don’t know anyone on the trip; I don’t speak Spanish; I need to loose some weight; I need to get in better shape; I’ll go next time…” Shall I continue? What is your “excuse?” What is your reason? Explain again why you aren’t going?
Think about it the next time you are passing up a Baskin Robins, there just might be an iceberg in your rear view mirror.
TR
Friday, October 24
Sunday, October 5
change
Summer if officially over and fall is finally here. But, today it was 88 degrees in Music City and I am wondering what in the world is going on around here. Except for a few fallen leaves in my front yard there is no sign of fall and I, for one, am looking forward to a change in seasons.
Change. Boy, have we heard that a lot lately! We need change. Change we can believe in. Change now. Even in little bitty Lebanon, TN, one of the candidates for mayor has “It’s time for a change” on his signs. Change what? Change how? Change when? Change whom? And is change a good thing? I guess it is how you look at it.
We live in a society today where change occurs all of the time. If you don’t like something, get rid of it and get something else. Something new. Something exciting. Don’t like your cell phone? Get a new one. Don’t like your car? Trade it in on a new one. Don’t like your husband? Divorce him and get a new one. Don’t like your friend? Drop him and get a new one. Don’t like your church? Leave and find a new one. Change. It is easy. It is quick. But is it the best thing to do???
I have been working the past 6 months with the youth group at Western Hills as we have been searching for a new youth minister. Our former youth minister quit and the search committee has been prowling and searching for a replacement. One that will be a good fit for our congregation and for the kids. We have planned a fall retreat that will take place in a couple of weeks. We came up with the theme “change” and we are having some really cool shirts printed up for it. Solid black. White print, simple block font. On the back it says, “It is time for REAL change.” On the front it says, “J”, and under it, “The Christ.”
For you see, Jesus IS change. He is a life changer. He is a relationship changer. He is a church changer. He is a marriage changer. He is a world changer. He came to change this world and to throw it upside down. He came to shake things up. He came to change the way we do things and how we look at things. It is real change. It is life changing. It is a way to put us on the path that will help change the world. It is a change that others will see. It is change others will feel. It is change others will notice. It is change others will want. And it might be change that some will be afraid of when they see it (attacking Satan’s strong hold is a bold thing to do).
So, how about you? Are you ready for some change around here? If you are, it starts with you and the Man who is calling you. And me. Us. Are you ready? Change can be painful at times. Change can be radical too. Change can even be uncomfortable. It starts with 1 person. Then another. Then another. Slowly. Patiently. Convincingly. Then it becomes a following. Then a movement. Then a revolution.
The call has sounded. Are you in? You are either part of the change or part of the problem. Think about it.
TR
Change. Boy, have we heard that a lot lately! We need change. Change we can believe in. Change now. Even in little bitty Lebanon, TN, one of the candidates for mayor has “It’s time for a change” on his signs. Change what? Change how? Change when? Change whom? And is change a good thing? I guess it is how you look at it.
We live in a society today where change occurs all of the time. If you don’t like something, get rid of it and get something else. Something new. Something exciting. Don’t like your cell phone? Get a new one. Don’t like your car? Trade it in on a new one. Don’t like your husband? Divorce him and get a new one. Don’t like your friend? Drop him and get a new one. Don’t like your church? Leave and find a new one. Change. It is easy. It is quick. But is it the best thing to do???
I have been working the past 6 months with the youth group at Western Hills as we have been searching for a new youth minister. Our former youth minister quit and the search committee has been prowling and searching for a replacement. One that will be a good fit for our congregation and for the kids. We have planned a fall retreat that will take place in a couple of weeks. We came up with the theme “change” and we are having some really cool shirts printed up for it. Solid black. White print, simple block font. On the back it says, “It is time for REAL change.” On the front it says, “J”, and under it, “The Christ.”
For you see, Jesus IS change. He is a life changer. He is a relationship changer. He is a church changer. He is a marriage changer. He is a world changer. He came to change this world and to throw it upside down. He came to shake things up. He came to change the way we do things and how we look at things. It is real change. It is life changing. It is a way to put us on the path that will help change the world. It is a change that others will see. It is change others will feel. It is change others will notice. It is change others will want. And it might be change that some will be afraid of when they see it (attacking Satan’s strong hold is a bold thing to do).
So, how about you? Are you ready for some change around here? If you are, it starts with you and the Man who is calling you. And me. Us. Are you ready? Change can be painful at times. Change can be radical too. Change can even be uncomfortable. It starts with 1 person. Then another. Then another. Slowly. Patiently. Convincingly. Then it becomes a following. Then a movement. Then a revolution.
The call has sounded. Are you in? You are either part of the change or part of the problem. Think about it.
TR
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