Forwarded Messages

This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Please, LORD, please save us. Please, LORD, please give us success ( Psalm 118:24-25 NLT). The really good coaches are smart cookies. Forget the "dumb jock" jokes, and pay attention to their ability to motivate — and focus on what matters. One of several nicknames carried by the late UCLA basketball coach John Wooden was The Wizard of Westwood. During his eventful career, he mentored — not just coached — dozens of men who went on to success both in the NBA and in a variety of careers outside athletics. Along the way, his teams won a record ten national titles and set a record 88-game collegiate winning streak. He died in 2010 but remains one of the most respected figures in all of sports. Wooden was a reflective man whose speeches, books, and occasional interviews scattered gems of practical wisdom. A Christian who read his Bible daily, many of those tidbits mirror the teachings of the Master Tea...

Constriction happens when we feel like our options are reduced to one or two bad possibilities. It's either "this" or "that," and "this" is horrible while "that" is disastrous. Here’s how to avoid making a hasty decision in panic, and prevent them from doing something rash. The first strategy is  D ELAY . Keep from making a rash move by waiting. As a Christian, waiting is not inaction; it is waiting on the Lord (Isaiah 40:28-31). It is time for prayer and for seeking God's will in Scripture. Often we cannot see the real situation and all the other possible options because we’re so caught up in the miseries of the moment. So often in the haste of the moment, we don't have all the facts or have misperceived the situation. A prayerful delay for a short time allows us to refocus and opens our heart so God can show us another way.

Commencement Speech Given in the Ateneo de Manila University for the Graduates of 2015 You cannot imagine how great an honor it is for me to speak before you today. And that is certainly not a cliché or an exaggeration. Few people would ever guess that despite the many blessings I’ve received in over 30 years as a ballerina, most of my young life was spent pining for something that you all have and I don’t—a diploma from the Ateneo de Manila University. You see, I come from a certified Blue Eagle family. My father, his brother and my siblings all graduated from the Ateneo, with all four men in my family in the Honors Class since their elementary grades. Although I married a magna cum laude from Harvard. (Sorry, my husband made sure that I stuck that in there somewhere.) When I was seventeen, fresh out of high school, I found myself standing at a crossroad in my life: I was accepted in both the Ateneo and UP for college. But I decided to go to Russia instead and pur...

The lead story on our local news this morning was about potholes. After the rough winter we have experienced already, the roads are a mess — with auto-damaging potholes on all the main thoroughfares. It reminds me of the way human life works. Life is a journey. We map our roads to success and happiness. There are curves along the way, and we must not give in to the temptation just to coast. Okay. You've got it. Right? The notion of life as a road to travel has been used in the Bible, by Scott Peck, and in the vocabularies of practically all of us. There are no roads without potholes. So the people who get the most joy out of life are the ones who learn early how to deal with discouragement. Temperament appears to predispose some people to see the dark side of situations and to incline toward pessimism. There are external circumstances over which one does not have control. There are people who can make life harder for you as critics or enemies. But you are not helpl...

One of our dogs is a tattletale. She is small, cute, and has a very loud excitable bark when something sets her off. And nothing sets her off like when our Golden Retriever does something he should not. If he sticks his nose in the trash, she gets about six inches from his face and starts barking as loud as she can. If he puts one paw on the couch, same thing. If he does anything he is not supposed to do, then she lets him, us, and everyone in earshot know about it. You have known people like that. They want to be sure everyone knows about every mistake you have ever made. It is as if their greatest joy in life is to see someone get in trouble. Tattletales want to get people in trouble, see people "get what is coming to them," and make sure everyone knows about it. You see them among children on the playground, and among employees in the workplace. There is even a tattletale who wants to be sure God gives you what you deserve for all the wrong choices in your life. A...

Steve Jobs was a revolutionary. He turned an industry around. He did it by doing things differently than how they were being done. His pitch was: Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. The early church was revolutionary in a different way — a much more important way. Their pitch could have been: Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in Jesus and living differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by living lives that are beautifully designed and simple. We just happen to live generous lives. 

Who am I? What was I created to be and to do? Why am I here? Do I have a purpose? Does God have a plan for my life? These are all questions we struggle with from time to time questions some struggle with all the time.

Our culture loves to rank things. Just take a look at all the top ten lists that are published. There are lists ranking the best — or worst — songs, movies, jobs, places to live, and things to see. We rank people too. There are lists covering looks, bodies, popularity, effectiveness, and abilities. High school athletes are rated by recruiting services as one star up to five stars. The only thing worse than a low rating is no rating. People even rank themselves. Just listen to conversations that include phrases like "... at least I am better than so and so." Or, "... at least I look better than she does."

The year was 1761. King Carlos III of Spain, realizing that his country would soon be involved in the Seven Years' War, appointed Juan de Prado as commander-in-chief of Spain's key holding in the Americas: Cuba. Specifically, de Prado was sent to Havana to prepare the city for the inevitable invasion by British forces. The king gave de Prado a task that was of highest priority: fortify La Cabana hill, which overlooked the Morro castle. The Morro protected the Havana harbor; as long as the castle remained in Spanish hands, the city would be unassailable. A year after de Prado's arrival in Havana, the British came. One of their first attacks was on La Cabana. They took the hill easily, for the fortifications had not been made. The city fell soon after, her defenses undermined by de Prado's failure to prepare.

Today, I had a terrible day. Everyone was against me. Some days, I get so frustrated with people. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to deal with people at all. They can be so unreasonable. Today was one of those days. Today was "trash day." I took out our trash the night before, but when I pulled out of our driveway, I noticed that our grouchy neighbor had thrown a piece of his trash in our yard, close to our trash can! (But he didn't. The wind blew it over). After dropping the children off at school, I needed to make a left-hand turn into a long line of traffic. I saw one of my friends in line and thought she would let me out in front of her. She saw me, but wouldn't let me out. Some friend she is! (But she didn't see you. She was miles away in her own thoughts).

I recently read a little story about a little girl that touched my  heart. It seems that this little girl was late coming home for supper  one evening. When she got home her parents were understandably upset.  He questioned her about why she had been so late, after all they had  worried about her! The little girl said, "I stopped to help Marcie, she had a wreck on her  bicycle and it was broken." Her father said, "But you don't know  anything about fixing bicycles!" To which the little girls replied, "I  know, but I stopped to help her cry."

1. Own your stress. Sometimes we stress about our stress. Seriously! If, like most, you’re a sensitive and thoughtful person trying to make the best choices in your life, you may have to guard against the all-too-easy habit of judging yourself and beating yourself up over the negative feelings that come with stress. I find that the judgment of a stressful situation or emotion is often more upsetting than the original issue. This can create a spiral of negativity. If you’re stressed, own it! You are allowed to experience all your feelings, including the stressful, negative ones. Accept them and find a way to channel them in a positive direction, such as outcome-based thinking. This is where you say “I don’t like this situation. I feel awful. What do I want it to be like instead? How do I want to feel instead?” rather than “I don’t like this situation. I feel awful! It’s hopeless!”. At the risk of taking us all back to the 1970s, be your own best friend; be gentle with yourself. Give...

Have you noticed how we consumers are being swayed into buying products  by the advertisers? There's a psychology behind what makes us buy  things. Maybe those stores and their advertisers are in cahoots to make us hungry enough to buy their stuff! A few years ago, a lady in my exercise class sold athletic clothing.  She told us about her product line and showed us her catalog. The  clothing looked very nice, but it was a bit too pricy for me. My other  rationale was -- did I need to look stylish while working out, or  impress anyone? The lady told one of her interested customers about a  hot-selling item. She said that it was available in Merlot, but she was  out of the Chocolate Brown.

For a believer, life is a growing collection of God stories...  See beyond your vision.

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't ...good for the environment. The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment f or future generations." She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were truly recycled.

Death asked Life: Why does everyone love you and hate me. Life replied: Because I am a beautiful Lie and you are a painful Truth

By Tom Norvell A friend of mine calls them dry times. Dry times are those times in  your life, more specifically in your spiritual life, when there seems  to be a void. A time when all the things you typically do to nourish  your soul seem to have stopped working. Some of you understand the dry  times very well. You have lived through them. You may be  going through  one right now. Maybe you have recently come out of such a time. Here  are a few examples of how a dry time may express itself. You are going through life pretty much like you always have, but one  day things seem different. The sky is not as blue. The breeze is not as  cool. The sunshine is not as bright. The snowfall is not as white.  Rainbows don't provide much of a thrill. And very few things seem to  give your heart much of a thrill. You are doing the same things you have always done. Except now you are  enjoying it less. Very few things seem to excite y...

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you. He said, 'I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.'

A veteran pastor began a custom during his Sunday service - a custom he continued for twelve years. Before dismissing the children for Junior church, he invited them all to the front of the sanctuary to march past his pulpit on their way to the special kid oriented service. As the kids walked past him, the pastor made a point to smile at each one. In return, all of them smiled at him. "It was one of the high points of the service," he once said.