Thursday, November 16, 2006

Courage


Greetings and apologies for the passing of time since my last post. A crazy schedule and some much needed family time has kept me away. Don’t know if things will settle down, but for the moment, I feel better!

My thoughts today have turned towards courage and what I believe is the absolute necessity for us to possess a measure of it for this life. Now most of us think of courage as a very noble character, you now – knights in armor slaying dragons and men going off to war and such - and perhaps it is, but I see it as more of a practical tool. How so, you say? Well, I’m glad you asked.

I have seen and experienced first hand the crippling nature of fear in one’s life. Fear of rejection causes many to never risk themselves emotionally and limits a life of relationships to a superficial level. Fear of failure stops many of us from striving for more or even just different experiences in life. Fear of the unknown keeps far too many of us locked in situations that we wish were different, but without knowing how things might work out, we never move.

Courage is the answer to fear. And as I said before, it’s a practical answer. Courage will enable us to be ourselves in all our relationships, to be heard and understood and know what it truly means to love and be loved. Courage will allow us to try something new - take a different route to work, sit in a different seat at church, go to a concert or show, backpacking or skiing, or any number of things we may never “normally” consider in our daily routines. Courage will help us see clearly situations that are unhealthy, even though familiar, and cause us to walk out of them knowing that something better is on the horizon.

Fear causes the “stuff” of our life to become dragons that look impossible for us to slay. Courage calls us beyond our fears to step into the fullness of life we have been promised. God always keeps His promises.

"Be strong and courageous……The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Those words are from His word, the bible. Now that’s fuel for slayin’ a few dragons!


Peace……

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

VOTE


Today’s blog is simple and revolves around one word – VOTE. I’m not endorsing any party, any candidate or any politics, I’m just saying VOTE.

VOTE – it is your right. And why, in a country that is known for it’s freedoms, would people neglect that right and in essence be enslaved to those that did vote?

VOTE – it is your voice. Sure, you can protest in the streets or picket the White House but at the end of the day – has anything changed?

You’ve read of my beliefs in this blog and may wonder how they line up with this voting process. Well here you go – I am called to be salt and light in the world wherever I am, to constantly point to my Maker in my actions, words and deeds. I live in America, the process here is voting. I will enter that process and vote today, I hope you will too.

Peace……