All of us are facing some pretty difficult times these days. In my family, we have made adjustments to stay afloat. Here is a strategy to mentally cope with the changes we are all dealing with...
Play a "trick" on your brain. The strategy is very simple but effective. It starts with giving away some of your money. This sounds crazy in these economic times but once your brain is fooled into thinking you have more than enough, a new attitude develops.
There is a story in the Bible of a woman that is starving to death. When Jesus meets her, the first thing He asks for is some food to eat. The woman tells Jesus that she will share her last morsels of food with Him and her son, and then they will starve to death. The woman is rewarded with her willingness to share and lives a long and prosperous life.
Living on a budget is not easy. Changing your attitude towards money is even more difficult. Watch what happens to your life when your brain believes that you have plenty. All you need to do with your money is spend some, save some and share some. Why not give it a try?
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
The Silversmith
Ever wonder how silver gets refined and purified? The silversmith must pay careful attention during the entire process. The first step is to place the silver in the center of the flames where it is the hottest so that all the impurities can be burned away. Should the silversmith take his eyes off of the silver for just one moment, it can easily burn up in the intense flames.
This reminds me of how our Creator is refining and purifying all of us. There is a great deal of refining that needs to take place in order for our "silver" to be revealed. So many of us are feeling the heat during these tough times. While we are going through this process, it helps to know that someone is constantly watching us to make sure we don't burn up in the fire.
The Silversmith knows when his creation is fully refined. It is the exact moment when He can see His image in you! The next time you are feeling a little heat, be assured that He is watching you. He won't allow you to be destroyed in the flames. The world will be able to see the Creator's image in you once all the impurities have been removed. Here is a Bible quote to help you remember that He is with you always...
"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." Malachi 3:3
This reminds me of how our Creator is refining and purifying all of us. There is a great deal of refining that needs to take place in order for our "silver" to be revealed. So many of us are feeling the heat during these tough times. While we are going through this process, it helps to know that someone is constantly watching us to make sure we don't burn up in the fire.
The Silversmith knows when his creation is fully refined. It is the exact moment when He can see His image in you! The next time you are feeling a little heat, be assured that He is watching you. He won't allow you to be destroyed in the flames. The world will be able to see the Creator's image in you once all the impurities have been removed. Here is a Bible quote to help you remember that He is with you always...
"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." Malachi 3:3
Sunday, October 4, 2009
A Gift for Our Military
I little birdie told me that this blog has found its way to members or our military oversees. There is a special place in my heart for you. You are separated from your loved ones and you are dealing with dangerous conditions so that our freedom can be protected. I just wanted to say thank you. You also have the support of all of us at ZoomAutos.com.
Many of our customers that we serve also want you to know how much you are appreciated. If your home base is in southern California, make sure you pick up a Zoom Autos magazine when you come home. We recently got permission to place Zoom on all the bases in San Diego County. You will see many dealers who support you. They will help you or your family when you need a vehicle. You can also find us online.
One of my buddies told me that his son made it through his deployment by memorizing two passages in the Bible. The first is Psalm 91. You can find it by looking at my post from 9/11. The second passage is 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. This may comfort you in your time away from those you love.
May God protect you while you are defending our freedom. We look forward to your safe return. You have our prayers and you are loved. Here is your gift, it comes from the One who created you and who is protecting you...
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
If I speak in the tongues of men and angels,
but have not love,
I have become sounding brass or a tinkling symbol.
And if I have prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains,
but have not love, I am nothing.
And if I dole out all my goods, and
if I deliver my body that I may boast
but have not love, nothing I am profited.
Love is long suffering,
love is kind,
it is not jealous,
love does not boast,
it is not inflated.
It is not discourteous,
it is not selfish,
it is not irritable,
it does not enumerate the evil.
It does not rejoice over the wrong, but rejoices in the truth
It covers all things,
it has faith for all things,
it hopes in all things,
it endures in all things.
Love never falls in ruins;
but whether prophecies, they will be abolished; or
tongues, they will cease; or
knowledge, it will be superseded.
For we know in part and we prophecy in part.
But when the perfect comes, the imperfect will be superseded.
When I was an infant,
I spoke as an infant,
I reckoned as an infant;
when I became [an adult],
I abolished the things of the infant.
For now we see through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know as also I was fully known.
But now remains
faith, hope, love,
these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
Many of our customers that we serve also want you to know how much you are appreciated. If your home base is in southern California, make sure you pick up a Zoom Autos magazine when you come home. We recently got permission to place Zoom on all the bases in San Diego County. You will see many dealers who support you. They will help you or your family when you need a vehicle. You can also find us online.
One of my buddies told me that his son made it through his deployment by memorizing two passages in the Bible. The first is Psalm 91. You can find it by looking at my post from 9/11. The second passage is 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. This may comfort you in your time away from those you love.
May God protect you while you are defending our freedom. We look forward to your safe return. You have our prayers and you are loved. Here is your gift, it comes from the One who created you and who is protecting you...
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
If I speak in the tongues of men and angels,
but have not love,
I have become sounding brass or a tinkling symbol.
And if I have prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains,
but have not love, I am nothing.
And if I dole out all my goods, and
if I deliver my body that I may boast
but have not love, nothing I am profited.
Love is long suffering,
love is kind,
it is not jealous,
love does not boast,
it is not inflated.
It is not discourteous,
it is not selfish,
it is not irritable,
it does not enumerate the evil.
It does not rejoice over the wrong, but rejoices in the truth
It covers all things,
it has faith for all things,
it hopes in all things,
it endures in all things.
Love never falls in ruins;
but whether prophecies, they will be abolished; or
tongues, they will cease; or
knowledge, it will be superseded.
For we know in part and we prophecy in part.
But when the perfect comes, the imperfect will be superseded.
When I was an infant,
I spoke as an infant,
I reckoned as an infant;
when I became [an adult],
I abolished the things of the infant.
For now we see through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know as also I was fully known.
But now remains
faith, hope, love,
these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Talent
Earlier this week I walked into one of the most luxurious car dealerships in my city to visit some old friends I had not seen for more than two years. As I approached the entrance, I asked the person at the front door how his day was going. He told me it was cloudier than it looked. It turns out that he had just come out of a meeting where he was told big changes were coming to his store. There were some sad faces all around me.
I waited for my friend to come out of his meeting and I was the first person he encountered after getting the news of the storm that was coming his way. Surprisingly, his attitude was very upbeat. His future was uncertain but he did not seem to mind. He shared a story about a visitor that came to his church to speak a couple of weeks ago. This man was born with no arms or legs and every service he spoke at was standing room only. This man had some kind of special talent for inspiring those of us with arms and legs to use them.
Last night, a family member called to ask me if I had heard about the "blade runner" (he is pictured at the left), an Olympic hopeful who was born with no legs. His event? Track! The story is that the suits don't think it is fair for this man to compete because his blades are so superior to the legs you and I were born with.
This athlete decided to try track when a rugby injury knocked him out of that sport. He does not let "obstacles" like being born with no legs stop him from using his talent.
There is a story in the Bible about three people who were given "talent". Two of the people doubled the talent they were given, although the talent was distributed in unequal amounts. The third man buried his talent so that he could return it to his master unused. He was not given as much talent as the first two and probably did not think he could really do much with it.
When the master returned to check on his investment, he rewarded the two who increased the talent with more talent. He scolded the one who buried his talent and took it away.
Even if you have been born with no arms or legs, there is talent inside of you. Maybe it is your ability to inspire others to use their arms and legs? The challenge is to avoid burying your talent. It was given to you for a purpose. Don't waste it. Develop it and share it. Have a great weekend.
Here is an awesome video of a senior high school player displaying his hidden talent for the first time at the final game of the year...
Friday, October 2, 2009
Special Message for Those on the Zoom Team
I made a promise to blog once a day and this message is a bonus post for my Zoom team-mates. The first post for today is about "Dream Killers". Many of you on the Zoom team have been told repeatedly that we will fail. This message is especially for you or for anyone who may want to join with us in our battle against Goliath:
You may fall but you will not fail. Goliath is strong but he is nothing compared to the Giant that you have behind you. We have a vision and we speak with one voice. Our ship is sailing and our sails are at full-mast. Our staff is small but we are relentless in our pursuit of our dreams.
Don't let anyone be your dream killer! King Arthur defeated his enemy with only a handful of knights. Now, you are the knight in shining armor. May you and your family prosper. If you are one of the new "knights", welcome aboard. We are here to support you as you live your dreams and soar like an eagle.
Here is a bonus video...
You may fall but you will not fail. Goliath is strong but he is nothing compared to the Giant that you have behind you. We have a vision and we speak with one voice. Our ship is sailing and our sails are at full-mast. Our staff is small but we are relentless in our pursuit of our dreams.
Don't let anyone be your dream killer! King Arthur defeated his enemy with only a handful of knights. Now, you are the knight in shining armor. May you and your family prosper. If you are one of the new "knights", welcome aboard. We are here to support you as you live your dreams and soar like an eagle.
Here is a bonus video...
Dream Killers
Last night my daughter asked me if I could please wait to write today's blog because she wanted to get up early and finish her lab assignment for school on my laptop. She was at the end of a very full day which included three sets of doubles against three different opponents and then her horse chores which did not get done until dark. When she got home, she had a pile of homework and wanted to get some sleep before completing it. I told her my message for today was too important to be put off and asked her to stay up late and complete her assignments. This blog was given to me in a dream and I can't let anyone, even the ones I love the most, kill this dream that is still in its infancy.
So, who is a dream killer? It is anyone that tries to stop you from being the person you are created to be. Many times it is someone you love, like a parent or spouse. It could be a teacher or friend that does not want to see you fail. Most people are advising you based on their own reality or experiences.
A great example of this is the student who came up with an idea to start an overnight delivery service while attending Yale University. His instructor said the government was already in charge of this and his idea was only worth a C in his professors eyes. Fred Smith did not let his teacher become a dream killer. Instead, he founded FedEx, a 27 billion dollar company.
Can you imagine how different our world would be today if one of Martin Luther King's friends told him his "dream" was a bunch of nonsense? Or what if Christopher Columbus listened to pretty much anybody around him and decided his dream would die as soon as his boat fell off the edge of the world? I am sure his friends thought he was crazy and they just wanted to save him from certain death.
What about Thomas Edison? Don't you think that the time was perfect for a dream killer to come along and nix his crazy light bulb idea? I can hear his wife now, "Come on, Thomas, how many thousand times are you going to work on that silly idea? You are such a time waster! When are you going to do something useful around the house?"
Don't forget Albert Einstein. The man who gave us new ideas on space, time and gravity had a mother who was very concerned when he was slow to talk. His teachers thought he was a foolish dreamer. One of his grammar school teachers asked him to drop out! He wasn't even smart enough to get in the Swiss military.
When Beethoven introduced his ninth symphony to the world, the applause was like thunder and he had to be turned around to see the audience going crazy. He was completely deaf! How can a deaf person give us such special music? Good thing he could not hear the voices of the dream killers who probably were telling him to give up on his music career.
I leave you with the video below. William Wallace confronts the dream killers in his famous speech with his dream about freedom. I watched this many times as I prepared to battle my own goliath. Please take a moment to watch this awesome speech. If you encounter a dream killer, become deaf to their voice, just like Beethoven and live your dreams...
So, who is a dream killer? It is anyone that tries to stop you from being the person you are created to be. Many times it is someone you love, like a parent or spouse. It could be a teacher or friend that does not want to see you fail. Most people are advising you based on their own reality or experiences.
A great example of this is the student who came up with an idea to start an overnight delivery service while attending Yale University. His instructor said the government was already in charge of this and his idea was only worth a C in his professors eyes. Fred Smith did not let his teacher become a dream killer. Instead, he founded FedEx, a 27 billion dollar company.
Can you imagine how different our world would be today if one of Martin Luther King's friends told him his "dream" was a bunch of nonsense? Or what if Christopher Columbus listened to pretty much anybody around him and decided his dream would die as soon as his boat fell off the edge of the world? I am sure his friends thought he was crazy and they just wanted to save him from certain death.
What about Thomas Edison? Don't you think that the time was perfect for a dream killer to come along and nix his crazy light bulb idea? I can hear his wife now, "Come on, Thomas, how many thousand times are you going to work on that silly idea? You are such a time waster! When are you going to do something useful around the house?"
Don't forget Albert Einstein. The man who gave us new ideas on space, time and gravity had a mother who was very concerned when he was slow to talk. His teachers thought he was a foolish dreamer. One of his grammar school teachers asked him to drop out! He wasn't even smart enough to get in the Swiss military.
When Beethoven introduced his ninth symphony to the world, the applause was like thunder and he had to be turned around to see the audience going crazy. He was completely deaf! How can a deaf person give us such special music? Good thing he could not hear the voices of the dream killers who probably were telling him to give up on his music career.
I leave you with the video below. William Wallace confronts the dream killers in his famous speech with his dream about freedom. I watched this many times as I prepared to battle my own goliath. Please take a moment to watch this awesome speech. If you encounter a dream killer, become deaf to their voice, just like Beethoven and live your dreams...
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The 5 Love Languages
The first thing my wife said to me when I woke up over 30 days ago to leave the cave and start this blog was, "I hope you are getting up to go rake the leaves." At 4:30 on a Saturday morning she was sharing with me that her love language is "acts of service".
A couple of days ago, my youngest son came home with a pair of tickets to a college football game. He won them from his school and could not wait to invite his mother on a date to spend "quality time", his love language.
When I am with my wife, I enjoy holding her hand. I also enjoy her love letters and refuse to throw them away (over 1,700 to date). These two represent "physical touch" and "words of affirmation".
The final love language is "gifts". If this is your love language and you don't get presents on your birthday or anniversary, you probably don't feel loved, even though your spouse is showing his or her love in another love language.
The best way for me to show my love for my wife is to rake the leaves or do the dishes. When she comes home to a clean house, it means more to her than a dozen roses. In order for us to feel loved we need to have those close to us speak our love language. This keeps marriages and families strong.
Dr. Gary Chapman has a whole series of books on this subject. Copy and paste the link below into your tool bar to get this book for $8.99 or visit your bookstore. Watch your marriage transform and deepen the bonds with your children. There is also a book on this subject for singles.
Learn the love language of those close to you and you will give real meaning to our command to "love your neighbor". Time to go. There are some dishes in the sink.
http://www.christianbook.com/five-love-languages-gary-chapman/9781881273158/pd/73156
A couple of days ago, my youngest son came home with a pair of tickets to a college football game. He won them from his school and could not wait to invite his mother on a date to spend "quality time", his love language.
When I am with my wife, I enjoy holding her hand. I also enjoy her love letters and refuse to throw them away (over 1,700 to date). These two represent "physical touch" and "words of affirmation".
The final love language is "gifts". If this is your love language and you don't get presents on your birthday or anniversary, you probably don't feel loved, even though your spouse is showing his or her love in another love language.
The best way for me to show my love for my wife is to rake the leaves or do the dishes. When she comes home to a clean house, it means more to her than a dozen roses. In order for us to feel loved we need to have those close to us speak our love language. This keeps marriages and families strong.
Dr. Gary Chapman has a whole series of books on this subject. Copy and paste the link below into your tool bar to get this book for $8.99 or visit your bookstore. Watch your marriage transform and deepen the bonds with your children. There is also a book on this subject for singles.
Learn the love language of those close to you and you will give real meaning to our command to "love your neighbor". Time to go. There are some dishes in the sink.
http://www.christianbook.com/five-love-languages-gary-chapman/9781881273158/pd/73156
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