Today the whole (all three of us) family went to Lake Geneva to relax…
get away…
decompress…
let the stress go…
divorce busy-ness…
and ENJOY life!
What are the things you are doing to STOP and enjoy those with whom you love? Where do you like to go to relax? What is your favorite vacation spot?
Maybe it’s time for you to divorce busy-ness and choose to live!
“You have what it takes!”
Think of those words for a moment. Think of those words coming from a parent who believes and loves their son and/or daughter.
Aren’t those words soothing, invigorating, sustaining and promising? Those are the words a child longs to hear. They are words which are filled with…
faith
hope
love
kindness
and more.
One day a son heard those words from a loving Father. The words went like this, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.” These words weren’t misspoken. These words weren’t half-heartedly articulated. These words weren’t scribed on a teleprompter by a speech writer.
These were the words echoed from the platform of heaven to earth. Words that rang in the son’s heart. The words spoken from the heart of God.
Words of delight.
Words of love.
Every father can echo the same words to his son and/or daughter. Words that build…not words that tear down.
Father’s, say to your son and/or daughter today, “you have what it takes!”
So I echo the same words to my dear son, George…
“George, you have what it takes!”
Kathryn (my wife) and I were talking about forgiveness this morning.
Do you ever find it difficult to forgive someone else?
• Maybe someone who is close to you has been less than honest with you
• Maybe you have been cheated
• Maybe you have been let go from your job
• Maybe you have been neglected or abandoned
At the end of the day, all of us, in some way(s) have been given the opportunity to forgive. The truth of the matter, it’s isn’t always easy to forgive.
Forgiveness, I believe, must be a way of life!
This is what I believe:
1.) When I forgive someone else I give up the right to hurt them back
I choose to stop trying to get even for what someone else did wrong to me.
I remember someone once saying, about this notion of “getting even,” they said: “Even though you may hurt me deliberately, personally, and deeply, I suspend the law of vengeance. I refrain from the instinctive response of retaliation. I don’t act on or indulge my desire to see you squirm. When I forgive you, I set you free from the little prison I have placed in my mind for holding you captive. I seek to stop entertaining fantasies of vengeance in which you are tortured or fired from you job or suddenly gain fifty pounds.”
2.) Forgiving is a new way of seeing and feeling
Someone once told me “people do what they do because of who they are, not because of who you are.” Sometimes we have to come to the realization that someone who has hurt us may be dealing with some deep seeded stuff…downright junk – and you became the brunt of that hurt! Right, wrong, or indifferent…we have to begin seeing the situation differently.
When we hold fast to unforgiveness toward another person, we tend to believe only bad things about them.
• When we forgive each other, we begin to see more clearly. We do not ignore the hurts, but we see beyond them.
• We rediscover the humanity of the one who hurt us.
3.) Forgiveness is when I began to wish others well
The truth is…we can forgive others, because The Great Forgiver has forgiven us!
So, maybe a question for you is this: Do you wish the person who has hurt you well? Regardless of what they did? Don’t get me wrong…I imagine you will have moments, backsliding moments, where you struggle with what someone else did to you.
Forgiveness is the revitalization of relationships! It is a practice as frequent, sometimes, as breathing.
TRUE forgiveness isn’t cheap. Sometimes your hurt runs deep. Sometimes you want to hurt someone back. BUT the alternative of NOT forgiving is that it will cost you your heart.
Fredrick Buechner who was a Presbyterian minister during WW2, said about not forgiving and holding on to resentment:
“Of all the deadly sins, resentment appears to be the most fun. To lick your wounds and savor the pain you will give back is in many ways a feast fit for a king. But then it turns out that what you are eating at the banquet of bitterness is your own heart. The skeleton at the feast is you. You start out holding a grudge, but in the end the grudge holds you.”
When we begin to let go of unforgiveness we allow the grace and peace of God to reign in our hearts and minds. It isn’t easy, but the alternative of not forgiving is the imprisonment of your heart.
How would life look different? How would your world look different?
I DARE you to forgive…it may be the narrow path, but that path is liberating!
All of us have been looking to the markets these days, during the rough and tumble of the economy. Many are gripped with fear and panic, as the western economic system, and beyond, is being rocked!
In my opinion, now is not the time to be afraid, but to pragmatically look within. Truth be told, we need to tighten the belt! Maybe this is a time for us to look at what is important and become leaner in our spending. In my opinion, it starts at home…what are those items that you can do without these days? What if you became a better steward of what you have? If you were to become a good steward of the money you do have, how could you better help those around you, who are less fortunate?
Here are several blogs and sites to educate yourself on and to help you “tighten the belt” during these times:
Hope is sometimes found in the simple act of educating ourselves and tightening the belt…even if it HURTS!
Recently we were testing the different features on the fairly new camera!
Yes, George has his pajamas on…don’t ask…
George is doing his best to pose…
George is ready to walk any day now…
George thinks his dad is a former paparazzi…