Tyrannosaurus Rex

7/31/07 The need to succeed can disguise itself as perfectionism. It is a survival mechanism to be successful. The caveman would not have survived if it had not been successful in bringing home a dinosaur for supper. He may have set out to bring home a Tyrannosaurus but was only able to find a Brachiosaurus. He made do with what he had. And sometimes that's what you need to do. Sometimes God answers your prayers with what you need and not necessarily with what you want. If God gives you a Brachiosaurus, make Brachiosaurus stew. Choose to be successful in whatever you do, but don't be crippled by the blinders of perfectionism. The true path to success may be down a path you don't suspect.

7/31/07 Lord, give us the strength to commit to living a successful life. But remind us that you are the author of what success in our lives should be. Amen.

Waste of Time

Bitterness and resentment are time wasters. I'm not telling you to ignore the causes of your being bitter and resentful. But the sooner you acknowledge the cause and deal with it (them) then you'll waste less time sulking and commiserating.

7/27/07 Lord, grant us the wisdom and patience to deal with everything that bothers us. Lead us to the path of freedom and forgiveness. Give us the knowledge we need to replenish our souls. Amen.

More to the story

There is usually more to every story. There is what meets the eye. There is your version and the version of everyone else in the story. And then there is the part that no one is telling you about. For that reason, you should not assume that you would live someone else's life differently. The best you can do for someone in crisis is to pray for them and stand by them. You can always ask if there is something they would like you to do for them. Or you can always ask them if there is anything they want to talk about. But don't rush them or judge them. Just love them. I will try my hardest to never judge you or your decisions. I will try to never push you in a direction that you don't care to travel. I will always listen to you. Pray with you. Support your decisions. And will do my best to never judge your choices. Because prayerfully you will make those choices based on the version of the story that you believe to be true.

7/15/07 Lord, grand us wisdom so that we make the right choices for ourselves. Help us to not push our thoughts and opinions on to others. Amen.

"please release me"

Let me go. Even after you practice forgiveness, it is sometimes hard to "forget" the transgression that you have forgiven. Forgiveness is a great place to start, but then you must work on releasing the transgression from your memory bank. True, you must learn from the past, but other than that, there is no real good reason to hang on to the baggage. It just weighs you down and may even hold you back from experiencing even greater things. So after you confront, pray and react, you need to release.

7/14/07 Lord, thank you for the many blessings in our lives. Even things that first appear to be curses are truly blessings if looked at from the right perspective. After we learn from our circumstances, help us loosen the grip that they hold on us. We ask this in your name, Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

"I've Got You Babe"

There's an old song by Sonny and Cher called "I've Got You Babe". It's about commitment, being able to depend on each other, trust, accountability. "I've got you and you've got me". That's the relationship that you have with God. "He's got you babe". He's got you no matter what. No matter what you say, think or do. You can depend on Him. Even when you can't trust yourself, you can trust God. And the only one that you are truly accountable to is God. The only one you can truly trust is God. The only one you can ultimately depend on is God. I will always do my best to be there for you, but I am only human and sometimes will fall short. And you too are only human and will occasionally fall short and disappoint yourself, But don't worry, God's got you.

7/13/07 Lord, even when we make poor choices you are there for us. Thank you for never giving up on us. Help us to never give up on ourselves. Amen.

Confrontation

The word confrontation is much like the word surrender. They both conjure up negative images, at least in my mind. With surrender, I automatically think of it as the total opposite of persistence. and i do believe that you must be persistent to succeed. To me, confrontation means argument and disagreement. But according to Webster, to confront is to face or to oppose boldly. so what i am suggesting to you is to always confront your demons. Acknowledge your flaws and look at your weaknesses. You cannot change anything until you first admit that there is something to change. So when your puzzle piece doesn't fit where you want it to go, acknowledge that it doesn't go where you are trying to put it. Look at it closely. Upon close scrutiny you will see the right way to put the piece in your puzzle. When other kids say mean things (they will, they're kids) confront their cruel words. Not necessarily with anger or words. But acknowledge what was said and decide to accept what they say and do something about it or totally disregard their words because after confronting them, you know that they are not true. Confront, Pray, Respond. CPR. Sometimes you will need to speak up and ask "What did you mean by that?" or tell them that they are wrong. Don't worry, if you pray about the situation (or any situation for that matter) God will show you how to respond. In Psalm 73, the psalmist asks God to guide him and afterward receive him to glory. You should do the same. If you follow God's guidance you shall have a favorable outcome.

7/12/07 Lord, guide us to confront our demons and respond to them according to your will. Amen.

Express Yourself

7/11/07 Lord, release our feelings of anger and resentment. Show us how to use this energy to glorify You. Replace them with love and hope. Amen.

Feelings are funny things. They are actually what make us human. We are not in control of what we feel. Our power comes from what we do because of these feelings. As young as you are, you feel them and respond to them. You feel love and respond by giving hugs and kisses and smiling. You feel anger and respond by screaming and crying. But you've already learned that you can respond in a much healthier way by expressing yourself through your art. By making long hard strokes or violently "dotting" the paper. When you feel happy you express yourself by twirling and dancing in addition to the smiles and laughter. When you are sad you pout and cry. I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that it is NEVER bad to acknowledge your feelings. As a matter of fact, it is probably the healthiest thing you can do. Pray and ask God what you should do about how you are feeling. Then be still. He will answer you. Sometimes the answer will be to ignore them. Other times it will be suitable for you to confront them. And if you can't sort it out, I will always be there to help you.

Giving

7/10/07 Lord, show us how to give of ourselves unselfishly. Teach us to separate our actions from our greed. Bring to us opportunities to glorify you through our words and actions. We pray to you Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Giving is more than tithing. Besides giving money, God expects you to give of yourself as well. That is why he gives each of us different talents. He does not expect us to use our talents for only our own benefit, but to glorify Him. That's the trick. How does He call you to do that? Some of us can sing and dance. Some of us can't. Some of us can cook and entertain. Some of us can't. Some of us can organize and manage. Some of us can't. Pray that God not only reveals your talents to you, but also shows you how to use them to glorify Him.

Living in the present

7/09/07 Lord, show us your plans for us. Open our ears and eyes so that we may live today as you have planned. Every minute and second that you have created is precious. Help us to not waste your blessing of time. Amen.

The past is relevant because that is one way we learn and grow. But God does not intend for us to remain stuck in the past. He wants us to make every moment count. and He doesn't intend for us to live in the future either. It is very tempting to place your happiness in the future. I will be happy when I'm a certain age, or make a certain amount of money or look a certain way. But in reality, you may never become that age or make that amount of money. You may never again face the opportunities that you are given today. The Lord does not expect you to live haphazardly either. Prayerfully take each step. But do what you can do today because you cannot change anything that has already occurred. Learn from it and do what you can today to either remedy it or build upon it. And don't wait for tomorrow to do what you can do today.

Approval

7/8/07 Lord, reveal to us the blessings that result from our devotion to you. Reward us with your approval. Remind us that your ways are different from the ways of the flesh and humankind. Amen.

From a very early point in your life you begin seeking approval from those around you. You want to be liked. First you want your parents' approval. Well, at least when you're not testing the waters of independence. But even then, you only want to push as far as you can and still be loved and feel safe. And after you feel that you have those relationships under control you seek approval from the rest of your family. Siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents. But by the time you're able to read this, you will have figured out that it doesn't take a lot to get the approval of grandparents, well at least not this one. And as you get older, it will be important to be accepted by your peers. This is good as it will inspire you to try new things. But it will be bad as well. Sometimes you will be tempted to try things that you know aren't good for you. You will even try to convince yourself that your parents and family don't know what's best for you. That is the devil speaking to you. Remember that ultimately it is only God's approval that you need. Pray regularly. Know that God loves you. And remember that while it's nice to feel appreciated by friends and family, ultimately it is only yourself and God that you have to please.

PRAYER

Prayer has become increasingly meaningful in my life. I'm thankful that your parents take you to church and have taught you to pray. I pray via the internet everyday with your parents and my best friends. And I have decided to include you in our daily prayers as well, via this blog. I thank God daily for the blessing of you in my life.


7/6/07 Lord, help us untangle the complexities of our lives. Help us appreciate the simple pleasures and blessings that you shower us with. Let us wait upon you and bask in the glories of the happiness that you bring into our lives. Amen.