Routine Maintenence

When I was a teen and I needed to fill up the car with gas, I went to a gas station and someone who worked there actually came out to my car window, asked what I needed and promptly serviced the car. They would fill it up, or put in whatever amount and type gas I wanted, wash my windshield, check the oil and other simple routine maintenence stuff. When that was done I paid and went on my way.
Routine car maintenence is a not exactly fun, but necessary, it's protection against potentially damaging repairs and all around a good thing to do. Gas stations today do not provide that service so I am left to myself to do this. I also have some routine maintenence I practice for my life and here are some of the things from my checklist.

1.Spiritually I do my best to have a fully alive relationship with God that overflows into every aspect of my life. How I treat and serve others, how I give of my time, gifts and talents and basically how I live my life for Him and not for myself. It takes time and concentration and being very intentional as well as creative in order to keep it from becoming stale.

2. Physically I try to exercise regularly, stretch, eat pretty healthy foods/drink and get an adequate amount of sleep.

3. Mentally I love to read, and grow intellectually as well as learn new skills and have stimulating conversations with others.

4.Emotionally I keep a close watch on my "joy meter", I use the tools I gained from my years in Recovery Ministry and I do my best to keep my emotional bank account high by scheduling time with the right kinds of people and doing the right kinds of fill 'er up activities. I also journal a lot and that really helps!

5. In my roles, I set monthly specific goals to keep myself motivated, making a difference and to be strategic as I live to the full each day I have here on earth.

So there you go! Simple routine maintenence, it makes a difference! What about you?

My Friend - Abba

I love people! Yep, it's true, I love them in every phase and stage - Broken and whole! I love making friends, deepening friendships and connecting. People are messy (me included) since we are all in process but that's the greatness of it all. I am not a "love 'em and leave 'em kind of person, and if you know me, you know this to be true (I pray). I am long haul all the way! I do understand there is a relational capacity where we can only "manage/maintain" closeness with so many people, but when people are a part of your passion then I believe that capacity is really large!
Last night, I was at church and I ran into a number of people. Some were truly people I "KNOW" deeply, others not so much and then I watched strangers interact. For one of my friends it was interrupted time and not quality, but it was still time spent together. You know the people where it's just good for your soul and life no matter how little or much time you have together. We wanted to spend more time together after church but she was too spent and the time that we wanted for deeper stuff just wouldn't have happend, so we put a rain check on it. I had time with another of the people I love, we had some un-interrupted time and it was good to hear his heart about things that his is passionate about that may come to fruition so this was time well spent. It was not as long as we would have liked but it was good to hear his heart! We have been hit and miss lately so it was good. Later I picked up his youngest son at the nursery, that little guy and I have a unique connection. He is too young to really communicate verbally with me but the connection has is there. I haven't seen him in a couple weeks so when I came to pick him up he had the biggest smile and a big hug for me! We both kind of gave a non-verbal "awwww"...

So here is the deal! God is creator, His is El Shaddai and mighty, He is Holy, majestic, and well.... He is God. But, and this is amazing, He calls me/us friend! Think about that for awhile will ya? When we meet together often there is this awwww thing where we are really connecting, sometimes it is interrupted (my fault entirely) and then there are times when we just don't connect. If you have gone any length of time without connecting with a dear friend and then you finally get to, well you know....awwww!! Abba loves us so much! Why don't you take time right this moment and re-connect or just connect with Him. He is especially fond of us!! James says that if we draw near to Him, He WILL draw near to us...He calls us friend! Don't let the moment pass you by, it's the best thing we have!!!!

G.P.S. and you!

My best friend just got a GPS, (Global Positioning System) that helps do everything but drive her car. She has found this tool to be both fascinating (you can find every eatery anywhere, where gas stations are with-in feet of present location, even where construction is); and hilarious (she can program different languages and male/female voices). She has decided on "Samantha" as her current voice director and they are now buddies! Samantha tells her where to go, when to turn and if she misses her turn, Samantha re-calibrates in order for my friend to still get to her destination.

You know where I am going with this don't you?

Yep, wouldn't be great if God were that involved with every detail of our lives so we would always reach our destination without getting lost along the way? Though my friend trusts in Samantha big time to get her where she is intending to go, Samantha is not fool proof, my friend still has default tools like a real map, her own eyes and of course the humility tool called "asking for directions". God is perfect and so are His ways, we get to trust God, we must choose Him in everything. Sometimes His ways are so clear (thou shall not murder, not lie, do encourage each other and build one another up...) but there are those times where not heeding His directions could be fatal, life long damaging and so on.

But we do have an internal GPS, I call it "God's Powerful Spirit" (a little tacky I know) the Holy Spirit lives in believers. He has many roles to fill, He directs, convicts, leads, indwells, brings glory to Jesus, He comforts, counsels, empowers, and allows us to do more than we can ask or imagine.
The important part here is; are we "tuned in" or un-able to hear Him at all, or worse, do we ignore Him when He directs?

I want to hear from you! Let's swap Holy Spirit stories of experiences you have had when you were truly guided by God's Powerful Spirit or when you didn't and the lessons you have learned! He is our internal GPS!!!

The Messes We Make

A couple weeks ago I helped my foxhole friend clean his garage before his wife's family invaded their house for the holidays. It was his attempt to create a more organized space for his own family and to appease his in-laws who have always seen his garage as a "death-trap." He had to take responsibility for the mess, he owns the house and the space and he is ultimately responsibile for how his family does or does not take care of that space. His kids are pretty young and so perhaps they are just not responsibile enough to do their share. Their lives are busy and maybe it's just not a huge priority.... until family come! Sometimes outside stimuli, a need for a fresh start, getting ticked off enough to act, or the fear of being exposed can incite action!

Proverbs 26:11 "As a dog returns to it's vomit, so a fool who repeats his folly."

We all have habits that are either healthy or un-healthy. Yesterday in an attempt to help someone out, due to some really bad decisions/in-decisions he is responsible for, we ended up in an even greater mess. I heard myself during the 4 hour discussion repeat nearly everything I have before to him and he just sat there seemingly un-able to connect the dots on how he gets there. I couldn't get him to understand but his mess was also effecting my life and those I love - big time!
As long as we are all in process we all have messes! Seen and un-seen, and there may be many legitmate reasons for how they got there, but in the end we are responsible for most of them. When it comes to cleaning up messes I admit I love both the process and creating systems so it can stay cleaned up, and of course I love the results! I love it! But what I don't love is not doing things differently enough so the messes keep happening....Have you been there?

"Insanity is doing the same things, the same way and expecting different results."

I believe that due to agreements we make about our lives, agreeing with other people's opinions of us, things that happen or don't happen to us, failures, in-decisions, wrong decisions, poor models, generational sins, the enemies who rage war against us (all of the above) we live in messes. Repeated messes! Many messes if not most of them we cannot clean up ourselves, especially when they involve/effect others. Out of fear we either do one of the following; we jump in and take control, hope others will jump in and rescue, or we do nothing. As I mentioned in my previous post on gravity, it takes God's strength to help us pull away! I will be taking some action, but first I am taking time to ask God to help me understand how the mess happened in the first place, what my role was, and ask for His help, His wisdom and then the faith and partnership to get it cleaned up the best it can be!

Thank God He is cleaning up my messes as I surrender my responsibility, my control and the blame I have placed on others/things! Thank God I have His word, The Spirit, other people who love me and can speak the truth into my life! Thank God - He makes all things new through His presence and power, His grace and love!

The Pull of Gravity

As you and I begin a new year, hope comes with it. Desires and prayers, dreams and hopes, but if you have lived long enough you know they can be short lived and then we just live/exist/fit in... Why is that? I have a theory, it's called gravity, yeah gravity, you know the stuff that holds us here so we don't float away, it's the stuff that holds us down. People can only get so far up without being brought back down. Some can jump higher than others (Michael Jordan, David Thompson) and if we use a trampoline it helps and is fun, or if we are lucky enough to get in an airplane we make it to 30,000 feet but it brings us back down as well.
Our lives are much like this aren't they? Our generational curses can hold us down, the limitations others may place on us, the ones we place on ourselves and then there is the enemy who does not want us to become all that God desires for us.

"The thief comes only to rob, kill and destroy, but I have come that you may have life to overflow." John 10:10.

As we face a new year and try and put together plans to break away from our past so we can have a better future, let's remember that we cannot do it ourselves. It is impossible. The author Gerald May (highly reccomend) says we cannot arrange for the life we treasure. But we sure try! Goals, resolutions etc. but for most of us trying to break away from personal gravity is so hard, it takes so much effort to break away. How do we do it then if we cannot do it on our own?

The Apostle Paul "One thing I do, I forget the past and look forward to what lies ahead. For I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength to do it" Phillipians 4.

Gravity will prevent some things, but with God nothing is impossible. My prayer and hope for 2009 is that the things that hold us down from being all that God desires for us will be destroyed. You and I cannot arrange for it, but we have a God who is stronger and limitless. Oh to have the kind of faith that God is pleased with, "for without faith it is impossible to please God" Hebrews 11. Instead of getting in line with everyone else and getting lost in the drone, take some time right now (I mean it!) and ask yourself what is it you really want to break away from, have victory over, do differently? Take it to God and like the persistent widow, wear God out on this. Make specific plans to be sure, seek out others who are excellent at this or have overcome it and learn from them. Read a book on it by all means! If it's from Him, about Him and pleases Him, be persistent, test Him on this and pull away from those things that have hindered you in the past!!! God bless you indeed!