So many live out their lives in fear. Reacting to failure. Reacting to pain. Reacting to violence. Reacting to disastrous times.
No precept. No plans. No purpose.
Only reaction upon reaction to circumstance, feelings and desire.
Not enough live their lives by sheer courage. Having courage is choosing to be equipped. Choosing to be intentional. Choosing to be in the moment. Choosing to make the right choices regardless of common ground.
Know preparation. Know purpose. Know peace.
Choosing to respond or not to respond. Speak or not to speak. But always thinking. Always alert. Always deliberate of the choice.
That’s courage.
It’s not having all confidence or even all knowledge. It’s never about being the strongest or having the most.
Courage is the choice to do right and to be right no matter who stands against you. No matter who discourages. No matter who disagrees.
Have courage today. Be different. Make a difference.
And you can change the world.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
John 1:9
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
The best piece of advice would actually be two statements given by different people, but the statements work together:
It takes 1,000 tiny miracles to make a marriage work.
Marriage will only last best when Christ is at the center.
These might sound a bit cliche, and if you don’t have a relationship with Christ; then, it might not even make sense to you. Or if you’ve “been a Christian but everything went wrong in my marriage/in life,” then, it might be a difficult concept for you to accept.
Let me say this loud and clear and long:
Just because the statement did not/does not ring true in your own life, does not make the statement untrue.
That’s why these two statements work so well together. It truly takes a 1,000 tiny miracles to get the right two people together, at the right time, in the right location, under the right circumstances, and in the right context, in the right season for each.
Much more is it tiny miracles that keep those two love birds together over time. After all, he is marrying a woman. And she is marrying a man. Imagine that. Lol. They think differently, act differently, speak differently, react differently, even feel differently. How in the world can that work?
And that’s where God comes in. He is the Creator of our very lives. He designed every part of us and breathed breath into our lungs. How could He not be the miracles working within our lives? But there’s one caveat. He allows us to have the freewill of choice.
You heard me right. He’s the Almighty, great Creator of heaven and earth and all that we see. He is the Master Designer of all creation and of the intricate, complex beings called humans. He is the Alpha Omega, the Beginning and the End, meaning He can create and finish life and everything in it and around it.
Yet, He in His ultimate design, He gives us the ability to choose. We can choose Him or not. We can choose love or hate. We can choose life or death. We get the beautiful freedom of choice.
And what we do with that choice will determine the beautiful finality of those 1,000 tiny miracles that it takes to make a marriage work. What we do in choosing determines where we end up in life and who we end up with. What we do with the choices determines how we think, how we speak, how we act, interact and react, and it determines how we live our lives.
Every. Single. Day.
Every. Single. Minute of that Day.
Every. Single. Second of that Minute of that Day.
These choices don’t automatically make us somehow perfect. They don’t make us sinless. But if we’re daily choosing Christ and the things of Him, it will make us seek perfection, and it will make us sin less. And if two people are seeking, choosing, sacrificing and loving in these ways, it surely helps to support and strengthen a healthy union.
So, what will you choose?
Or better yet, WHO will you choose?
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As we walk forward in this life, the ground is always shifting and changing shape.
When you step in the sand, footprints are left, and sand follows you.
When you step in the grass, shoe prints are left, and grass collects on your soles.
When you step onto the bus, dirt is left, and the smells surround you.
When you step onto the road, unseen impressions are left, and the cars consume you.
When you step into your own, intimidations are left, and confidence embraces you.
So, step up.
Let that ground shift.
And keep on walking.
Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
Sometimes, it’s the small, insignificant things that end up mattering the most. We can be so focused on the big picture that the portrait diminishes because we failed to notice the details.
Be aware of the little nuances whether in people, situations or surroundings.
Being able to notice can be a game changer.
Sometimes, it’s the small, seemingly insignificant things that will unravel the larger, more glamorous moments because it’s truly the little things that being together the big.
This is true in paintings.
This is true in circumstances.
This is true in relationships.
This is true in life.
If we ignore the minuscule things that make up the whole, we can miss a vital key that can unlock future and further withholding.
Don’t ignore the small things.
They can truly turn out to be the big things.
Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
John C. Maxwell says, “Leadership is influence.” So, when the question is posed, “Do you see yourself as a leader?”, the answer for all of us should actually be, “Yes.”
The question should rather be, “Who are you leading?” And “Where are you leading them?”
If you are like me, and you call yourself a Christian, we should be leading others to Christ. Not to a religion. Not to church. Not to a “feel better” lifestyle. Not to a program or to a group of people. But we should be leading others to a relationship with Jesus.
All of those other things might come with the territory, and if we truly have a relationship with Jesus and actually read His Word, many of those things will fall into line. But the relationship is where it’s at. And if you have that relationship, you will have influence. And if you have influence, per John Maxwell, you will be a leader.
And even if you don’t claim Jesus as your Savior, or maybe you declare you’re not into “all that religious stuff,” you’ll still be leading someone somewhere. And again, I’ll insert the question, “Where are you leading them?”
If you have no leader yourself, and you have no foundation of truth, than your path will be quite a crooked one. And in this modern age, a crooked path can simply be foolish and quite frankly, dangerous. For there are buyers for your soul on every street corner, both physically and metaphorically. And typically, the highest bidder will win.
But at what cost? And are you willing to gamble your life upon it? Or better yet, are you willing to gamble with the most innocent among you? Or maybe even better to ask, what about the ones you love the most? Are they worth the precarious journey in your lack of leadership?
Whether you decide to choose or not, it will be decided. Refusal to answer is still an answer, and it will still bring consequences.
What personality trait in people raises a red flag with you?
Rudeness is a personality trait that raises a red flag for me almost immediately. You can be aggravated and not rude. You can be inconvenienced and not rude. You can even be mad and ticked off and still not rude.
Being rude is simply disrespect and apathy flowing out of your mouth and attitude toward someone else. Being rude is a lack of caring who’s around you or how you might be perceived.
Now, look. I’m not setting myself on a high horse and pretending I’ve never been rude. And it’s also not a “make it or break it” attitude for our relationship. We can all have bad days, and we can all make mistakes.
But if you walk around in life believing it’s your prerogative to be rude anytime you like and to anyone whom you dare, then, we’re going to have a problem.
If you believe it’s your God-given right to be rude to the elderly or to children, that’s when you and I aren’t going to get along.
And if you sincerely feel you’ve earned the privilege to be rude simply because you’re too young to know better or too old to care, then, we probably just can’t be friends.
And if you carry on that way long enough in my presence, I’ll even say something to you, retaliate with a bit of rudeness myself, or simply walk away and leave you to your fate.
Rudeness is never a right of passage nor an achievement of greatness.
It is just what it is: RUDE!
And just in case you’re wondering, speaking truth is not being rude, but there are also plenty of opportunities to speak truth firmly and strongly without being rude.
It actually takes more courage to be right and truthful andnot be rude.
And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
My journey didn’t stop with mere time travel or writing; it led me to become one of the most sought-after empaths, a soulful psychic who reads the hidden depths of the human spirit. I’ve been blessed—or perhaps burdened—with an ability that allows me to feel the emotions of people from every corner of time.
I am a licensed psychologist based in Greece. My love for housekeeping has inspired me to create this blog about home management and family relationships. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing!
Dedicated to movie nerdom, nostalgia, and escape. In the late 90s, I worked at Blockbuster Video where they let me take home two free movies a day. I caught up on the classics and reviewed theatrical releases for Denver 'burbs newspapers and magazines. Today, while raising two young, beautiful daughters with my amazing wife, I look forward to anything rated R and not Bluey. Comments and dialogue encouraged!
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