There is always more work to do than time to do it in.
There is never enough time to get everything done that needs to be done.
Pick what is best to do and do it until you run out of time.
Then forget about the rest.
If you don’t have time to do anything else, you don’t have the time to worry about what you’re not getting done.
Move on and drop the self-inflicted guilt.
No one has said it this week.
And we have done nothing.
We have sat, talked, walked, sang and drove.
No activities to speak of. Just resting and relaxing.
Day to day, we are overstimulated and overstretched.
I don’t plan my life very well.
I have learned something this week.
I was talking with a friend recently about the 70’s.
He grew up in that era more so than I.
He mentioned how anytime he walks through the doors of a Kmart, it feels as though he has stepped through a time machine into the 70’s.
That got me to thinking about all the fads of the 70’s.
Fads come and go. They never last.
Sure they come back from time to time, but they never last long term.
I can’t help but think that the way some of our churches are trying to spread the gospel, that they are more fad like in their approach than they realize.
Jesus isn’t a fad.
He’s not something that you find fun for a while and then leave behind.
I saw a program once where a boy’s father was concerned with his infatuation with a pop culture Christian leader.
He showed the boy a shoe box that held some of his son’s possessions that he no longer took interest in. It contained some baseball cards, an old video game and an action figure.
He asked his son how much interest he had in these things. His son replied, “not much”.
The dad wisely said, “Exactly and I don’t want The Lord to end up in this box.”
We have to be careful that our love and followship of Jesus Christ isn’t because He’s the cool thing right now.
Jesus Christ. The same yesterday, today and forever.
It is day three of our trip.
I’m finally beginning to sense the mental wheels slowing down.
When I was a kid, we would turn our bikes upside down and crank the pedals as fast as we could. We would then use our hands to try to stop the wheel. It never stopped immediately, but would eventually slow to a stop after the friction of our hands would stop it.
My mind works this way.
Slowing it is a gradual process.
It usually takes about three or even four days to stop thinking about work and responsibilities.
It just goes to show you how hard and fast we have been cranking in out everyday lives.
Crank hard enough and fast enough and something breaks.
Had the opportunity to sit in some traffic today.
US 31 in Traverse City is notorious for moving a bit slow.
Even more so when there is construction.
When I was in California, I reevaluated my response to traffic. The I-5 is horrible as is the 401 in San Francisco.
I watched the Californians go with the flow (or lack thereof).
I used to get frustrated and try switching lanes.
The only thing that moved faster was my heart rate.
Now when I’m sitting in traffic, I enjoy the slow pace.
Getting angry never helped me get to my destination any sooner.
After Elijah battles the prophets of Baal, he is spiritually, mentally and physically exhausted.
God sends him away for forty days to rest and rejuvenate.
While away, The Lord sends a raven to feed him.
He slept, awoke to eat and slept again.
I had an Elijah day today.
I slept in until 10:00, something I never do. I had a bite of breakfast and then I enjoyed an afternoon nap.
It was nice but also necessary.
We rarely take one day to do this let alone forty.
Plan an Elijah day sometime this week.
The World Cup is taking place.
I don’t care.
I don’t hate soccer.
I just don’t like it.
Some people don’t like me.
That doesn’t mean they hate me.
They just don’t like me.
Hyper sensitivity makes us believe that anyone who doesn’t like us must by default hate us.
Most people don’t even know we exist.
Amazing isn’t it?
I am not the center of everyone’s universe.
Proverbs tells us that if we walk with wise men, we will be wise.
We become like the people we hang around.
The converse is also true.
If we walk with fools, we will be a fool.
Two pithy statements about this:
It’s hard to soar like an eagle when you’re surrounded by turkeys.
And this one was introduced to me by my friend, Chris Hinkley:
Cancel my subscription. I no longer need your issues.
Some people don’t want their problems solved. they just want people who will throw them a pity party.
Avoid all these people.
If you do not, you will become like them.
Its been interesting.
This is my one hundred twenty-fourth consecutive daily post.
I can check a report that tells me how many views each post gets and how many views each day.
The posts I believe are very helpful sometimes get very poor results.
Others that do not really stand out can get amazing results.
The time of day I post sometimes has a bearing on it. Other times, it doesn’t.
It has been very interesting to watch your response to what I write.
Some of you have subscribed. Somehow people in eighteen different countries have read. One of you is from Brazil and checks in frequently.
I don’t know how or why, but something makes you choose. Is it the title? Is it the picture? Is it the length? Is it the day?
I like to think about it. Because I would like to grow and help more people.
One thing is for sure though. Every day I write, even if very few people choose to read, I have chosen myself.
Every time I post, I choose me.
What are you giving your life to?
What are your goals?
What one thing do you hope to accomplish before you die?
What if you never get there?
Will it still have been worth it?
Are you ok with just the journey?
Do you have to have the validation of someone else determining whether or not you are successful?
Joel Stiff's Adventure 