Every little bit

I have this back yard that's full of weeds.
This back yard has been a thorn in my side so to speak. I bought the house I now have with the intention of fixing up the yard, as it was just a big mess when I bought it.
I bought the house two years ago, the yard still hasn't been done. But, alas! I am committed now, that by the end of this year that yard will be finished, gosh darn it!!!
Funnily enough my weedy back yard has taught me something...Which I would like to tell you about. (You can keep me accountable to finishing my back yard, end of this year is the goal!!!!)
When I first bought my house I had all these really big plans for my back yard, water features, bridges, fish ponds and grass, nice soft green grass.
The plan was mammoth, it was world changing. I had read all the landscape magazines, my ideas capped them all.
That was two years ago. And, what I can say is the yard has got greener, much greener...Weeds really do have quite a pretty green about them when you think of it.
The plan was expensive and elaborate. Which is nothing new for my personality type...A great dream, a nice plan, that I must say was a lot of fun dreaming up!
Problem is it stayed a dream, no follow through, another pretty normal thing for my personality type...Dreaming, its a refreshing break from reality.
Reality was I had the classic case of 'the tyranny of the much.' Big, expensive, elaborate plans that will take along time to come to fruition, and in the mean time would make me look like a lazy person every time people come around. People don't really care about our dreams, they care about action, they care about what they can see!
And that's the whole point of the post, the whole lesson I have learnt from my weedy backyard that I am busy cleaning up every weekend. DO SOMETHING! Make it happen! If the plan is so elaborate and expensive that it is stopping you from doing anything then re scale the plan, and do it according to what you do have!
In this world where every thing is instant, those of us who are young want everything now. But, its not reality, things take time! We have to wait!
What we have right now is enough to do something substantial. Something that can make a difference.
If you wait for the perfect opportunity you will be waiting forever. Do whatever you can in your power right now and do it well. Then before you know the dream will happen!

I will keep you posted on the back yard!

Your friends

You are known by your friends.
It seems a little harsh but its true.

What people think of us matters.

God looks at the heart, man looks at everything else.

Our reputation is what goes before us, it is the fragrance of our presence in the mind of those who know us.

In dealing with people, our reputation is all we have.

Protect it.

I have 3 personal rules:
1. I will not be friends with people who complain about other people too much, I don't want to be known as a gossiper.
2. I will not be friends with people who are stingy, because I don't want to be known as a stingy person.
3. I will not be friends with people who complain about their boss too much, because I don't want to be known as an uncommitted person.

Narrow the Focus

There is a man called Fred DeLuca who started a little shop that made sandwiches.

While every other shop in town was selling soups, salads, chicken rolls, cigarettes, doughnuts, submarine sandwiches, cookies and cakes. Fred DeLuca decided to focus on making a type of sandwich called a submarine sandwich.

Fred became really good at making submarine sandwiches, so good in fact that word got around pretty quickly that if you want a submarine sandwich go to Fred's place...a little shop called Subway.

Fred's shop is still making sandwiches.
Its a bit bigger now, so big in fact that it has 12,008 stores across America and is quickly expanding across the globe.
In 1994 Fred DeLuca paid himself at tidy $60 million. Just for making sandwiches.

Don't try to do everything, narrow the focus.

Do one thing and do it well.

(info source; The 22 immutable Laws of Branding, Al Ries and Laura Ries, Page 9)

Who are you

Do you want to know what your purpose is?

Ask yourself...

What are you good at?
What boils your blood?
What makes you cry?
What makes you want to make a difference?
What annoys you?
What do you do automatically without thinking, but find hard to teach others?

What is the one thing, that if the opportunity was there you would give up everything to do it?

The only boundary is ourself.

Phil 4:13 says "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

don't settle for second best, be who you are.

hello

hey I havent done any blogging since easter!!! man!!!! I have no excuses, I guess I have let my myslf get to busy doing other things...so I am sorry, in case you were worried I am still alive!

The savior

The devil paraded before God with his prisoner. Saying to God "they're mine, they've sinned against you, oh Lord" he jeered, "when they sin against you Lord, you have said yourself that must be judged and will not enter heaven, but will come under my kingdom."
Jesus who stood beside the prisoner looked at the prisoner bound and gaged, hopeless because of the fate seemingly awaiting him.
"Child, do you believe in me?" Jesus whispered in the ear of the prisoner "Yes! Yes! Lord I do" said the prisoner, recognising the voice of Jesus standing before him.
The devil scoffed "he is mine unless someone else will give their life instead, that is only fair."
"There is one who gave his life for this one" said God the Father, "He gave His life for all who believe" at this the Devil began to weep, and whimper at the realisation of his lose.
God looked at the devil in the eye, Satan's eyes darting to the to the ground, as he tried to hide the fear he felt as God said "The one who gave his life is Jesus, my Son"

This is the true story of why we celebrate easter.

the penny drops

Everyone wants to be loved, wants to be accepted, for who they are, even if they arent sure of who they are yet.
It takes someone to love us as we are for us to realise who we are.
It takes us to love ourselves as we are for us to be who we are.

be still

Stillness is a door to rooms of the soul otherwise left untouched.
Sit silently for a while and escape into the depths of your heart, you may grow sleepy, but, to dream in waking hours sometimes is to allow peace to flow.

Gravity

What goes up must come down.

The old law of gravity can sometimes be our worst enemy.

Gravity will always take us to the lowest possible point it can, if I was to jump of the roof of my house I may hit obstacles on the way down, like trees, etc, but I wont stop falling until I hit solid ground, ouch!

In life I've noticed that gravity expands beyond the world around us. Our souls have a gravitational pull. The ground we hit will be the lowest points we can go to. The lowest thoughts, moods, emotions, mind sets...And so on...We as humans will always gravitate to something. The power those low points have will make up part of who we are.

If the ground we hit is negative we will always gravitate to the negative no matter how hard we try, even if we have a parachute, we are still going to hit the ground, its not an issue of how but when...

There comes a point in our lives where we all will say I cant be bothered getting up anymore...Because I always end up here anyway, and we begin to accept the ground we hit as normal.

I think the problem is we spend a lot of time trying to get off the ground, trying to escape our lowest points, only to find ourselves on the ground again.

Why not build up the low ground? Why not fill in the holes, level the field and start building yourself a mountain?

What are the real things that you think of yourself when your alone? What do you really think God thinks of you? What are your deepest most darkest thoughts. What are those hidden secrets down the dark no go zones of your soul...These things make up our low ground. We cant just try to escape them, because gravity can be very inconsiderate at times!

Build yourself up...Start with the lowest possible ground. If its there you'll hit it at some stage.

Build a mountain of Gods promises to you through the Bible. Here's one to start with: Ps 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

crap!

I just wrote the best post. Somehow i deleted it by accident...flippen computers...

Oh well I'll try again tomorow. The moment of inspiration has past now.

The mind set

The mind is what we see with
the mind is what we hear with
what we see and do is always influenced by the way we see the world
what we hear is filtered through the way think

Our mind set is one of our greatest friends
it is also one of our strongest foes
changing the way think sometimes can change the way our lives turn out

I think a person only grows old when they get a mind set, when they stop changing, stop growing

I love how a child is always learning, is so inquisitive, even sometimes so fearless

I think we should only grow...But not grow old. We are eternal beings after all, the casing on the outside will let us down. But the rest will live on

Our mind set will influence everything we do! But often I have found that I don't think about what I'm thinking...I just accept it, I know I have missed out on opportunities in God and in life because of that!


Jesus said this "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 18:3)

One of your greatest gifts is the ability to change. The ability to grow

don't get stuck...As comfy as it may be!!!

Doing little

The big things in life are a combination of all the little things we do.

There is an add here in Australia which shows people going about their jobs saying "one powerball and I'm out of here"
Powerball is the name of our lotteries system, you buy numbers which a machine randomly chooses. If it chooses your numbers you win millions.

It has become a catch phrase! "one powerball..." People watch the television with their lucky numbers, hoping their life is about to change. There is a 1 in 3 000 000 chance they may win the lottery, possible yes, but not worth counting on.

If a person spends $10 per week on lotto tickets, in a year they will have spent $520 on chance. Of which they will more than likely not see any returns.

Over a lifetime the amount they would spend equates to thousands of dollars, on a 1 in 3000 000 chance.

If a person was to spend $10 on educating themselves on investment, or if they invested $10 per week over a lifetime they would more than likely end up millionaires.

Its like Pantene "it doesn't happen over night, but it will happen."

Its a principle in life really, its what we do day by day, the little things that make all the difference to our existence in the long run.

Everyday is a gift, do something little today.

blame or gain?

I've noticed its a lot easier to blame people or circumstances for our problems than look within ourselves and change our outlook.

Some things happen that are beyond our control. But it is how we respond to those things that will determine the rest of our life.

If our default position in life is to blame people or circumstances we'll never be satisfied. We'll always be looking for the repayment of the things people or life owes us for whatever happened.

We'll never grow because we'll be tied to the past.

Blame is the breeding ground for bitterness. Bitterness is the seed of self destruction.

Owning the issue. Looking at it. Dealing with it. Resolving it, may be the hardest thing you'll ever do. But its worth it.

In U2's song "Yahweh" Bono sings, "Yahweh, Yahweh always pain before a child is born"
To not blame is to face the pain, to own it. Then move on. A new era in your life will be born.

When I was in Sydney doing a leadership training conference our physical trainer drummed into us as we were pushing our personal fitness levels that "pain is weakness leaving our body."
As I ran up hills, did squats , pushups and pushed myself to my utter limits I grew mentally. Had I just submitted to the pain and stopped running I would have never have known what my true physical capacity was.
My point is, if you don't blame, but learn, resolve, face it, deal with it, etc, etc...The pain we feel in that process is the weakness the issue produces making a quick exit from our soul.

lastly ponder on this...
The blame is already taken. You have no need to carry it. Let it go.

Eph 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love.
God holds nothing against us, why would we hold anything against anyone? In the end it will destroy you, not them.

Let it go. You could be so much more.

The Journey

Life is a journey not an event.
Sometimes our error can be to stay at an event too long.
One of the saddest things to see is a person who is still caught in an event in their life that happened 20 years ago. The longer they stay there, the more crippling it becomes. Even if it was the good old days.
For whatever reason I find it very tempting to set up camp where I'm at, accept my lot in life and be comfortable. I think its the security that attracts me to that.
Now don't get me wrong. I am quite happy with who I am. Its just I know that there is so much more than what I'm doing right now. Its the same with you.
No matter where you are at there is so much more to be had!

The key is to walk on. Keep moving. To keep dreaming.

A machine is most likely to seize up when its not in operation. The operator will come to switch on the machine, but it can no longer perform the purpose for which it was created because it sat immobile for too long.

The classic old Psalm says this "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." (Ps 23:4 NIV)
Notice that scripture doesn't say "even though I stop in the valley"

We have to keep walking. No matter how hard it gets...and trust me it will get hard.

Don't get caught in the event. Keep on walking the journey ahead, your the only one who can walk it.

Fear

What is it about fear?

I remember back to some of my earliest childhood memories. The first feelings of experiencing the amazing power of fear. My instinct was to run for shelter. Or to call out to my Mum or Dad. I remember sometimes been so scared in my bedroom alone at night that I would not want to move from under the safety of my blankets...It was amazing how the monsters would never get me when I was under my blankets (there you are kids, buy a blanket, powerful monster shields!)

These days, well I've grown up, as you do. And I understand and know now what fear is. I could probably break it down enough to tell you the source of my fears...Things like relational fears, fear of failure, fear of rejection. I know I get these feelings sometimes.

The thing is I have noticed is I still want to go to that safe place, I want to hide, I want to stay in somebody's shadow till the monsters go away....Isn't amazing how fear is one the things that make you feel as powerless and dependent as you were when you were a child.

Because I give in to fear from time to time, I do really stupid things.

but check this out...

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Perfect love, only comes from a perfect source.

Love holds no grudge against you, so what are you scared of?

what do you want, fear or love?

Weight loss strategy

If anyone needs to shed a few pounds before summer comes I have discovered a new weight loss strategy that is bound to work...

Its called the "my license is suspended for 3 months" diet.

Here are the 5 steps to success:

1. Drive 5-10 k's over the speed limit everywhere you go.
2. When you are driving switch off and forget to look out for speed traps.
3. Don't watch out to see if you are going through a school zone...especailly if your driving through an area you've never gone through before.
4. Speed on double demerit weekends.
5. Check your mail for the love letters from the traffic control department.

If you follow these steps. You will be walking everywhere. Walking to train stations, bus stops, and to shopping centers....etc...and I promise you will loose weight. I used to weigh 80 kilo's, now I'm so skinny I look one of those Ethiopians that run through the desert for days...well except I'm a white version.

ryno :)

As big as?

Here's a thought...

God is only as big as our faith will let Him be.

To the one who knows God created this world. God is massive.
To the one who was healed of cancer. God is very real.
To the one who was lost and now is found. God showed them the way.

The one who has no doubt, and says to a mountain "get out of my way mountain!" and does not stop to think of the logic of his or her statement, but knows God can and will do it, is unstoppable.

Faith cannot be explained, it is not a science. It's not an art. It's a gift to believe.

How big is God?
He's real big.

The question is, how big is your faith. What do you believe?

Leaving home

My little brother left for Sydney yesterday to follow through on a dream to join a band.
Look out for them, they are called "the valley".
Yesterday was a sad day. I'll miss you Joel.

Joel is on the left. The other two people are my sister Connor and my brother in law Karl.

The choices we make

Choice is the most powerful force in our lives.
The power of choice is one thing that we truly own.
Alot of other things are quite temporary.
This life we live is determined by what choices we make along the way.
But...
Every choice has a consequence. Whether good or bad.
That, we have no control over.

Good or bad. You choose.

Generosity.

I dont like stingy people. You know the kind that make you feel lucky that they answered the phone when you call them.
Generosity is an attitude that affects way more than your finances. I have found that the person who is stingy about their money is also stingy with their time, affection and ultimately are not the best people to hang around.
Generosity opens doors for you. When your generous to someone they never forget. Never. You'll leave a positive mark on their minds for everytime they think of you.
All a stingy person does is leave a bad taste...they'll just talk about their agenda, their life, their problems. They'll talk about everything to do with themselves. And nothing will ever be their fault, they'll complain the world is against them.
If they would buy someone a coffee for once maybe life would get better for them.

Be a generous person.