A Good Reminder

I haven't been that faithful over the last year or so in doing my daily devotional (and obviously, blog posts!). Something happened today, not a bad thing, that reminded me how thankful I am to have Jesus in my life.

For a number of years, I did my daily Bible reading and kept up with "My Utmost for His Highest", by Oswald Chambers. Every once in a while, I will get the urge to go and read the daily devotional online. Well, today was one of those days. It was a great encouragement and reminder to me. Hopefully, it is to you too.

October 25, 2008

Submitting to God’s Purpose

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I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some —1 Corinthians 9:22

A Christian worker has to learn how to be God’s man or woman of great worth and excellence in the midst of a multitude of meager and worthless things. Never protest by saying, "If only I were somewhere else!" All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them. Unless we have the right purpose intellectually in our minds and lovingly in our hearts, we will very quickly be diverted from being useful to God. We are not workers for God by choice. Many people deliberately choose to be workers, but they have no purpose of God’s almighty grace or His mighty Word in them. Paul’s whole heart, mind, and soul were consumed with the great purpose of what Jesus Christ came to do, and he never lost sight of that one thing. We must continually confront ourselves with one central fact— ". . . Jesus Christ and Him crucified" ( 1 Corinthians 2:2 ).

"I chose you . . ." ( John 15:16 ). Keep these words as a wonderful reminder in your theology. It is not that you have gotten God, but that He has gotten you. God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose— that He may be able to say, "This is My man, and this is My woman." We have to be in God’s hand so that He can place others on the Rock, Jesus Christ, just as He has placed us.

Never choose to be a worker, but once God has placed His call upon you, woe be to you if you "turn aside . . . to the right or the left . . ." ( Deuteronomy 28:14 ). He will do with you what He never did before His call came to you, and He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way.

Blog Updates

I'm slowly adding some new features to the blog. Check out the new content and updates to the right. Scroll down for some cool stuff. Eventually, I'll get back to regular content updates too.

Undaunted Leadership

"A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets rough."

- President Ronald Reagan, December 5, 1990

Wheels of Life

Since I am the guy in the middle, I suppose that means I am at midlife?






















Click on the picture to enlarge.

Motivational Signs?

Don't take offense, it's only a joke!


And one that I can truly relate to:



Enough for today.

Mother Teresa Lived This

Found this on a blog I follow: http://www.sethbarnes.com/

How in the world can anyone truly live up to this? Mother Teresa certainly got closer than most.

ANYWAY

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Be good anyway.

Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People need help but will attack you if you help them.
Help them anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

*Kent Keith originated this poem in 1968, and Mother Teresa placed it on her children's home in Calcutta in a slightly different version. As a result, many have attributed it to Mother Teresa.

Happy at the Park

Posted by wdsims3 on Natuba

Caught With His Finger in the Cheese Dip

Posted by wdsims3 on Natuba

Runner's Inspiration

"Bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible."

Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Breen!

Great story I came across again today. Reminds me why Reagan is one of my heroes.

How declaring “I’m paying for this microphone” helped Ronald Reagan win a key primary

Ronald Reagan was the underdog.

He had been narrowly edged out by George Bush in the Iowa caucuses a few weeks before. Now Bush, a former UN ambassador, CIA director, and Texas congressman, was the clear frontrunner for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination. In fact, Bush had publicly declared that “Big Mo” — momentum — was on his side.

Reagan and his staff knew that if he lost in New Hampshire, it could mean the end of his campaign. They retooled their strategy and redoubled their efforts in the Granite State.

But the key to victory would turn out to be a powerful, emotional moment no one could have scripted.

Thanks to your support of The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, the full meaning of the moment is still being shared today.

“I thought it had been unfair”

Many people remember Reagan’s famous words. But most haven’t heard the full story of what happened that chilly New Hampshire night.

After Iowa, Bush and Reagan had a clear lead on the other Republican candidates, senators Bob Dole and Howard Baker, congressmen John Anderson and Phil Crane, and former Texas governor John Connally. A local newspaper, The Nashua Telegraph, invited the two frontrunners to a debate. The five others were excluded. This unfairly helped the Ronald Reagan and George Bush campaigns, Bob Dole complained. The Federal Election Commission agreed.

Reagan did too. He offered to split the cost of the debate 50-50 with the Bush campaign, but they declined. Reagan’s campaign then paid for the debate itself.

“I thought it had been unfair to exclude the other candidates,” Reagan later wrote in his autobiography, An American Life. “I decided to invite them.”

But when four other GOP candidates showed up at the debate (Connally was campaigning elsewhere), Bush campaign manager James Baker (who later became Chief of Staff to Ronald Reagan) refused to let his man participate.

For an uncomfortable few minutes, Reagan and Bush sat silently on stage with Telegraph editor John Breen. The other candidates stood awkwardly behind them. Soon, the audience grew restless.

Wanting to explain, Reagan began to speak. At that, the moderator called to a sound engineer, “Turn off Mr. Reagan’s microphone!”

Surprised and offended, Ronald Reagan’s seldom-seen temper flashed. “I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Breen!” he snapped.

As Reagan recalled, “For some reason, my words hit the audience, whose emotions were already worked up, like a sledgehammer. The crowd roared and just went wild.

“I may have won the debate, the primary — and the nomination — right there.”

Indeed, Ronald Reagan dominated the primary, winning 49.6 percent of the votes. “Big Mo” had shifted his way. A few months later, Reagan easily won the GOP nomination.

A lesson in leadership

It was a dramatic moment in history, but more interesting is what it says about Reagan himself. After all, what provoked Reagan’s rare flash of frustration was the thought of the other candidates being unfairly excluded, and the moderator’s attempt to keep the audience from hearing Reagan’s concerns.

We Got Skills!

Don't send a lame Starring You! eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Technonerd Forever

Well, my latest project at home is redesigning my network. I have downloaded the Astaro security gateway, which is FREE for home use! You get web filtering, virus scanning, firewall, etc. You can even setup a DMZ (for the nerdier out there, I'll probably do it just for the heck of it). This will come in handy since my kids are on the computers every chance they get. I especially like the web filtering, since I can block whole categories, kind of like Websense.

I just got done rewiring my entire office. Of course I had to move furniture, and do some creative rigging, but it's done. Looks better, and it will work better when I am completely done with my network redesign and performance tuning my Astaro box. I must be crazy.

Another Great Quote

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." --Thomas A. Edison

Quotes

"To win without risk is to triumph without glory." --Pierre Corneille

"If you don't risk anything you risk even more." --Unattributed

"You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through." --Rosalynn Carter

A Special Anniversary

September 24th is a special day to me. In 1999, this was the day that I prayed and accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. I had gone through 21 of my 30 years thinking I had already done this, but the conviction I felt on that day in 1999 told me otherwise. Statistics say that it is highly unlikely that one will become a Christian if they don't do so before the teen years. The advantage that I had was a childhood in church learning about Jesus. I had always, as long as I could remember, believed that Jesus was real, that He had come to Earth and died for me, and had raised from the dead. I believed it in my head, but not in my heart. Eight years ago today, that knowledge transferred to my heart and into my entire being. It hasn't been a perfect ride - Christ never promised that - but I can truly say that the Lord has been there every step of the way. I wish I could say that I have been as loyal to Him as He has been to me. All I have to say about that is, thank God for grace.

Search your heart. If you don't know Christ, follow this link to get more information on what that means. Or, leave me a comment, and I would love to talk with you about it. My comments are moderated, so if you want to keep it confidential, please say so and I will not post the comment.

Mini Me

Mini me wearing my EMT boots. My Mom says he is EXACTLY like me when I was small. Lord help me.

Quote

"Even if you fall flat on your face at least you are moving forward." --Sue Luke

New Feature, and Other Stuff

Every once in a while, just to mix things up, I add a new widget in the right column on this blog. My newest addition is my upcoming reading list. Click on the links to take you to Amazon.com and view the description of the book. I'll only list books that I have purchased (probably), and have intent to actually read. The speed at which I go through books varies. Sometimes I can read about one a week or maybe a couple if they are of the shorter variety. Other times, it might take a while. Witness how long I have had Wheel of Time Book 4 listed in my "Currently Reading" widget!

By the way, I am starting a new job on October 1st! Good job, good pay, nice people - can't complain. God is good. He has given me a peace about this position so I feel like everything is going to be OK. I'm ready to get back into a normal - if there is such a thing - schedule. My running schedule has been non-existent and I am itching to get back to 25 miles a week. I feel so much better when I run. Check out the article I listed in "My Google Reader Shared Items". You have to be a runner to really get it. To me, one of the great advantages of running is that it is very peaceful and I can commune with the Lord, especially during a longer run. Think about it, wouldn't you be communing with God during a 15+ mile run?

Things Don't Always Play Out Like You Expect

It's no secret but in case you have not heard, Jamie and I have come to the conclusion that med-school is NOT the right direction for our family. So, now I am very excited that I am going back into my first career love - computers. Yes, we prayed hard about it and have a peace that a career in medicine is not the Lord's will and I have no regrets. This was one of those cases where I told God that I would move forward and if He told me to stop at ANY point, I would do so on a dime. He has a reason for all things. Sometimes I believe He has you move down a difficult path with an uncertain future just to test and see if you are willing.

Bottom line, my family needs me to be involved with them for the next 8 years. The pre-med program that I started was really just a test case to see what the load would be and if we could balance family and school. After a few weeks, and completing the first class, it became obvious that it was one or the other, not both. In any scenario, I'll always choose what is best for my family.

The great thing is that I have planned all along to use my EMT certification as an extra skill for leading mission trips. It's a win either way.

Now, as I mentioned, I'm excited about getting back into an Information Technology career full-time. The really good thing is that I still was able to stay up on my technical skills at the church, since that was one of my many responsibilities, so there was really no lapse of continuity. OK, now you can start with the geek and nerd comments, I've heard them all. I'm teaching myself Cisco at this point, and plan to take the tests necessary to earn my CCNA certification. I'm also thinking about expanding my systems administration knowledge to Unix and Linux platforms. One thing at a time, however. Cisco is first, and very much in demand.

Until next time: Please pray for me in my job search that I would find the exact job that God wants me to have. Peace...

Test the Limits

I'm still here!!

So, I've recently been intrigued by the story of Steve Prefontaine, arguably one of the most dynamic characters in American running ever. Interesting fellow. If he truly ran, and lived, as his coach Bill Bowerman described in his all to premature eulogy, then he is an inspiration.

Eulogy by Bill Bowerman following Steve Prefontaine's untimely death on May 30, 1975:

"All my life, man and boy, I've operated under the assumption that the main idea in running was to win the race. Naturally, when I became a coach I tried to teach people how to do that. Tried to teach Pre how to do that. Tried like hell to teach Pre to do that. And Pre taught me. Taught me I was wrong. Pre, you see, was troubled by knowing that a mediocre effort can win a race and a magnificent effort can lose one. Winning a race wouldn't necessarily demand that he give it everything he had from start to finish. He never ran any other way. I couldn't get him to, and God knows I tried . . . but . . . Pre was stubborn. He insisted on holding himself to a higher standard than victory. 'A race is a work of art' is what he said and what he believed and he was out to make it one every step of the way.

Of course he wanted to win. Those who saw Pre compete or who competed against him were never in doubt how much he wanted to win. But HOW he won mattered to him more. Pre thought I was a hard case. But he finally got it through my head that the real purpose of running isn't to win a race. It's to test to the limits of the human heart. That he did . . . No one did it more often. No one did it better."