What do we expect?

I find it ironic that we are so upset at our local school districts, state, county and city governments for living beyond their means.

What do we expect?

I find it interesting that we, the culture that thrives on overspending, adding to our debt, living like we have it when we don’t, wants government to all of the sudden “get it together.”

What do we expect?

For as long as I can remember, we have ignored what these bureaucracies are up too, allowed the insanity to flourish and now all of the sudden we expect these groups to do what we want them too.

What do we expect?

Government is a reflection of the people. If we keep living beyond our means it will follow suit. Until we get our finances in order, government will continue to spend what it can. When we decide we can’t afford to do everything by charging it on our credit cards or borrowing beyond our paychecks government will have to catch up.

We scream because government won’t cut back…where do you think it learned to be like this? I’m as guilty as anyone and until we all decide enough is enough, this won’t change. Oh, and it won’t change until we change. It always starts with us. I know I hate that part too.

Resist the Bloom

The dishwasher rumbles in the background. My dog nuzzles against my leg in our favorite leather wingback chair and cars pass by the street in front of my house as people head to a building for church or whatever they have planned on this Sunday morning.

Thoughts of tomorrow ebb and flow in my mind as I imagine building a dam to keep those thoughts at bay for the rest of the day.

I am listening for God’s Voice. I’m waiting for something to enlighten me just a little. Perhaps I will walk into this day with a better understanding of something.

Outside a single rose is blooming on a plant my mom gave me the year before she died. Doesn’t the plant know it’s too early to bloom? I feel like that rose bud, jumping too soon, deciding too quickly and moving too fast.

Suddenly I hear His voice. “Some changes are headed this way. You will be tempted to force your answers (Bloom too quickly). You will want to react, make a decision or move to get it over with don’t do it instead be still and know that I am God. Do not look for signs and wonders that is what the mystics do and they are everywhere even inside the church. People are looking for answers and failing to come to me to find them. Do not listen to the advice of others because they don’t know. Hunker down; discuss it only with Kathy and smile. No one can hurt you.”

Some “Thing” is out of Whack.

I find that things mean less to me than they used to. Not just material things but all kinds of things. My thing against things includes things to do, things to be, things to want and yes things to have.

The hardest part of letting go of things is seeing others still living their lives in the pursuit of things because you then start to wonder is you thing against things the wrong thing.

God keeps taking me back to verses in the Bible that deal with this thing for things. We work so hard to make enough money to afford things. We find new hobbies and need more things so we can do the new thing we love.

Now we find ourselves, as a nation, losing our grip on this thing for things and we act as though the world is coming to an end. We are consumed with things and the gathering of more things. It’s an appetite that can’t be satisfied and much worse we like it and we’re used to it. We don’t know how much our lives depend on things and it’s all a lie.

I see this giant fog, a thing, hanging over us but it’s about to lift. It’s moving out of the valleys and the sun is beginning to shine exposing this thing for things.

We sense some”thing” is wrong but our love for things is greater than our ability to fight this thing. A crossroads is ahead. The economy is forcing this things demise.

We are the only creatures in creation that has a thing for things. The others don’t worry about things, what they will wear, how others will perceive them or whether they will be taken care of they simply live.

Perhaps today, when that thing for things raises deep in your belly you can say out loud, I need but one thing and it’s not that thing.

I hope you all understand this thing.

Cancer: A Hell of a Year : Click Here for Video

January 28th is my one year anniversary of discovering that I had Prostate Cancer. I think I am cancer free now but like any cancer survivor will tell you, you never know. Here are some thoughts one year later.

Better has a new definition.

Everything you’ve always heard about better is worthless.

Just take the word, throw it out the window and watch as a new meaning is created.

I woke up last night, rolled and tossed and lost two hours of sleep. Why? I’m almost too embarrassed to tell you. I was worrying about our future, worrying about where my paycheck will come from and worrying about anything else that could find its way into my crowded mind.

I cracked my Oswald Chambers Journal this morning and the title for today is “Take no thought for your life.”

Jesus said that not because he was trying to get more money in the collection plate He said it because He knows us so well.

Life will never be what it was. God’s people learned that in the days of Jeremiah. They waited 70 years for recovery and when the temple was rebuilt it didn’t look like the old one. A new reality existed and that’s what’s coming to the United States.

Until we get there learning to live in the new “Better” will be painful, somewhat ugly and leaders will fight tooth and nail to bring back what is dead.

The real battle here is not over these issues but in keeping your mind clear, focused and reminding yourself everyday to “Take no Thought for your Life.”

To some this will sound as though I’m slipping into denial and giving up. Nope, that’s not it at all. It’s much more difficult to fight to stay in this place than it is to try to breath life into a system that is already dead but doesn’t realize it just yet.

Change is coming and for some of us it’s already here. Now, go live that way.

A Simple Way to Change the World

I watched a young woman change the world today. Amelia Abel isn’t the President of the United States. She’s never run for public office or been on a committee.

But this is one of the bravest people I have ever met. I watched her stand before the Eugene Downtown Lions Club and talk about what it’s like to live with Downs Syndrome.

After talking with the audience, a woman came running up to Amelia with tears streaming down her face. She said “Amelia, you are a lightening rod to me today.”

The woman’s granddaughter is three years old and has Downs Syndrome. This grandmother had no idea that someone with Downs Syndrome could be so articulate, so involved and so alive. Amelia is not alone in her zest for life. Just because someone has Downs Syndrome does not mean they can’t do the same things the rest of us can do. It simply takes Amelia and those with similar syndromes, a little longer to do things.

Simply by being herself, Amelia changed the life of this grandmother and the grandchild. That little girl will never be the same now that this grandmother understands the value, ability and capabilities of that little girl.

Amelia was not speaking to change the world. She was simply doing what she loves best, loving people. She was telling her story and the truth set free a grandmother and a little girl we may never meet.

Don’t ever tell me that little things don’t change the world. The real power in life does not come in public relations campaigns; boardrooms or backroom deals with politicians. The real change comes when people like you, Amelia and me simply stand up for what we think and get involved.

Now, get off you butt and go change the world…be yourself.