😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. I would like to share a blessing and a praise with you today. A few weeks ago, I interviewed for a position and this past week I was offered the job. Starting 10/24/2021, I will be changing jobs from a HR Staffing Specialist to a HR Compensation Specialist. Moving from a Staffing Specialist to a Compensation Specialist is something I’ve been working toward for a couple years. I know change is good and I also know it will bring challenges and learning opportunities that will allow me to grow even more. No, the grass isn’t ALWAYS greener on the other side. I know with every job there will also be droughts and dry brown patches along this journey. I consider this opportunity an incredible blessing.

So where does the praise come in?  For the last six months or more (I’ve lost count), I’ve been working a lot of overtime trying to keep my eyebrows above water.  Staff that left over a year ago still haven’t been replaced.  In addition to not replacing the staff that left, additional workloads were assigned to our team.  Work is work and someone has to make sure it gets taken care of.  I completely understand that.  Where I believe it affected me most is in the fact that once I came home from work, I just wanted to shut my brain off and do nothing.  I’ve been physically and mentally tired.  Okay, you might be saying…”I’m not seeing a praise in this.”  Well, this past week, I started hearing God again while I was sleeping!  God and I used to communicate almost every night in my sleep.  Multiple times this past week God and I have once again had our midsleep talks.  The first night it happened, it made me a little sad thinking I hadn’t even realized I was missing them.  My mind was so consumed with what my next 20 work tasks were, that I totally quit responding to the conversations God was trying to have with me.  He never left me.  It was me that left our conversation.  I’m so thankful and praise God that my mind has once again been opened to hearing and talking with Him.  Not to sound like an infomercial, but wait…there’s more.  It goes beyond the conversations.  Typically, my conversations with God involved some degree of follow up action.  The majority of which is immediately praying for someone He tells me about or some degree of actual interaction with someone.  I’ve been losing a little sleep because of these conversations and follow up actions, but I have to say…It feels good to be back in this kind of relationship with God.  Sometimes we just don’t realize how special a relationship is until it’s gone.

Take some time to reflect on where you’ve knowingly or unknowingly allowed your relationship with the Lord to slip.  Contemplate on what you’ve been truly missing.  Not just the surface level stuff, dive a little deeper. 

Now…………How will you bring it back?

Bless others and be blessed.

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#BethelMusic – Raise A Hallelujah

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Today I want to share with you something I read at about 12 or so years ago.  I can’t remember the last time I looked at it, but it is something that has stuck with me through the years and is brought back to mind from time to time.  I don’t know who the author is, so I’m sorry I can’t give credit where credit is due.

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering. Finally fed up, God said, — THAT’S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job.

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.

They faxed.

They e-mailed.

They e-mailed with attachments.

They downloaded.

They did spreadsheets.

They wrote reports.

They created labels and cards.

They created charts and graphs.

They did some genealogy reports.

They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off.

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.

Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming:

— It’s gone! It’s all GONE! I lost everything when the power went out!

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work.

Satan observed this and became irate.

— Wait! — he screamed. — That’s not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don’t have any?

God just shrugged and said:

— Jesus saves

It’s that simple.  Jesus saves.  Not just a portion of His work.  All of His work, which includes you and me.  We are saved because He consciously made a choice.  Now the choice is yours.  Are you willing to make the conscience decision to hit the Save button on your life?  The ironic thing about me sharing this with you today is that I know I saved this many years ago when I first read it.  I told myself, “This is a keeper.  I’ll share this at some point.”  Well, once you Save, you have to remember where you saved it. Heck, that was three computers and who knows how many thumb drives ago.  It could be saved on any of those devices.  But if you save your life with Jesus Christ, what you have saved will never be lost. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  The Alpha and Omega.  Praise God for that.  Amen!

Bless others and be blessed.

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#7eventhTimeDown – The 99

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  I spent this past weekend at a cabin with a group of ladies.  It was a time to relax, breath a little, catch up with ladies I haven’t seen in a year, meet new friends, share life, and walk away from our daily stress and chores.  Arriving late Friday evening, one lady shared that someone had hit her car earlier that day and she was really debating on whether or not she actually wanted to camp or not.  Before she headed back home Sunday, she shared with me how much she enjoyed the weekend and that she was glad she came.  I’m sure there were moments during that weekend that she worried about her car, but I also believe she was able to put it on the backburner and enjoy more of the weekend, than if she was at home stressing about it.  Some ladies were given the opportunity to lead a devotional for us and share a bit of their life journey.  One of the ladies shared with me that after she shared her devotional, it seemed like people were willing to come talk with her.  It was like opening a door.  An open invitation to speak with her.  I experienced many ladies willing to help without being asked.  I also experienced a tremendous willingness to share and offer what they had to others.  We certainly do not have a lack of food on these weekends.  The one thing that really caught my attention multiple times this weekend was sitting quietly by myself, watching the ladies interacting, and the pure, genuine laughter that was coming from them.  The sounds of their laughter made me realize that was something that has been missing from my daily life.  It was good to hear the sound of laughter coming from all around and filling my heart with joy.  Sitting out by the campfire I thought, “I bet God experiences this also.”  I imagine our sounds of genuine laughter bring joy to our Father.  He knows how cleansing laughter can be and from time to time He’s probably laughing right along with us.  I encourage you to make some time to just walk away from life’s chores, worries, and stress for a day or two and recharge your spirit.  Laugh a little and put your phone down so you can actually experience each other and the nature around you.  After you do, share with me a bit about your experience.  Today’s song is a good representation of how I felt leaving camp Sunday morning.

Bless others and be blessed.

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#ApolloLTD – Sunday Morning Feeling

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Driving to 8:30 AM Mass Sunday morning, there was a very noticeable quietness about the morning, very peaceful.  A few blocks further along the drive, I notice a yard sign referencing hate has no home here.  Considering the quiet, peaceful morning and the sign’s message, my mind took off in its own direction.  It struck me that while we sleep, we don’t hate.  It’s only when we are awake, that hate enters back into the world.  I then hear in the Gospel reading, Mark 8:27-35, Jesus asking the disciples who they think He is.  Peter nailed it when he said “You are the Christ.”  Jesus then tried to share with them some hard truths about events that would be happening in the not-too-distant future, concerning His death and resurrection.  Peter did not want to hear that kind of talk, so he rebuked Jesus.  I’m guessing it was a bit of confusion, disbelief, misunderstanding, and fear that caused Peter to lash out at Christ.  Christ in turn rebuked Peter saying “Get behind me, Satan.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human  beings do.”  I then thought back to the quiet, peaceful morning, the hate sign, and brought it together with the Gospel.  Confusion, disbelief, misunderstanding, and fear mixed with thinking like a human, is a perfect recipe for hate. 

To conclude Sunday’s Gospel reading, “He summoned the crowd with His disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it.”  The best thing we can do to help ourselves and eliminate any degree of hate in our lives is to do our best to quit relying on ourselves, our thoughts, and our ideas, to open ourselves to God’s thoughts and ideas.  The next time you’re out in the world, while most of the world is still asleep, make sure to take note of how quiet and peaceful the world actually is.  A line from a hymn we sang at Mass was “Only this I want: but to know the Lord…”  Could you imagine the peace you would have in your life, in your spirit, if that was the desire of your heart, to only know the Lord. 

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#ChrisBrunelle – Only This I Want by Dan Schutte

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  You may be familiar with the Gospel of Mark 7:31-37 in which a group of people brough a deaf man with a speech impediment to Jesus and begged Him to lay His hand on the deaf man, so that he may be cured.  What’s interesting to me in this account is not just that the man was healed, as many others had been, but how he was healed.  I imagine most of us have heard at some time or another, “God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason.  You need to listen more and speak less.”  In this Gospel account, Jesus first cured the man’s hearing, so that his speech impediment could be cured. 

I was sitting next to my Mom and Dad at Mass Sunday when this Gospel was read.  It was a pretty special day for them, as they were celebrating their 57^th wedding anniversary.  I believe this was a perfect passage to celebrate their anniversary with.  You may think that an odd statement, but relationships can’t survive if we don’t listen and more importantly hear the heart of the person speaking with us.  They’ve certainly experienced miscommunication along the way, as I would say everyone of us has in our relationships.  Just this weekend, Brian and I we trying to figure out a solution to a situation.  I presented my thought and Brian presented his.  It can be amazing and frustrating at the same time.  We were essentially presenting the same idea, but using different terminology.  It wasn’t until Brian drew it out, that we realized how similar our ideas were.  Too often we get lost in the words being used and miss the heart of what’s being said. 

The same can be true when it comes to seeking or even just trying to discern a relationship with Christ.  How many of you have been put off at some point by someone that you considered to be a “religious” person.  Maybe you felt attacked by what was said.  Maybe disappointed because you expected more from a “religious” person.  Or, maybe the thought crossed your mind that if this person you looked up to “failed” in your eyes, that there’s no way you could do good.

First of all, our God is an incredibly forgiving God, who showers us with more grace than we will ever know.  Second, He’s a Friend who so very generously doesn’t focus on the words we speak, but listens to our hearts.  As the deaf man in the Gospel, we need to allow Jesus to open our ears, so that we can clearly hear, so that we can in turn clearly, courageously, and confidently speak with the wisdom that only He can provide.  He has placed His Spirit within you, so that 1) You will never be alone and 2) you will be able to speak His words with those He has placed before you.  Sometimes you may fumble through your words and other times they flow eloquently.  Either way, if they are words God is prompting you to speak, no matter how they sound to you, the person that the message was meant for is hearing the voice and words of God.  It makes me smile and at times brings tears to my eyes when I realized someone is relaying a message to me from God.  Keep your ears open, that you may clearly hear what He desires you to know. 

Mom and Dad, thank you for being a great example of a relationship based in trust in our Lord.

Bless others and be blessed. 

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#BrandonHeath – Jesus in Disguise

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  I’m currently reading the book 7 Keys to Spiritual Wellness by Joe Paprocki.  Within Key 2 Actively Seeking the Good of Others, Joe shares The Paradoxical Commandments by Dr. M. Keith.  I found them to be worth pondering and therefore wanted to share them with you.

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

If you are kind, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;
be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies;
succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
it was never between you and them anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and your God.  Doesn’t that put a lot into perspective.  Ever since I read those commandments, I have been consciencely seeing my actions and thoughts in a different light.  It has allowed me to recognize and stop my unrighteous thoughts and actions before I allowed them to escape my lips and create some degree of harm.  It can be rather humbling, but I would rather be humbled with God than create some degree of harm in someone else’s life.  I pray that you too may find peace in these commandments.  Every step you can avoid in a harmful direction is a step toward a greater relationship with your Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Bless others and be blessed. 

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#JoePaprocki – 7 Keys to Spiritual Wellness

#DrMKeith – The Paradoxical Commandments

#Shane&Shane – Living Water

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  In part of the Gospel reading yesterday morning, John 1: 45-46, we hear:

“Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  “Nazareth!  Can anything good come from there?”  Nathanael asked.”

“Can anything good come from there?”  Perspective is our reality, isn’t it?  We put our perspective into every aspect of our lives and just like that, a new reality is created.  Obviously, Nathanael must not have had a good experience with the people from Nazareth. 

John 1: 46-48 continues:

‘“Come and see,” said Philip.  When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here truly is a Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”  “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.  Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”’

In that moment, a new perspective and reality were brought to life in Nathanael.  Once we are set in our ways, it’s not very often that we willingly move out of our comfort zone to seek different.  So how was it that Nathanael came to experience his change? 

1. A friend was excited enough about what he had experienced and found, that he invited his friend to the experience.
2. The invitation was accepted.

Seems pretty simple doesn’t it.  But our reality (perspective) is that invitations to introduce a friend to Christ is not that simple or easy.  It can be intimidating and scary, to the point that you back away from extending that invitation.  You may find yourself saying, “Can anything good come from me?”  Even as I’m writing this, I fumble over what words I want to use.  I try to make it “perfect” so that everyone that reads this will desire a relationship with Christ.  Will that happen?  No it won’t.  But I remind myself every week as I share my experiences with you, “All I’m here for is to make the invitation.  God has everything else covered.”

Who has God been asking you to invite?  Come on, you know who.  It’s okay, fumble right through your words.  When it comes right down to it, it only matters that you did what God has been asking you to do.  Then step out of the way and let Him do His thing.  Be faithful to Him as He is oh so faithful to you.

Bless others and be blessed. 

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#MaverickCityMusic – Move Your Heart

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  I would guess the majority of us have worked multiple jobs during our lives.  Let’s see, as a teenager I babysat, mowed lawns, and sold lottery tickets in a wine store.  Then as an adult I’ve been an aircraft mechanic with the Air Force, worked retail, banking, investments, insurance, owned a lawncare and landscaping company, was a Realtor, had a few different sales jobs, accounting, and human resources.  As I ponder the jobs I’ve done, the places I’ve worked, and the people I’ve worked with, there is one that stands out, that I wouldn’t trade, and would have liked to have done longer than I did.  It was 2 years 10 months and 3 days of my life.  I know, not very long at all.  It’s kind of like a blink, but it’s the one I feel most proud to have done.  Any guesses which you think it is? 

If you said Air Force aircraft mechanic, you’re close.  You see, beneath that title lies the real job and it started with an oath:

“I [state your full name], Do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

It’s not every job, that you willingly pledge your life in exchange for the freedoms of your country and others.  I’ve come to believe that when you willfully make that pledge, you create bonds and relationships that far surpass any other work relationships.  I don’t know who first used this quote, but “serving” in the Air Force and all our other branches of the U.S. military, is very appropriate terminology.  We don’t know the names or faces of every person we serve, but we serve them nonetheless.  And we proudly serve each one. 

As deeply as this sense of service and love of others is in me, I know it doesn’t even scratch the surface of the depth of service, love, and sacrifice Christ has for you and me.  It’s His service and sacrifice that creates that undeniable bond and friendship that our Lord has with each one of you.  And that’s why, even though we sometimes try, we can never run away from God’s love.  He cares for us too much and He made the ultimate sacrifice for YOU.  That is a bond you may not always acknowledge, but it is a bond that will never go away.  Thank you, Lord, that you are not willing to give up on me when I so willingly give up on You, myself, and others.  And thank you to every single one of you that has served to protect me and our beloved country.

Allow yourself to be loved on by the Lord and love Him back.  Acknowledge His presence, gifts, and graces in your life and pay them forward. 

Bless others and be blessed. 

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#LeeGreenwood – God Bless The USA

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Being married 20 years has certainly given Brian and I the opportunity to grow as a couple and individuals.  It’s formed us into one, making us stronger because of our individual talents that complement each other making our unified front greater than we could ever be as individuals.  Brian and I have been kayaking in a two-person kayak before, but this past week…well…it was struggle to say the least.  We could not get that kayak to go straight.  We were like a pinball bouncing from one bank to the other.  About 45 minutes into a 2 hour journey Brian told me to stop paddling.  As someone that likes to help others and also have a sense of being in control of my situation, it was rather challenging for me to sit there knowing that Brian was doing all of the work.  I decided to talk with God a little as I floated down the river.  Before I even said a word, He knew what I was coming to Him about.  He knew about my control challenges and He knew about me not wanting Brian to have to do all the work.  Multiple times I wanted to say, “Babe, why don’t you let me paddle for a while?”  But God would stop me each time saying, “He wants to do this for you.  Allow him to do this for you.”  But He didn’t stop there.  He went on to point out that He also wants to do things for me, but I have to be willing to give up control, sit still, and allow Him to bless me as He sees fit.   

Where is He calling you to be still in your life?  Where is He desperately wanting to bless you, but you won’t even pause a moment to let Him step in.  Our God is not just God.  He is Father, Spirit, and Jesus.  They have had a union greater than marriage since before the world was formed.  They complement each other’s actions working in unison and allow each other to be the individuals we need and can turn to at different moments.  Sometimes we need the Father, other times we need the Son, and still other times, the Spirit is our best source to go to.  And yet, in speaking with One, you speak with all Three.  With all that is going on in this world right now and so many other more important challenges out there.  He took that opportunity to talk with me as I sat quietly in that kayak.  You know, that’s how highly He thinks of you, that at a moments notice, aka you calling His name, He will make that moment be about giving you His full attention.  He weeds through the words we say to listen to your heart.  He feels your desires and guides you to even better.  Give Him a call, He’s patiently waiting.

Bless others and be blessed. 

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#ChrisTomlin Feat. Thomas Rhett – God Who Listens

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Last Thursday evening Brian and I were taking our evening walk and the sunset really caught my attention, so I stopped to take a picture.  It’s pretty cool how the sun is peeking around the cloud.  I stopped to look at the picture I had just taken and realized the meaning of this picture wasn’t in the sun and cloud.  My eyes were immediately drawn to the lake.  I showed Brian and said, “The Son divides the dark and the light.”  Without even a slight pause, Brian said “No, the Son unites the dark and the light.”  🎤 Drop

Bless others and be blessed. 

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

# MaverickCityMusic – Rest on Us