December 14, 2011

Let Santa Bring Christ Back Into Christmas


Several years ago I woke up on Christmas morning with a story dancing in my head. I ran to the computer and began to peck at the key board. At the time I could only do the two finger peck. When I was finished I called to my wife to read it. She did, and then somehow she deleted it. However, the story was stuck in my head so vividly, that I rewrote it, but a few more details were added. That was the beginning of The Gift That Santa Gives. Since that day I have shared the story in several different ways. Last year I finally created a blog so that I could share it with others and so that they could share it as well. I would like to invite you to read the story and share the gift that Santa gives. We have allowed Christmas to be high jacked. Let Santa bring Christ back into Christmas. I hope you enjoy.

December 6, 2011

Mid Life Crisis: Doesn't Matter How Old You Are


What might have been is a fantasy that can never be. Often when we look back on life we are left wondering what might have been had I made this decision or that. What might have been, if dwelt upon can cause us to go into crisis mode. It doesn't matter whether you are 25, 35, 45 or 65 dwelling on these kinds of questions can often leave us feeling somewhat uneasy about our future and our past. Instead we must keep ourselves grounded in the present only looking back to see where we can improve our current decision making.
Do not mourn your past it is part of you and it is the foundation for the best of you. You are who you are because you have learned and grown past the bad decisions, and if you haven't then now is your chance to do what is right by making the decision to be your best self right where you are.
Sometimes we think we can go through life without difficulties and be a better person. I can tell you right now that is a lie. We must work hard to become the person we want to be. If we do not have to work hard then we have not set a high enough goal and we will not experience happiness.
A mid life crisis happens when we take for granted the difficulties we have been given. Often times they sneak up on us without warning, and we are faced with a very real perception that we might be able to change our future by abandoning our present for a fantasy of our past.
When we start to feel the panic of not being where we want to be it is easy to blame those around us for our circumstances. It is important to ground ourselves in the present, in our faith, in reason, and in what we know is morally correct. If we do not the chances of coming through the crises with a happy ending go down considerably.
Being in the "Eye of Faith" is when all hell breaks out all around us but we can still see how everything that is happening is going to benefit us in the long run. It is easy to enter this Eye of Faith when we believe God is a loving Heavenly Father and wants us to be happy. Once we have this conviction we will start looking for the pony when we are going through crap.