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Christmas

An Unexpected, Modern-Day Twist to The Christmas Carol

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It’s Never Too Late to Build A Better Life

An update of the December 29, 2018 post.

As I’m working on goal setting and planning for the new year, I’ve been reviewing the past several years. Looking back can be disappointing and discouraging if things haven’t gone as well as you had planned. And this year certainly didn’t go as planned

While thinking about places I fell short and opportunities I missed or ignored, it caused me to think about the Hallmark Christmas movie, “A Shoe Addict’s Christmas”. In this movie a woman, Noelle, accidently gets locked in a department store where she works. While waiting to be rescued a quirky woman, Charlie, appears. Over the next few days Charlie, a guardian angel, helps Noelle rediscover the life she has been avoiding, by visiting Christmases past present and future.

We all have situations that we can look back on and wish we had done something different. We can’t change the past, but what we do today will affect the future.

You may have heard the story (or some variation of it) that Charlie told Noelle in the movie. It goes like this, there was man who was out in the snow and someone came by in a sleigh and offered him a ride. The man refused. He said, “God will take care of me”. Later as the snow continued to get deeper another man in a sleigh came by and offered to help. Once again, the man refused. “God will take care of me.” The next time a sleigh came by the snow was up to the man’s chin. For a third time the man declined the help and said, “God will take care of me”. Then the man is in Heaven and asking God why He didn’t save him. God answers, “I sent three sleighs and you ignored them all”.

Too often we ignore the sleighs that God sends us.

As long as we’re still alive, even if we’ve missed or ignored sleighs in the past, it’s never too late to use the next one. It is up to us to decide. There is a balance of faith and doing. Dave Ramsey says to “Pray like it all depends on God but work like it all depends on me.” We need to take of the blinders off and be more observant of the sleighs. “God moves mountains to create the opportunity of His choosing. It is up to you to be ready to move yourself.”, “The Traveler’s Gift”, Andy Andrews.

If I don’t want to get buried in the snow, I need to shovel what I can when I can and take the sleighs when they come along. I was presented some sleighs this past year and took them.

Learn from the past, look to the future, live in the present.

Watch for the sleighs and make this year the best year ever.

Make My Heart a Manger

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A place Where Jesus Can Reside

This time of the year the Christmas story is a big part of things. You know the one, the on where Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger. As we reflect on this story here are a few things to think about.

When Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem is was full of people going about their required duties. There were so many people there was no place left for Jesus to come into this world except an animal shelter. He was given the leftovers. Too many times this is what we give Jesus… We give Him our leftover time and attention. We don’t give Him anything but some space out with the animals.

Give Jesus more than your leftovers.

A manger is a trough or box for feeding livestock. Yet this was the place where our Savior was first laid. This was the place where He began to change everything. It was the starting point.

Jesus doesn’t need a palace or a king size bed. He just needs a place to reside.

This story from “1001 Illustrations That Connect” edited by Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elsolf about Rose Kennedy, mother of President John Kennedy, explains this well. (Make your heart a manger)

Rose Kennedy’s story:

“I was a spoiled young bride of a strong-willed man, a socialite who attended every function possible,” she began. “We were expecting a child and elated at the prospect. The day came when our child was born. She was a beautiful child.

“But it wasn’t long until we realized that there was something terribly wrong with her. We took her to the doctor, who confirmed our fears. She was [mentally handicapped], and nothing could be done.”

“Anger grew in my heart,” Rose said. “How could God do such a thing to this child — to me? I turned my back on God, my husband, my closest friends — and became a recluse.

“One evening, a major event was happening in the city. I wanted to go, but I was so filled with wrath that I thought I might create a scene. My husband feared it, too, so we decided to stay home. A lovely woman, who was one of our maids, gently said to me, ‘Please excuse me, Mrs. Kennedy, but I’ve been watching you the last few weeks. I love you very much, and I hate to see this destroy your life. Mrs. Kennedy, you’ll never be happy until you make your heart a manger where the Christ Child may be born.’

“I fired her on the spot! Yet later that night, my mind ruminated relentlessly, keeping me awake. I could not forget that lovely face, the sweetness of the maid, the joy in her spirit, and especially her words.

I have loved Christ my whole life, and tried to be a good Catholic, but now I knelt beside my bed and prayed, ‘Dear God, make my heart a manger where the Christ Child may be born.’ I felt a fresh, new, divine entry into my life, and there was born in me a love for [mentally handicapped] children.”

“Oh, by the way, I rehired the lovely maid,” Rose added. “She was with us until her death.”

Make your heart a manger where the Christ Child may be born.

God Cared Enough to Send the Very Best

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We Should Do Nothing Less in Return

 

Hallmark Christmas movies are on at our house a lot this time of year. Typically, people either love these movies or can’t stand them. I’ve discussed this multiple times with different people over the past several weeks.

 


I think the dislike comes from a negative place…a place of, life isn’t filled with happy endings like every Hallmark movie ever made.


Regardless of where you are on the spectrum of Hallmark movie appreciation, you should admire the company’s clearness of vision. They are a private, family owned American company founded in 1910 and still going strong today. Their slogan, “When you care enough to send the very best.” was created in 1944 and has been used consistently ever since.


God cared enough to send the very best, when He sent His Son.


If God cares enough for us to do this, we should incorporate a version of the Hallmark slogan into our own lives. To “Care enough to give the very best.” Every day we should be giving our very best to God and to others.

 


This doesn’t mean that every day is going to be sunshine and lollypops. It means that even when things aren’t going so well, we can still give our very best in that situation. It’s an attitude and we can control it.


Just like in the Hallmark movies bad things are exaggerated by people making presumptions or decisions without all the facts. Too many times we do the same thing in real life. Hallmark does have an advantage of experienced writers. We can write our own happy ending too.

 


If we accept the Very Best (Jesus) that was sent to us by God and in return live our very best (accept Him as our personal savior) as explained in the Bible, we can have a better than Hallmark happy ending of eternity in Heaven.

 

Anticipation Can Be Stressful or Exciting

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It’s Up to Us to Decide Which It Will Be

Christmas has come and gone for another year. That’s okay because we will look up in a few days and it will be here again.


Some people find the Holiday season stressful. The busy, rushed and harried pace can get overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be.


We get to choose how it’s going to be.


I love the anticipation of looking forward to opening presents on Christmas morning. I don’t want to know what I’m getting until I take the paper off and open it. I will be extra careful to not see what’s in boxes and bags around the house leading up to Christmas. The looking forward to the unveiling of the surprise is exciting.


Advent is a season of the liturgical year observed in many Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas and the return of Jesus at the Second Coming.


This season really is more about waiting than coming. Joseph and Mary both showed great faith and patience waiting for Jesus’ birth. Because they were not married yet and she was pregnant they were looked down on. They had to trust what they had been told by God and believe it to be true.


Look forward to the future possibilities God has for you with excited anticipation!


Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

Worrying Is A Waste of Time and Energy

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Avoid the Worry Trap

 

Worry is a real thing. It can eat away at our spirit like cancer. Too often time is spent worrying about things that no amount of worry will have any effect on. For some, the holiday season increases the level of worry.


It’s easy to get sucked into the commercial world of Christmas. This perspective will leave us feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. The world’s view is focused on money and gifts and trying to keep up with the Jones’s.


This isn’t how Christmas is supposed to be.


In the article “The Fog of Worry”, Earl Nightingale wrote about the counterproductive action of worry. He compares worrying to a fog covering a city.


According to the Bureau of Standards, “A dense fog covering seven city blocks, to a depth of 100 feet, is composed of something less than one glass of water.” So, if all the fog covering seven city blocks, 100 feet deep, were collected and held in a single drinking glass, it would not even fill it.


Worrying can trap us in a fog with no seeming way out. Mr. Nightingale goes on to explain this with an authoritative estimate of what most people spend their time and energy worrying about.

 

  1. 40% – never even happens.
  2. 30% – are over and past and can’t be changed.
  3. 12% – are needless heath worries.
  4. 10% – are petty, miscellaneous worries.
  5. 8% – this small percentage is the real legitimate things worth concerning ourselves with.


92% of worries are a fog that we create.

 


We need to focus our time and energy on the possibilities rather than the negative. This time of the year everything seems more intense, both good and bad. We just look for the good, the lights, the giving, the music, etc.


On Christmas in 2018, there was a nine-hour standoff between a man who barricaded himself in his home and the police. It began when he started shooting after his sister-in-law came to check on him, so the police were called. He continued firing shots at the police, from a second-floor window, hitting cars and nearby homes.


At 6:00 AM the next morning the SWAT negotiator tried something different…he started singing the Christmas song, “White Christmas”. When the song was over the man surrendered. This brought the standoff to a conclusion with no one being injured.


 

Music, especially Christmas songs, have a powerful message and connect with our emotions.


We can choose if we are going to focus on the negative or positive in this Christmas season and throughout the whole year. It’s up to us to make the choice.

 

 

Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

 

 

Good Things Are Done in The Light

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…Not So Much in The Dark

 

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is everywhere you look. Black Friday, Cyber Monday…we are being bombarded by Christmas advertising. There’s certainly nothing wrong with businesses marketing their products and services. The important thing to remember is that…


Christmas is about so much more than “buying gifts”.

 

Christmas is about celebrating the Light of the World. You’ve probably heard it said that nothing good happens after dark. There is something instinctually implanted in us that tells us this is true. People will do things in the dark that they wouldn’t normally do in the light.


Pastor Lee told a story Sunday about a person who while driving at night, ate a candy bar. The ash tray was already full of trash. Then, this person who hated littering, rolled down the window and threw the wrapper out. Realizing what they had done, they knew they would never have done this if it hadn’t been dark.


Things are done in the dark that would never be done in the light.


Throughout Scripture Jesus’ light is shown in direct contrast to dark, Matthew 5:14-16, John 8:12, 9:4-5 and 1 John 1:5-7 and I’ve found nowhere that it says dark is good and light is bad. The very first thing that God created was light and in the beginning Jesus was with God and Jesus was God. 


 

This light came to us in a manger over 2000 years ago and we celebrate this light at Christmas. This Lauren Daigle song tells us what this Light of the World is. 

 


Remember this Christmas as you see beautiful, bright Christmas lights everywhere you look, that Jesus is our Light and we are to reflect that light to those around us.

Good Things Are Done in The Light

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…Not So Much in The Dark

 

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is everywhere you look. Black Friday, Cyber Monday…we are being bombarded by Christmas advertising. There’s certainly nothing wrong with businesses marketing their products and services. The important thing to remember is that…


Christmas is about so much more than “buying gifts”.

 

Christmas is about celebrating the Light of the World. You’ve probably heard it said that nothing good happens after dark. There is something instinctually implanted in us that tells us this is true. People will do things in the dark that they wouldn’t normally do in the light.


Pastor Lee told a story Sunday about a person who while driving at night, ate a candy bar. The ash tray was already full of trash. Then, this person who hated littering, rolled down the window and threw the wrapper out. Realizing what they had done, they knew they would never have done this if it hadn’t been dark.


Things are done in the dark that would never be done in the light.


Throughout Scripture Jesus’ light is shown in direct contrast to dark, Matthew 5:14-16, John 8:12, 9:4-5 and 1 John 1:5-7 and I’ve found nowhere that it says dark is good and light is bad. The very first thing that God created was light and in the beginning Jesus was with God and Jesus was God. 


 

This light came to us in a manger over 2000 years ago and we celebrate this light at Christmas. This Lauren Daigle song tells us what this Light of the World is. 

 


Remember this Christmas as you see beautiful, bright Christmas lights everywhere you look, that Jesus is our Light and we are to reflect that light to those around us.

An Unexpected, Modern-Day Twist to The Christmas Carol

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It’s Never Too Late to Build A Better Life

As I’m working on goal setting and planning for the new year, I’ve been reviewing the past several years. Looking back can be disappointing and discouraging if things haven’t gone as well as you had planned. And this year certainly didn’t go as planned

While thinking about places I fell short and opportunities I missed or ignored, it caused me to think about the Hallmark Christmas movie, “A Shoe Addict’s Christmas”. In this movie a woman, Noelle, accidently gets locked in a department store where she works. While waiting to be rescued a quirky woman, Charlie, appears. Over the next few days Charlie, a guardian angel, helps Noelle rediscover the life she has been avoiding, by visiting Christmases past present and future.

We all have situations that we can look back on and wish we had done something different. We can’t change the past, but what we do today will affect the future.

You may have heard the story (or some variation of it) that Charlie told Noelle in the movie. It goes like this, there was man who was out in the snow and someone came by in a sleigh and offered him a ride. The man refused. He said, “God will take care of me”. Later as the snow continued to get deeper another man in a sleigh came by and offered to help. Once again, the man refused. “God will take care of me.” The next time a sleigh came by the snow was up to the man’s chin. For a third time the man declined the help and said, “God will take care of me”. Then the man is in Heaven and asking God why He didn’t save him. God answers, “I sent three sleighs and you ignored them all”.

Too often we ignore the sleighs that God sends us.

As long as we’re still alive, even if we’ve missed or ignored sleighs in the past, it’s too late to use the next one. It is up to us to decide. There is a balance of faith and doing. Dave Ramsey says to “Pray like it all depends on God but work like it all depends on me.” We need to take of the blinders off and be more observant of the sleighs. “God moves mountains to create the opportunity of His choosing. It is up to you to be ready to move yourself.”, “The Traveler’s Gift”, Andy Andrews.

If I don’t want to get buried in the snow, I need to shovel what I can when I can and take the sleighs when they come along. I was presented some sleighs this past year and took them.

Learn from the past, look to the future, live in the present.

Watch for the sleighs and make this year the best year ever.

Life Takes Strange Twists and Turns, but God is Faithful to His Promises

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Life being full of twists and turns is certainly an understatement. We all have examples of our own lives taking a twist here or a turn there. As crazy as some of those experiences are, none of them even come close to the twists and turns in Mary’s life when she found out that she was going to give birth to God’s son. And this was just the beginning of the twists and turns she would go through.

In Luke 1:39-45 we read about Mary’s reaction after receiving this message. She “got up and went quickly to…Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.” Elizabeth being Mary’s older more mature cousin had more years of experience. It is good when we find ourselves twisting and turning to confide in people who have been through more. This experience can help us regain perspective, give us direction moving forward and help us prepare for the next twist or turn.

We can’t see the future. We don’t know what is going to happen next. What we can do is trust in God’s promises. If He says it, He means it. The difficult part is clarifying what He says. Some people tell us He says one thing While someone else tells us the opposite. To get clarity we need to go directly to the source. That source being the Word of God. We can’t just go there once. We need to consistently and  continually go there.

What is the Word of God? The Word of God refers to the Bible and to Jesus. You can get a more in depth explanation here, https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-Bible-Word-God.html. This seem to be two different things that are actually the same. For example, I am Mark, but I am also the words that I’m writing in the email. My thoughts and writing can change over time as I experience more, but God isn’t going to change. He has already experienced it all.

We can trust God to help us through life’s twists and turns. He will direct us if we will faithfully follow Him. If we, “Trust the Lord completely…He will make our paths straight”, Proverbs 3:5-6. We can know how to follow Him through His Word.

I will close with this story about a Christmas twist and turn from Pastor Lee’s message.

A pastor shared with his congregation about a family that was going through some financial difficulties at Christmas. After hearing this, a man and his son decided to take a Christmas tree to the family. While driving to deliver the tree they were hit by a rock slide. The truck would not move and the son was cut by glass from the broken windshield. Car after car drove by and did not stop to help. Finally a couple stopped and took them to get the help that was needed for the boy and the truck. In all of the chaos they never even got the couples name.

A short time later after the truck was repaired and the boy was healing the pastor asked the man if they would deliver a box of food that had been given for the struggling family. When he got to the home with the delivery he found out that they were the same couple that had stopped and helped them. This is a Good Samaritan twist and turn. Luke 10:30-37

Remember God’s promises when twists and turns happen in your life and help others with theirs.

Christmas Is About Giving, Business Should Be Too

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How Do We Know What to Give Without A List?

Last week I wrote about the coming new year and our excitement about the possibilities and opportunities it will present. This week I’m going to back up just a little (chronologically) to focus on Christmas (considering that it is just a few days away).

Christmas at its very foundation means giving. “God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him would not be lost but have eternal life.” John 3:16, ERV. We’re talking about the ultimate gift. The giving of His child to be mistreated and ultimately killed on a cross. This Holiday is the celebration of that Child’s birth.

“God created humans in His own image. He created them to be like himself.” Genesis 1:27 ERV. If we have been created in His image, then shouldn’t we be willing to give. Isn’t this a part of who we have been put here on earth to be?

What does giving look like in business?

It doesn’t mean we do work for free. It doesn’t mean that if we win the customer loses or the other way around. Business isn’t supposed to be a win-lose arrangement. It can and should be a win-win.

Once again, this last week I met with another couple in the middle of a remodeling project that has taken a bad turn…they had to fire their contractor. What should have been the fulfilling of their dream turned into a nightmare. This was primarily due to a breakdown in communication. As professional builders, or businesses of any kind, this responsibility is ours. This is such a big problem. I have written about it as much or more than any other.

Here are links to some of those “Weekly Solutions”:

So, how do we know what it is that the customer wants? WE ASK THEM

This seems to be a no brainer, but for whatever reason the question doesn’t get asked, not really. The basics get discussed and everybody thinks they know what the outcome is going to be, but some where in the process things go off track. It takes time and effort to dig deep and find the underlying dream. This is critical to the project being a win-win.

It’s like finding out what a child wants for Christmas. Sure, we can go get them a gift and it might be something they like but, the odds aren’t very good. Or, we can have them fill out a Christmas list. If we don’t understand something on the list, we can ask and get some clarity before the process starts or money is spent.

Have the customer fill out a “Christmas List” for their project before moving forward.

To the point of having a list filled out…I need a list filled out to help determine the best direction for Solution Building going forward. I have a lot of ideas, but your input will help me know what would be the most beneficial to helping you build your dreams.

Please share your thoughts, questions, ideas or dreams in the comments below. This will help me know what gifts I can give you.

If you would prefer you can give me your list by taking this short 8 question survey.