Habits

I have been taking our 13 year old son Brian to Manhattan to get some pitching lessons the past couple of months. One of the first things the instructor did was to evaluate Brian's pitching motion. At the end of the first lesson, the instructor told Brian that he could easily add 10 mph to his pitching speed, just by changing his mechanics. Unfortunately, this meant that he would have to teach his body to forget all the things he had learned over the past 13 years, and develop a new "habit" of pitching with a different motion. He said the only way to train his mind and body to do this was to do certain exercises and drills over and over again. Eventually, the new mechanics will take over and replace the old ones. Hopefully, Brian will reap the results of his new mechanics and have a fastball in the 80 to 85 mph range. Not bad for a 13 year old!!

I have been told that a habit, either good or bad, takes about 30 days to develop. Likewise, it takes about 30 days to break a habit. We all are creatures of habit, doing things over and over until they are forged in our minds. Oftentimes, we don't even realize some of the things we are doing!!

1 Corinthians 9: 27 says "I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should...." By being consistent in our prayer life, by studying God's Word daily, by always being aware of opportunities for God's service, we develop habits that make us more effective Christians. Let's look at our habits in our lives and decide if we need to change any of them, or maybe even add new ones that will make us better people!!

Be My Valentine

Today is Vaentines Day, that wonderful day when we attempt to convey to our sweetie how much we love and cherish them. Yes, it is a wonderful day, full of love and romance. But, too often, the pursuit of romance with our mate is limited to this one day, and the rest of the year is "the same old same old".

A truly successful romantic relationship requires a constant effort of "wooing" and "romancing" our spouse or mate. The art of romance unfortunately, seems to be fast becoming a lost art. If we truly want to have a strong relationship, we need to learn that we have to pursue that relationship daily. After all, isn't one of our deepest desires to feel like we are special in our mate's eyes?

God is wanting to enter into a special relationship with us on a daily basis. He doesn't just want to show us how much He loves us just once a year, He gives us His love daily. He constantly pursues us. He constantly woos us. He wants us to be His Valentine. He wants us to feel like we are special to Him, BECAUSE WE ARE!! Are you ready to accept His love every day, and likewise show it to others?

Happy Valentines Day!!

Build It (and they will come?)

Our church (Aulne Methodist) is considering a substantial building project. We're looking at adding on a new fellowship hall and kitchen facility. These items have been needed for a long time. The architect has done a great job, and the plan is a good plan.

I am struggling with questions that keep coming back to me time and time again. How does this project enhance our ability to serve and praise God? Are we wanting to do this for our convenience? Is there a better use of our funds? Is God more pleased to see a church give it's money to mission projects, or does He smile when He sees us taking care of His house? Are we being good stewards by potentially putting the church in debt and obligating future generations?

A good arguement can be made that if you enhance your church via improvements to the facility, it sends a signal to the surrounding community, as well as people who don't attend regularly that the church is making a long term committment. It is a well documented fact that building projects alone can and often do have a fringe benefit of increased attendance. The "build it and they will come" adage definitely has merit. Increased attendance hopefully brings increased giving, not only to help pay for the cost of the improvments, but also to help fund missions and other vhurch supported evangelism projects.

I know there are other areas within our church walls that need addressed (Sunday School class rooms, updated and increased sanctuary space, ect), but with the high cost of construction, it is just unreasonable to expect our little rural church congregation to "bite off more than we can chew". The arguement can be made that the fellowship hall project can be the springboard and foundation for future improvements that can address these other issues/needs.

Pray for our church that we make the right decisions. All we want to do is praise Him and be His servants in all we do. After all, we are His hands and feet. Will making improvements to his house make us better servants? We will find out!!

De Colores

Bluebird of Happiness

Not too long ago, my son Brian and I set up a couple of bluebird houses in our back yard. If you are not familiar with these, they are bird houses that are set up with certain exact dimensions (size of interior, access hole size, etc.) that somehow make them attractive and practical only for bluebirds. These birds have the most beautiful blue colored feathers on their backs, and a rust colored chest and throat. Their songs are amazing to listen to. I came home from work at lunch yesterday, and was surprised to see a couple of pairs of blue birds looking them over! I have not really seen any all winter, and almost magically, here they are! Hopefully they will choose these houses as their homes for this spring, nest and have their own little blue bird families that we can enjoy.

Just another example of God's amazing creation!!

Psalm 65:13 (New Life Version) The grasslands are covered with birds. They call out for joy and sing.

De Colores