4:50 am: Praying for friends and people in our care group. Thanking God for them! Life is not the same without them. Day 2 of envisioning is looking good. My swollen eye is healing fast. My eyes will see clearer. Day 2 of Temple Care.

This TED Talk by Derek Sivers of CD Baby is only 2 minutes. It helps us try looking at the flip side of everything. Liked the presentation and what he can do with just 2 minutes because sometimes in children’s ministry, 2 minutes is all we’ve got.

“There’s nothing you can do to stop me from loving you”
“There’s nothing you can say that will take my love away”

These are perhaps the things that God will say to you today. If you don’t just rely on sermons on the pulpit and really go read the bible yourself, you’ll notice that God does speak in rhyme. Sometimes yes, but often he doesn’t. He does use anecdotes, stories and memories. Sometimes tragedy, often he’ll say things that are strange to human ears, mysterious and hard to comprehend. Sometimes he’s that wild man, crude, sometimes soft, tender and gentle. He’s everything, anything but boring. You won’t find him the way you hear about him in Christian articles. Don’t get me wrong, Christian articles and preachers are good, but it is just not enough. We need to encounter God by ourselves and find that the odd God we may see Him to be, may really be the perfect Father for odd people like us.

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Reading about Hezekiah and his decline in the book of Isaiah this morning. After reading how the Lord spoke about abuse and disaster that will happen to his family and he came out of that thinking what the Lord said was good and that peace will reign in his lifetime, I cracked up laughing. Isn’t it true what we see in Hezekiah is so true in all of us…… God speaks and we are all just so occupied that our responses are inappropriate and funny because we just weren’t listening.

Why Start A New Journey?

1. Because you are a new creation, the old have the old journey, the new takes the new.

2. Because there’s always one to get you unstuck from the current situation

3. Because there’s no better time to start moving than now

4. Because its worth reflecting where you are going & re-envisioning where you should be

Some crude language* but funny!

* Speaking of crude language, my daughters just told me this joke about the peril of using bad language.

“Once an angel met 3 boys and were granted a wish each on the spot. In order for their wish to come true, they had to run 20 metres, jump up and shout whatever they wish and they will land on hundreds or thousands of what they wish for.

So the first boy ran, jumped and shouted “Chocolates” and to his amazement, there were chocolates right where he landed. He ate with great delight.

Then the second boy ran, jumped and shouted “Gummy Candies” and to his surprise landed on a big pool of delicious candies.

The third one, didn’t quite have good self control, so wanted ‘hamburgers’ for his wish, hastily ran his 20 metres. But before he could leap, tripped on a rock and on his way down said “O Shit”.

The more we grow the more we deal with things. Dealing with things is the time we are tested what we are made of. We can’t afford to be tired when we deal with things. It affects relationships, plans and judgement. We need physical rest, emotional support … and water. Yes, water. Lots of water.

As I’m nurturing my swollen left eye, I reflect on the many times I’ve been down lately. I think the rate is greater than what I’m comfortable with. With that, I’m thinking of greater and more deliberate temple care in February.

As a start, I’ll be drinking more water. I’ll also eat better and commit to rising early again. I’m caring big time to gain more miles into my day. February is coming, it won’t be an easy month so it’ll have to be my “Temple Care Month” as I continue my ascent upward.

Steve Jobs announced iPad for Mac geeks. Not a lot in there in terms of features but it’ll still sell like hotcakes. Like any Apple products it has a convincing design and will do that 1 thing well. It’ll make you admit that reading a computer screen is like reading a TV. People will buy it because it makes us do old things in a new way.

(0:01) Tell your story & paint the picture of your vision
(0:14) Lead with clear instructions and begin with getting into the groove
(0:56) Don’t fill every space with words. Use actions, expression and an honest sigh.
(1:30) Develop great skill but when playing, play with passion more than technicality.
(2:47) Sound good alone but allow room for others so that together you sound even better.
(3:20) Only truth sounds like truth. Wail if your heart is wailing.
(4:30) Enjoy your work and maintain the same quality even when nobody is looking.

Introducing the fabulous Lanae Hale (with a great testimony of God’s work in her life) to say good nite to everyone!

Shot of my grand uncle during his birthday with his great grand nieces and nephews