Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Proud to Have Been Selected

I received an email from Multnomah Books yesterday.  I have been selected to review Mark Batterson's upcoming release Primal.  It will be released later this month.  I am excited at the opportunity to be one of the first people to read his book; but to be asked to review it is an honor.  I have heard Mark speak several times at various events over the last three years.  However, I never would have guessed this opportunity would have presented itself. 

While you are waiting for Mark's book to be released later this month, you can pick up a copy of mine book, The Covering of God,  at http://www.pastorric.org/  They are in stock and ready to ship.

Stay tuned for the review of Primal.  It will be up the week of December 15.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

We Are All Really the Same

I am finishing up the book by John Ortberg entitled When the Game is Over It All Goes Back in the Box.  On page 208, the author quotes Wes Seeliger:

I have spent long hours in the intensive care waiting room watching with anguished people, listening to urgent questions:  Will my husband make it?  Will my child walk again?  How do you live without your companion of thirty years?


The intensive care waiting room is different from any other place in the world.  And the people who wait are different.  They can't do enough for each other.  No one is rude.  The distinctions of race and class melt away.  The garbage man loves his wife as much as the university professor loves his, and everyone understands this.  Each person pulls for everyone else.


In the intensive care waiting room, the world changes.  Vanity and pretense vanish.  The universe is focused on the doctor's next report.  If only it will show improvement.  Everyone knows that loving someone else is what life is all about.


Could we learn to love like that if we realized that every day of life is a day of life in the waiting room?


What else is there to say?  Much to think about.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Thankful for Friends

I had lunch with a friend today. It was a beautiful day in the mountains and was even made more so by spending time with a friend.

After our lunch was over and I was sitting in my office, I thought about how friends affect our lives. Friends have the ability to speak truthfully into our lives. Friends have the ability to lift our spirits when we are down. Friends, most of all, love us no matter what.

In this season when our thoughts turn to Thanksgiving, let us be thankful for the friends in our life. And, purpose to be a friend. Because, in the words of Dean Martin: everybody needs somebody sometime.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Discontentment Syndrome

As I sit in my office, I am looking out the window at the sunshine.  It is a beautiful afternoon in the mountains.  The sun is lighting the valley, and the ridgetops are aglow in its warmth. It appears to be a warm, sunny day; the kind you have in late autumn.  But that is from my vantage point.  When you go outside, there is a breeze blowing.  The air has that chill in it which reminds you that winter is soon upon us.  Although it looks warm outside my window, the reality says otherwise.

Life is that way as well.  From your vantage point, things seem to be better on the other side.  The grass is greener on the other side of the fence.  But when we get there, we discover it was just an illusion.  I call that the Discontentment Syndrome.  The main symptom is we are unhappy where we are.  We think things would be better if we were somewhere else, doing something else.  The syndrome causes us to not be content where we are in life.

I am not saying that we should just focus on where we are with no dreams or aspirations.  Quite the contrary.  The Discontentment Syndrome causes us to have NO dreams, goals or aspirations.  It causes us to focus on the latest view out our window.  It causes us to not be content with just the view.  It never allows us to enjoy where we are; it always causes us to focus somewhere else.

Take time today to enjoy life.  Stop and enjoy the view out your window.  Do not wish to be somewhere else; do not wish to be at another point in life.  Take time to enjoy the view where you are.  Enjoy your friends; enjoy your familyEnjoy life.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Thank You to All Who Have Served

On this day we pause to remember those who have bravely served, and those who are currently serving,  our nation.  This day of remembrance was first known as Armistice Day.  It signified the cessation of hostilities between the Allied nations and Germany.  It went into effect at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  However, on June 1, 1954, the name Armistice Day was officially changed to Veteran's Day to remember all soldiers who had served our nation.

But there is a group that is sometimes fogotten when we think of our soldiers and veterans.  It is their families.  While our soldiers have made great sacrifices, some making the ultimate sacrifice in giving their lives for our freedom, their families have made great sacrifices as well.  While fathers have been away, children have been born.  While mothers have been away, first steps were taken, first words were spoken.  Holidays have been celebrated without fathers, mothers, sons, or daughters.  Birthdays come and go without the presence of that loved one.  The families of our soldiers have sacrificed much so that their loved ones could protect us. 

When you pause to reflect upon our freedoms, when you pause to say a prayer for our veterans, remember their families.  Their sacrifice is great, too.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

What Are You Doing?

In Kevin Lehman's latest book The Firstborn Advantage, he asks the following three questions:
  1. When are you the happiest?
  2. What are your long-range goals?
  3. What are some things you do that you really don't want to (but you do them because others expect you to)?
Sometimes we are so focused on question number three that we can't even answer the first two questions.  This happens even if you are not a firstborn or only child.  We find ourselves, out of what we think is necessity, doing things that others want us to do but not really wanting to do them ourselves.  Now in employment situations that happens all the time.  But is your personal life filled with this?  Do you do things in your personal life because others expect you to do them?  If so, it is time to re-evaluate and re-prioritize.

First, sit down.  It is OK to do that....to NOT be busy.  (Take that from a recovering workaholic).  After you are seated and trying to relax, think about what makes you happy.  What do you enjoy doing; where do you enjoy going.  Then ask yourself what keeps you from doing those things, from going those places.

Next, begin to think about what you want to accomplish in life.  What are your goals, your dreams.  Take some time to think about them and write them down.  Begin to think about what you can do to begin to achieve your goals. 

The speed of life is fast.  Before you know it, it is passing you by.  Don't look back regretting that you did not accomplish something that was important to you.  Life is meant to be lived.  Life is meant to be enjoyed, savored.  So.....plan, prioritize and proceed.