The Morning Mile

Each time of day has its uniqueness but there is nothing like the cool and quiet of the morning.  The shadows lay softer and the woodsy sounds are cheerier.

At Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge there is a 1/2 mile trail through the woods that ends at an open lookout tower.  My commitment to myself and my health is to walk that 1/2 mile in the morning and in the evening.

I got started this morning and these pictures are from my Morning Mile.  It is cool this morning and a slight breeze graces this day.  I suppose that there is something to be said about living in a peaceful place but more can said about being at peace with yourself.  The good thing about that is that you have full control over it.

Most of us have a need to control just like the Nascar drivers have a need for speed.  Nothing wrong with that but we have to put our energies toward the things that are within our right to control.  The elements of nature controlled the unique growth of this tree that I passed on my Morning Mile.  I could not control how the light streams through, nor would I want to because my Heavenly Father does a fine job of that.  But I can control the fact that I walk past it every morning in an effort to lose the weight I need to and gain back stamina after my cancer, surgery and radiation event 8 months ago.

I can control climbing this lookout tower and knowing that with every step, I’m reaching my goal.  There are a lot of things I can control and my Morning Mile is teaching me the beauty of contentment in who I am and who I can become.

It is aggravating when we cannot change someone or something about that someone and it can drive you crazy.  It is at those times that I look at what I can control and go climb the tower and delight in the panoramic view from the top.

Look at life today as a collection of events which you can use to become better, stronger, more like Christ and wiser.  Why don’t you start a Morning Mile?

 

We’re Moving On!

We are on our to Swan Lake Wildlife Refuge to do a work kamper job.  Yes, it is a volunteer job and no, we do not pay any site rent for full hook up for our 30 f00t Prowler 5th wheel.

This is our third job that we have done in the last 6 months.  The jobs last a minimum of 2 months and some places ask for a 6 month commitment.  We will be at the Refuge for 3 months.

This picture was taken yesterday as we were driving through the Ozark Hills or mini-mountains.  We have a Dodge Ram 2500 V10 that pulls anything.  Our Prowler is 30 foot long and weighs about 6000 pounds.

So when Billy, my Honey, saw this long hill up ahead, he looked at me smiling and said, “I’m going to get a running start for that hill.”  I could feel our speed accelerating.  I looked behind and Prowler was giving us the “giddy up”.  We were at about 80 or 85 MPH as we started the incline.  Just a couple minutes later we slipped up over the crest never dropping below 60-65 MPH.

I thought to myself that it is a way we have to run at life.  We know reverses, sadness, pain or disappointment is coming so gas it during the good times and gain speed, gain confidence and rhythm for life.  Then as the hill gets steep we can fall back on the promises God has given us, the focus we’ve gained coming down the hill.

Before we know it we’ve topped the hill and we’re on our way to the next challenge.

I Can Change That!

There are many things in life that are out of our control.  That can be frustrating for someone like myself who was raised in a controlling environment.  Because I was taught every day by words, actions and philosophies that the best way was to control it.  Manipulate people to get what you want.

I’ve been away from that society for over 20 years but once in a while, I still find myself trying to manipulate to either have a decision go my way or get something or any number of situations.  Dr. Phil to Oprah to life coaches tell us that there is only one person we can change.  Who is it?  Me!

When we have been controlled a vast majority of our life then, unfortunately that is so much a part of our psyche that we attract those to us who will tell us what to do then we do not have to be responsible.  How convoluted is that?

I said all that to say this.  I’ve struggled the last few years with my weight.  It would come off, then goes right back on again.  I was to my cancer doctor Thursday and weighed in at the highest weight I’ve ever been.  Something has got to happen and I’ve got to figure out how to do it so it lasts.  I’m discouraged before I started.

But this morning I had what Oprah used to call a “light bulb moment”.    It is nothing supernatural but the reality truth hit me broad side — “I can change my weight.”  It is me and me is the one person I can change.  I think that I just may print that up and put it on the refrigerator, by my bed, on my computer to remind me that “I can change my weight.”

A View of the Stars or Dirt

My junior year in college, one of my favorite classes was Astronomy.  Once a month our professor assigned an evening lab with the telescope.  I was in a group of about six girls who planned our first evening together.  We carried the telescope to a dark place behind the dormitory, adjusted the lens and started gazing towards the stars and planets.

Finally we became disenchanted with the celestial objects that we had studied so much about.  We remembered reading in Genesis that “He made the stars also… and God saw  that it was good.”  But where were all these stars, planets, and the Milky Way?

Forty minutes later, our professor stopped by to see how we were doing.  We expressed our complete frustration with Astronomy, the stars, the telescope, and even doubted his ability to teach us about the celestial objects that were not visible.

With a twinkle in his eye he took the telescope and turned it around!  We had been gazing into the ground for thirty minutes.

We tend to see disaster, selfishness, greed for power, and deceit when we focus our eyes on the pain of misunderstanding, the exasperation of health problems, and financial straits of our lives today.  These are all issues that can haunt the moments of each day when our spiritual telescope is aimed at the ground.

When Professor Jesus passes by and flips our telescope upward, the things of earth grow strangely dim.  We can see Him sufficient to supply our smallest need or to meet us at the point of our greatest despair.  Rough stones in our path are transformed to shining lights that guide us through our earthly sojourn.

So the “moral of the story” is if all you can see is darkness maybe you should check the view finder on life’s telescope.

Up-Side-Down in a Minute!

Christmas Day 2006, Daytona Beach was enjoying opening packages and eating a luscious dinner.  Out of virtually nowhere, a fierce swirling tornado touched down southwest of the city, turned a pickup truck over and then proceeded to town and strutted its stuff by turning airplanes over at the Jet Center and proceeded to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and destroyed 95% of his fleet of planes.

This plane was parked by the Jet Center as my nephew took me through the wreckage and debris in the airfield.  He was the staff called to handle the crisis at the Jet Center that day.

As with most storms except some slow moving hurricane storms, they move through in a fit of rage then walk away into the distance leaving the community stunned.  How many hours and how much manpower would it take to flip this plane over?  For those who were watching from a safe distance recalled it being a blink of an eye happening.

I feel just like this plane some days — upside down and it happened instantaneous as life moved in on me.  It is so discouraging because you think you have your life well anchored and grounded, then circumstances of life have the power to flip you in an instant.  The owner of this plane, without doubt, had it tied down with thick cables which are anchored in cement.  The owner had done everything that was required to make the plane safe.

So do we do everything we can to have our lives in a safe productive place.  Calamities, unexpected sickness or death and financial disaster hit and turn us upside down.  The airplane owner’s insurance probably declared this craft a total loss.  They handed him some settlement money and he bought another plane.

With life, the insurance we have is the grace and mercy of God and the only thing that is going to be traded in is the trial or tribulation for a set of jewels in our heavenly crown.  Because there is no trading in of “my life”.  My life will continue after a tragedy or heartbreak and God will multiply His grace and mercy and comfort to me just as he will to you.

Here We Go, To The Finish Line!

I was turned on to Nascar racing by a good friend I knew in college.  We lived in different cities but would call each other up during the race and he would explain to me what was going on and why the drivers did this, that or the other.  It was not long till I was hooked.  It was fascinating to keep up with the different drivers and their driving style.  I soon picked my favorite, Tony Steward.

Racing has a lot of parallels to life and that was something else that interested me.  The endurance that the drivers needed is extraordinary.  When they are being interviewed they often speak of the hours they spend in the gym and the mental preparation they go through before the race.

But the thing I loved the most was being physically at the race and when they came around that 4th turn, everybody held their breath as the power of 20+ race car roared by.  But there was another phenomena that I loved.

As the pack of race cars were coming around the turn 4, about halfway to where I’m standing in the picture, there was 100% silence.  You could not hear one roar on sound of an engine.  This silence may have lasted for mere seconds but after being at the race track to watch races repeatedly, I found it happened every time.

On into the race as the cars became spread out, that peculiar silence was not noticed.

How many “silent times” we’ve had in our lives and we panic because it seemed God has left us and our friends have forsaken us.  If we would “lift up our eyes to the hills” we would see by faith that a blessing is coming or a roaring energy would encompass us.

Round and round those drivers go, tense and focused on the track ahead of them and with one eye on the prize for the winner.  We’re surprised when God is silent or allows a trial to besiege us or a devastating loss to overcome us.  It is then that we must remember, this world is not our home and this thing called life is a real live battlefield.   Our prize awaits us in the winner’s circle around the great white throne in a land that needs no light.

Let’s fight the fight today with the sword of the Spirit and determination.

 

Financial Planning Strategies — Chapter 4

Financial Planning Strategies — Chapter 4.

On the Other Side of the Jump

It seems that the adventurous spirit is sometimes beat out of us by trials and reverses and heartache.  Everyone reading this will understand what I’m talking about.   This is not a “bad” thing but something that will definitely strip us our joy.  So the choice is either to live with an empty cup or do to do something about it.

We probably all remember our daddy putting us on the counter in the kitchen then stepping back and challenging us to jump.  For the fearless, like I was in my childhood, I would jump without giving it a second thought.  As we face life and gather layer upon layer of fear, things change in our mind and heart.

Let’s talk about the jump of your life.  What has been the jump of your life?  What adventure did you have?  Which thing on your bucket list did you just do? You know what the jump of your life is.

 

My daughter took the jump of her life for real when she went skydiving a couple years ago.

Note the excruciating pain and fear in her expression as she is anticipating falling from the airplane towards the earth.

Don’t we feel that way when anticipating an event in our live that requires some faith and courage.  If you never jump, the fear and pain stay because that’s all you know.

 

 

 

The next picture is the fall.

Fear has changed to surprise and “what on earth am I doing?”

Still a little reserve which is what we feel many times when doing something unexpected and out of the ordinary.

But the first step is the first step and more than many do.

In a lot of incidents there is no turning back after the first step.

My daughter had no recourse, she had committed and she had to follow through as the upper atmosphere whisked her toward the earth.

 

 

The third picture is my favorite.

It shows utter and total delight!

She said later that it was a liberating experience like she had never had before in her life.  Isn’t that true when we commit to make a change and to move in a new direction or take on a new challenge?

It is liberating because we actually are making a difference in our lives and perhaps multiple lives around us.

It is liberating because we are doing something while others are still standing in the doorway grasping at their chest in fear.  Enjoy the thrill and grow in courage for the next adventure God may call you to.

The last picture is a safe landing.

No we cannot stay floating in the ethereal atmosphere forever.

There does have to be a landing and a feeling of a job well done.

There will be a strength, a new strength because of taking on the challenge to change, to grow, to mature and to become more like Christ.

Take the jump!

Sunrise or Sunset?

Is this picture a sunset or a sunrise?  Unless I remembered when and where I took it, I would have difficulty knowing.  Both sunrises and sunsets can have color.  Both can be partially in a dark sky.  So, you’re probably asking, “What does it matter?”

How many times have we had a bad night and rolled and tossed, unable to go to sleep.  How welcome was the sun climbing into the sky because it signified hope and something new.  Then we think about a sunset as the end of something.

My point is that sometimes we confuse the beginning of something as the ending.  So we think that the event in our lives is a sunset when in reality it is a sunrise to a new beginning, a new adventure, a new part of our life.

I have had a lot of change in my life, throughout my life, but I still struggle with it.  It is hard for me to walk away from one part of my life, like leaving a job or moving from one house to another.  I’m sad that I’m ending something because maybe I have not done the best I could during that period of my life.  So I look at it as a sunset.

Change can be a sunrise, the beginning of a new time in our life which is exciting.  I recently watched my daughter walk across the stage at University of  Texas to receive her college diploma.  I was so proud of her that tears ran down my cheek.  A couple days later, I watched her drive away with her fiancee heading to California where he was in the Marines.

Two months later I had the great honor of walking my beautiful bride daughter down the aisle to be married to Steve.  A sunset, you say?  Yes, I kind of felt that way as so many things changed in my life and in my daughter’s life.  They would be living in California and I am in Texas and we did not know when we would see each other again as we each drove away after the wedding.

Now, being five months into my “new life” I see that that was a sunrise time in my life also.  My Honey, Billy, and I have packed up the house and started our RV life in March.  We are having fun, new adventures, new plans and on and on.

But I had to make a decision to declare that period in my life to be a sunrise rather than a sunset.  The sun is still shining even though I miss my daughter, but she and I both are experiencing a new adventure.

Is Your Life a Sprint or a Marathon

It was a beautiful day on the beach in Daytona Beach, Florida.  I just wanted to get away from life for awhile and give my brain a rest.  I sat down on the sand and watched the waves beat the shore.  I had brought a little lunch with me and so tossed some bread crumbs out on the sand.  The sea gulls came flocking.  I hope you can see the small crumb that the bird in flight was landing for.

We so many times want big blessings but this sea gull came in from his flight for one crumb.  Maybe I’m writing this for my encouragement today.  When things are bad and we want a change, it seems only something big will change it.  Maybe the change will come in little things — one crumb at a time.

So this is how I see it.  If I am needing change, I need to look for one crumb at a time to effectuate a loaf of a change.  Then I have to adjust my perspective of change.  My personality is, let’s do it now and make it happen now.  The lesson I need to learn and I’m sure some of my readers have the same need is to see life as a marathon rather than one quick sprint or a collection of sprints.

Every New Year’s Eve, I set goals for the upcoming year.  I purposefully do not make resolutions because they resemble a sprint — one burst of energy and if we do not attain, it’s over.  Goals are something that I’m striving for all year.  At the end of the year, I may not have totally reached my goal but the markers I set up along the way to evaluate my goals show progress.

One of my goals this year is to get out of debt.  Well, 2 months into the year, I lost my job.  That goal had to be adjusted because an unexpected event occurred.  But I’m still moving toward my goal.  It will probably be 2 years now instead of 1 year

The other advantage of goals is that they give direction.  Mentally and emotionally we can get off track so easily because this that or the other distract us.  If I have my goals written down they are specific and they are real.  I try to re-evaluate my goals once a month and see what part I may have forgotten about and what parts I need to do better with and how I can adjust the goals to keep on track.

Water flows downward and gravity pulls downward all the time.  Our purpose to move forward has to be stronger than gravity and more resistant than the flow of water.