Affirm Yourself

As you know, I work for The Group Real Estate.  The company has its warts to be sure, as most if not all do, but there are a lot of positivity principles they really get right.  Years ago, our strongest company pillar, Larry Kendall, began teaching courses that are now offered across this country and in Canada.  Many of the concepts he teaches are not new but then again, neither are the "secrets" to most of life's challenges.  For instance, to loose weight, one must eat nutritiously and exercise.

Larry teaches the echo of what the scientific community has researched and verified many times over.  Some of the most impactful in my world are also quite Biblical:

• positive thinking yields miraculously positive results ("Seek and ye shall find" was Matthew's mindset in the New Testament era... along about chapter 7.)
• people with daily practices, routines and the discipline to employ them are happier, more successful and their pocketbooks usually fatter (No surprise to Solomon... his book of Proverbs testifies to this truth repetitively)
• training your brain to think in terms of specific successes sought, as already won, increases the likelihood of realizing those successes.  (Doesn't the book of James offer the same advice in Chapter 1?)

What I find intriguing, is not so much the concept but the implementation.  And, I delight in new ways to incorporate positivity into my world.

During the three day course Larry offers, he introduces what he terms "affirmations."  These are statements one should write out each day for a month or more until they take root in your subconscious.  Apparently we are wired in such a way that we can actually program ourselves to some degree.  Take a short mental journey down that road and it's undeniable that we all do program ourselves and/or we allow our lives and circumstances to program us.  So, spending some time writing  a little of our own brain "code" is a not a bad idea.

For the sake of further explaining the concept, let's assume we all struggle with dirt between our toes or earwax, and one of our greatest desires is to be free from these.  So, each morning, we commit to write, "I'm so grateful to have wax free ears and squeeky clean toes." Over a period of time, our brains consciously and then subconsciously put into practice the necessary motions that lead us to realize that goal.  And, once reprogrammed, we can now make our barber and beauty salon appointments with confidence knowing that indeed we are wax and grit free and thus, need not be embarrassed.

Naturally, the most common affirmations have more to do with money and weight loss but the notion is this... when we combine the discipline of writing daily with a mindset of positive assumptive affirmation... results out of the ordinary become prevalent in our lives.

Good stuff, huh?  Well, sort of.  In practice, I wrote (as suggested), "I am grateful to have 3 new listings in the next 90 days."  Guess what?  Ninety days passed and my name wasn't in front of anyone's home with a for sale sign in the yard.

Now, Larry's smart, he's successful, and the practice taps into that whole concept of "b e l i e v e" which is one of my favorite words.  But before I digress and share with you my dictionary of favorite letter combinations - let me take you to what I found to be the REAL power in "affirmations."

When I was at the hotel with the children over the holidays, I found myself on New Year's eve with little more to do than sip cider and watch Dick Clark's protege.  So, my mind got busy.  I got the notion to write down words I wanted to describe me.  It was, after all, New Year's... the traditional time of goal setting, resolutions and the like.  As I picked up a pen and hotel stationary, I thought I'd have about a half dozen words.  When the ink began to litter the page, however, I found one word would inspire another and before I was done, 64 words had leaped from my mind onto that page... and none were truly synonyms!  

These words, covering so many facets of personality, demeanor and action, became my "affirmations."  I don't write them every day... but often I do.  I've made them into a word cloud and they are posted on my office bulletin board.  I choose a few to focus on most days.  

I suppose you could be the judge as to whether you feel I'm becoming more of the person I want to be in word, thought, deed and action... but the perspective that's even more important is my Lord's.  "Delight yourself in the Lord (or perhaps what you believe he made you to be) and He will give you the desires of your heart."  Maybe the application of that verse is a stretch for you... but for me, this whole discipline towards my "affirmations" is powerfully positive and allows me to delight (on most days) in the Lord and the desire of my heart is truly to be more of what I believe He desires me to be.

Shalom and Amen.

For such a time as this

Hey all - great hanging out with everyone last Friday night...thanks Watkins!!
Sorry this blog post is so delayed.  It was a combination of forgetting, then trying to figure out what to write about, then most of my entry being deleted (I thought), then being too busy getting ready for our trip to S Dakota...but after getting on here again I found that my entry was not deleted...it just appeared that way. Yea!  So hopefully I'll actually get this finished up now.

I've been reading The Lord of the Rings, and every so often Tolkien inserts some wise truth into the dialogue that jumps out at me, so I thought I'd share one of those.

I'm not sure if any of you are fans of The Lord of the Rings or have seen the movies/read the book, but this part is towards the beginning when Gandalf the Wizard is explaining to Frodo the Hobbit that Sauron - the Dark Lord - has risen to power again and is searching for the One Ring of Power - the very ring that Frodo has in his possession.  As Gandalf is explaining this to him, Frodo says, "I wish it need not have happened in my time."  Gandalf replies, "So do I, and so do all who live to see such times.  But that is not for them to decide.  All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

This reminded me of the story of Esther in the Old Testament.  I won't recount the whole story here (but it's a great one, so you should go read it if you haven't in a while), but basically Esther (who is a queen of Persia but also secretly a Jew) has a chance to save her people from destruction if she will reveal who she really is to the king and ask for mercy on the Jews.  She would be risking her life to do this, though.  Her cousin, Mordecai, says to her, "Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.  For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish.  And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:12-14)

Both passages are saying that we don't have a choice in when and where we are born and what world events will be happening during our lifetime.  Nobody wishes to live in a time or place when great hardship or evil will greatly affect his/her life.  But that is not for any of us to decide.  Why was I born at this time and place in history?  Why am I currently living a pretty good life here in America while my brothers and sisters in Christ are being tortured and murdered in other parts of the world?  And will I (or my kids) face greater persecution in the near future in our own country?  I do fear for what my kids may have to face.  I don't know what God will ask of me in the future (even tomorrow); it may be something that will be hard to do or that I will fear, like Frodo and Esther both feared the tasks they were asked to do.  But I hope I will trust God enough that He put me in this place and time for His purpose and will equip me to do whatever it is He wants, and that I will do it, even if I am afraid.

A friend of mine who has been doing some street preaching has asked my views regarding the rapture and what happens to a believer when they die. Do we go straight to heaven or do we rise from the grave when Jesus returns?

Personally I use the example of Jesus and the criminal on the cross from Luke (NIV).

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[d]”

43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

To me, this shows that we do go straight to heaven. But how do we explain the rapture and people rising from the dead during the second coming? (cant find a reference right now).....Thoughts?

Five Balls in the Air

Since we couldn't figure out how to add to the blog which Patti did such a good job of setting up for us, we are sending our thoughts to you via email from Breckenridge (where it is snowing and beautiful this morning).  Hopefully, we can master this before next time!  We will be home next Sunday afternoon.  

From Linda

Patti's thoughts last week reminded both Mike and me of a quote we heard recently in our church's marriage seminar.  In a 30-second speech by Bryan Dyson. former CEO of Coca Cola, he said the following at a university commencement program---

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air.  They are Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you're keeping all of these in the air. 

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball.  If you drop it, it will bounce back.  But the other four Balls - Family, Health, Friends and Spirit - are made of glass.  If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered.  They will never be the same.  You must understand that and strive for it."

Work efficiently during office hours and leave on time.  Give the required time to your family, friends & have proper rest. 

                                                           Value has a value only if its value is valued." 

This was a powerful reminder to me to think about what I really do value.  Do I even take the time to consider exactly what is most important to me?  I began to think about the people in my life who are so dear to me and resolve to never take them for granted.  I pray with renewed gratitude for the gifts God has given me---my dear husband of 54+ years, my precious children and the ones God gave them to marry, my priceless grandchildren and those he has given them in marriage, and God's promise of faithfulness to a thousand generations for those who love him and keep his commandments.  

Yesterday, Mother's Day, I raised my prayer of thankfulness to my heavenly father for the mothers he placed in my life and the lives of my husband and spouses of my children and grandchildren.  From each one of them we have learned important values which are gifts from God.  From now on, I will do my best to value the blessings in my life.

From Mike

To the guys, let me add that the example of the five balls in the air was a great reminder for me to not let Work consume me and end up losing one or more of the other four.  I pray to God to help each of us to stay focused on the four--Family, Health, Friends and Spirit.  May I suggest that if we don't get the Spirit right, the others will become of lesser value as time goes on.  So my encouragement for each of us, is get a Christian friend to be a mentor and develop a depth in our belief in God to make all the others stronger and stronger.  

Through His Eyes

It's a real treat to visit my parents.  I have such respect for all they have accomplished, their commitment to virtue, their amazing work ethic... even after about 8 decades of toil, they still seem to find an inner peace, joy if you will, in taking care of the ranch, the cattle and their equipment.

The respect that I have for my parents and my inmate desire to please them, I suppose, that has brought me to the point of viewing everything I show them "through their eyes."  Part of the my time here in their home always seems to become an adult version of show and tell.  Technology has taken the childhood game and given it an adult feel.

During this stay, I've shown my parents a few of my favorite music videos, some photographs, an awesome Ted Talk on the Secret of Happiness  https://youtu.be/fLJsdqxnZb0, and this weekend's sermon at Timberline.  (Jeff Lucas, the British pastor, was back in the saddle - he's my favorite.) https://vimeo.com/126700099.

As always, I find myself very intent on pleasing my audience.  Interestingly, I begin to find flaws in the things I really, really loved - as I critique them from the standard or lens I can safely assume my parents will view them.  In the case of the Ted Talk, it became almost annoying how fast the speaker spoke... probably because of the time constraint, the video may have even been sped up.  The orator at church seemed a bit less captivating and I found myself offering up some "back story" to help make the music videos more compelling.

As is generally the case, I find that the things I was so eager to show suddenly seem unworthy.  It's true, my folks have a comparatively small bandwidth when it comes to things that will impress them. But what is more profound is the speed at which I am willing to adapt my own perception to match theirs.  Mentally, I begin to wish with fervor that I could tweak the the presentations to make them truly worthy of my parents'  adoration.

Reflecting on this has made me pause to consider what other audiences do I play to and how do I alter my perceptions to fit the scene.  Does my little Subaru that I love suddenly seem like less of a blessing when I am awarded shotgun in one of the other broker's fancy rides?  Does my language take on a small sprinkling of four letter words when I find myself too long in the company of those who communicate more colorfully?  And, what about the weekend adventure climbing the Devil's Backbone with the kids... is my reminiscing as fond when reading of the lavish vacations enjoyed by the many patrons on Facebook.

The challenge is this... to love what you love and to love it earnestly, honestly and with gratitude... not as compared to someone else's treasures or through the lens of those with a different perception but with the wide, eager eyes of a child.