We tend to be creatures of habit, don’t we? We can get into a routine of driving the same route to work, eating at the same restaurants, shopping at the same stores, purchasing the same brands of products, doing the same workout routine, watching the same types of movies, reading the same types of books, fixing the same 7 to 10 meals, sitting in the same spot at church, traveling to the same vacation destinations, and so on. And it can cause us to become somewhat inflexible and close/minded in many different areas of our lives if we’re not careful. We can actually start to resist change or any sort of disruption to our daily routine, even when we believe deep down that trying something new may be incredibly beneficial, exciting, or even fun.

When we think of trying something new it can beg the question “What if…?” And what comes next usually has a negative spin to it.

– What if I don’t like it?

– What if it’s not that good?

– What if it’s a total flop?

– What if I fail?

– What if it doesn’t work out?

– What if it’s too challenging?

– What if it’s not that fun?

– What if it doesn’t live up to my expectations?  

But what if you and I decided to put a positive spin on these “What if’s?”

– What if I really like it or even love it? Or what if I don’t like it, but learn a huge lesson from it?

– What if it’s great?

– What if it’s a total win?

– What if I succeed?

– What if it works out better than I could ever dream or imagine?

– What if it challenges me and the challenges makes me feel alive and actually changes me?

– What if it’s really fun?

– What if it exceeds my expectations?  

I’m coming straight off of a first time experience last night. Ben and I went to see Riverdance. And we both thought it was amazing. But in all of the years of dating Ben and being married I honestly can’t recall the two of us ever going to a show like this. And leading up to it, I definitely was reviewing my list of “What ifs?” since I’m the one who decided to surprise Ben with the tickets. It went kind of like this- “Remember when you saw that commercial for Riverdance and you said it looked cool? We’ll Happy Valentine’s Day! I thought this would be a fun date night.” It was something we had never done before and I had no idea if I would like it, let alone Ben. But we went and I can tell you that we both walked away in awe of the show and the amazing amount of talent we got to witness on stage. These dancers, in most cases, started dancing when they were just 3 or 4 years old. It felt refreshing to do something for the first time together. It was fun. And it made me want to have another “first time” experience again soon. Definitely sooner than later.

When was the last time you did something for the first time? How did it feel? Do you have a “first time” idea that you’re ready to try next? If not, I want to encourage you to challenge yourself. Take a small step and try something new today, this week, or this month.

I can picture it in my mind. A calm sea. It’s beautiful, breathtaking, and peaceful. It represents when everything in life seems to be going great. It’s a time when it’s often easy to give thanks to God. There isn’t as much skill required when life is on cruise control and things are rolling in our favor.

But the flip side is when the storm comes. Dark clouds loom overhead, the wind picks up, and the waves start splashing over the side of the boat. It’s harder to see what lies ahead and we can lose our sense of direction. We’re tossed around as the rain starts pouring down. We may be forced to learn some new skills to navigate our way forward or if we’re seasoned sailors, we can tap into the skills and expertise that we’ve gained from past experience. It’s during these times of testing that we have to work harder, draw our strength from God and trust that, with his help, we will pass through the storm. And we’ll grow in countless ways- strength, maturity, patience, persistence, perseverance, faith, our relationships and so on.Life is a balance between navigating smooth and rough seas. It’s how you and I learn to become well-rounded sailors and get molded into who it is God wants us to be. We just can’t forget that we learn some of the most valuable lessons when we’re navigating the roughest waters. And that our ability to endure life storms will be used to encourage others.

If there was a prize being awarded for “Best Worrier” I’m pretty certain I could give someone a good run for their money to win First Place. But that’s not exactly the type of medal any of us would be proud to receive, right?

Worry doesn’t stop bad things from happening or take away any of our troubles. In fact, it consumes our thoughts, fills us with fear, robs our peace, and causes us to lose hope and strength. It keeps us from focusing on the good and trusting in God and his guidance. I’ve even heard it said that “worrying is a waste.”So why do we insist on worrying? For me, I think it’s a way that I fight to try to feel like I still have some control over a situation that I clearly have no control over. But when I really think about it, no amount of worry has ever helped me to solve any problem or change any outcome.  

If you and I want to worry less, we need to be reminded to pray more. We must turn our worries into prayers. You may be thinking what I’m thinking. Worrying less seems like an impossibility. But what if it’s not? What if choosing to live one day at a time and stopping to pray when worry creeps in will keep you and I from being eaten up by worry? Are you willing to give it a try?

This verse comes to mind many mornings- This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. -Psalm 118-24 

This is a day given to us as a gift from God. But let’s face it, there are plenty of days when the last thing we want to do is rejoice, right? Our mood may have us stuck in focusing on all of the situations in our life that seem out of hand. Our guilt may be trying to get the best of us. We think to ourselves, “No one has any clue all that’s going on in my life right now.”  

It’s important to note that no matter how the writers of the psalms felt, they were honest with God. They didn’t hold back on sharing their disappointments, concerns, frustrations, worries, and anxieties with him. As they talked through it all with God, their prayers ended in praise. When you don’t feel like rejoicing, don’t turn away from God. He doesn’t want you to fake it until you make it. These are the precise moments when God wants us to tell him exactly how we really feel. Because when you and I go to him, what we’ll find is that he gives us reason to rejoice. God has given us this day to live, to be his light, to serve, to be glad, so let’s start today by going to hm first.

We tend to look at trust as something that is earned over time. We want people to show us through their actions that they are worth trusting. We’re looking for proof that the person is honest and reliable, right?

But God’s way is totally different. So it can feel a little (or a lot) uncomfortable. He says, trust me and I’ll show you. When you and I make a decision to put our confidence in God, then He shows us He is faithful. His word is truth. And his character is never-changing. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. He is love, peace, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and much, much more. He is the creator and the sustainer and the redeemer of everything under the sun. When we accept him and put our hope, trust and faith in him, he starts to do a work inside of us, changing us from the inside out. He starts to uncover the good plans and the purposes he has for us.  

God’s asking us to trust him in every area of our lives, not just the areas we feel like handing over. He’s inviting us to let go. Whatever it is you and I are still clinging so tightly to, you know those areas where we keep insisting “we’ve got it?” Those are the very places he’s asking you and I to hand over to him to help us work through so that our burdens can become lighter and we can live with more joy, more peace, and more freedom than we could ever experience trying to go at it alone.

Some days it can feel like a battle to remain positive, can’t it? Life throws us curve balls that create disruptions to our daily routine.

One of the books I’m reading right now is The Carpenter: A Story About the Greatest Success Strategies of All by Jon Gordon. It talks about the importance of learning to talk to ourselves rather than listen to ourselves. When we listen to ourselves we hear all of the negative thoughts, complaints, fears, worries, and doubts. But if we talk to ourselves we can feed ourselves with the words and encouragement to keep going, to keep moving forward. The author shared something he created called “The Positive Pledge” to keep close at hand for days when challenges come your way and you aren’t feeling very positive.  For me, reading, writing out, and even memorizing scriptures from the Bible has been an incredibly powerful way to stay positive through life’s storms. One thing I’ve learned about God’s word is that it never returns void. God is faithful and he is a promise keeper. His word changes our hearts and our perspectives.

What about you? Do you spend more time talking to yourself or listening to yourself? How do you remain positive in the midst of the challenges you encounter? Is there a step you can take today to begin talking to yourself more than listening to yourself?

Thank You.

Two small words.

Yet so much meaning.  

A holding tank for gratitude and appreciation.

A lesson we start teaching our kids at a very young age.

It goes a long, long way and it

never gets old and it’s never too late.

It feels good to say, great to hear, and incredible to receive.

Who has made a difference in your life? Take a few minutes today to simply and sincerely say “thank you.”

Today. It’s here. Right now. For you and for me. Did you wake up this morning thinking “What day is it? It is today. My favorite day.”?    
Well, my internal voice didn’t sound quite like that. It went something more like this– “I can’t believe it’s already time for my alarm to go off. Ugh, this head cold is getting to me. I’m sooooo tired. And it’s ONLY Thursday.”

You get the picture, right? Even though I love my job and have an incredible family and awesome friends and coworkers, there’s absolutely no part of me that woke up thinking that today is my favorite day. Instead, it already feels like one of those days where I’m going to be fighting it.  

But it kind of got me thinking. When you and I wake up secretly hoping it wasn’t today, we’re setting ourselves up to miss all the blessings in the day. My sense is that it would be quite a shift for many of us (myself included) to be a person who chooses to recognize the fact that each new day is truly a gift and a blessing and to seek what’s good out of the day no matter what situation or circumstances the day holds. It may sound far-fetched for some or like something to aspire to for others.  

My hope and prayer is that you and I would set our heats and minds on waking up and seeing the possibility in each of our “todays.” That we wouldn’t wait for special occasions or vacation weeks or the weekends to be our favorite days. That today we would find a favorite part of our day and give thanks. Because today is the present. It’s another 24-hour gift we’ve each been given. So let’s choose to spend it wisely rather than wishing it away. Are we going to get it “right” every day? No way. But let’s not strive for perfection. Just progress.  

When you got out of bed this morning, were you hoping it was a day you didn’t have to tackle your long list of to-do’s? Were you wishing it was the weekend or the start of your vacation? What if you and I started to live in such a way that we decided that today (no matter what day today is) is our favorite day? Or that we began to recognizing a favorite part of every day? Wouldn’t we make more of our days count?  

Each day there’s a small decision we must make. Are we going to let yesterday seep over and take up too much of today? Or are we going to let go of whatever tripped us up yesterday and say “yes” to THIS day.  

I don’t know about you, but I’ve let way too many yesterdays spoil the next day. And if I’m honest, I’ve allowed my yesterdays to spill over into the day after that and the week after that, and so on. It’s exhausting…mentally, emotionally, and physically, isn’t it? And you know what? It’s never once proven to produce a fresh perspective, positive attitude, new approach, or idea in my life. And its brought me zero joy or peace.  So why keep doing it when it doesn’t produce the results we’re looking for? Other than the fact that it’s just really challenging, and even seems nearly impossible, to let go at times, I really can’t think of one solid reason. I think it’s important to remind ourselves that it’s also extremely hard to keep holding onto bitterness, anger, resentment, and unforgiveness. So it’s up to us to choose our “hard.” We are stronger than we think we are. We can’t control everything that happens to us, but we do get to decide how we’re going to react/respond. And like most things in life, it’s a process. And we’re going to blow it from time to time. But we’re only one choice away from not letting yesterday take up too much of today. 

How many more yesterdays are you going to let take up or even spoil a brand new day? It IS possible to break the pattern. You and I can start as early as right now by choosing to say “yes” to this new day!