Tag: family

Welcome to 2020!!!

Welcome to 2020!! Does today feel different than it did yesterday? Will this year be different than every other year before? I don’t know about you, but I want this year to be different, it’s just about navigating a way to get from my current location to my new destination. Maybe, you’re like me and in your heart you want this upcoming year to be different. There is a way that we can have 2020 be the start of something special.

Towards the end of 2019, I did what I usually do at the end of each year. I have a time of reflecting. I usually just spend the time thinking about my goals for the upcoming year and what I want to see for the upcoming year.

While this is good, this time I really began looking deeper at what didn’t work for the previous year. I went looking for the areas that I have not done my best in. The areas that I needed to attack to move in a better direction.

Off To A Fast Start

One of the main areas that I was able to identify was that I am great at starting new things. New workouts, new habits, skills, I’m great at putting them together and mapping out how I want it to look and the overall beginning. I love the start of reading a new book, but never finish. I love starting projects but may not see them through, you get the idea and can probably tell where this is going.

I’ve been the opposite when it comes to seeing things to their completion. The same excitement that I start something with is not the same when it comes to seeing something all the way through.

I don’t know if there is some magic trick, or life hack on how to attack this. What I do know, is that you have to keep trying.

Different Results = Different Methods

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and thinking that the results will be different. I’ve been in this circle without realizing it. It can be hard to see something when you are in the midst of it.

To get something different we have to do different things. Goals and habits won’t change your life if we continue to fall into the same traps.

Fresh Start

The good news is that it’s a new year! Sometimes that’s all it takes for us to turn the page and start something new. Welcome to 2020! What do you want your life to look like?What do you want the next decade to look like? There’s no time like the present to become the change that you want to see.

Discussion Question:

What do you want your New Year to look like?

Opening Your Home

Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others. – Brian Tracy

It’s That Time of Year

It’s that time of year. The time where we get together with our friends and families. There are food, games and holiday movies to be enjoyed by all. While you’re enjoying this upcoming holiday season, I want you to think about the people that may not be as fortunate as you. 

Over the last couple of years, my wife and I have invited people from our church to spend the various holidays with us. To at least come and share a meal with us.

Sometimes it would be friends, but most times it would be someone  new might not have had family in town to spend the holiday with.  

Whether it was a barbecue for the 4th of July, a potluck style meal for Memorial Day or Thanksgiving. The heart behind it was to be able to spend time with people that we care about. 

The last couple of posts that I’ve written have to do with being thankful, and being thankful in our marriages. What we can’t forget is about extending that thankful spirit and inviting people into our circle. 

You may be a fortunate person who has loved ones, friends and people around you that you can enjoy the holidays with. Choose during this holiday season to be the change or be a positive influence on someone around you. This is the perfect time of year  to begin. This is where we can start. 

1. Look At Those That Are Close to Us

An easy place to start is to look at the people and relationships that are close to you. My wife and I started with people in our church, or people in our small groups. Those that as we got to know them, we realized that they might not have aplace to go. 

2. Be Wise and Pray

What I’m not saying is that you invite complete strangers into your home. What I am telling you is to pray and use wisdom. Build relationships with people. That’s part of what makes the various holidays fun. Getting to know people that you may not get to spend a lot time with otherwise. 

Pray about the people that you should have an impact on. You could be the influence that is needed in their life. 

3. Be Comfortable

Being comfortable in your own space is great. You don’t want to lose that. You have to be able to be yourself. You don’t want to bring people into your life,  if you are going to feel like to have to put on an act for them. 

Doing that doesn’t help them and only drains you. What really impacts people is when you are able to be yourself and be comfortable in your own skin. 

Discussion Question:

Have you ever invited someone into your home, or been invited into someone’s home during the holidays? What was the experience like?

Faith and Love

“Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,” – Ephesians‬ ‭1:15‬ ‭KJV‬‬

What are you planting?

Your Life Speaks

This scripture from the Bible has stood out to me because of something that Paul says. While writing this letter to the church at Ephesus, he says that their faith  and their love are what he heard about. I’ve been thinking about this the last couple of days and I wonder if the same could be said of us. 

Your life speaks...what is it saying? #youspeakvolumes #livelife Click To Tweet

Does our faith speak? Does our love speak? They should speak to those around us. Our lives should be filled with faith and love. Everyone wants to make an impact, but how does real impact happen? 

Paul said that their faith and their love is what impacted him. The same should be said of our faith and love. One area that our faith and love can be seen is in our marriages. 

 

Faith in Your Marriage

 

Faith in your marriage can look like persevering  through hard times. It’s not always that you have to be on the brink of divorce for you to have faith in your marriage. Faith can look like praying for your marriage in the morning. It can also look like having peace in your day to day. Faith in your marriage can look like believing for a consistent date night. The point is that having faith in and for your marriage is more than waiting until your about to file for divorce. 

 

Love In Your Marriage

 

How does love in your marriage look? Do you picture it as your favorite rom-com movie? Or does it look like a relationship that you saw as a child?

 

Love in your marriage is two parts; how you give love and how you receive love. You need to know both. Does love look like handwritten letters or exotic vacations or even sitting on the couch watching your favorite show. 

 

So what does love look like for your marriage and what do you do to maintain it? Love has to continue to grow and develop. It’s a living part of your marriage and has to be treated as such. There are some practical things you can you like praying together, date nights, vacations together and communication are a way to get started. 

 

Building the faith and love in your marriage is what will speak to those around us.  Like Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesians ,their faith and love are what spoke to Paul. Your faith and love will also speak. 

 

Discussion Question:

What do you want your faith and love to say?