Month: March 2011

Public speaking is one of the biggest fears that people suffer from. About 75% of people fear public speaking which is supposedly one of the biggest fears. And I sometimes wonder why we fear these things. I think there are several reasons. One being that we fear failure. We don’t want to be that one person who can’t say one word or umm’s and uhhh’s their way through a talk. And let me tell you, there are quite a few people who do that.. We may also not want to be vulnerable. We don’t want to open ourselves up for criticism. Or, maybe we doubt ourselves. We doubt our ability to do it.

It would seem that many of these problems could be overcome if we just had confidence. But confidence alone doesn’t work. You see many people on talent shows who have all the confidence in the world but don’t know how to sing, or dance, etc. They aren’t willing to see that they are bad. They are to proud to accept any reproof. And they continue to think they’re the best in the world. So there’s overconfidence and also being under confident.

The key is God confidence. If we’re confident in God that he will protect us and help us. We can do a lot without being proud. Instead give the glory to God for bringing us through life.

Yay! I’ve made it to 50 posts! Half a century!

??

While I understand that with much of life it’s important to be thoughtful and careful. I think it’s also important to be happy and joyful in it. There’s something to a joyful sobriety. Being around people who are constantly down in the dumps, discouraged, and stressed is not a very easy environment to grow in.

There’s a balance of joy and sobriety and I do believe they can go together.

Psalm 42:4 “I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.”

Happy warriors.

Pictures of the day: (My camera’s leaving me, so I shot this, because this idea has been on my mind for a couple weeks.. If you actually want to see more of these they’ll be on facebook. <_< ) I love you Abby. 🙂

I still remember the Adventure in Odyssey about Horatio Spafford. A man who lost basically all his worldly goods in the great Chicago fire and then a couple years later lost all of his children in a boat wreck. Almost like Job.

But this man penned a song that has brought peace and joy to many people after this happened, “It is Well with My Soul.”

And every time I hear this song I remember all the things that this man had been through. And I remember that we shouldn’t take those in our lives for granted. At any moment God may see fit to take them away from us.

Are you loving those in your life? What if they were taken away from you tomorrow? Have you told them that you love them?

Picture of the day: (more pictures are to come from our photo shoot today – you’ll see them tomorrow, here’s a preview)

Every time I watch any interview with some teen pop star or actor they seem to always say something about following your dream or something like that.

And I believe every person has some sort of dream. Some people’s are more realistic then others, but I have a couple thoughts on this..

Your dreams should have the right motivations. I think many people want to become singers, actors, etc. because they’re driven by the fame, power, and money. Are they actually driven by their own gifts and talents?

It’s easy enough to say “follow your dreams.” The following part is the difficult part. It takes dedication, hard work, wisdom, and perseverance. I think many people have some sort of idea that their dreams should follow them and don’t realize the amount of work you have to put in to follow a so called dream of epic proportions.

So go out there and strive hard in whatever you do. But be wise about it. Don’t try to become some world renown singer if you have no ability in that area..

My dream is to go to bed and have a nice dream. We’ll see if it happens. I shall go strive.

Picture of the day: (And my camera is going away for a month in a couple days, so I may try switching to a daily vlog for a month instead of the picture. With Europe pictures interspersed from the people taking my camera. 😛 )

Even the hardiest plant will not flourish if left in the cold for ten days out of every eleven. ~ Mencius

lol don’t agree with this guy on most things. But I like this quote.

Picture of the day:

I find it so easy to lose perspective. I get wrapped up in my little life very easily. It’s easy to become selfish and no longer look at things long term. I see it in people’s day to day lives. They’re not interested in God. They’re not interested in having children. They’re interested in themselves and their pleasuring of themselves today.

It’s weird. I always think about my funeral when I look at my life. I feel like I either see a mausoleum built with one old man standing in front of it in a black coat. And then a plane flies over and hundred dollar bills float down slowly. Then I look again and see a simple gravestone with old people, younger people, and many children. The difference being how I spent my days in my 20s and 30s. Did I make it my priority to alienate others in hopes of getting ahead, marrying my job, and in theory making it? Or did I get married, have many children, teach my children, and love my friends and family?

Life is short. Just as the flower of the field, we flourish but when the night comes we’re gone and remembered no more.

Picture of the day: (old picture)

I like to run. I enjoy running the most at night. There’s no cars, no lights except the stars and the moon. I feel peaceful. As I feel the dirt under my feet and look up at the stars, I see the handiwork of God. And seeing that I serve such a magnificent and great God I feel peace.

I’m not a very peaceful person most of the time. I tend to either be stressed or in a state of lethargy. And I think it really comes down to trusting God. Why would we be worried or stressed if we depended upon God?

Philippians 4:7 – And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:15 – And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Picture of the day: (I don’t necessarily take these, but if you use my camera I might use them. 😛 )

Hahaha, I laugh just thinking of them. I know they’re out there. They look like anything from a young adolescent boy up to some homeschool mom. Of course they both use different forms of communication. The teenage boy does it by writing foolish words and you see them all over youtube videos. All the way up to the homeschool mom who uses her blog to hate on/gossip about other people. There honestly isn’t much difference between them.

With power comes responsibility. And many people are just not responsible with their words. Either in life or in the internet. I can see the temptation on the internet especially. #1: You have power when you post on the internet. You could have millions of people read your stuff. People like to feel power, and when they post hateful things about specific people they like it. #2 You want people to read your stuff. And people like to read stuff about people and relationships. That’s one reason I feel we are such a celebrity age. We don’t want real relationships, so we create these celebrities. Every circle has some sort of celebrity. Someone that some elevate and others trash. If you post about specific celebrities you’re going to get a certain response. #3: Even if you have some form of showing what your real name is, you have anonymity. No one is going to search you down and actually discuss with you what you posted about them. Besides maybe commenting.. #4: It’s much easier to hate on someone you don’t know. You can listen to what others say, you can hear what someone says, but unless you actually see their works and their life over a period of time you aren’t going to understand where people are going.

Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t attack someone’s idea. But I believe it’s important that you keep that person who made the statement in anonymity. Attack the idea, not the person. Often, when you mention someone’s name you’ve attacked the person and are no longer attacking the idea.

Are you loving God and loving others when you post what you post?

Picture of the day:

About 6 months ago I posted a post about pornography. I’ve had several more thoughts on it since then. (here’s the link to my previous post)

One thought, I was recently reading several articles and essays on several serial killerss while researching a post about fathers and their importance (which is still coming) One of the biggest problems that affected serial killers was the lack of fathers and over domineering mothers, but that’s for later. Another problem for several of them is that they would start out with pornography and eventually work down to raping and murdering.

I believe many people do not see pornography as that big a deal. When we live in a culture where more then 90% of people have been exposed to it it can become something that is not seen as that big a deal.

But when 50% plus of marriages are ending in divorce and 95%+ of people have committed fornication you can see how our culture are becoming very immoral. Certainly pornography is not the only problem, and maybe it’s not even the worst one. But I believe it’s still important. Especially to young men.

Since my main audience is homeschool guys, here’s my ideas. I think pornography is a large problem for homeschool boys. Number one, they tend to spend a lot of time at home. Two, they tend to spend a lot of time on the computer. These tend to be the main types of boys who fall into it. More children who live in the country struggle with pornography then those who live in the city.

To some extent you will destroy yourself when you look at pornography.

Matthew 5:28 – But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

It’s a serious thing. Adultery is a capital crime in the law. Maybe you aren’t committing the act. But each step that way is still a sin.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 – Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Just remember that we are here to glorify God.

And don’t forget. God is faithful. He will deliver you. But you must endure.

1 Corinthians 10:13 – No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Picture of the day:

When I’ve done something wrong and no one knows, that’s the time when it seems like my life is the worst. When evil is done and not confessed that’s when our hearts hurt. It affects all parts of our lives. I like how Benjamin Franklin put it..

A good conscience is a continual Christmas. ~ Benjamin Franklin

P.S. Sorry my posts lately have been kind of so, so. I’m going to switch to writing in the morning, because I’m too tired when I try to write these at night…

P.S.S. I’ve made it a full official month, yay! 42/365

Picture of the day: