Saturday, March 28, 2009

You Will Be Filled


From an emotional and spiritual perspective, we each have buckets that do not remain empty of their own accord. We can choose to fill them with the things of this world: alcohol, relationships (good & bad), eating or not eating, lust, anger, money, clothing, television, internet, music, material possessions, gossip, excessive focus on a career, one's physical image, status, pride, envy and jealousy, see Galations 5: 19-21 for more. Or we can choose to be filled with the things of God "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control" (Galations 5:22-23) This is a daily process and even an hourly and moment by moment choosing to be filled with God and to make Him the center of our desires. It is so easy to fall away and be distracted by the earthly things all around clamoring for our attention.



These emotional and spiritual buckets consistently replenish us and determine our perspective and outlook on life. If we seek the buckets with good, clean, pure water, the associated sponge of our lives will be soaked with the life giving, spirit filled nature of God and will seep out everywhere we go and onto everyone we come in contact with. At the same time, if we fill our sponges from buckets not of God, His joy and righteousness will not fill our lives and we end up operating in our own power. (Not a good spot to be in) The sponge drips and dries out over time and must be refilled.

You will be filled, so choose to be filled with God and His abundant life.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Quiere Usted Aprender Espanol?

Hola amigos. If you've ever wanted to learn Spanish, a good option for picking it up one word at a time is by subscribing to Dictionary.com's Spanish word of the day. It is completely free and they send a daily email with a new Spanish word along with a definition and a couple examples of how it is used. You won't become fluent using just this method but it's a great way to learn a few words here and there and takes very little time on a daily basis. Check out this link for the gratis learning opportunity.

Dictionary.com also has an English word of the day and tends to be more on the scale of SAT or ACT types of words. They are usually the type you might see in higher literature, The New York Times, or Time magazine.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Cooley Lake

This morning me and some guys from church went hiking at Cooley Lake, Missouri. Ryan works for the state conservation department so gave some good insight on tree names and ecology.







Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Quote of the Day

"When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully, upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us." -Alexander Graham Bell

Monday, March 09, 2009

The Fred Factor


The Fred Factor by Mark Sanborn

In The Fred Factor, Mark Sanborn describes a postal carrier whose name is Fred. When Sanborn moved to the Denver area and purchased a home, his mail man took the time to introduce himself, welcome Mark to the neighborhood, and get to know a bit about him. Because of Sanborn's extensive travel schedule, he was out of town a fair amount. Fred said he'd be sure to hold mail if it would begin overflowing the mailbox so that it wasn't apparent to potential thieves that he wasn't home. Once when Sanborn got back from a trip, he found his welcome mat not in its customary spot in front of the door but over to the side of the porch covering a package along with a note from Fred. Fred placed it there to help conceal it from the public eye to provide further security to the home. In addition to this, Fred always took an interest in what was going on with Sanborn's life as well as many other customers along the route. He embodied what Sanborn described as an exceptional postal carrier.


Fred took what was a seemingly routine and potentially monotonous job and took great care to provide outstanding service to his "customers" who came to consider him more of a friend than a post man. He had no great resources at his disposal other than pieces of mail and the relationship he formed with the people on his route. Fred became an outstanding representative for the US postal service.

Sanborn goes on to describe other examples of "Freds" that he's encountered and their approach to customer service. You have probably encountered Freds in your life as well. I can think of several flight attendants in traveling who provided this type of excellent flight experience whether through a cheerful disposition, the inclusion of humor in the generic flight instructions, or going out of their way to make sure you were completely comfortable.

Another book which describes this concept with different terminology is Lunchmeat and Life Lessons by Mary Lucas. She terms this the "comeback sauce." In other words, when working with customers, give them that extra touch that keeps them coming back due to the exceptional service they receive.

While I think Sanborn's encouragement for people to go above and beyond in their career is good, it is not natural for people to do this out of their own nature. Many people are selfish and yes some may go out of their way to help others and provide a lending hand but by and large many are primarily interested in looking out for number 1. I think when coupled with faith in Christ, there is a deeper rooted motivation and desire to do things like this. If left to our own devices, though, this may be done on a more limited basis.

It would have been nice if we could have followed Fred throughout the book in each of the principles explained. We first saw Fred at the beginning and then Fred the actual man was not really in the picture until the last chapter.

Both the Fred Factor and the comeback sauce principle are excellent to keep in mind when working with clients. Thinking of ways to provide added value to clients will keep them coming back again and again.

If you found this review helpful, please let Amazon know at this link

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

The Red Letters

There is love in the red letters
There is truth in the red letters
There is hope for the hopeless
Peace and forgiveness
There is life in the red letters
In the red letters



I really like the DC Talk song "Red Letters." (You can hear a bit in the player on the right) A few weeks back I spent some time reading exclusively the red letters from the Bible. For clarification's sake, many copies of the Bible display all passages where Jesus is speaking in red letters. It can make the flow slightly less smooth but is very neat to get in the mentality of the words of Christ.

One passage that I like comes from John 15:4-11 NASB "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

When we abide in Christ by reading and memorizing His words, it helps us to begin thinking more like Him and ultimately living a joy filled life. There is all kinds of good stuff in the red letters. Spend some time there next time you're in the Word.
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