Luck vs. Hard Work, Focus, and Prayer

“You just don't luck into things as much as you'd like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it's friendships or opportunities.” – Barbara Bush

It's not often that someone skates through life purely on luck. Opportunity comes to those who focus intently, work hard, and pray a lot. God sometimes supernaturally orchestrates things in our lives but I believe that He also expects to use the talents, skills, and abilities that He's given as effectively as possible. Effective use of God given gifts accomplishes far more than human effort can ever hope to attain.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Eat A Frog

“Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” -Mark Twain

Vibrato

Vibrato is kind of like ketchup. Used well it enhances the song. Used too much and one forgets that there's a tasty burger underneath.

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

What It's Like

Asking out girls is a lot like jumping off the diving board. There's the nervous anticipation where you build up the guts to do it. Then once the jump is made, the question asked, a few moments of heart pounding free fall. This followed by either sweet success or painful flop.

Brave is he who after counting the cost takes the the plunge no matter the result.

Quote of the Day

Michael J. Fox once said, “I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.”

Quote of the Day

This comes from one of those Chicken Soup for the Soul types of things. The lady who originated this bit of insight and wisdom was in her late 80s.

"If I had my life to live over, I would dare to make more mistakes next time. I would relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I've been this time. I would take fewer things seriously, and I would take more chances. I'd take more trips; I'd climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream, and fewer beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

"You see, I am one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, but if I had it to do over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else -just moments - one after another instead of living so many years ahead.

"I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot-water bottle, a raincoat, and a parachute. If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring, and I would stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies." -- Nadine Stair

Quote of the Day

If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.

Quote of the Day

"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both." -- James Michener

Quote of the Day

The irony of the stock market is that both the buyer and the seller believe they made the right move.

Quote of the Day

"A hound dog can't chase but one rabbit at a time" John Bichelmeyer (butcher)

Quote of the Day

"A goal is like a postage stamp -- you gotta stick to it until you arrive"- a loose quotation often attributed to Josh Billings

Metropolitan Tabernacle

This evening, I went to a prayer meeting at Metropolitan Tabernacle which Charles Spurgeon once pastored back in the mid 1800s. The church is alive and well today and the prayer meeting was especially powerful. One could really sense the Holy Spirit and God's power through the prayers of the people there.


"The truest lengthening of life is to live while we live, wasting no time but using every hour for the highest ends. So be it this day." -Charles Spurgeon

Quote from The Uprising

"Leaders of integrity don't simply lead by example; they lead by essence.These leaders call others only to choose the life they have already chosen.They don't point the way down a certain path; they pave the way where no path exists. They inspire others not only by their words and actions, but by the promise of the kind of people we can become. A person of integrity never lies about the journey. He acknowledges in humility where he came from, who he is, and where he hopes to go. His accomplishments, as great as they may be, never overshadow his character." -The Uprising by Erwin McManus