-
Let the Haters Inspire You
You’ve read it before, maybe it was a celebrity’s Instagram caption or maybe you saw a middle schooler wearing a hat with the phrase emblazoned on it, or maybe you just heard a Taylor Swift song. Wherever you heard it, “Haters gonna hate” is definitely part of slang these days. What I’d like to challenge people to do is to not just think of their haters as always wrong or overly critical but let them help you think critically about yourself, you don’t have to give them credit obviously but next time someone “hates on you” think of what may have made them say or do something. I mean, why…
-
Think of This
Meditation. It’s something that I was consistently steered away from as a kid because of the darker side of it. Take eastern practices where it is used to clear you mind. Not a good thing to say the least. What I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older, and watched a sermon recently about is how meditation is good for Christians, as long as the meditation is about focusing on God. So worship in song and in meditation, you can even combine them honestly. Also understand that God’s always got you… even when you’re sleeping. That was a new revelation for me even if it’s obvious. I tend to think a lot…
-
The Search for a Water Bottle
I’ve had a water bottle in my backpack or by my side pretty much everywhere I go since, about 4th grade when a teacher gave me one I liked. Unfortunately, that one I had to throw, but soon after my family bought others. In middle school we used aluminum ones with screw tops, in high school I really liked Camelbaks, in college I had found a aluminum one with a straw that worked for a while. the flip top broke off that one and now I’m using a silicon sleeved, covered one with a straw from Ello. I’ve had a Nalgene on backup since high school as well. I drink…
-
Bettering Yourself
I’ve said it before that I’m always learning, but I want to further describe here how inclusive that truley is. You see, even on my way into work, I was learning and improving my driving skills from yesterday. Every-time I wrote a new post on this blog or write something I improve my writing as a whole. Same with reading. Every-time I go to a new temp job I’ve learned something about getting better at handling phone calls. All of this is because I’ve seen more, I’ve experienced more, I’ve understood more about how the world works and how I function in it. Part of this is also about learning…
-
Stewardship and Giving Back
Last night at the youth group I volunteer with we had a great time talking about stewardship. It was very interesting and helpful to hear about scarcity and abundance mindsets in this context. We talked about how scarcity mindsets lead to greed, and selfishness. And how, alternatively, an abundance mindset leads to generosity. It’s a good challenge to think about changing our perspective. We ended the evening going into our local neighborhood and giving bags of treats and thank you cards to local businesses. Each leader drove the students around and they went about going up to each business and handing them a bag, or leaving it in at the…
-
Staring at my Phone
I saw a brilliant ad on TV the other day. It was for Indeed a job searching site. I’ll just let you watch it here. It challenges the stereotype that just because my generation are on our phones a lot, sometimes we’re searching for things that are genuinely valuable. See I love how this ad takes an assumption and flips it on its head for the better. I’ll admit I’m using technology a lot, while adding that I’m often using it for my job search or to create something, or learn something in general. That said, this isn’t always the case, as you might have guessed. I would argue many…
-
Thoughts from a Co-Working Trial Experience
Today I am finishing a trial run at a co-working facility in my area. I saw an offer for a free week, and thought it could be good to try out as I may be working remote in the future. It’s more expensive than I thought it would be. I mean it would actually be cheaper for me go out to eat at a coffee shop, and chill there for most of the work day. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, because space costs money but, it definitely threw me off, and I’m writing this at one of the cheaper options availible. It’s not perfect, and the vibe isn’t exactly what…
-
Integrity, Wisdom, and Courage
In the book of Daniel, we meet a man called, well, Daniel. If you grew up in the church you may know many of his stories, especially if you watched VeggieTales; even if you didn’t grow up in the church you may know of them because they are so iconic. I had the privilege of teaching Sunday school again today for Sr High Ministries. In a nutshell here’s some of the stories. First you have Daniel and his friends eating a healthy diet over the king’s. Then you get the story of Daniel interpreting dreams. Followed by the story of how his friends survived a fiery furnace. Then the story…
-
Do You Want to Go to Chapel?
Today I was looking through my documents and I found the parody of “Do you want to build a snowman? That I had written in my first year of college, shortly after the movie Frozen came out. I had started saying just the title phrase to my friends, and somebody suggested writing the full thing out so I did. It’s not perfect, but it is funny. Here it is, enjoy. Chorus 1 Do you want to go to chapel Come on let’s go and sing We never go anymore let’s go some more it’s like you want to stay away We used to all go and now we don’t i…
-
Energy Doesn’t Always Look the Same
I have a look of energy, but more recently my family more aware of how I can use it and how it truly affects me. You see it isn’t just about me going to play sports, or going to swing dances. It’s also about how my brain goes a million miles an hour with different thoughts. That is, there is more to energy than the physical portion it’s also somewhat mental. Energy can be as simple as talking really fast or trying to think through too much at once. Energy for me often often looks fast in general. Energy isn’t refreshed for everyone the same way either, take the simple…
