“therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes.” -Luke 12:22-23

Don’t Worry, be happy!  what a great song! but funny that that finds itself to be a biblical principle.  through this, Jesus is teaching that we don’t need to waste our time here on earth worrying about what will come tomorrow or what will happen with this job interview, or how this huge test this week is going to play out!  Just know that God is here.

I have meet people before that get so worried and stressed about all the work they have that they totally oversee that the solution is to stop worrying about it and do something.  These people are so immersed in the stress that they are just making the situation worse.  I think about the scene in Patch Adams when the doctor says, “how many fingers do you see?” and when Patch gets the answer wrong, he says “You’re focusing on the problem.  If you focus on the problem, you can’t see the solution. Never focus on the problem!”

That is exactly what we need to do.  Stop worrying and begin to focus on how to fix the problem or deal with the situation.  Prepare ourselves for the worst and make every possible effort to make the best of whatever we are given.  That…. that is how we become Happy people!  Don’t worry, Be Happy!

-L.

P.S. Today is my Brother’s Birthday… Happy Birthday Matt!!

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I feel like running is a common pattern in my recent blog entry’s but instead instead of picking a new topic, this just seemed to fit!  

I was watching a funny thing about Ed Young (pastor at Fellowship Church in Dallas) being asked to take a stress test and he didn’t know what it entailed…. So as he told the story about how they hook you up to a treadmill and a bunch of cables are attached to you, so the doctors can monitor your stress level.  (if anyone knows how this works, I would like to know and like to take one personally!) 

I was thinking about the treadmill though, isn’t funny how if you run on a treadmill you can run for hours and be absolutely worn out from all the running you have done, but you haven’t really covered a single foot of ground?  With a treadmill you can run, and run, and run, and run and never go anywhere.  (the picture above shows a man on a track but is running on a treadmill and isn’t going anywhere!)

I think that many times in life we are running on a treadmill but we are really just standing still exerting energy for no reason. The energy we are exerting is not being used to go anywhere in life.  When I begin to do things (or run, for the sake of the analogy) in the direction that God is calling me, I have the opportunity to make momentum in life and get off a treadmill, BUT when we do things (or run) in the direction of our personal desires or our personal solutions to our personal problems, we are just stuck on a still treadmill.  We need to figure out what it is that is keeping us locked down to that same old treadmill

with that said… my question to you is are you Still Running?  this question has two meanings… are you “Still” as in not going anywhere because you are so worried about your desire to run somewhere, or are you “still running” as in you haven’t had a chance to stop long enough in the race of life to realize that GOD MAY BE TRYING TO GET YOUR ATTENTION.  

We (YOU AND I) need to get off the treadmill and begin running in the direction of God’s desires!  We will be able to cover more ground, and we will be able to exert our energy toward something that is moving us in the right direction.  When we do this we will be able to live a life that is purposeful and one that makes a difference for HIS name!

I will be back soon to enlighten your day, night, week, month, quarter, year, decade, millennium… (I don’t know how often some of you read this… so I put every possibility).

-L

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So I have really had to think and pray on what my next blog is going to be, and honestly really struggled with what I want to express through this next.  I will be honest that recently I have been struggling about a lot of things and have spent time in bed just praying for hours upon hours, and pouring my heart and soul into the bible day in and day out, I have really picked up running because it allows me to think.  Among all these weird things that have allowed me to process the many things that God is teaching me right now, the greatest of all these things is just to serve.  To serve unconditionally if there is a need to be filled.  

I was reading the other day some online article about how America has become the worlds greatest country not only because of the great power and the great influence it has on the rest of the world but some of the most wealthy and most educated people are coming out of America!  They then pointed to the thing that stuck me the most….  America, more than any other country, has BY FAR the best standard of living.  

Ok… so this isn’t all that profound of a statement!  but, let me indulge on this phrase a little.  Almost every person I have been able to come in contact with in the past 5 years of my life have been a part of a family that is well-off financially, has been able to go to a secondary school to further their education (college), has never had to miss a meal because they didn’t have the ability to have one, they are clean and are well-presented! and my point is this… if we are fortunate enough to come from a city or a town or a  country that gives us such an abundance of opportunity such as an amazing college education or parents that are very supportive of what we make of ourselves, WHY THEN IS AMERICA THE MOST SELF CENTERED NATION IN THE WORLD??? 

You and I have the opportunity to make something great in this world due to the unbelievable educations we will receive, the unbelievable opportunity to make something great of ourselves, and the unbelievable standard of living we are so privileged to live by.  

So I urge you… to make something great of yourself and give EVERYTHING you possible can to God and allow Him to run with it!  Give Him your fiancees, give Him your problems, give Him your gifts, talents, passions.  But more importantly than anything else, give God yourself.  Serve.  

-L.

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Tonight I took a moment after a really crazy week of spring break… and paused to soak in some of God’s presence and spend some time in both prayer and in word!!!  As I began to pour into Ephesians this certain passage jumped out at me, Ephesians 4:29-32.  So that this blog isn’t too long and you can pour into this text in your own bible, I am not going to put it here.  However, if you do not have your bible nearby or you would prefer to read it online, click here. 

So often you and I live life and forget that God has called us to such a standard as this.  God has asked us through Paul’s letter to live a life that was full of kind and compassionate love for one-another.  I forget so often when I meet someone and make some sarcastic comment or put them down to get a laugh, that I am called to treat people as if they were Christ.  I need to focus on loving on people and allowing them to see me as a transparent image or a reflective mirror to reflect God’s GLORY!!!  

My prayer is that you are able to resonate with that text.  My prayer is that you can begin to make certain decisions in life that allow your conversations and interactions with other people to be of a loving and compassionate nature.  

I shall return to enlighten your day shortly!  I hope that as Spring Breaks come and go you are being filled with The Word.  -L.

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I went running last night and had an amazing time allowing my mind to think through some of the many things that I have been pondering lately!  But… while I was running I realized that when as the 2 mile marker came around the corner I began to feel the burn and get tired.  My question was this, why is it that I can run 6.2 miles in the Peachtree in middle of July after not training, but have trouble running 3 miles? and it dawned on me that this is exactly how life is…

When I run the Peachtree there is something about the fact that you are running alongside 55,000 other runners and you have people along the side of the race cheering you on the entire way!  Because of those elements, I don’t want to stop because people are encouraging me.  I find that when I make it an intentional point to  keep people near me to pray for me and to encourage me I find I actually do my quiet times and people are there to keep me accountable.  Life and running the Peachtree are very similar because running the race of life is so much easier when we surround ourselves with people who are praying for each other and surround ourselves with people who are keeping each other accountable.  

My prayer is that you will remember that and prayerfully consider people to commit to pray for and ask them to pray for you! You will see a difference!

I will be back shortly to enlighten your day soon! -L

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