A Slower Pace

After my early morning cardio, I started in on my oatmeal breakfast and morning devotions. As I looked out our sunroom east, I got a feeling that even though we were expecting rain later today, the morning’s sunrise would be colorful. And God did not disappoint. His paintbrush quickly revealed a spectacular scene from the morning darkness. I walked out to the back patio and stood there for 10 minutes while the sunrise tapestry unfolded right there in front of me.

Psalm 46:10 came to mind — “Be still and know that I am God”

And soon enough, it was gone — the day to be relegated to cloudy with rain this evening. But my cold oatmeal sure was worth the picturesque wake up.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

The 20 items below are not from me but parroted from Dave Ramsey who was quoting a book by Tom Corley at RichHabits.net . However, they are quite interesting and very insightful. Note how many of these habits are NOT linked to money. They actually drive towards behaviors and character, not money itself.

1. 70% of wealthy eat less than 300 junk food calories per day. 97% of poor people eat more than 300 junk food calories per day. 23% of wealthy gamble. 52% of poor people gamble.
2. 80% of wealthy are focused on accomplishing some single goal. Only 12% of the poor do this.
3. 76% of wealthy exercise aerobically 4 days a week. 23% of poor do this.
4. 63% of wealthy listen to audio books during commute to work vs. 5% for poor people.
5. 81% of wealthy maintain a to-do list vs. 19% for poor.
6. 63% of wealthy parents make their children read 2 or more non-fiction books a month vs. 3% for poor.
7. 70% of wealthy parents make their children volunteer 10 hours or more a month vs. 3% for poor.
8. 80% of wealthy make hbd calls vs. 11% of poor
9. 67% of wealthy write down their goals vs. 17% for poor
10. 88% of wealthy read 30 minutes or more each day for education or career reasons vs 2% for poor.
11. 6% of wealthy say what’s on their mind vs. 69% for poor.
12. 79% of wealthy network 5 hours or more each month vs. 16% for poor.
13. 67% of wealthy watch 1 hour or less of TV. every day vs. 23% for poor
14. 6% of wealthy watch reality TV vs. 78% for poor.
15. 44% of wealthy wake up 3 hours before work starts vs.3% for poor.
16. 74% of wealthy teach good daily success habits to their children vs. 1% for poor.
17. 84% of wealthy believe good habits create opportunity luck vs. 4% for poor.
18. 76% of wealthy believe bad habits create detrimental luck vs. 9% for poor.
19. 86% of wealthy believe in life-long educational self-improvement vs. 5% for poor.
20. 86% of wealthy love to read vs. 26% for poor.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Earlier this year, we had a few chicks hatch out. They are now awkward looking teenage chickens adapting to their life in the coop and pen. Well, my son thought that process was pretty neat so he took the opportunity to try to hatch out a few more when one of the hens went broody. He sequestered 10 eggs with her in a nesting box and last week, three chicks started the process over again. They are so small and adorable.

Here is a picture of them free ranging while my son was cleaning their cage.

This will go nicely with my plan to cycle the hens every year or two. The hens only lay for 2 to 3 years and I always want to have 12-14 laying eggs for us. Such is country life.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

In the year 2013, the Lord came unto Noah, Who was now living in America and said:
“Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me.”
“Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans.”

He gave Noah the blueprints, saying:
“You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights.”

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard – but no Ark.”Noah!,” He roared, “I’m about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?”

“Forgive me, Lord,” begged Noah, “but things have changed.”
“I needed a Building Permit.”
“I’ve been arguing with the Boat Inspector about the need for a sprinkler system.”

“My homeowners association claim that I’ve violated the
Neighborhood by-laws by building the Ark in my back yard and exceeding the height limitations. We had to go to the local Planning Committee for a decision.”

“Then the City Council and the Electricity Company demanded a shed load of money for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark’s move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear none of it.”

“Getting the wood was another problem. There’s a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the Greater Spotted Barn Owl.”
“I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls – but no go!”

“When I started gathering the animals, PETA took me to court. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodations were too restrictive and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.”

“Then the Environmental Protection Agency ruled that I couldn’t build the Ark until they’d conducted an environmental impact study on Your proposed flood.”

“I’m still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I’m supposed to hire for my building crew.”

“The Immigration Dept. Is checking the visa status of most of the people who want to work.”
“The labor unions say I can’t use my sons. They insist I have to hire only union workers with ark-building experience.”

“To make matters worse, the IRS seized all my assets, claiming I’m trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.”
“So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this ark.”

“Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine and a rainbow stretched across the sky.”

Noah looked up in wonder and asked, “You mean you’re not going to destroy the world?”

“No,” said the Lord. ” The Government beat me to it.”

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I recently saw this at a local church…..

We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, y no habla ingles. We extend a special welcome to those who are crying newborns, skinny as a rail, or could afford to lose a few pounds. We welcome you if you sing like Andrea Bocelli or like our pastor who can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re just browsing, just woke up, or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s baptism. We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems, or you’re down in the dumps, or you don’t like “organized religion;” we’ve been there too. If you blew all your offering money at the casino, you’re welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is flat, who work hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or come because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church. We welcome those who are inked, pierced, or both. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down your throat as a kid, or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers, doubters, bleeding hearts . . . and you!

This is what Jesus would say. He would also go further and say that you weren’t just welcome, you are loved!

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

This was my view this morning. And below was my devotion. God made both and this morning they were hand in hand.

Psalm 19:1-6

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Dear God…..

I am weak but You are strong.

I only know how to plant seeds. You are the One who makes them grow.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Yesterday at worship we had a visiting pastor preach. This guy, Jud Wilhite, is a pastor at a very large Las Vegas church and even referred to our pastors, Dave and Kyle, as a pastoral dream team. He is right on the money and had big shoes to fill. Well, let me tell you, that Las Vegas church is as blessed to have Jud as we are to have Dave and Kyle. His sermon (go check it out here — http://www.southeastchristian.org/default.aspx?page=4754&series=55) was humorous, well done and hit home with some very good, poignant points on “Pursued For Relationship” where God pursues us in love.

Right out of the gate this quote hit me (and would probably hit MANY non-church folks out there):

“God isn’t out to get you (like a cosmic policeman). He’s out to LOVE you!”

Here are the others:

• “You can run FROM God or you can run FOR God but both can be equally exhausting. Just run TO God and rest in Him.”
• “Marriage is not about the contract; it is about the relationship.”
• “The most important thing about our relationship with God is not our love for God. It is His love for us.”
• “When we get to the end of our lives, the ONLY things that matter are our relationship with God and our relationship with those around our death bed.”

Again, I encourage you to go check out Jud’s sermon — http://www.southeastchristian.org/default.aspx?page=4754&series=55

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

This evening after a wonderfully relaxing day of worship and rest, the sky was punctuated by a spectacular sunset. However, there was one addition to the evening sky that I had not seen before. My son termed it a “golden rainbow”. It was a streak or beam of light that emanated from the western horizon sunset and then progressed completely across the sky over our heads and ending in the eastern sky. I had seen beams of light before coming from behind the clouds as if Jesus is returning. However, I have never seen a particularly focused beam such as this. Additionally, I had never seen any of those beams of light stretch across the entire sky. It was truly amazing. It reminded me of the Bible verse below.

“He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” — Acts 1:7-11

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

This morning I was back in my normal Friday routine of serving breakfast at Wayside Christian Mission and praying in front of the abortion center. My wife and I worked the Chrysalis Flight two weeks prior and last week we were prepping for Thunder Over Finchville, so i had been out of my routine for a while.

As I stood praying, I felt the abnormally cool breeze blowing across me. With my eyes closed, it really felt like it was the beginning of October — a cool, crisp morning accompanied by a slight wafting of cool air around me. I opened my eyes and wouldn’t have known any different. In October, the trees still have their leaves and plants are still green with foliage. Rather than trust your feelings to what month it was, you would need to go to the true source of a calendar to know the truth — it was July in Kentucky and not October.

The same thing goes for God’s word. As humans, we feel certain things. Some are good — compassion, love, nurturing — and some are not good — anger, jealousy, lust. However, our feelings are NOT where we get the determination of whether something is good or not. Just like with my feeling the cool breeze on a July Kentucky day (which for you non-Kentuckians should be hot, sweltering 95+F degrees with 90% humidity dripping off you), our feelings of love, fairness, disgust and others are not indicators of what the truth is. To find out exactly what the truth is we must look to the Bible to see what God says is right and what God says is wrong. We will not get it by feeling. If you use your feelings to determine what is right and wrong there is a good chance, like today with the weather, you will feel something that is not the truth.

I encourage you to open the Scripture and search for what God’s truth is for you.

If you have never opened your Bible and don’t know where to start, begin in the gospel of John in the New Testament. It is the fourth book of the New Testament — Matthew, Mark, Luke and JOHN.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net