Sunday, January 14, 2007

My New Motto

Oharaville wrote in his blog about Today at the Mission, a blog about "Daily Life in a Homeless Shelter." The author is an incredible writer and has some insights that are pretty humbling. For example, his "Following Jesus Manifesto" is a tall order and the "Irreducible Minimum" is something that I will use over and over.

"Love God. Love each other - everything else is culture." I have changed my header to reflect this new motto. I think it really catches the essence of the change that is necessary in my life and ministry. It is what I have been trying to say for some time now. It is the Jesus Creed. Perfect!

What significant thoughts! I am speechless over the manifesto, and the Irreducible Minimum is something that goes beyond the typical definitions and gets to the heart of the matter. It reveals what is fluff and what is core! We need more core at Kelyje!

Thursday, January 4, 2007

I Did It!

I figured out, finally! the puzzle! You know, when you figure it out, it really isn't that complicated. I guess it is that way with a lot of things in life. Things that seem hard at first seem simple once you are on the other side and have a different perspective. It is all about perspective then isn't it.

Life, and what we do with it depends a lot on our perspective. It affects our understanding of the world around us. Every individual has his own perspective or lens through which he views life. The more varied the person's life experiences the large one's perspective. That is one of the reasons I am glad I have raised my daughters in a foreign country. They have a different perspective than the average American.

This whole idea of perspective also applies to the various trials we have in life. It seems that we can look at our problems or difficulties straight on and say, "Wow this is really hard!" Or, we can think about our difficulty with the thought in mind that, "Hey, there is a different way of looking at this." Perhaps we can take some kind of inspiration from this idea of trying to see things from a different perspective.

When I saw the puzzle from a different perspective, everything about it changed.

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Keeping New Years Resolutions

I have made some New Years Resolutions, as I am sure most of the world has. I have decided to call them commitments. Does anyone have suggestions for ways that I might be more successful at fulfilling them?

Monday, January 1, 2007

Su Naujais Metais!

I want to wish all of you a Happy New Year! We stayed up really late last night. I finally went to bed at 5:30 a.m.! I didn't get up until 2:30. That is the latest I have slept in for a long time. Of course that is going to throw off tonight's sleeping schedule. Oh well, it is a holiday.

We have spent the day playing games and eating. Now we are watching the last 4 hours of 24 (which Eliza hasn't seen but the rest of us have) so that is kind of interesting. I can do things while watching it and still catch the good parts. Jack rocks!