…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
I heard this on a podcast recently. How true.
Wisdom is discovering how God designed all of life to work and cooperating with it. He has a design for relationships. He has a design for decisions. He has a design for money. He has a design for handling conflict. Wisdom is simply saying “God, since you created all that there is and you love me and you are good and you are holy, I want to do life your way”.
Proverbs 14:12 – There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
This weekend amongst the various activities – worship, gatherings, service, volunteering, shopping, and relaxing – I ran across this very cool one year summary of a creative guy’s life. He recorded a second every day for a year and mashed it all together. Actually, it is beautifully stitched together with music. But it is interesting in so many ways. And can be viewed from so many different perspectives. Some of the images are highlights, some are more mundane. You can see themes woven together. Some things change, some don’t. Some things like the weather progress no matter what. The cool thing is that we could all do this and none of us would end up with the same 6 minutes and 5 seconds.
Well done, Matt!
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
I stumbled across this graphic quote and found it very creative and interesting.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
What’s not to like? Christmas trees during the season, Silent Night soundtrack, and my favorite helicopter bringing Christmas cheer to a tree lot near you.
Having piloted a helicopter before, I know how extremely difficult this is. These pilots are incredibly skilled.
UPDATED: Here is a similar video with a funny song parody.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
Today our family celebrates 9 years in Kentucky. On this date back in 2004, we closed on our property, moved in to our house, and proceeded to make a house a home. Much has transpired — as tends to happen over the better part of a decade — and we continue to soak up God’s blessings.
That seems like such a long time ago.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
Wow! This is pretty cool!
I hope your Christmas season is full of the magic and joy of Christmas.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
Yesterday while working from home I was given a treat by my daughter K. She had made a batch of brownies for her class for their Christmas party (note how I said Christmas party – you’re allowed to say that at a Christian homeschool school). And she knew I wanted one after she had made the plate for her fellow classmates. However, she called me into the kitchen and proceeded to slice out a very generous piece from the middle. You see, while some in our house fight over the brownie sides – the hard brownie crust that circumnavigates the baking dish, my favorite brownie section lies right in the middle where it is moist and soft. And my daughter knows this. And she wants to please her dad. So she proceeded to cut a triple size brownie section from exactly in the middle to give to me because she knew it would bring me joy. She did this before any of the other brownies had been cut for her or her classmates. She did this not out of obligation, but out of a generous heart. And she did this to please her dad who loves her so much.
Before she scooped out that prime brownie piece for me, I spotted a learning opportunity. I asked her to visualize replacing the brownies with her time, money, and talents. And then to visualize replacing me with God.
Because she voluntarily selected that prime brownie as the first one to serve to me, she did what we are all called to do with our time, money, and talents. We are called to give a tithe, literally translated to 10%, to God in the form of offerings to our church. And this tithe is to be off the top. The Israelites called it “first fruits”. We pay God before we do anything else. And we do it out of gratitude because God is what has given us everything – from our lives to our families to our jobs to our material possessions to everlasting life through accepting his son Jesus. And we do this because we know it pleases God. Just like K knows that I like the middle brownie, we know in Scripture (2 Corinthians 9:6-15) that God loves a cheerful giver.
The lesson sank in and really hit home, both for K and for me. It was a perfectly scripted way to look at God, our tithes, and how we should be returning to Him our time, money, and talents. And in this season of Christmas what better way to honor God’s gift of Jesus by giving back to Him and to others in need.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
