Sunday, November 17, 2013

Grace

I keep coming back to this word Grace.

Grace is undeserved Faith.  It is by our Faith that we receive Gods Grace which was given by the blood of his one and only son, Jesus Christ.

What gift have you given back for being thankful for his Grace.

Grace is something that is free and can be given to anyone who believes.  Help a teen receive Grace today and make an impact on their lives.

A point to ponder on my friends...

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Free

What does the word free mean?

Free = Not under the control or in the power of another
          
            Able to act or be done as one wishes

            Not held as a slave or prisoner

            Not physically held by something

If you stop and think about the meaning of this word, you have to wonder if all teens know this is something that they already have.  

Free to Not be controlled by an unhealthy habit, an unhealthy addiction, an abusive home or an unhealthy relationship.

It is something God gives each and everyone of us if we truly have faith and believe it is ours.  But if you don't have a positive role model around, how does one know this is true? 

In a world where there are so many teens desperate to find themselves, why not take the time to look for just one and offer them a little positive advise.  They're in our neighborhoods, our schools and our churches just waiting to be found.  It takes so little of our time.

We all have to take a step if we want to better the future of the young adults that will one day soon enter into our society as young adults.  Do we want to see them positive with positive behaviors or to continue to see them with negativity and making bad choices.  Why not reach out and look around and see if we can touch just one life this week and share the meaning of what free is.

A point to ponder on my friends...


             

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

The Power of Choice

What is the one single factor that can change the direction of one's life?

If your thinking The Power Of Choice then you've guessed correctly. It is our decisions that determine the outcome NOT our conditions.

So how do you teach a teen about choice so they no longer blame others for their future outcome. In a society today that tends to lead teens to believing it is the economy, their parents, their living conditions or lack of "whatever" which  lead them to believe they live in a world that is hopeless.

We should be showing and demonstrating that if they choose to make the right choices then they can determine their future success.

If they can change their negative thought pattern into a positive thought pattern then the positive thoughts can create a positive outcome by that choice.   

Positive Thoughts = A Positive Attitude and Positive Behavior..

Here’s another way to look at it: Success is a result of positive judgment; positive judgment is a result of experience, in most cases. And what about experience? Yes, experience is most often a result of bad judgment.

So here’s the good news: The experience gained from negative judgment and bad decisions is unbelievably valuable—it’s priceless! It gives us a reason to want to chose correctly

So don’t waste time beating yourself up over poor decisions you’ve made; learn from the experiences. Failure is actually one of the ways we learn.  Teach them to stop and think, What happened here? What could I have done differently? It’s only through self-evaluation that they learn how to make better decisions.

Place your  priorities in teaching a teen about the Power of Choice.  The power of the right choice!

Something to ponder on my friends...




Sunday, May 26, 2013

Self-Control

Wow, this is a big one. It's one of the fruits of the spirit. A bookend with the other end being Love

So what does this word mean?  It seems pretty straight forward but is it really?

The Greek definition of self-control = one who masters his desires.

So I ask myself...how many teens know the way to master their desires when they may not have anyone in their life to teach them how to master their sinful flesh.

Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17] For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Now this may sound like it needs some clarification. But if you have no one to clarify this then how are you to understand?  What we need to teach this upcoming generation who will eventually be taking care of us and making decisions in the far future that will affect us is how to avoid the temptations of the flesh (sin) and make a choice based on the spirit. By praying and thinking about our choice  based on the answers to our prayer. This is why we must reach out to these young adults and help them in their struggling lives. Offer to take them to church or to spend some positive time with them. It's our responsibility to help change and mold them. If we all just avoid this responsibility then nothing gets accomplished and nothing gets changed and the world continues the way it is allowing God to be removed from every thing that evil can remove it from. 

Reach out and touch a struggling teen today. It just takes 5 minutes to let someone know you care

A point to ponder on my friends...

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Courage

When you hear or think of this word, what thoughts go through your mind?

Courage is defined as:
"The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery"
 
But then the word "desponding" comes to mind for a lot of young adults these days.
Desponding is defined as:
"To be depressed by loss of hope, confidence, or courage" 
 
How often in today's society do young adults have the fear, worry or anxiety of not being able to move forward.  To believe that their past mistakes control their future.  Not knowing how to let go of the past and look forward to what lies ahead. 
 
How often do we not take the time to notice these young adults who feel hopeless.  What can be done?  Who should help?  Where do these young adults go for help?  Who should they turn to in desperate times when no one is there for them.
 
Are we so busy in our lives that we can't take 10 minutes to give a compliment or offer Godly advise to someone who looks lost.  If we all just wait for "someone" else to do it then nothing gets done.

A point to ponder on my friends...

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Meek

So what do you think about when you think of this word?

So many of us think of weak, not standing up for yourself, powerless or submissive.  But do you know the Greek meaning of this word?

Meek=Exercising God's strength under His control.  

How many of our teens today know or understand the meaning of this word?  This is a word we should be teaching our young adults today.  Teaching them to curb their natural desires to rebel or fight or to have their own way. 

I had my son look up this word and his first response was "I don't think I like this word"  However, he didn't look at the actual Greek meaning of this word, he just saw that this word contained the word  "weak" in one of the definitions and decided he didn't like it.

It's up to us as adults, as parents and as mentors to teach them the true meaning of this.  That if they draw their strength in God then all things are possible.  Careers, college, continuing eduction and trade schools are in each and everyone of them who want to better themselves by trying.  It just takes encouragement on our part.  It takes our time which requires nothing except our time.  

So I ask, who has ten minutes to encourage one of our young adults today?  Who is willing to go the extra step.

A point to ponder on my friends... 

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Hope

So I've been thinking about this word HOPE and what it may or may not mean to our young adults getting ready to make their way into the working / college world.  

There are so many ways you can think about what this means.  The greek definition of HOPE means "expectation of what is sure (certain)".

With that said how many teens out there are uncertain or hopeless?  Not having any HOPE for the future or even tomorrow.  

A pastor the other day talked about taking risks and how after failures we quit taking risks because we're afraid of another failure.  How true that is for more than just teens.  How we've become so afraid of the loss that we stop focusing on the success or the "effort" we put forth on trying to move our lives forward.

We get so focused on looking in the rear view mirror that we forget that the front windshield is so much bigger than that mirror.  The rear view mirror was intended to see behind us not what lies in front of us

Philippians 3:12-14  I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made.  But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me.  Friends, don't get me wrong; by no means do I count myself and expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward - to Jesus.
I'm off and running and I'm not turning (looking) back

Can we offer some young adult a little HOPE today.  It's takes nothing but your time.  It's a free gift if you would just give it.

A point to ponder on my friends...

Sunday, March 31, 2013

He has risen

I hope this Easter Sunday you find your peace and that your spirit is lifted by God's love today.

I'm so honored to be a christian, a child of God and to know that deep in my heart that one day I will make it through his narrow door and be able to bow down in front of him and tell him of all the wonderful things I did with his blessings.

I pray for peace and hope in everyone's family today.  May god be with you today and in the future.

Hope

A point to ponder on my friends

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

As Easter sunday gets closer...

We enter our own Garden of Gethsemane by many routes

How do you enter your garden of Gethsemane?  For most of us, we enter through sin.  Sin of bad behavior, sin of addiction to something, sin of fear, sin of worry, sin of anger, sin of just wanting to sin.

It's so easy to repeat this pattern but there is a way out. The storms of life come passing through and when your life is weak due to lack of God or prayer in your life, our lives comes crashing down.

Jesus says "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12: 7-10)
Grace = a gift or blessing brought to man by Jesus Christ

If we all would just take the time to pray and open our hearts and our ears to hearing what God tells us to do and then wait upon him and ask for his Grace.  Be still and know that I am (Psalm 46:10).

Think about a young adult who has no one in their life to talk to, no one who shows up at the end of the night when their ready for bed.  How little effort on our part it takes to just reach out by a phone call or a text to let that person know we are there for them.  Could it make a change in their life?  It could but you'd have to try to know.

Could your Garden of Gethsemane be something you enter from lack of effort?  I don't know if this makes sense to anyone who is reading this or not but if you are and your really thinking there is someone out there that you could possibly touch their life, then why not give it a try.  It costs you nothing.  Jesus gave his life for us and the least we could do is try to give something back for one of his children...

A thought to ponder on my friends...

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Evil Forebodings

As I sit here and ponder on what I write next I stare out my window over the dark gloomy lake and think about the fierce wicked storms that come into our lives as young adults. How often do we let the storms just pick us up and take us away thrashing us every which way but up. 

"Evil foreboding" defined as a sense of impending evil or misfortune, an evil omen or a strong inner feeling of a future misfortune...

If we could only see the light or the future that God has for us so we could look up and pray for hope to be delivered out of the storms and into the life that God has intended for each and everyone of us. 

We often say as adults to our kids, if I knew what I know now and I was your age...  How many times have we heard our parents or our grandparents say this to us. It's so hard as young adults struggling with problems to begin "Believing" and to put their complete trust in God. If we as parents, grandparents, friends or mentors can just take the opportunity to share with a young struggling adult that there is HOPE and all you have to do is ASK our God to show you the way out, to deliver you from your storm, then we would have the opportunity to have changed one life. If we could all just change the life of one young adult in our lifetime, think of how many lives could be changed. Their future storms can be changed if we just give them the opportunity by teaching them to BELIEVE AND PRAY FOR HOPE. If we sit back and continue to do "nothing" then "nothing" changes. 

Jeremiah 29:11
I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart.

A thought to ponder on my friends...

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Stronghold-How do you define this?

How do you define this.  If you stop and think about this it could be many things.  
1.  Fear
2. Anxiety
3. Worry
4.  Guilt
5. Bad habits.
The stronghold which is a bad thought or habit begins in your mind and then travels outward.  How do you change it you ask?
By studying God's word and changing your behavior through his book.

Maybe God's allowed you to be broken so you could finally be healed; to finally see that you really do need Him, to be forgiven by Him, to have a personal relationship with Him, to actually take personally for yourself what Jesus did on the cross to tear down the wall between you and God. 

A point to ponder... 

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Grace forgives the sinner

I learned a lesson today as I was listening to an online sermon.
I learned that Grace forgives the sinner but Grace does not forgive the sin.
How many times do we think as teens, that we're unstoppable? Or maybe I have
so many lives that just one more time won't hurt?  

How many times have we told a complete stranger "thank you" and turned around and lashed out on someone we love?
When I look back at all the missed opportunities I could have had to change someone's life, I look to the future and look at how many lives I may still have the opportunity to change.

As I continue the next step for Lucky2BeMe, I try and think of all the lives that this plan will change.  I'm excited about this next step in my journey not only to help a teen but a plan that will also help me become a better person.  

 I had dinner with my friend last night, a girl I met through the Boys & Girls Club of America.  She was someone that was passionate about life and doing good things for her school and her community.  I looked at her face as she told me about winning another scholarship award because of all of her efforts.  The effort that was put in by her and her alone, no help from a loved one that she admired.  I often think of how many teens that are out there just looking for someone to share their joy with but cannot find them.  How little effort it requires of us to lend an ear. 

She is my inspiration to become a better person and that I thank her for.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Scholarship Money

Working on ways to help a teen with scholarship money towards college / trade school.
Posting a good deed for your church, school or community will be the key.

Looking for good deeds to share

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Which Path Will You Choose

The road to Heaven is narrow and the road to Evil is wide
Which path will you take?

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Challenge what you do

If we continue to challenge everything we do and question if it's right or wrong, then and only then do we become better as a person

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Scott Stapp video on overcoming addiction

Scott Stapp video.  It shows us all that with God, you can overcome anything

http://lifetoday.org/video/the-sinners-creed/

How do you define addcition?

Addiction - How do you define this?  It can be defined in so many ways.  Addiction to working out, addiction to food, addiction to alcohol, addiction to drugs, addiction to sex sites, addiction to addiction.

Did you know that 65 percent of high school seniors report consuming alcohol and 37.5 percent have smoked marijuana (the gateway drug)?


Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Scholarship Ideas

Looking for ideas on how to give scholarship money to teens who do good deeds for their community.  These good deeds could include but not limited to helping a senior citizen, giving time to someone in their community, helping the poor & needy, doing something great for their school, doing something above and beyond for their church or just donating some time at a shelter or nursing home.  Let me know if you have any thoughts on this. 

Monday, February 18, 2013

A young man in his 20's

Waking into Target this evening where I was greeted by three employees and one guest who had apparently stole something.  As the three employees tackled the young man in his early 20's at my feet, I asked myself how his life got to where it was.  Laying on the ground struggling to get away, I wondered if he had anyone in his life that showed him they cared.  Knowing that his night would be spent in jail with no hope, no idea of how his life would end up.

I wondered if someone would have reached out to him in his days of development as a young teen if his life would have been different.  These are the thoughts that make my mind wander.

Lakota Teens

Did you know the second leading cause of death for Lakota teens is suicide?  American Indians between 15 & 24 years of age commit suicide at a rate of more than 3 times the national average.  

Counseling helps, gathering places for youths help and programs that offer HOPE to show teens that suicide is NOT the answer.  You can help a teen by just reaching out to someone in need.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

How can we change 1 teen life?

Change a teen life by providing time, your time.  It takes nothing to make a call, send a text or take someone for a quick bite to eat.  What a change it would make letting someone know they are special.  Think about how that would make 1 teen feel...

All they want to know is that someone is actually paying attention to them in a positive way.