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Forget the rules today!

April 9, 2013 in creative, expectation with 4 Comments

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.” ~ W. Somerset Maugham

Let’s face it, rules are overrated. Especially the ones nobody tells you. Have you ever played a game with someone, only to realize they are making up the rules as they go along. Boooo. No good. Sometimes life feels like that, too.

What if we just forget the rules, today? Not the legal, ethical and moral ones. The other ones. The rules that we know, or don’t know, that hang over our heads like some invisible judgement. Sometimes we get so obsessed with doing something right, we don’t really do it at all. We forget the adventure that ensues when we set out to discover something. You know, the joy that comes from doing something you enjoy because you enjoy it.

This past weekend I took a bunch of pictures with my camera. I probably didn’t capture them right, but I had fun. Twenty minutes of fun. You may or may not ever see them. That’s irrelevant. I took some photos because I wanted to do it and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I forgot about f-stops, lenses and the knowledge of all of the settings one needs to know to take a prize-winning photo. I forgot the rules… and got free.

Sing a song today. Who cares if it’s good? Write down your thoughts, dreams and plans today.Who cares if they are captured perfectly? Take a picture of some silly something some silly way. Who cares if it will make it into some silly art gallery?

Forget the rules today.

Forget they exist.

Forget there’s a right way to do it.

You may discover joy in it again.

That’s my hope for you today.

You need a pep talk…

February 4, 2013 in courage, encouragement, expectation, video with 1 Comment

You need a pep talk. This video is just what the doctor ordered:

video link for mobile devices

This kid is so cute.

And funny.

And inspiring.

It’s awesome time. How will you seize it?

The power of wholeheartedness.

July 12, 2012 in encouragement, expectation, faith with 4 Comments

“You have to go wholeheartedly into anything in order to achieve anything worth having.” ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

“It pays to take life seriously; things work out when you trust in God.” ~ Proverbs 16:20 (MSG)

I think we play around too much.

We play around with ideas. We play around with possibilities. We play around with our dreams. We play around with plans.

I think you play around too much.

I think you don’t take yourself very seriously.

I think you may have forgotten that you should press through when it gets hard.

I think you may have forgotten that when God gave you your dream there was an assignment attached to it.

Your assignment.

Your assignment is worth giving your whole heart to complete. It’s worth everything you are and everything you have.

I think you forgot that.

I hope you begin to hope again. To hope in your dream. To hope in your ability to complete your assignment. To hope again in the God who gave you the desire and ability to say “yes” to your assignment.

I hope this post makes you mad. I hope it makes you mad enough to decide to get up and run as hard and fast as you can for the finish line and complete your course.

That’s my hope.

That’s my prayer for you today, my friend.

Run your race.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got.” 1 Corinthians 9:26 (The Message)

Why is this taking so long?!

April 17, 2012 in encouragement, expectation, time, vision, work with 9 Comments

“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.” ~ T. S. Eliot The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Sometimes it seems like the clock moves faster for some people than others. It especially seems that way when things are taking longer for us than we expect.

The truth is this:

“The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.” ~ C. S. Lewis

Whether you are measuring out your life with coffee spoons or a 60 minute an hour clock, time moves the same speed for all us. We all have the same clock, the same calendar, the same process for preparing for the future.

Preparing, working, waiting and believing is the way it works for all of us. No exceptions. Even when we get weary in the waiting part.

Unless you have a time-machine, you should enjoy the journey.

Enjoy every minute.

Enjoy every hour.

Enjoy every day.

Enjoy every coffee spoon.

And keep preparing. Your appointed time is closer than when you started reading this.

“The vision will still happen at the appointed time. It hurries toward its goal. It won’t be a lie. If it’s delayed, wait for it. It will certainly happen. It won’t be late.” (Habakkuk 2:3 GWT)

Would you like some enthusiasm to go with that?

April 5, 2012 in expectation, faith with 0 Comments

Graphic via tragedyseries.tumblr.com

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thursday. A perfect day to stir up your enthusiasm.

I don’t know about you, but Thursdays are usually an “extra coffee” kind of day for me. If there was a way to add some enthusiasm in that extra mug of liquid joy, I’d do it. I usually need both at this time in the week. But, in my coffee today it’ll just be cream and sugar, I guess.

So, instead, I’ll stir my enthusiasm while I stir my coffee. I’m pretty sure I can do that.

I just looked “enthusiasm” up in the dictionary. One definition calls it “Intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval.”

I like that.

I can get behind that.

Intense and eager enjoyment.

Intense and eager interest.

Intense and eager approval.

Those all sound like choices to me. It’s completely up to me. And to you, too.

What do you say? What if we kick our enthusiasm into a higher gear today?

I’m doing this.

Are you in?

What Did You Expect?

April 5, 2010 in encouragement, expectation, faith with 1 Comment

“A desert is a place without expectation.”
~ Nadine Gordimer, South African Novelist

Expectation is faith. It will cause you to come alive on the inside. It speaks of anticipation and assurance. It’s rooted in vision for a good outcome, hope for a turnaround or the belief that somebody has your back. It will build your confidence and give you courage to do what is in your heart.

But what if you’ve lost hope? You’re likely journeying in the desert. Really when you think about it, nobody in their right mind would choose to wander through the desert… especially you.

What we expect will set the course for us. Our expectation sets the destination. No expectation or low expectation will send you into sand, heat and no water. High expectation will set your destination in a much more desirable place. A place with your needs met, things changing for the better, and most of all confidence, anticipation and assurance.

So how do you get back on course?

Stir up your faith.

How?

“So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17

You can turn it around by faith. What did you expect?