Thankful November

November has been busy, but has been a month full of blessings. The beginning of the month I spent time in Kansas with my family and took a reprieve from the busy life that comes with living in a city. I also celebrated the return of a friend from Africa. The rest of the month progressed rather quickly and not without its fair share of events. I spent time with the one I love and finally enjoyed some In N Out. I went to the movies and spent an afternoon relaxing in luxury seating. The month closed out with some much needed time off of work and time to finish up Christmas shopping. I have managed to go from zero ideas for Christmas gifts this year to having bought or ordered nearly all of them. Although Christmas is far more than gifts, it is nice to be able to have something to give other people. 

This month has been busy, but not without blessings. My intentions were to post regularly the blessings I experienced, but schedules are not always possible to keep. That said, I know I have much to be thankful for and I will continue to record my daily gratitude in my personal blessings log. If you struggle with sadness or bitterness then I encourage you to do the same. Every day you spend a few minutes and write a few things that you are grateful for and title them blessings. These items are things that you can remember when you are having a harder time with life. Your gratitude doesn't have to be large or elaborate and can be as simple as enjoying your favorite food. There are days when my heart was heavy and I struggled with gratitude, but then I realized that even the smallest aspects of our lives can contain blessings. Perhaps some may think I'm silly when I write that I am grateful for potstickers from my favorite Chinese restaurant, but in the experience my heart is filled with gratitude. The point of gratitude is that we are thankful for everything God gives us, both the little and the big, and to enjoy every moment of our lives. 

United We Stand: A Lesson In Politics

You will rarely see me choosing to discuss anything political or even sharing my political beliefs. That is because, simply put, I hate politics. I am not ashamed of my political beliefs, but rather I know that political discussions often dissolve into voices of hate or in the very least a lack of tolerance for other people's beliefs. I have lived long enough to know that each person is unique and even people of the same beliefs have different reasons for their beliefs. As a general policy I don't discuss politics, but I am breaking my silence today. 

The amount of discord in this country after the election last week is just shameful. Regardless of your political beliefs, each election some people get what they want and others don't. That is true of each election from the beginning of time. This fact should remind us that we are all different and that we aren't always going to agree, but disagreement is not a reason for destruction. I know people will argue about the popular vote vs. the electoral college and the fairness of the election process. Certainly there is something to be said about the process, but the process is what we have. If you are upset about the process then work to change the process rather than to demonstrate your frustration with self-destruction. 

Our American democracy is not perfect, far from it, but what process is? Nothing is perfect and no matter how upset we become it isn't going to be perfect. Again, regardless of our political beliefs, we all are going to experience feelings of frustration or unrest in the face of politics. The way I see it we can use our frustration to bring about positive change or we can self-destruct. The original founding fathers knew that united we stand, but divided we fall. Division in a house is the fastest way to make a house fall. Nothing illustrates this more than the Civil War. Our country was greatly divided and brothers fought brothers over their beliefs. The blood bath that ensued was awful and entirely unnecessary. I believe that some of the soldiers fought a war they didn't believe in because it was expected of them. Some people had the courage to stand up and fight for what they believed in despite everyone around them fighting against them, but as noble as we want to believe we are, most of the time we give in to the opinions of people around us. 

Let us not be divided on the outcome of the presidential election, but instead come together and stand up for what we believe in. Please don't stand up and voice your frustration in self-destruction, but rather stand up and demonstrate your beliefs that others might see and take you as example. Be a beacon of light to a world darkened by conflict. Stand up, continue to be kind regardless of the person or their beliefs, and demonstrate God's love to everyone. 

Even if you are in favor of what happened in the election, most likely you are not in favor of everything, and you have the opportunity to show Americans are able to come together, even in the face of disagreement. I know some people are thinking. "That's all fine and good, but how do you do it?" We are able to come together in the face of agreement and exact positive change by living a life that is reflective of the the life of Jesus. In Jesus' day Rome was in charge of His country and the Pharisees took advantage of Roman rule to distance themselves from the people. The bulk of the people were probably not in favor of the Romans or the Pharisees, but that was the life they lived in. Obviously, they didn't have a democracy, but I'm not sure it would matter if they did. The point is that the people had very little rights, their lives were not great, and they were surrounded by corruption. The people could have chosen to destroy their homes in response to their new rulers, but all that would accomplish is homelessness. I'm not sure what would have happened if Jesus hadn't come along, but because He did, we have an example of how to respond in the face of adversity. 

Jesus did not respond with violence because those who live by the sword die by the sword. Instead  He challenged the rulers of His day and through His words and actions demonstrated the way people should live. He was kind to everyone, not just those who were politically powerful or religiously clean. When Jesus looked at people He saw their hearts and their potential rather than their sin and their flaws. We can look at the people around us and see them as Jesus sees them, His children, whom He loved enough to die on a cross for. That means we need to look beyond their beliefs, beyond their gender, beyond their race, and beyond any other factors that might keep us from demonstrating God's love for them. 

I will readily agree that this isn't an easy task and that even when loving all of God's children, we should be cautious lest we fall victim to something awful. Yes, we are all God's children, but evil has possessed some to hurt others and cause unspeakable things to happen. We are responsible for ourselves and ought to live righteously in our relationships with others regardless of who they are. This can be done in little actions like holding a door open or larger actions like standing up to defend the rights of someone too small to fight for themselves. 

Jesus taught His disciples and His followers that they were responsible before God for their actions and these actions included their relationships with one another. He expected them to sacrifice and give up aspects of their life in order to help others. That was true whether the person was sick or hungry. He helped everyone and we ought to do the same. United we can stand together, preserve a country we love, and enact positive change through our actions.

Thankful November: The First Ten Days

I am thankful! Yes, I am very thankful even though I am behind in posting my gratitude. The last nine days I have been busy with work and getting ready for a long weekend in Kansas. I am in Kansas now and I have time to reflect on the blessings I have experienced over the last nine days. 

The first blessing is the return of my friend and coworker. Earlier this year she unexpectedly joined the peace corps and left for Africa in February. Everyone was heartbroken at work and we have missed her greatly. The first week of November I was in Starbucks and was thinking about how I needed to buy some more coffee to send to her. Later on that day I ran into her at work. My friend and coworker had just as unexpectedly returned from Africa. I am so incredibly grateful to have my friend back at work. 

The next blessing is waking up to the sunrise every morning. I don't particularly enjoy waking up early, especially when I first wake up and it is still dark, but seeing the sunrise makes waking up early  seem better. The recent time change has made waking up easier because the sun has just started rising  and it doesn't feel like I should still be sleeping. 

The last blessing is being in Kansas. I have wanted to take this trip to Kansas for awhile now, but it has never happened. Last month my dad told my grandpa that I was planning on coming and on my grandpa's birthday I looked up flights to Kansas. The flights were surprisingly affordable and I booked the flight immediately. Today I spent the day traveling from California to Kansas and I arrived just as the sun set. Kansas is so much different than California and I am enjoying the small town. I grew up in a small town and have watched as it has grown so much in the last few years. It is nice to be in a quiet town with little to no traffic. I am looking forward to the next few days of quiet rest that being in a small town brings. 

What are you thankful for? Leave your gratitude in the comments below as well as any prayer requests. 

Thankful November: The Plan

I can hardly believe that it is already November. This is harder to believe since I have yet to start planning anything for Christmas. There use to be a time when I was done with all of my Christmas shopping by October, but hardships in the last five years have transitioned me towards procrastinating Christmas shopping. I always intend to plan ahead and finish early, but that is happening less and less these days. All of this is really besides the point. The point is that I can't believe it is November already and that I want to take some time to appreciate all of my blessings before the craziness of December sets in. I will probably still post a few Christmas related posts this month, but the majority of my posts will be focused on gratitude. 

Every day I record three things I am grateful for in the list section on my phone and then transcribe those blessings onto a list on my computer, but this month I am going to spend some time each week writing about something I am grateful for. Whenever these things involve a person I am going to find a way to express my gratitude towards them because gratefulness is not expressed enough when it comes to the people in our lives. It might be something they did for me or just their general presence in my life, but I am going to find a way to express my gratitude. I encourage you to do the same. 

Last year I followed a 30-day prompt and wrote each day about something that I was grateful for, but it was a lot to keep up with and some of the days were not well thought out. By the end of the challenge I felt obligated to write on that topic and the purpose of gratitude was lost. A 30-day prompt is still something worth trying, but this year I am going to let the experience be more natural. I am going to spend an hour or so each week just meditating on all of my blessings and write about the one that stood out the most at the end of the hour. I will readily admit that some weeks the blessing is probably going to seem pretty trivial, but sometimes the littlest things are the biggest blessings. 

Leave a comment below if you are planning on doing the Thankful November and be sure to tell me some of the things you are thankful for in your own life. 

40-Day Detox: The Power of Prayer

I apologize that I didn't post an update sooner. I sat down to write this post, but honestly I didn't know what to say. Or how to express progress when it doesn't feel like any progress has been made. It has been 17 days since I started this journey, which means I am almost to the halfway mark and I thought I would have made more progress by this point. Not measuring up to expectations is never easy to deal with and can lead to disappointment. That is the point I was at when I sat down to write this update on Saturday and as a result I didn't post anything. My intention, when I sat down at my computer tonight, was not to write an update or even a post, but then I realized I had made progress.

Progress is not always measurable. Sometimes progress is just a slow increase in desired response and not something we even notice until it is complete. I had been measuring my progress by the results I could record and put on paper, but the results I wanted are not something that can be measured. Yes, I could measure my healthy eating habits and exercise, but the mental and spiritual progress I wanted is not something that can be measured. I know that I have not made progress on eating healthier or getting more exercise and that is an area I need to improve upon. But I have made progress in other areas. Tonight, as I sat down, I realized that I am happier than I was before this journey, I am learning to trust God more, and I am seeing spiritual truths happening in my life. 

I have always believed in the power of prayer, but during those times in my life when God seems silent, I know that my faith wavers. The last few weeks I have felt that God has been silent and I honestly didn't know what to think about my circumstances. I continued to pray, but I felt lost. In last week's post I reflected on my experience of honestly praying to God, in absolute silence, and having a wonderful experience of Him answering my prayers. He didn't answer immediately or directly, but when I received my answers, it was undeniable that it was God. Then last week I spent time in Max Lucado's devotional on the power of a simple prayer. My prayers last week were not necessarily short or simple, but they were heartfelt expressions of my circumstances that I decided to lay at God's feet. 

The strange thing is that after I prayed God again answered my prayers. Everything seemed to fall into place and my worries seemed to come to an end. Then a few days later everything fell apart and I honestly didn't know what to make of it. Suddenly, my answers were gone and I seemed to be back at square one. Again I prayed and I did my best to leave my concerns in that prayer, replacing worry with hope. Once again, my prayers were answered or at least mostly answered. Everything isn't solved by all means, but there are solutions in place and my concerns are being worked out. Prayer is powerful, but if we expect immediate results than chances are that we aren't going to see progress. We are going to imagine our prayers haven't been heard or aren't being answered and we are going to miss the little ways God has communicated with us along the way to our prayers being answered.

40-Day Detox: 6 Day Update

Last weekend I laid out my plan for "detoxing" my life and refocusing on God's will for me. My plan includes living a healthier lifestyle, becoming more active, limiting unnecessary world influence, and spending more time with God daily. I am now 6 days into the 40-day detox and there is a lot of room for improvement. I created a tracker to keep track of the progress I made, the intention being that I would use it daily, but I haven't filled it out at all, which is indication enough that I could use improvement. This week has been crazy. I have been rushing this week to finish a project while also studying like crazy for a test that I had to take for work. So while I have still been trying to keep up with the detox plan, I haven't been keeping up with tracking each day's progress. 

This week I have been successful in spending less time on YouTube or watching TV and spending more time with God. I completed a  5-day devotional plan on the topic "When God Could Have, But He Didn't" in addition to the Bible reading and devotional I normally do every day. I was not successful in living a healthier lifestyle or being more active each day. I am hoping to improve on these aspects of my detox plan as I move into the second week. In order to ensure improvement on living a healthier lifestyle, I am implementing changes today, which include planning a healthier grocery list. I already meal prep my lunches for work most weeks, but I have noticed that if I don't have a lot of variety it is harder for me to eat my lunch without buying something else. Buying your lunch daily is not necessarily a bad thing, but for me the only options are expensive and not that healthy. I am still planning my lunches for this week, but if you want to see what I meal prep for my lunches, leave a comment below letting me know. 

My overall impressions of this first week of "detox" is that I need a lot of improvement in reaching my daily goals if I hope to see any progress at the end of 40 days. I have noticed a lot of bitterness in my heart about my circumstances and that bitterness is creating an awful attitude. This is not the way I want to live my life and I have been struggling a lot with my attitude this week. My general approach was that God has a lot of work to do during the 40 day detox, but the reality is that I have a lot of work to do. This isn't God's problem, but mine and I need to put in effort to fix it and then God can do what I am unable to do. 

I made some progress yesterday during my 2 hour drive to take a test for work. The radio station I usually listen to went to static after 45 minutes of driving and I was left in silence the rest of the drive. I only like silence when I am trying to sleep so it was a difficult transition for me, but I used the time to just talk to God. I spilled my heart out to Him as I drove on the freeway and when I reached my destination, I received my answer of sorts. Of course, an answer after a long period of silence is confusing, but again I spent my time alone to pray about the meaning and this morning I woke to a devotional email on the topic that God is Faithful to Keep His Promises. Silence is a good thing because it gives us time with God and it gives Him the quiet time He needs to give us an answer. Yes, He can answer us in the loud, chaotic times of our lives, but no one wants to shout to be heard. 

These last 6 days have not been very successful for me, but my experience over the last few days has reminded me that I need to renew my commitment. I need to work hard to improve in these areas that I have identified as in need of "detox". Transformation is not going to happen overnight, but I hope that next week I am able to share improvement on my way toward a more God-focused life. How is your journey going? Let me known in the comments below.

40-Day Detox

Last weekend, on the first day of October, my intentions were good. I was planning on "detoxing" my life in an effort to regain focus. I even made a plan, but then I fell short. Isn't that always the story? The problem was I was struggling with the emotions I was feeling and ignoring them was only creating a bigger problem. Honestly, I am still struggling, but that is ok. I am going to attempt to process the depth of my emotions and experiences while also "detoxing" my life. I don't know what will happen, but I am willing to let go and trust God to make something of my mess. 

Over the last week I have made a plan, which I intend to implement over the next 40 days. I have never done anything like this before and I have no idea if it will have any impact on my life, but I am going to try it anyways. My "detox" plan has 4 aspects: health, body, mind, and spirit. Initially each aspect was going to be introduced for 10 days during the 40 days, but I decided that the greatest potential for benefit was if I implemented each aspect every day for 40 days. The first aspect is health and is basically just a commitment to eat healthier. I thought about the Daniel Plan, but I have a few deficiencies and I was not confident that I could meet my nutritional needs by only consuming the items on the list. I also wasn't comfortable suggesting a plan that I had never tried myself, especially considering that individuals have different health needs. The second aspect is body and the goal is movement. My goal is to get my body moving for at least 30 minutes every day; minus a rest day. Movement could be going on a walk or a run or it could be a full workout. I left it open because I have noticed that I have a hard time committing myself to one activity. The third aspect is mind and the goal is to limit our time with worldly influences. This might be limiting internet usage or decreasing time spent watching TV or some form of digital entertainment like Netflix or YouTube. The last aspect is spirit and the thought is that if we are limiting time with worldly influences that we are increasing time spent with the Spirit. This might be spending time reading the Bible, praying, meditating, or participating in a devotional. 

My "detox" plan is a series of goals, which I hope will have a positive aspect on my life. As I said before, I don't know how this will work because I have never done it before, but I am excited to try this for the next 40 days and see what happens. I will try to post weekly updates on my progress and include any tips that I learn along the way. I invite you to join me in this journey and to share your progress with me. Remember the goal is progress.