We had some really powerful moments of devotions and sharing. One of the conversations we had, was about the greatest commandment which states that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, our mind, our strength and our soul. also, we should love our neighbours as ourselves. If we think about this deeply and practically, how co you get to really love God in your day-to-day life?

I recently got to watch the movie An unfinished life by Lasse Hallstrom and fulfilled a desire to watch it that has been lingering somewhere in my heart for the last six years.

Eindar is a man trapped in his past. He has never moved on from a point in his life when his son died in a grizzly car accident. He is bitter and blames everyone for his woes especially his son’s widow.

His closest friend Mitch is incapacitated after he was mauled by a grizzly while Eindar was too drunk to help. We get to see Eindar’s kind and gentle side as he nurses Mitch who challenges the core of Eindar’s life with his probing questions. After all, that is what friends are for.

There is a deep metaphor playing as the story unfolds about the bear that mauled Mitch which was captured and put into a cage in a zoo. “Free the bear.” Mitch tells Eindar. I think Eindar needs to let loose the past and move on. And He gets to do it.
Beautiful story.

Man.
Simple. Naive. Foolish.
Struggling only to stay alive.
Fear. Disillusionment;
Overrun his soul.

Destination. Uncertain.
Not a priority in this crisis.
If only to live through the storm.
Lost. Weary. Desperate.

The Battle. Titanic.
Rages all night long.
To settle for the darkness in his soul.
An easy win.

Hope.
Only but a tiny atom.
Puts up a gallant fight.
Till the first glimpse of the morning sun.
The storm dies to a tranquil sea.

Hope.
The story of our lives.

I am grateful to God for the blessing. Surely if God thought it wise for a man not to be alone, and to remedy that He gave the lonely man a wife for a companion, then marriage must be a very good idea. I pray to God that I will be a good husband. I feel like a ship that has just set sail into uncharted waters, but God is my trusted navigational aid. That gives me a tremendous sense of purpose and zeal to enter this marriage and work it out to be the best that it can be.

I am so grateful to God for seeing us through a complex season as we prepared for our wedding.
I am so grateful for family and friends for their unreserved support. We couldn’t have succeeded without you. You are the gardeners who make our souls blossom. Thank you for being part of our story. A great adventure lies ahead…

• The pros art is his job, not his inspiration.
• The pro works 7 days a week, the amateur flirts with their art as a hobby. (does not mean its your job, but it consumes you).
• Pros love the game enough to do whatever it takes to make their art professional. Amateurs love the game, but don’t love it enough to engage the risk that it takes to become a professional.
• Pros do not let others actions define who they are or how they work.
• Pros know the difference between urgent and important and do the important first.
• Pros show up. Sit down. Stay all day. And ship art. Everyday. They follow the route necessary to produce.
• Pros realize the importance of creating their art, and the impact that what they do could create.
• Pros ask for help.
• Pros stay committed to the marathon and do not deceive themselves into believing art creation is a sprint.
• Pros identify where they end and where their art beings.
• Pros identities are found in being creators, not the creations they make.
• Pros learn to handle praise and blame.
• Pros face fear and rejection.
• Pros never take success or failure personally.
• Pros know how to construct work spaces to create their best art. They understand order. (don’t confuse this with messy vs cleanliness)
• Pros simplify and share the “mystery”of what they do with others.
• Pros know that they do is birthed out of their refined gifts and talents and that not everyone can do what they do…its more than ticks, smoke, and mirrors.
• Pros don’t accept excuses.
• Pros figure out how to respond and not react.
• Pros remove the emotion and add humanity when necessary.
• Pros don’
• t stop learning. They are committed to growth, new techniques, and whatever makes them better.

* SON: ‘Daddy, may I ask you a question?’
* DAD: ‘Yeah sure, what it is?’ replied the man.
* SON: ‘Daddy, how much do you make an hour?’
* DAD: ‘That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?’ the man said angrily.
* SON: ‘I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?’
* DAD: ‘If you must know, I make $50 an hour.’
* SON: ‘Oh,’ the little boy replied, with his head down.
* SON: ‘Daddy, may I please borrow $25?’

The father was furious, ‘If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don’t work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.’ The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down , and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door. ‘Are you asleep, son?’ He asked. ‘No daddy, I’m awake,’ replied the boy. ‘I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier’ said the man ‘It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $25 you asked for.’

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. ‘Oh, thank you daddy!’ He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father. ‘Why do you want more money if you already have some?’ the father grumbled. Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,’ the little boy replied. ‘Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.’

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness. It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time s lip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!

Then I came across these words “Don’t know what the day will bring but I’m bringing myself into the day. Don’t know how the day will end, but I will help determine that through my thoughts, behaviours, love and imagination.”

We are not in this world just to get by. We are here to live and bring benefit to our wold. This wont just happen, but we have to be intentional in the important steps that will make things happen in our world. We are to be active participants together with God in shaping lives and our world for the good of many. So How will your day look like? I believe the answer is how you want it to be. bring yourself into every day.