a simple reminder
Have We Forgotten The Skeletons In Our Closet?
With all the coverage and exciting things happening regarding Ted Williams, the former homeless man with a “God-given gift of voice,” I didn’t feel it necessary to blog about it. Until now.
I saw a comment on the wall of a Facebook friend that started out innocent enough. It simply read, “It is so good to know that homeless radio announcers are in demand.”
Then came the follow-up comments. “Bet you could not get hired if you had that many felonies…(OR ONE) He is a freaking criminal drug addict. Who cares if he has a remarkable voice?”
Wow!
After reading that I was reminded of the word grace. I was thanking God for forgiveness and being the God of second chances. I was praying for this person with the bitterness in their words.
God specifically tells us not to judge. He also tells us to pull the ginormous log of wood out of our eye before we tell our brother to do the same, according to Matthew 7:1-5.
Just a reminder, and to myself as well, I better clean out the skeletons in my closet before I point out the bones in another man’s closet.
What second chance are you grateful for?
Does It Pay To Go To Work?
The national average for a gallon of gas is over $3.00 per gallon. I had heard about it. I had read about it. But after having a conversation with my step-dad, it really hit me.
Math is not my best subject, but a little common sense and a calculator opened my eyes.
Federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour. An hour!
The average car holds around 16 gallons of gas.
So, you pull into the 7-11 to fill your car up after coming home from your minimum wage job that you are counting your blessings to have.
One Fill Up: $3.00/gal. x 16 gal. = $48
One Days Wages For a Full Time Job: $7.25/hr. x 8 hrs. = $58
With traffic and your commute you fill up twice a week.
Two Fill Ups: $3.00/gal. x 32 gal. = $96
One Weeks Wages Before Taxes: $7.25/hr. x 40 hrs. = $290
What’s left?
$194/week
to:
- Buy groceries that are at an all time high.
- Buy necessities (toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant).
- Pay your rent (That’s could be a completely new post).
Is there something wrong with this picture?
Does it pay to have a job?
2010 in review
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s some stats:
Where did visitors come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were wordpress.com, facebook.com, twitter.com, en.wordpress.com, and stumbleupon.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for broken heart, eternity, broken hearts, heart, and broken hearted.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
1
Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate! October 2010
155 comments and 98 Likes on WordPress.com
2
Can You Die Of A Broken Heart? August 2009
3 comments
3
Indescribable Love June 2009
6 comments
4
About Me March 2009
13 comments
5
Why this Blog? March 2009
8 comments
If you haven’t taken the opportunity to read these posts and more, there’s still time. Welcome to 2011 peeps!
3 in 30 – Making Goals Reality
It takes 21 days to form a habit right?
Is it possible to reach 3 goals in 30 days? According to Christian author and speaker Ashley Pichea, and blogger Meghan Tucker it is.
Don’t just set goals for 2011 – make them HAPPEN!
Read more about it here….
From Habits to Character
What do your habits look like, both good and bad? Do you make it a point to smile at others when they walk by? Do you bite your fingernails?
Habits contribute to our Godly character. Knowing this, I want to make sure I am developing good character that others around me can expect. This means I have to make changes in the faulty habits. Joyce Meyers says “Habits are formed by discipline or lack of discipline.”
For example, if I am not careful in the way that I choose to eat I can quickly form the habit of eating whatever I want, whenever I want. I have diligently worked on the habit of becoming a healthy eater. Lately, however, I have found myself slipping back into the habit of being “less careful.”
As a woman who has struggled with food addiction all of my life, this is not a habit I want to be known for. It is easy for me to turn one chocolate chip cookie into twelve in an instant. It is easy for me to dart to the refrigerator when my emotions are high. These are the moments I need to run into the arms of God and His Word the most.
Romans 5:3-5 says We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
God has given each of us exactly what we need to break those bad habits and form Godly habits, which in turn build our character. We have the hope and the perseverance. Now we need to them into action.
What old habits do you need to change? What new habits do you want to form?