Author: kenlassblog.net

It’s interesting that we humans need sleep to rest our bodies, but our brains never rest. During sleep our minds are busy conjuring up dreams and emotional experiences. Research indicates that 75 percent of all dreams are unpleasant. Our subconscious seems to want to dwell on what scares us or makes us feel insecure or uncomfortable.

Ever wonder why? Just a thought. Could it be the forces of evil try to prey on our weaknesses at a time when we are not in control of our visions and reactions? If so, all the more reason to spend our waking hours in a rightful relationship with God. He is no dream. He is real and ready to protect you.

Sleep well.

Trying to keep up with what’s in style can be like chasing a moving car on a bicycle. Styles keep changing. The hemline of ladies’ dresses goes maxi, then mini, then everything in between. The width of a man’s tie is narrow, then wide, then narrow again. Long hair is in, until it’s not. Boots, heels, or flats? It’s all so confusing.

Somebody, somewhere decides what’s in vogue, then decides when it’s not, and designs something else. The goal, of course, is to sell new merchandise. Staying in fashion will cost you a lot of money.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was an authority who set the style for life absolutely free? No purchase necessary? A style for living that never changes, and always leads you to the right decisions?

The hardest part about getting closer to God is giving up control. We crave control. The other day I approached an elevator and pushed the “up” button to summon the car. The button lit up and I stepped back to wait. Seconds later a woman came up beside me. She looked at that elevator button, still clearly lit up, then looked at me, then looked at the button again.

Ultimately, she couldn’t resist. She walked up and hit that button. She just had to take control of the situation. She couldn’t trust me, a stranger, to meet her need.

Imagine how hard it is to trust our lives to a God we can’t see. But eternity is worth the effort.

I’m a big fan of daffodils. The bright yellow flower is a great example of resiliency and determination. Every winter, about early February or so, our daffodils begin to sprout and open up. Problem is, that’s always too early. Inevitably there is a hard freeze at some point during the month. The frigid temps cause the new flower to droop and sag toward the ground.

But though they are going through trauma, these bold little plants refuse to die. They hang tough through the sub-freezing days, and somehow they survive until the sun shines brightly and brings milder times. That’s when they burst into full, healthy bloom and show off their beauty. They only last about three or four brilliant weeks, and then it’s time to go dormant again until next year. But they make the most of their opportunity to shine.

We could all benefit by being more like daffodils.

No one will ever accuse me of having a green thumb. I used to have a big garden. I tried growing melons and corn and pumpkins and lettuce and cucumbers. The bugs bored into my melons, my pumpkins stopped growing after reaching the size of a tennis ball, my corn stalks withered, and my lettuce turned brown.

But the cucumbers were a different story. My cuke vines spread throughout the garden like wildfire, sprouting the long green vegetables in droves. I gathered baskets of cucumbers and gave them to family and neighbors and food pantries and total strangers. I am a terrible gardener, but I am clearly good at growing cucumbers.

Everybody is good at something. You may have to fail at some things to find out where you excel, but you have a talent. Keep trying and you’ll find it. And if you need a pickle, I’m your man.

If at first you don’t succeed, take a lesson from the squirrels. We watched hard working squirrels shimmy up our birdfeeder pole to rob the seed. In an effort to prevent this, I greased the pole so the furry-tailed critters couldn’t climb it. But much to our frustration, we noticed that squirrels were still consistently perched on the feeder, pilfering all the food.

After keeping vigilant watch, we finally noticed they were actually risking life and limb by leaping off a nearby tree branch on to the pole, a distance of at least ten feet. When life created an obstacle, they just kept working hard to figure out a solution. I couldn’t help but admire their resolve.

I moved the bird feeder pole further away from the tree. The other day we found the feeder knocked down to the ground and the squirrels feasting on the spilled seed. I don’t know how they did it, but it must have taken hard work and creative thinking. We can learn from the squirrels.

When you take swimming lessons, one of the first things the instructor will show you is how to float on your back. It’s the fundamental way of surviving in the water. You will notice that if you take a big breath and hold the air in your lungs, you will float. As soon as you blow the air out of your lungs, you will begin to sink. So if you focus on breathing deeply, keeping good, pure air in your body for as long as possible, while gently moving your arms and legs, you will stay out of trouble.

It’s not a bad metaphor for life. Fill your life with pure, positive, Godly influences and you will stay afloat above your adversity. Empty yourself of such things and you will quickly sink into the depths of temptation and depression.

The water can get pretty deep, but God is a strong flotation device.

It’s never too late to start over. Gladys Burril ran her first 26.2 mile marathon at the age of 86. Ray Kroc changed careers and bought his first McDonalds restaurant at the age of 59. Estelle Getty didn’t make it as an actor until she landed a role in The Golden Girls when she was 62.

You can change your goals today. You can make the decision to live a better life immediately. You may never be rich or famous, but you can absolutely have more peace and joy. It’s your call.

I read an interesting article about a study done on listening. It stated that we are capable of hearing about 450 words spoken to us per minute. But on average our brains can only process about 25 percent of that. The rest is almost immediately forgotten.

This is important to remember when you’re trying to explain something to someone. They’re only going to remember about a quarter of what you’re saying. So get to the point and make yourself clear. The research also revealed that only about seven percent of your message is communicated through your words. The other 93 percent is perceived from your facial expression, tone of voice, and body language.

So be nice. Don’t shout. Don’t frown. And when you’ve said what you want to say, listen intently. Communication works both ways.

I timed myself. It took me four minutes to sit down, turn on my computer, go to my email, type in the address of a friend, write him a three sentence message telling him I was thinking about and praying for him today, and then pressing “send”. This includes the time it took for my desktop computer to boot up.

If you were to do this once each day, Monday through Friday, taking weekends off, for one year, you could brighten the days of 261 people. Seems like a pretty good and efficient use of time. Of course, you would also have to allow for the time it will take you to read their grateful and appreciative replies.