Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Winning or Losing?
OK! So the question is: Is it better to lose with a Christlike spirit or Is it better to win with an UN-Christlike spirit? Personally, I would rather lose every game and keep my Christ-like attitude than to lose and be overbearing and cocky. Although...it is...as our coach says: "Much more fun to win than to lose.'' I totally agree with her on that one. It certainly didn't feel too good when we lost the second match today. Even though we won the first match. What's wrong with losing every now and again...after all this was only our third loss in almost 3 years? How will we ever know what we need to improve on, if we never lose? What made this loss so much more difficult to swallow than any other? These were all questions that I was trying answer, not only in my own mind, but also for the coach. It is never easy to lose and even though there were many contributing factors to our loss today, one thing we did do right was to maintain our Christ-like attitude. We could mull over all the mistakes we made, bad attitudes displayed by the other team, poor line judging, poor referee calls, but do they really matter. They certainly won't change the outcome of the game. A loss is a loss. So how do we handle a loss when we are so accustomed to winning...with a Christ-like spirit. Keeping our heads held high and allowing God's grace flow through us. Evaluating the skills that need improvement and doing everything we can in our own power to improve on them and then letting God do the rest. Realizing that volleyball is just a game, but we are in a much bigger game with a much higher stake...the Game of Life...where God is the coach and Heaven is the prize. If we keep our eye on the real prize and strive to win at that game...we will never lose. So what do you think??? How do you handle losses in your life?
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Septic Tank of the Heart
Well...here I am. I did say last week in my blog about "CONSISTENCY" that I was going to try to be more consistent and write at least once a week. So I am trying to keep my word and be accountable, if only to myself.
Proverbs 23:7 says: For as he thinketh in his heart , so is he. I always tell my students that our brain is like a computer; whatever we put in our mind, is what is going to come out and spew onto others. If we are putting good stuff in, then good stuff will come out. If we are filling our mind with junk; then junk is going to come out.
Five years ago my husband and I built a house out in the country. Our land is butted up against a cow pasture and we literally have cows for neighbors. That is not to say that we don't have "real" neighbors..we do...but we also have cows. It's very peaceful and quiet...we just love it!
This summer we received a letter from the county we in which we live telling us that someone would be coming out to our house to inspect our septic tank. Apparently this is something new that the county began doing with new homes. No big deal, right! Well, when you have lived in a house for five years with 5 adults and a baby, you would probably think that maybe you would need to have your septic tank pumped once in awhile. NOT US! Never crossed our mind. So, the septic system man comes out, inspects our tank and proceeds to tell us we need to have our tank pumped immediately. That it was way overdue for a pumping and was one of the worst he had seen in a long time. They told us they would return to inspect the tank in about a week to make sure we had done what we were told...which we did and they did and everything was fine.
In the process of going through this though..The Lord began to speak to me about my heart in comparsion to a septic system. He began to question me about when the last time was that I cleaned/pumped the septic tank of my heart out? That HURT! Let's face it, we all put stuff into our minds everyday, which flows into our hearts and if we aren't careful it comes spewing out onto everyone around us. I'll admit...I love action movies. I could watch the Die Hard Series or the Bourne Series over and over again...but I know that the violence and language in those types of movies is not what I need to be putting into my mind, but still I do it. Therefore, I need to be making sure that I am cleansing my mind and heart on a regular basis...so that I am not allowing that kind of violence and language to flow forth from me. How do I cleanse my mind and heart...through the Word of God! Making sure that I am daily into His Word. Meditating on His Word day and night!
If I never pump out the spetic tank of my heart, it will end up like the septic tank at my house...overflowing with muck!!! That will in turn overflow into my actions and words. So I ask you...When was the last time you cleaned the septic tank of your heart???
Proverbs 23:7 says: For as he thinketh in his heart , so is he. I always tell my students that our brain is like a computer; whatever we put in our mind, is what is going to come out and spew onto others. If we are putting good stuff in, then good stuff will come out. If we are filling our mind with junk; then junk is going to come out.
Five years ago my husband and I built a house out in the country. Our land is butted up against a cow pasture and we literally have cows for neighbors. That is not to say that we don't have "real" neighbors..we do...but we also have cows. It's very peaceful and quiet...we just love it!
This summer we received a letter from the county we in which we live telling us that someone would be coming out to our house to inspect our septic tank. Apparently this is something new that the county began doing with new homes. No big deal, right! Well, when you have lived in a house for five years with 5 adults and a baby, you would probably think that maybe you would need to have your septic tank pumped once in awhile. NOT US! Never crossed our mind. So, the septic system man comes out, inspects our tank and proceeds to tell us we need to have our tank pumped immediately. That it was way overdue for a pumping and was one of the worst he had seen in a long time. They told us they would return to inspect the tank in about a week to make sure we had done what we were told...which we did and they did and everything was fine.
In the process of going through this though..The Lord began to speak to me about my heart in comparsion to a septic system. He began to question me about when the last time was that I cleaned/pumped the septic tank of my heart out? That HURT! Let's face it, we all put stuff into our minds everyday, which flows into our hearts and if we aren't careful it comes spewing out onto everyone around us. I'll admit...I love action movies. I could watch the Die Hard Series or the Bourne Series over and over again...but I know that the violence and language in those types of movies is not what I need to be putting into my mind, but still I do it. Therefore, I need to be making sure that I am cleansing my mind and heart on a regular basis...so that I am not allowing that kind of violence and language to flow forth from me. How do I cleanse my mind and heart...through the Word of God! Making sure that I am daily into His Word. Meditating on His Word day and night!
If I never pump out the spetic tank of my heart, it will end up like the septic tank at my house...overflowing with muck!!! That will in turn overflow into my actions and words. So I ask you...When was the last time you cleaned the septic tank of your heart???
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Consistency
It has been way to long since my last blog...I began blogging during the summer when I was off from teaching and since school has started back...I feel as though I have no time to do anything except work. Though that doesn't mean that I haven't thought about my blog..it's on my mind a great deal...finding time to actually sit down and write is another story. So I am going to make more of an effort to write consistently, meaning at least once a week.
God has been bringing that word to my mind a lot lately...CONSISTENCY! Consistency is the key! Whether you are in His Word, trying to lose weight or maintain your weight through eating and exercising, or playing a game of volleyball! I realized recently that when I do not run on a consistent basis I struggle to get my 2 miles in...I tire much quicker. As is with my time with God...if I do not consistently stay in His word (meaning daily)..its shows in my actions, my attitude, and my words. As an assistant coach of a girls middle school volleyball team, one of the most important of the things that the girls need to do when they are playing a game is to be consistent. I can't tell you how many times we tell them when they are serving to be consistent in how they are serving...do the same thing every time. If they bounce the ball three times before they are going to serve, then they need to do that very same thing every single time. Consistency! Consistency! Consistency!
So...food for thought...how consistent are you??? How committed are you to being consistent??? Is there something in your life that you need to work on being consistent at? Are you consistently in God's Word??? Is your consistency evident in your actions, attitude, and words? Think about it! Surely I can't be the only one out there who needs to work on being more consistent. Or can I?
God has been bringing that word to my mind a lot lately...CONSISTENCY! Consistency is the key! Whether you are in His Word, trying to lose weight or maintain your weight through eating and exercising, or playing a game of volleyball! I realized recently that when I do not run on a consistent basis I struggle to get my 2 miles in...I tire much quicker. As is with my time with God...if I do not consistently stay in His word (meaning daily)..its shows in my actions, my attitude, and my words. As an assistant coach of a girls middle school volleyball team, one of the most important of the things that the girls need to do when they are playing a game is to be consistent. I can't tell you how many times we tell them when they are serving to be consistent in how they are serving...do the same thing every time. If they bounce the ball three times before they are going to serve, then they need to do that very same thing every single time. Consistency! Consistency! Consistency!
So...food for thought...how consistent are you??? How committed are you to being consistent??? Is there something in your life that you need to work on being consistent at? Are you consistently in God's Word??? Is your consistency evident in your actions, attitude, and words? Think about it! Surely I can't be the only one out there who needs to work on being more consistent. Or can I?
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