Friday, October 2, 2009
Life
Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get next. But you do know that you're going to get fat =D
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Fear
I'm sick of being afraid. I'm sick of living without hope and with fear in my heart and mind. So, ways around it.
1. Feel nothing.... Nope that doesn't work!
2. Repress... Works for awhile but eventually fails.
3. Get Angry. This actually work! However, anger burns out fast and they've yet to develop tupperware for it so... only a temporary solution.
4. Have an emotional break down and feel part of yourself die...
1. Feel nothing.... Nope that doesn't work!
2. Repress... Works for awhile but eventually fails.
3. Get Angry. This actually work! However, anger burns out fast and they've yet to develop tupperware for it so... only a temporary solution.
4. Have an emotional break down and feel part of yourself die...
Angry
Angry, Very Angry, Words can't begin to express what I'm feeling. Somethings going to burn before me.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
I hope you aren't lactose intolernt
Cause my new shirt is LegenDAIRY!!
I got the best shirt ever! ... EVER!!!
-pto
I got the best shirt ever! ... EVER!!!
-pto
Monday, February 9, 2009
A Great wine comes from Great Grapes
"Life is too short to drink bad wine." - anonymous
"And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard." --- Genesis 9:20
“Twas Noah who first planted the vine
And mended his morals by drinking its wine.” --- Attributed to Benjamin Franklin
"A bottle of good wine, like a good act, shines ever in the retrospect" --- Robert Louis Stevenson
I recently took a weekend trip to see some friends. When I left there was heavy rain, dense fog, high winds, and flooding. Not to mention the amount of traffic that went with it. I have to admit. It was a very scary drive. I could hardly see what was in front of me. Head lights made things seem like a white wall. The heavy rain pelting the car and hitting patches of water made the car shake. So I did the only thing I could really think of. I prayed.
I've been told before, always pray about everything (my mom told me so =D). Even things you're supposed to be doing and much more importantly the things you aren't supposed to be doing. The bible tells us...
"Be joyful always, pray continuously, and give thanks on all occasions, this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
It says "pray continuously" and "give thanks on all occasions." This pretty much means pray all the time on any occasion. So right now as an example (and believe me when I am actually saying this out loud) "Lord, please help me write this blog as I am trying to explain what I've discovered recently. I was never very good with words and ask that you help me make this clear to anybody who reads this." There. So you tell me if this blog gets more clear from here on out...
It seem that throughout history, great wine is well praised and associated with great things. And a great wine not only puts you in a great mood. It "tasty" and flavorful, feels good in your mouth and good going down. And of course this all starts not with the grape. But with the vine.
In is a well known fact that in the 19th century the worlds production of wine was in grave danger from a little insect called Phylloxera. This aphid was native to North America and was known to eat the roots of health grape vines. Around the 1860's phylloxera was introduced to Europe and cause quite a commotion as it help itself to hearty European grapevines. Simply put, the European roots didn't have a natural defense against the insect so they were gobbled up like starving college students on free french fries. After much invested time and research, and numerous home remedies (e.g. burying a toad under the roots and urine of all sorts) a solution appeared. It was to simply graft the delicate vines of a European plant on to the hardy root of a native American plant. Today, the majority of the worlds wines are produced in such a manner.
A great wine comes from great grapes. A great grape comes from a great vine. Only by grafting a new vine to a strong root can we produce great grapes. Like the grapes, we must follow this example.
John 15:4-5
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
In order to bear fruit we must graft ourselves onto a healthy base because apart from Him, we can do nothing. And the only way I see possible to graft ourselves to this healthy root is through prayer. For truly great grapes are grown when allowing the root to feed the vine. Just as great works are done with allowing the Spirit to feed the soul. And as a Christian, every aspect of my life is supposed to be an example to those that I come across, especially when I mess up. And every work, no matter how small or large, how wrong or right, must be fed by the Spirit to ensure the quality of the fruit it bears. Therefore pray continuously and give thanks on all occasions. For it is the only way to maintain a graft to the root.
So the next time you decide on anything.... and I mean anything. Pray about it first.... It's not like it's ever a waste of words to communicate with God. In fact. I think he'd like that =D.
"And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard." --- Genesis 9:20
“Twas Noah who first planted the vine
And mended his morals by drinking its wine.” --- Attributed to Benjamin Franklin
"A bottle of good wine, like a good act, shines ever in the retrospect" --- Robert Louis Stevenson
I recently took a weekend trip to see some friends. When I left there was heavy rain, dense fog, high winds, and flooding. Not to mention the amount of traffic that went with it. I have to admit. It was a very scary drive. I could hardly see what was in front of me. Head lights made things seem like a white wall. The heavy rain pelting the car and hitting patches of water made the car shake. So I did the only thing I could really think of. I prayed.
I've been told before, always pray about everything (my mom told me so =D). Even things you're supposed to be doing and much more importantly the things you aren't supposed to be doing. The bible tells us...
"Be joyful always, pray continuously, and give thanks on all occasions, this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
It says "pray continuously" and "give thanks on all occasions." This pretty much means pray all the time on any occasion. So right now as an example (and believe me when I am actually saying this out loud) "Lord, please help me write this blog as I am trying to explain what I've discovered recently. I was never very good with words and ask that you help me make this clear to anybody who reads this." There. So you tell me if this blog gets more clear from here on out...
It seem that throughout history, great wine is well praised and associated with great things. And a great wine not only puts you in a great mood. It "tasty" and flavorful, feels good in your mouth and good going down. And of course this all starts not with the grape. But with the vine.
In is a well known fact that in the 19th century the worlds production of wine was in grave danger from a little insect called Phylloxera. This aphid was native to North America and was known to eat the roots of health grape vines. Around the 1860's phylloxera was introduced to Europe and cause quite a commotion as it help itself to hearty European grapevines. Simply put, the European roots didn't have a natural defense against the insect so they were gobbled up like starving college students on free french fries. After much invested time and research, and numerous home remedies (e.g. burying a toad under the roots and urine of all sorts) a solution appeared. It was to simply graft the delicate vines of a European plant on to the hardy root of a native American plant. Today, the majority of the worlds wines are produced in such a manner.
A great wine comes from great grapes. A great grape comes from a great vine. Only by grafting a new vine to a strong root can we produce great grapes. Like the grapes, we must follow this example.
John 15:4-5
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
In order to bear fruit we must graft ourselves onto a healthy base because apart from Him, we can do nothing. And the only way I see possible to graft ourselves to this healthy root is through prayer. For truly great grapes are grown when allowing the root to feed the vine. Just as great works are done with allowing the Spirit to feed the soul. And as a Christian, every aspect of my life is supposed to be an example to those that I come across, especially when I mess up. And every work, no matter how small or large, how wrong or right, must be fed by the Spirit to ensure the quality of the fruit it bears. Therefore pray continuously and give thanks on all occasions. For it is the only way to maintain a graft to the root.
So the next time you decide on anything.... and I mean anything. Pray about it first.... It's not like it's ever a waste of words to communicate with God. In fact. I think he'd like that =D.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Life is wonderful, Life goes full circle.
"ah la la la la la life is wonderful, ah la la la la la life goes full circle"- Jason Mraz
"Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me" Psalms 66:20
It's been quite a day. I think I've spent more time driving today than usual but it was more than worth it in the end. Just a few thoughts before I head off to bed. I realized a few things today that have made we wonder. Again I bring back points I've written about in past posts so yes things are circular.
First thing.
The plans I make for myself, in my life, rarely work out. In fact, I can't remember a concrete situation where things are worked out to even an acceptable level... now could this be because I'm terrible at planning things? Its possible. But I'd like to think that its unlikely. When I plan things meant for others it seems like my success rate goes up dramatically.
Second thing.
My second point tonight is my success in lack of planning. Well, not quite lack of planning but definitely less detailed planning. The more and more I leave my plans to focus on more important things the better it seems to turn out. For example. Today I had to drive about an hour to setup for a meeting. After the meeting I drove another hour or so to visit a friend I haven't really talked to in quite sometime. Her work schedule fluctuates quite a bit so I didn't know when she would get off. What past me would do is plan out trip length. Map the route. Find where to go and what to do. so on and so forth . . . . what would happen is. I'd be late to everything, find something that wasn't agreeable. In other words. FAIL.
Now two reasons why I think things work out better. One is the fact that with less details means less places for it to go wrong. While this is true I could still think of many reason why even my bare plans would fall though. They involve (and this is from past experience), the person flaking, falling asleep, forgetting to call, missing a call, missing a text, no phone service, fake excuse not to go, real excuse not to go, overbooked schedule and forgetting.... i could really keep going. And suffice it to say even if my plans did go though there is the good chance it wouldn't be any fun. So.
Third thing.
My third point is (and I fail to do this all the time but God help me get it right at least some of the time) leaving my plans up to God. Funny thing is, this idea is showing up in all sorts of places in my, work, school, social life, and love life. Now it's not as if I'm sitting at home and asking God to decide each and everything that I do, But.. it kinda is. Let me better explain. There isn't anything in world, any idea, or thought, or action that you can't pray about. It's one of the best things about prayer. It can be applied to anything! even itself! Now I can go on and on about prayer until my hands are sore so I won't. But I will say that the act of praying about something can be specific or vague. And in the act of prayer itself is the idea that you aren't trying to do things by your own volition but leaving the situation up to the Almighty. So for instance, my plans today were vague enough but I did want to get a few things done.
1. make sure the work setup was ok.
2. make sure I'm not late to meet my friend
3. make sure we have a good time.
4. make sure I'm not waiting around too long for anything.
Now normally I could probably achieve 2 out of the 4 things for sure by my own will. But to get all 4? NO way. I'd most likely have wait around for a few hours to ensure 1,2, or 3.
Fourth thing.
Now I want to be clear again. I am NOT saying that prayer about an event will guarantee a good outcome. But by praying about said event will allow God into the equations. And Him in any equation is a good thing. EVEN when the equation is suppose to turn out bad. Today's equation turned out to be a good one. Everything went off without a hitch and all the things I wanted to happen today happened without me having to worry about it.
The nice side effect of all this praying about the goings on in your own life is you might just open yourself up to the Holy Spirit. I'm never really too sure whether the Spirit is actually speaking to me or not but I believe that it is a matter of effort and practice. So here's to the Spirit! May it be with us as we traverse this gift of an existence that we bitterly and joyfully call life. Hopefully one day I will be able to listen to Him and avoid dumb situations I keep running myself into. I like to call them the "Toe Stubs in the Dark of life." And sometimes what you think is good for you isn't. And what you think is bad for you isn't either. How are we really supposed to know? We can't see anything past our own ego's! (*raises hand and jumps up and down* totally a victim of that but at the same time I'm glad this blog is anonymous... kinda)
So to recap:
-Prayer opens up our plans to God. And he's got A LOT better insight than we do, even on the small things.
-My own will isn't strong or smart enough to get me though the day much less anything really stressful.
-It's ok to pray about anything and everything. In fact its encouraged and who knows you might learn a thing or two you wouldn't have noticed otherwise.
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." Ephesians 6:18
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is. His good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads my beside quiet waters. He restores my soul, He guide my down the path of righteousness for His name sake." Psalms 23: 1-3
-pto
P.S. Resolution update <-- spelled that right. ONE down 11 2 go!
"Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me" Psalms 66:20
It's been quite a day. I think I've spent more time driving today than usual but it was more than worth it in the end. Just a few thoughts before I head off to bed. I realized a few things today that have made we wonder. Again I bring back points I've written about in past posts so yes things are circular.
First thing.
The plans I make for myself, in my life, rarely work out. In fact, I can't remember a concrete situation where things are worked out to even an acceptable level... now could this be because I'm terrible at planning things? Its possible. But I'd like to think that its unlikely. When I plan things meant for others it seems like my success rate goes up dramatically.
Second thing.
My second point tonight is my success in lack of planning. Well, not quite lack of planning but definitely less detailed planning. The more and more I leave my plans to focus on more important things the better it seems to turn out. For example. Today I had to drive about an hour to setup for a meeting. After the meeting I drove another hour or so to visit a friend I haven't really talked to in quite sometime. Her work schedule fluctuates quite a bit so I didn't know when she would get off. What past me would do is plan out trip length. Map the route. Find where to go and what to do. so on and so forth . . . . what would happen is. I'd be late to everything, find something that wasn't agreeable. In other words. FAIL.
Now two reasons why I think things work out better. One is the fact that with less details means less places for it to go wrong. While this is true I could still think of many reason why even my bare plans would fall though. They involve (and this is from past experience), the person flaking, falling asleep, forgetting to call, missing a call, missing a text, no phone service, fake excuse not to go, real excuse not to go, overbooked schedule and forgetting.... i could really keep going. And suffice it to say even if my plans did go though there is the good chance it wouldn't be any fun. So.
Third thing.
My third point is (and I fail to do this all the time but God help me get it right at least some of the time) leaving my plans up to God. Funny thing is, this idea is showing up in all sorts of places in my, work, school, social life, and love life. Now it's not as if I'm sitting at home and asking God to decide each and everything that I do, But.. it kinda is. Let me better explain. There isn't anything in world, any idea, or thought, or action that you can't pray about. It's one of the best things about prayer. It can be applied to anything! even itself! Now I can go on and on about prayer until my hands are sore so I won't. But I will say that the act of praying about something can be specific or vague. And in the act of prayer itself is the idea that you aren't trying to do things by your own volition but leaving the situation up to the Almighty. So for instance, my plans today were vague enough but I did want to get a few things done.
1. make sure the work setup was ok.
2. make sure I'm not late to meet my friend
3. make sure we have a good time.
4. make sure I'm not waiting around too long for anything.
Now normally I could probably achieve 2 out of the 4 things for sure by my own will. But to get all 4? NO way. I'd most likely have wait around for a few hours to ensure 1,2, or 3.
Fourth thing.
Now I want to be clear again. I am NOT saying that prayer about an event will guarantee a good outcome. But by praying about said event will allow God into the equations. And Him in any equation is a good thing. EVEN when the equation is suppose to turn out bad. Today's equation turned out to be a good one. Everything went off without a hitch and all the things I wanted to happen today happened without me having to worry about it.
The nice side effect of all this praying about the goings on in your own life is you might just open yourself up to the Holy Spirit. I'm never really too sure whether the Spirit is actually speaking to me or not but I believe that it is a matter of effort and practice. So here's to the Spirit! May it be with us as we traverse this gift of an existence that we bitterly and joyfully call life. Hopefully one day I will be able to listen to Him and avoid dumb situations I keep running myself into. I like to call them the "Toe Stubs in the Dark of life." And sometimes what you think is good for you isn't. And what you think is bad for you isn't either. How are we really supposed to know? We can't see anything past our own ego's! (*raises hand and jumps up and down* totally a victim of that but at the same time I'm glad this blog is anonymous... kinda)
So to recap:
-Prayer opens up our plans to God. And he's got A LOT better insight than we do, even on the small things.
-My own will isn't strong or smart enough to get me though the day much less anything really stressful.
-It's ok to pray about anything and everything. In fact its encouraged and who knows you might learn a thing or two you wouldn't have noticed otherwise.
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." Ephesians 6:18
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is. His good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads my beside quiet waters. He restores my soul, He guide my down the path of righteousness for His name sake." Psalms 23: 1-3
-pto
P.S. Resolution update <-- spelled that right. ONE down 11 2 go!
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