What Are You Becoming?

Majestic are the mountain peaks, but have you seen what they have to endure to be majestic? The Giant Redwood or the Sequoias have had to suffer the cruelest of storms to be as magnificent. The blooming desert has faced long harsh summers and unrelenting winters, yet bloom with the most insignificant amounts of water. The mighty rivers rush to the ocean but have you seen what they had to cut away to be mighty? Just remember, whenever you face your difficult moments in life, God is either trying to make you majestic, magnificent, beautiful, or mighty.

A Single Voice Above the Noise

There is a single voice above the noise. When the world is whirling about and the constant banter of mundane sounds pound out their lyrics in our heads, is there a single voice above the noise? You can stand near the oceans' pounding surf or the crash of immense falls and still hear it. Yet, all the while, it is soft, gentle and calm. Do you hear it? Sshh, be still, do you hear it now? Yes, He is calling. He is the Single Voice Above the Noise.

I Am Bound To My Convictions

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.
- Abraham Lincoln


You may not always win but you MUST be true to your convictions. In light of some recent developments in our organization, this even rings more true with me today. I would rather be with people who may not see it just exactly the way I do, but will respect my convictions, than to be with those who are simply bitter spirited. They portray one image and live another all the while rejecting those who don't quite measure up to what is portrayed. Webster defines this as hypocrisy!

He can do more for others who has done most with himself.
- S.D. Gordon

It should be understood that before we are able to do much for those around us that we must prepare ourselves for the task. Too many people are quick to offer an opinion or assist in fixing a problem when they themselves have no discipline in their own lives. It is no wonder Jesus said, "He that is without sin, cast the first stone." We we fix ourselves then we will have no trouble in working with those who ask for our help.

Legacy

The legacy you are leaving behind -- is it temporal or eternal?

According to Random House Unabridged Dictionary, legacy means:
1. Law. a gift of property, esp. personal property, as money, by will; a bequest.
2. anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor

Are you simply leaving possessions or are you leaving something more lasting?

Friendships

The firmest friendships have been formed in mutual adversity, as iron is most strongly united by the fiercest flame.
- Charles Caleb Colton

When forging friendships make sure that you chose friends who will love you even when you are in the most difficult of times. Remember, a true friend loveth at all times!

Be Your Best!

If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Resolve this year to be the very best that you can be!