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DGFOWLER's Recent Blog Entries
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Tuesday, March 15, 2011
A mom was concerned about her kindergarten son walking to school. He didn't want his mother to walk with him.
She wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence but yet know that he was safe.
So she had an idea of how to handle it. She asked a neighbor if she would please follow him to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, so he probably wouldn't notice her.
She said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would be a good way for them to get some exercise as well, so she agreed.
The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another neighbor girl he knew. She did this for the whole week.
As the two walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, Timmy's little friend noticed the same lady was following them as she seemed to do every day all week. Finally she said to Timmy, 'Have you noticed that lady following us to school all week?'
'Do you know her?'
Timmy nonchalantly replied,
'Yeah, I know who she is.'
The little girl said, 'Well, who is she?'
'That's just Shirley Goodnest,' Timmy replied, 'and her daughter Marcy.'
'Shirley Goodnest? Who the heck is she and why is she following us? '
'Well,' Timmy explained, 'every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers, 'cuz she worries about me so much.
And in the Psalm, it says, 'Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life', so I guess I'll just have to get used to it!'
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift His countenance upon you, and give you peace.
May Shirley Goodnest and Marcy be with you today and always.
Monday, March 14, 2011
As my plane was pulling onto the runway for takeoff, I noticed a sign that instructed the pilots to implement a procedure that would reduce the amount of noise that the plane makes when taking off. This program is designed to lessen the deafening effects that airport noise has upon the residents of neighborhoods near the airport.
As I thought about the meaning and impact that this instruction held for the pilot, I equated the airplane noise with the inner noise in my mind. There are times when the inner dialog is somewhat negative and distracting. It can be so annoying that I wish I had an instant turn-off switch.
You have probably experienced this same feeling when you think about the many demands in your life that it is difficult to shut off the distracting thoughts. It seems that night-time is when the noisy chatter of the mind can be deafening.
How do we quiet the mind? What noise abatement procedures can we use to fly quiet and give our minds a rest? I think that it starts with recognizing that we have an inner noisy chatterbox, which we can control. It also requires understanding some of quieting techniques such as meditation, self-hypnosis, being out of doors and allowing it to calm our minds.
Being near water has a soothing effect for me, as does sitting out of doors underneath a tree and closing my eyes. It is amazing what we can smell and hear; the perfume and symphony that Mother Nature offers us can bring us back into balance and harmony.
What in your life needs quieting? Is there a certain thought that seems to dominate your life? Do you wish to abate the noise and static in the mind and to regain control over the negative message that is played over and over again?
Take a moment, listen to the message, understand what the message is about and then when it begins again, think or say, "Stop!" Once you have gotten the mind's attention, change your focus to a more productive thought process. Just as pilots of plane need to be reminded to abate the noise, so must we, as pilots of our minds, take action to "fly quiet."
Affirmation for the Week:
"I am the pilot in charge of my thoughts. I will lift those thoughts to higher and more productive heights."
Have a smooth traveling week!
Mary Rau-Foster
Taken from Monday Motivator
Sunday, March 13, 2011
With Easter upon us I wanted to pass a long an email I had received...I believe it speaks for itself.
THE DEATH OF JESUS:
At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to the death.
At the time crucifixion was the "worst" death. Only the worst criminals were condemned to be crucified. Yet it was
even more dreadful for Jesus, unlike other criminals condemned to death by crucifixion Jesus was to be nailed to the cross by His hands and feet.
Each nail was 6 to 8 inches long.
The nails were driven into His wrist. Not into His palms as is commonly portrayed. There's a tendon in the wrist that
extends to the shoulder. The Roman guards knew that when the nails were being hammered into the wrist that tendon would tear and break; forcing Jesus to use His back
muscles to support himself so that He could breath.
Both of His feet were nailed together. Thus He was forced to support Himself on the single nail that impaled His feet to the cross. Jesus could not support himself with His legs because of the pain so He was forced to alternate between arching His back and using his legs just to continue to
breathe. Imagine the struggle, the pain, the suffering, and the courage.
Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours.
Yes, over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of suffering? A few minutes before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding. He was simply pouring water from his wounds.
From common images we see wounds to His hands and feet and even the spear wound to His side... But do we realize His wounds were actually made in his body. A hammer driving large nails through the wrist, the feet overlapped
and an even large nail hammered through the arches, then a Roman guard piercing His side with a spear. But before the nails and the spear Jesus was whipped and beaten. The whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His body. The beating was so horrific that His face was torn and his beard ripped from His face. The crown of thorns cut deeply into His scalp. Most men
would not have survived this torture.
He had no more blood to bleed out, only water poured from His wounds. The human adult body contains about 3.5 liters (just less than a gallon) of blood.
Jesus poured all 3.5 liters of his blood; He had three nails hammered into His members; a crown of thorns on His head and, beyond that, a Roman soldier who stabbed a spear into His chest.
All these without mentioning the humiliation He suffered after carrying His own cross for almost 2 kilometers, while the crowd spat in his face and threw stones (the cross was almost 30 kg of weight, only for its higher part, where His hands were nailed).
Jesus had to endure this experience, to open the Gates of Heaven, so that you can have free access to God, So that your sins could be "washed" away. All of them, with no exception! Don't ignore this situation.
JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR YOU!
God has plans for you; show all your friends what He experienced to save you. Now think about this! May God bless your life!
60 seconds with God...
For the next 60 seconds, set aside what you're doing and take this opportunity! Let's see if Satan can stop this.
All you have to do is:
1. Simply pray for the person who sent this message to you:
2.Then, send this message to people. The more the better.
3. People will pray for you and you will make that many people pray to God for other people.
4. Take a moment to appreciate the power of God in your life, for doing what pleases Him.
If you are not ashamed to do this, please, follow Jesus' instructions. He said (Matthew 10:32 & 33): "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before My Father in heaven; but whosoever denies Me before others, I also will deny before My Father in heaven".
Yes, I love God. He is my source of life and my Savior. He keeps me alive day and night.
Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me". Philippians 4:13.
This is the simple proof. If you love God and you are a believer and trust in salvation through Christ Jesus, send this to all those you love.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Some people exude negativity. They don’t like their jobs or they don’t like their company. Their bosses are always jerks and they are always treated unfairly. The company is always going down the tube and customers are worthless. You know these negative Neds and Nellies – every organization has some – and you can best address their impact on you via avoidance.
On the other hand, sometimes normally positive people are negative. Some of the time, too, their reasons for negativity are legitimate. You will take a completely different tack with these occasionally negative people. We’ll deal with both of these varieties of negativity from people.
Tips for Dealing With Occasional Negativity
Listen to the employee or coworker’s complaints until you are certain that they feel heard out and listened to. Sometimes people repeat negative sentiments over and over because they don’t feel like you have really listened to them. Ask questions. Clarify their statements. Make sure you have actively listened.
Decide if you believe the employee or coworker has legitimate reasons for their negativity. If you decide affirmatively, ask if they’d like your help to solve the problem. If they ask for help, provide advice or ideas for how the coworker can address the reason for their negativity.
Short term advice that points a person in a positive direction is welcome. But, your role is not to provide therapy or counseling. Nor, is your role to provide comprehensive career advice or long term recommendations. Point the coworker to helpful books, seminars, or the Human Resources Department to solve their problem. Know your limits when advising coworkers.
Sometimes, the coworker just wants to complain to a friendly, listening ear; they don’t want your advice or assistance to address the situation. Listen, but set limits so the coworker does not overstay or over-talk his or her welcome. Long term complaining saps your energy and positive outlook. Don’t allow that to happen. Walk away. Tell the coworker you’d prefer to move on to more positive subjects.
If you listen to the coworker’s negativity, and decide the concerns are not legitimate, practice personal courage and tell them what you think. Tell the coworker you care about their concern and about their happiness at work, but you disagree with their assessment of the situation.
Back gracefully out of additional conversations. The coworker will attempt to appeal to your sympathetic nature, but if you believe the negativity is unwarranted, don’t spend your time listening or helping the coworker to address the negative feelings. You will only encourage long term and growing negative feelings and, potentially, behavior. You will set yourself up as a negativity magnet. Constant negative interactions will eventually permeate your interaction with your workplace.
Tips for Dealing With Negative Coworkers
Deal with genuinely negative people by spending as little time with them as possible. Just as you set limits with the coworkers whose negativity you believe is baseless or unwarranted, you need to set limits with genuinely negative people.
Causes of their long term negativity are not your concern. Every negative person has a story. Don’t impact your positive outlook by listening to the stories, or reviewing the history and the background about the grievances purported to cause the negativity. You reinforce the negativity; negativity is a choice. Negativity mongers need a new job, a new company, a new career, a new outlook, or counseling. They don’t need you.
Deal with negative coworkers in these ways.
Avoid spending time with a negative coworker.
If you are forced, through your role in the company, to work with a negative person, set limits. Do not allow yourself to be drawn into negative discussions. Tell the negative coworker, you prefer to think about your job positively. Avoid providing a sympathetic audience for the negativity.
Suggest the negative person seek assistance from human resources or their supervisor.
If all else fails, talk to your own supervisor or human resources staff about the challenges you are experiencing in dealing with the negative person. Your supervisor may have ideas, may be willing to address the negativity, and may address the issue with the negative person’s supervisor. Persistent negativity, that impacts coworkers’ work is a work behavior that may require disciplinary action.
If negativity among employees in your company is persistent, if the issues that warrant negativity are left unaddressed, and the negativity affects your ability to professionally perform your work, you may want to consider moving on. Your current culture will not support your desired work environment. And, if no one is working to improve a work culture that enables negativity, don’t expect the culture to change any time soon.
Article By Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide
Thursday, March 10, 2011
... that when you feel down, look at yourself through God's eyes. There are times when no matter how hard you try, you just cannot accept yourself as you are. During such times, think of how you look to God's eyes. In God's eyes, there is no judgment, there is only acceptance. God sees your light when all that you can see are your shadows. God loves you more than anyone could ever love you as you really are.
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Member Comments About This Blog Post:
blog & a great reminder.
