Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

C.S. Lewis

Not sure about you but I have yet to reach perfection.

There’s still a lot of changes I need to make.

This quote is a reminder for me when the pain of those changes rear their ugly head.

God is doing something in me that is meant to be grander than what I could imagine.

And some of those changes are targeted for my life in heaven with Him forever. Living in a way that I can’t even imagine right now.

God has a plan for you. Embrace it. Even when you don’t understand it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/K0siYUjV9UM?si=h0_qWCgtSejGOhHF

Homecoming weekend for Annie and her classmates this weekend.

This song has been part of their band performance this fall so it seemed appropriate for the occasion.

Annie is a senior this year so all the school events are "last one for Annie" events.

It’s bittersweet as we move through the stages of life. Leaving one stage for another.

I try to remind myself as each stage comes and goes to be thankful.

Thankful for all I’ve learned.

Thankful for all the friends.

Thankful for all the influences and mentors along the way.

What/who are you thankful for during this stage of your life? Wouldn’t it be great to tell them now instead of waiting until it’s over?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Resending this email from a few years ago…

The soul that is within me no man can degrade. – Frederick Douglass

I’ve been listening to “Twelve Years A Slave” lately in the car and the stories of slavery in the South are brutal, shocking, uplifting, heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time.

The stories remind me again of the soul within each of us that no man can degrade.

It’s also a great reminder of the part we have yet to play today in this saga as old as time.

How do we treat others?

How do we show kindness and love and grace in all circumstances and to everyone?

How do we stand up for the downtrodden and forgotten among us?

Most of us won’t be faced so directly with something as cruel and inhumane as slavery.

But we do have a chance to be a little nicer to someone in need.

To judge a little less harshly those around us.

To give and support generously to those organizations working for those who need it in our community locally and abroad.

Make it a great day.

Jake

It is one of my sources of happiness never to desire a knowledge of other people’s business. – Dolley Madison

What a great idea.

Get rid of your desire to know other people’s business.

What are they doing?

Why are they doing that?

What do they think about me?

Why would they say that?

Stop. Just. Stop.

Maybe replace it with something you do control…

How can I help?

What is my part to play here?

What would love require of me?

How can I pray for them? (Honestly and sincerely, not in a judgmental way)

Make it a great day.

Jake

You know what the happiest animal on earth is?

A goldfish.

You know why?

10 second memory. Be a goldfish.

Paraphrase from Ted Lasso.

It’s so easy to stew and fret over all of our little mistakes in life.

What if I…?

What if I didn’t….?

Why didn’t I….

Why did I….?

Be a goldfish. Forgot all that BS and live, love and serve like it never happened.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – This goes without saying but some things are worth remembering. Mostly the good stuff. Weddings. Kids being born. When you met your spouse. That time you did great at that thing. Keep that stuff close and don’t ever forget it.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdVGbVvhn86/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&stkn=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

What if you believed (like really believed) that it will all work out?

What a great question to think about.

What would do differently if you believed it will all work out?

How would act?

How would you pray?

How would treat others?

If we could adopt this as a core belief, I think a lot would change. For the better.

God is for you. He wants what is best for you.

It will all work out in the end.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/xVOJla2vYx8?si=weSi_O_ZCRoq2RYu

Fall is starting here in Central IL.

The leaves will begin falling and the temps will start to lower.

Life is full of changing seasons.

We don’t get to pick the seasons, but we get to choose how to respond.

We can learn the lessons and adjust our plans or we can fight against it and complain about it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear. -The Princess Diaries

One of my favorite things about movies is that they can use fiction and fantasy to show us what something like courage looks like.

Courage is a lot easier to notice when a noble knight is battling a dragon.

But the quote above reminded me of the courage that happens everyday that we don’t even notice.

We don’t notice that the waitress at dinner is a single mom picking up a second shift to make ends meet.

We don’t notice the stranger in the grocery store who lost 75 pounds and changed his life forever.

Courage is all around us. Each and every one of us must face up to our fears, and decide that something else, is more important.

Make it a courageous day.

Jake

Stop worrying about what other people think about you. Starting working on what you think about other people.

I wrote this down a few months ago, I’m sure I got it from someone else but forgot to write that part down.

We fall into the trap of worrying and considering too much what everyone else thinks about us.

We’d be better off thinking more about what we think of others.

Thinking thoughts of love, grace and gratitude will yield much better results.

Figure out ways to serve and put others first.

Find time to pray for others.

Make it a point to add joy and peace wherever you go.

In turn, you’re life will be so much more full.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Better to fight for something than live for nothing. – George S. Patton

What’s something in your life worth fighting for?

Family? Faith? Friends?

Working to improve ourselves is a fight. The natural current of life is towards what’s easy. Something has to be worth fighting against that current.

I think that’s why so many of our goals are easy to give up on.

Attention, vanity, money, power – all of them don’t really satisfy and aren’t worth fighting for. So when we pick a goal in that direction we give up. It’s just not worth it.

But your family? Worth it.

Reframe some of your goals and point them in the right direction.

Save the money to bless your friends and family.

Workout to build the energy and stamina to enjoy your time with your family.

Get more skills so you can be of better service.

Make it a great day.

Jake