Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. Francis of Assisi

Get started.

Whatever your goal.

Whatever is nagging at you.

Whatever your reason for wanting something different.

Just get started. Do what’s necessary to get the train headed down the tracks.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Prayer of St. Francis

Wow. The world sure needs this right now.

The level of maturity required to live this out is beyond me most days, but it’s still worth trying.

Even if we just got one or two of these right today the world would be a better place.

Pick a couple to work on this week. Watch what God does with your step of faith.

Make it a great day.

Jake

For the mind disturbed, the still beauty of dawn is nature’s finest balm. – Edwin Way Teale

I heard the other day that at one point humans spent 85% of their time outside.

I don’t know about you, but I sure don’t spend enough time outside.

As winter winds down its seems like I feel the urge to get outside more and more.

As the weather warms up, I’m hoping it’s a good excuse to spend more time outdoors.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/MBfK4UoHsuo?si=mdvCb3wTgQ0tzkBR

My favorite line is the first one “the rainy day is temporary”.

No matter how dark it gets, night will turn to day.

No matter how cold it gets, winter will turn to spring.

No matter how bad it seems, it will get better.

If it’s raining right now in your life, never lose hope that things will turn around.

Make it a great day.

Jake

It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them. – Benjamin Franklin

That would be a great new year’s resolution – don’t pick up any bad habits.

Probably something worth thinking about for a few minutes – how to avoid picking up bad habits.

Avoid hanging out with groups that have a habit you don’t want.

Avoid going to places where bad habits you don’t want get started.

Avoid thinking thoughts that could lead to bad habits.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/1Kyvgzw43fw?si=84ZW-Ua7VdA3aaMJ

“You are insufficient. You can do something about it. If you aim low enough.”

What an interesting way to look at things.

Find the lowest, simplest objective that begins the positive process. Build momentum.

Jim Rohn talks about things like an apple a day or a walk around the block.

What’s something low you can aim at today?

Transfer $50 into savings?

Walk around the block?

Read your Bible for 5 minutes?

Go to bed 30 minutes earlier?

Find something low to aim at. Hit it. Then do it again.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time. – Voltaire

Most value in life is attained over time.

Not in one quick flurry of activity but by the consistent application of discipline over a period of time.

Short periods of focused effort are often required to set a discipline or habit into action.

But the results take time.

Make it a great day.

Jake

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23

I was listening to a podcast the other day and they talked about how if we could all act like this it would be heaven on earth.

Certainly a challenge.

I know I fall short of that list every day, but I’m working on it.

Every time I read it I think to myself about how much better my life and those who I am around would be if I could be more and more like this list.

And I want the same for everyone around me.

For their lives to be full of this fruit.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/xwTPvcPYaOo?si=_wmGjUnhd3ElPVJk

Annie’s band announced this is one of the songs for the next marching band season.

It’s a cool process to watch as the kids go through the summer and then the fall season.

They start with a lot of work over the summer and then slowly but surely they get better and better.

By the end of the season they put on quite a show (I might be biased….and primarily watching a redhead play the flute).

A lot of life is like this. First, you kind of stink at it. It’s awkward and you make mistakes. But then you get a little better and it starts to make sense. Then you’re making music.

The key is working hard and sticking with it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. – William James

It’s easy to feel like it doesn’t matter.

Like working hard, doing the right thing, discipline, etc. aren’t worth it.

That’ll it all go to waste in the end.

It just isn’t true.

What we do does make a difference.

Not always in a one for one kind of way.

Not in a way that is always repeatable.

But it does work out in the end.

Make it a great day.

Jake