Kindness in women, not their beauteous looks, shall win my love. – William Shakespeare

I once listened to a podcast where the author of a book on marriage said that one of the biggest predictors of happiness in marriage was kindness.

Were the couple nice to each other?

Our interactions each day are an opportunity to choose kindness.

With our spouse.

With the stranger at the gas station.

With the opposing political party.

With our sons and daughters, parents and friends.

Where to start?

Think of a time when you felt a kindness was done for you. Think of a way to do something similar for someone else. Look for the opportunity. It won’t take long.

Make it a great day.

Jake

As costly as it was in the lives of our men and women in uniform, in military assets, and in esteem and pride, Pearl Harbor was a watershed moment for America. – Joe Baca

The anniversary of Pearl Harbor was on Saturday and each year that when it passes I reflect again on that generation and what they have done for us.

I found this paragraph in a blog while reading about “The Greatest Generation”:

“The Bible instructs us to give honor to whom honor is due (Rom. 13:7). Surely this passing generation of ordinary people who did extraordinary things deserves our gratitude and recognition. They won history’s worst war and saved the world. They built the America you and I know and benefit from every day. They may very well be, as Tom Brokaw calls them, “the greatest generation any society has ever produced.”

I am not a historian and so I won’t argue whether or not they were, in fact, “the greatest generation”.

I will agree they were great though.

And the reason I think so is because they gave so much.

They gave their friends, brothers, and sisters in a great war so that the world would remain free.

They gave their youth in service to their country.

They gave their all in rebuilding after the war.

If you ask me, all of that adds up to greatness.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call ‘humble’ nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.

If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.

C.S. Lewis

Not much to add to this passage.

I would encourage everyone to read some CS Lewis when you get a chance.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/5pCvfAfn2XM

Time for Christmas music!

At our house it’s a great time to embrace some classic Irish tunes.

This one is a good reminder that this isn’t the time of year for gloominess and complaining.

It’s the time for joy and peace.

If joy and peace aren’t the first things you think of when think of Christmas….it might be worth trying them out this year….just to change it up a bit.

Merry Christmas.

Jake

Bonus Irish Christmas song – https://youtu.be/MyA1zKBUhxM

I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses. – Taylor Caldwell

This is a great reminder before Christmas comes and goes.

You are not alone.

You are loved.

You are special.

Not in a way that makes you better than everyone else.

Not in a way that makes you just like everyone else.

You are loved and special in your own way. The way only you can be.

In the Christian faith, this is the reason God sent his son on that first Christmas. For you.

If that explanation of it doesn’t work for you, I can assure you that you aren’t alone, you are loved and you are special to someone.

Merry Christmas.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed." – Napolean Hill

The Bible talks about dying to ourselves and only then will we experience life to the fullest (probably a poor job of paraphrasing).

The point is the same as Napolean was making – we live best when we actively work to serve others and help them toward success.

At Mavidea and Maxlider – we are lucky enough to be in the service business. Each day we get to make a living doing what is actually best for us.

And the more and better we do at that, the better the company and each other get to do as well.

Focus on serving today and every day.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"Nothing ever seems too bad, too hard, or too sad when you’ve got a Christmas tree in the living room." – Nora Roberts

Some people even leave them up all year round….

Part of the recipe for less complaining is to be more joyful.

Christmas is meant to be a season of joy and wonder.

If the tree doesn’t do it for you, what does?

What could you focus in on or notice more this season?

What could you spend time doing that you usually rush through?

Who could you spend a little more time with?

Make it a great day.

Jake

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me. Philippians 2:14-17

Our pastor spoke about these verses yesterday. The point was that we should complain less or actually – not at all.

Complaining is such an easy habit to fall into.

Everyone’s doing it.

It’s much easier than the alternatives.

Instead we must do the work of being poured out – with gladness and joy. So that we can stand out as lights in the world. Lights that show what is possible – through Christ.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.” – Johannes A. Gaertner

Another reminder to live with gratitude in your heart, all year long.

So many societal ills could be solved with simple ideas like gratitude and humility.

We wish for things to get better. For others to be more civil. For violence and division to disappear.

It all begins with us – choosing simple, wholesome ideas like gratitude each and every day.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"Everything we do should be a result of our gratitude for what God has done for us." – Lauryn Hill

Thanksgiving reminds of all that we have to be thankful for and to rekindle our sense of gratitude.

It’s also a good reminder of what God has done for us – and what we should do as a result.

Thanksgiving is a reminder to live and be better people.

Make it a great day.

Jake