Daily Attitude Email 04 13 22

God is love and he has defeated evil. – Pope Francis

Easter is a great reminder of one of my favorite truths – the good guys win in the end.

The Bible and the story of Easter each year remind us that God is love and he has defeated evil.

The trials and tribulations of each day cloud our judgment about what is really important.

The news headlines distract from the real truth.

Our own shortcomings and pride stand in the way.

None of it can stop the truth – God loves us enough to send his son to die for us so that we might be saved.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Daily Attitude Email 04 12 22

Watching the Masters this weekend reminded me of this email I sent out a couple of years ago…..

Yesterday I watched most of the final round of The Masters (golf tournament) on the line.

In the end, Tiger Woods completed one of sports all time greatest comeback stories by winning after his fall from grace and many injuries that have kept him off his game for a long time.

What struck me most was the crowd’s reaction.

They celebrated.

They cheered.

They forgave.

Tiger is an imperfect champion who has done things most people would have a hard time forgiving.

But the crowd was with him. They forgave his transgressions and welcomed his show of excellence.

It seemed fitting to me that this would happen the Sunday before Easter.

God has done the same thing for all of us.

He knows all the little faults and transgressions. Each of them feels to Him as egregious as anything Tiger has done.

And yet….

Anytime we show up for Him with excellence he stands and cheers. Chants our name. Tears of joy cover His face.

At least that’s how I imagine it.

He’s a fan of the best of version of you. As if you were the only one playing the game.

Watching the crowd treat Tiger like that reminded me just how lucky I am to know a God that feels the same for me.

If you think I’ve taken too much a leap here in connecting all this to God (that seems like me), think instead about your closest loved ones.

Think about cheering like that for them.

Think about performing for them in a way that deserves cheering.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Friday Morning Toe Tapper

https://youtu.be/3YqPKLZF_WU

You. You are. My Universe.

Don’t we all just want to hear somebody sing that to us (preferably with a poppy upbeat song and some smooth dance moves).

Every time I hear a song or read something like this it reminds me of the quote – “babies are born with a need to be loved and never out grow it”.

We never outgrow our need to be loved.

I’m convinced that the proper response to this truth is to love others.

To have them feel that they are loved.

It can be small…..a kind, warm interaction with a service worker who’s stressed out.

Or it can be big….years of lovingly serving a loved one who has become ill.

Big or small, our job is to love somebody – today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Daily Attitude Email 04 07 22

“Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenge, wish for more wisdom.” – Jim Rohn

I’ve been listening to some Jim Rohn again. This quote of his has always been one of my favorites.

It’s easy to get stuck wishing away all of the difficulties of life.

To wish things were easier.

Jim would say the opportunity of life is to become something better through these difficulties.

When I’m feeling frustrated, I try to think of the fruits of the spirit verses – “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

I figure that regardless of the situation those will see me through.

If I can just become the kind of person that has all of those, everything will turn out just fine.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Daily Attitude Email 04 05 22

Finally talked my dad into sending me a daily attitude email to send out.

My dad (Jake’s grandpa) passed away February 18, 2022. He was 91 and he was ready for his eternal home.

With the passing of a parent, there is work to do to close out their affairs and distribute their possessions. If that person was a bit of a packrat and lived in the same home for 55 years there can be a lot of stuff!

Being born in 1930 and growing up in a family of 7 during the depression impressed on my dad the “waste not, want not” philosophy. He kept almost everything. While cleaning out the basement, I emptied a jar of springs labeled “miscellaneous springs” into a bucket of scrap metal and I mentally asked my dad, “why did you keep those springs dad?”.

Then I thought about the many things my dad had created over the years and looked over and saw the 2 presses he built that used little bottle jacks and 2×4’s to press down on old Bibles while the glue set on the new covers he put on them.

You see, he volunteered at a ministry called Love Packages in Butler Illinois which sends shipping containers of Christian literature and Bibles oversees. He saw all these Bibles without covers so he created the equipment he needed to put new covers on them. He also took partial bibles and put them all together so whole Bibles could be distributed to those who wanted them.

I concluded that if you can make something of anything then everything has value. I’m sure my dad would have found uses for all of the things he saved if the inevitability of slowing down with age had not overtaken him. As human beings we all have chips and cracks and need little “repairs”. Fortunately, our Father in heaven can make something from anything because everything has value to Him.

Ken Davis

Packrat, tinkerer, and Grandpa extraordinaire

Daily Attitude Email 04 04 22

WWJD

What would Jesus do?

This simple abbreviation that has made its way onto everything from bracelets to tattoos is a reminder of an important part of the success process.

In order to become successful and achieve something we have yet to accomplish, we must act in ways that are different than how we currently act.

One of the ways of understanding how to act differently is to think in context of how someone else would act in a similar situation. In this example, Christians work to act in a way similar to how Jesus would in a similar situation.

Think about something in your life that you would like to achieve or do differently than you do today.

Want to lose weight? What would a skinny person do?

Want to become physically fit? What would an athlete do?

Want to become wealthy? What would a wealthy person do?

Want to become more self-disciplined? What would an achiever do?

Whatever your goals in life, I can assure you that there is someone out there who has done it before.

We need only seek out the stories of those people and emulate what they have done in order to have similar results. Find a book, an audio recording or a training course from someone to model yourself after and study it. Don’t just read or listen, study it.

Start the journey today of studying someone that has been succesful where you want to be successful.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Daily Attitude Email 03 31 22

Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature. – Saint Augustine

Miracles are all around us.

We are so spoiled in our day and age that we ignore the magnificence of the technology and lives we lead.

We complain about slow planes, slow internet connections, clothes that take more than 2 days to show up, access to thousands of hours of millions of dollars of entertainment that is just so boring…..the list goes on.

We miss the miracle that we were ever born to begin with.

That we have loved ones and friends that ignore the long list of shortcomings and spend time with and love us anyway.

I am so very grateful for all the miracles in my life.

Make it a great day.

Jake