Back to school toe tapper from last year….

https://youtu.be/DHG5-GxI_Es

Back to school today for the Davis kids.

Each year is a reminder of some simple life lessons that will hopefully last a lifetime.

New teachers, new classmates, new books, etc. – life is always changing.

It could be a good year or a not so good year – there are no guarantees of a good/easy time.

Awkwardness and nervousness about all the possibilities – take the risk – it’ll all work out in the end.

New subjects, concepts and ideas – there is always something to learn and growth is possible – but hard.

I’m sure there are a lot more lessons to be had, but it sure feels like I’m still learning these, many years after finishing “school”.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a lot left to learn.

Make it a great day.

Jake

I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains. – Anne Frank

Maturity check….yep, I still have a ways to go.

For someone in her situation to write or say something like that requires more maturity than I have.

Beauty does remain. If we are mature enough to look for it.

What beauty are you missing?

Make it a great day.

Jake

You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way. – Walter Hagen

This is a great quote from a golfer.

Golf is a game of short bursts of intense concentration followed by lots of opportunities to complain or worry about the shot or enjoy the scenery.

In my old age I appreciate more and more the shortness of life.

We really aren’t here that long. We must choose wisely how we spend each day.

We must make the most of it – without hurrying or worrying.

Not easy, but worth it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. – Eleanor Roosevelt

So much of the good we seek in life falls into this category – by-product.

No matter how we grab on, it slips through our fingers.

When we focus elsewhere it creeps up on us.

If you’re having trouble, this might be why.

I think the next step is to find someone or read about someone who has found what you are looking for and (thoughtfully) copy what they are doing.

You’ll find things like….discipline, generosity, grace, patience, humility, etc.

Probably all the hard stuff.

I’ve decided that means I’m probably on the right track and it’s time to get to work.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Yesterday there were a bunch of baptisms at church.

Baptisms are always such happy moments for me, they always remind me of new beginnings.

As you look at your day, your week, your year ahead, are you excited for some new beginnings?

Is there something you would like to get started on but haven’t yet?

Do it. Start now.

Make it a time of new beginnings in your life. Celebrate the opportunities and possibilities and then get started.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – If you haven’t already accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and been baptized, that would be something good to do today (or soon).

https://youtu.be/QWxp1AyhmZQ

A little back to school fun/goofiness on this one.

Have some fun today!

Make it a great day.

Jake

Back to school for the Davis kids today.

Back to school time is a great reminder of the seasonality of life.

A time where things begin anew.

We can’t change the seasons.

Winter still comes whether we want it to or not.

Our job is to do our best with the season we are in.

Be in the moment and make the most of the time we have.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Promise me you will remember; you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think. – A.A. Milne

Meaghan came across a little of quotes from kids books and I liked this one.

I’m sure this is not true, but I imagine every AA Milne quote from the eyes of Winnie the Pooh.

His simple, loving and kind nature allow him to take sentences like the one above at face value.

He doesn’t overthink it, and we shouldn’t either.

You are braver than you believe.

You are stronger than you seem.

You are smarter than you think.

God created you with all of this and more. He’s excited to see you make the most of it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustave Flaubert

Not only do you see what tiny place you occupy, but you also get to see how someone (or a whole lot of someones) has thought about it and decided to do things differently than you.

Vacation time is a great reminder of just how blessed our little family has been.

We get to chance to be humbled and see our little part in the world and imagine/see how others have chosen a different path.

You don’t have to fly out to Colorado to get a taste of this for yourself.

Have a conversation with someone very different than yourself.

Watch a documentary on how they live in a country that seems impossibly foreign.

Read a blog about how things used to be.

Make it a point to see more clearly your little place in this world. It will be difficult to make an impact in this world if you don’t clearly know where you stand in it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/pDKiMYgdxSs

Last week of summer vacation at the Davis house.

It reminded me of this line from What About Bob.

Last time to “take a vacation from your problems”.

How many of your “problems” just wouldn’t be a big deal at all if you took a permanent vacation from them?

Most of the stuff that hangs over our heads every day really aren’t something we should worry about.

We spend so much of our “real life” thinking about things that aren’t real or aren’t real problems.

Make it a great day.

Jake