https://youtu.be/T3E9Wjbq44E

What if your heart was a stereo?

What kind of song would it be playing right now?

What kind of station would it be?

Play some positive music today. Get your heart pumping.

Make it a great day.

Jake

JD – There are more people who wish to be loved than there are who are willing to love. – Nicolas Chamfort

JW – Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, Colossians 3:23

EB* – I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member. Groucho Marx

MS* – "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." – John Quincy Adams

The Bible verse Jamie shared is one of my favorites.

Whether we are digging a ditch or playing a game, we can choose to do it with joy and love, as if we are doing it for God.

Life is full of the little stuff.

Doing dishes.

Driving to work.

Helping the kids with homework.

Talking about the week’s schedule with your spouse.

Picking up your cup of coffee in the morning.

It can all feel very mundane and unimportant.

But if we infuse our daily activities with love and joy, they transform into opportunities to serve and to make a difference.

Challenge yourself to look at your daily routine from a different angle.

How can you add something to it?

How can you work at it as if you are working for the Lord?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Monotony is the awful reward of the careful. – A G Buckham

If you ever find yourself getting a little bored maybe it is time to take a calculated risk.

We live in a time when we can create a life of comfort without having to really test our limits. So much is available to us without having to strive and push that we can fall into a sense of boredom and monotony.

Find a way to take on a little risk.

Find a way to push your limits.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"If your dream is to live a life full of happiness, bliss, and love, chances are what’s holding you from that kind of life is either your pride or your fear." – Ken Black

When you read that quote, what popped into your head?

Afraid of failure?

Too proud to admit a mistake?

Afraid of what others might say?

Too proud to say you are sorry?

Maybe the day to get over yourself is today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

STEP 6

Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

The gospel reminds us that we are to be known by our capacity for love. The source of this love is God’s love. As we discover this source of unconditional love, we become more effective in all of our ongoing relationships.

In Step 6, we ask God to remove defects of character, and this removal requires that we die to old ways of being and acting. We must die to a false reliance on possessive and jealous human relationships. We must die to a narrow preoccupation with material wealth, power, or authority. We must die to our dependency on mood-altering chemicals or food as means of satiating spiritual needs.

The expression of the Holy Spirit within us can only be alive to the extent that we have died to our old ways. We seek to be thorough in this invocation of God’s help, for “half measures availed us nothing” (Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 59).

I recently read a bible study based on the 12 steps in the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous.

This one stuck out as worth sharing.

At some point, we must die to our old ways of being and acting.

We must be thorough in our attempts to eradicate our old bad habits and thoughts.

Half measures will avail us of nothing.

What comes to mind from your life when you read this?

What needs to change in order for things to get better?

Make it a great day.

Jake

“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Meaghan has this posted in the kitchen at home (if I was really cool I would have taken a picture of how cute it looks on the chalkboard paint stuff).

Seemed like a really good thought to start the week off.

We all fall short.

We all lose our way a little.

We all lose hope from time to time.

The changing season is a great reminder to push the reset button.

Reset your goals.

Restart your engines.

Pick one thing to knock out of the park before the end of the year and get started today.

The year isn’t over. Your story isn’t written. Start over if you have to, but don’t quit.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/fjwWjx7Cw8I

Make it a great Friday.

Jake

JD – The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. e. e. cummings

JW – Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. – Proverbs 22:6

EB – Daddy always said you can’t have enough bipods.

MS* – And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. – 2 John 1:6

One of my favorite ideas from Andy Stanley is that when you look at your interactions with others you ask yourself “What does love require of me?”

We must train ourselves to walk in love throughout our day.

We can ask ourselves this magic question as we interact with customers, coworkers, children, spouses and even our enemies.

Each interaction is an opportunity to practice love. To act out of love.

What does love require of you?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. – Will Rogers

Take action.

Keep moving towards your goals.

Make it a great day.

Jake

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight. – Phyllis Diller

I love smiling, smiling’s my favorite – Buddy the Elf

Never forget the power of a smile.

It works on you and those around you.

It can brighten even the worst of days.

Make it a point to smile today.

Find some thought or memory that makes you smile and hold it in your thoughts throughout the day.

Make it a great day.

Jake