The Top

Last year while on a plane trip towards a conference with my husband, we met a wonderful older gentleman who was seated next to us. He shared the following with us and now I'd like to share it with you.

The Top by Zig Zigler

You are at the top when…

You clearly understand that failure is an event, not a person, that yesterday ended last night, and today is your brand new day.

You have made friends with your past, are focused on the present, and optimistic about your future.

You know that success doesn't make you and failure doesn't break you.

You are filled with faith, hope and love; and live without anger, greed, guilt, envy or thoughts of revenge.

You are mature enough to delay gratification and shift your focus from your rights to your responsibilities.

You know that failure to stand for what is morally right is the prelude to being the victim of what is criminally wrong.

You are secure in who you are, so you are at peace with God and in fellowship with man.

You have made friends of your adversaries, and have gained the love and respect of those who know you best.

You understand that others can give you pleasure, but genuine happiness comes when you do things for others.

You are pleasant to the grouch, courteous to the rude and generous to the needy.

You love the unlovable, give hope to the hopeless, friendship to the friendless and encouragement to the discouraged.

You can look back in forgiveness, forward in hope, down in compassion and up with gratitude.

You know that "he who would be the greatest among you must become the servant of all."

You recognize, confess, develop and use your God-given physical, mental and spiritual abilities to the glory of God and for the benefit of mankind.

You stand in front of the Creator of the universe and He says to you, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

   

My Favorite Christmas Decoration

Do you have a favorite Christmas decoration? One that sets the tone for the season or maybe has sentimental value? I do.

There is one thing on my Christmas tree that makes me smile a little more than anything else on display.  Its the tree topper. Instead of a star or an angel, ours is a cross. A cross made out of a cardboard box and painters tape and covered with a nice coating of spray paint.  Carl made it a few years ago and its different than most tree toppers. 

Why a cross? To have a great reminder of why he came into the world. The baby born in the manger grew up, conquered death and became my Savior and yours. We celebrate His birth because of what was conquered at the cross.  Without the cross there would be no celebration and no hope for eternal life with God.  

If you take a good look at our homemade cross, you can see all the imperfections on it. One piece of tape overlapping another piece, wrinkled edges, and a less than perfect paint job. It was done with the intentions of fixing it up and making it look a little nicer, but that never happened.  

This year before letting it adorn the top of the tree, we (the kids) spray painted it again, but left all the other imperfections there. Its grown on me.  As I look at it I'm reminded of all the imperfections that I bring with me to the cross and all that Jesus did to set me free. 


Does your Christmas decor reflect Jesus as the reason for the season? 
How are you reminded of Jesus love this Christmas? 


  

Standing Besides "Men of Courage"

Have you gone to see the movie Courageous yet?

If you haven't I want to encourage you to go see it!!!!

It was a great movie and one particular part really struck me.

It's when Adam is speaking to the church and he calls the men out.  He begins by saying, "so where are you, men of courage?...

This led me to ask,

 "where are these men of courage?"

Yes, these men that lack the courage are a product of a fallen society, a fatherless nation, that has continued on a spiral decline of morality, as well as irresponsibility, towards fulfilling their God-given role. 

 But can we, women, sit here and cast all the blame in one direction?

Or can we, sometimes, be part of the problem?

Now, you have to admit, there is that Eve streak we all possess.

You know what I'm talking about...

we want it our way,  

we manipulate circumstances, 

we just know think we know better.

There's a reason why the submission verse in the bible addresses us specifically, ladies.

Now, I wish I could say that I am the perfect submissive wife...
but I'm not.

 I constantly need to remind myself to follow my husbands leading;

there are times when I doubt His direction.  

What if He's wrong?

What if this is not from God?

What if He didn't pray enough about it?

Well, those are legitimate concerns, 

but I've learned to focus on doing what God calls me to do 

while leaving my husband and his decisions in God's hands. 

I've seen way too often, 

women rob their husbands out of their duty to lead 

because they didn't like the direction they were being led in.

 I've seen men shrink back and take a back seat, 

missing out on the blessings that were probably before them,

 had they chosen to step out in courage and lead.  

God knows our concerns and He has them in mind, so we can be reassured that His plan will prevail over our marriages, parenting, finances, career etc... without us taking control.

As God-fearing women we need to encourage our men 

to live up to their potential 

so that when God calls out these "men of courage," 

we can proudly be

 standing besides them.


Are you standing besides your "man of courage?"


Linking to:

Encouraging Words Wednesday