Really? I had no idea. This is fantastic! Frankly, there are a lot of my Facebook friends that could use some editing in one way or another.
I think I’ll start alphabetically.
You all ready?
Of course I’m only kidding!
Don’t go changing. I like you just the way you are!
That does bring up a good question though:
If there was one thing you would want your friends to change about you, what would it be?
Me? I think definitely my teeth and nose.
Ever feel like this?
Like your life’s sole purpose is to keep all those plates spinning?
You give one a few flips of the wrist to keep one plate going only to find another teetering on the brink of falling.
You rush to that plate and give it a few whirls only to notice another wobbling.
Your attention quickly turns to that plate but yet another plate has almost stopped completely and ready to abandon its post.
About the time you save that one the first one you spun is slowing down.
And so it goes, on and on. Spinning plate after plate. Never making progress.
You’re tempted to let one plate fall but something is stopping you.
You give it one more spin. One’s not enough though.
You’ve spent so much time and energy keeping that one going you just can’t let it go.
Just one more spin turns into another that turns into another.
Round and round they go.
Have you been there?
Are you there now?
I am.
I follow Christ. That’s a plate.
I am a husband. That’s another plate.
I’m a dad. There’s plate number three.
I am a web developer. Plate four.
I volunteer at church. Number five.
We’re trying to dig our way out of debt, so we’re trying to figure out different ways to make more money and spend less. Plate six.
We are new homeowners. There are a lot of projects that need done. Seven
I’m writing a book. There’s eight.
I’m developing an iPhone/iPad app. That’s plate nine.
I’m trying to get back in shape. Ten.
I’m a blogger (well at least I try to be). Number eleven.
I’m a Beachbody Coach. Plate number twelve.
These are just the plates I can think of off the top of my head.
That’s a lot of spinning. I’m not sure the ideal number of plates but I’m sure the smaller the better.
There are a few main plates that I will keep spinning no matter the cost.
However, figuring out which ones to let fall is the difficult decision.
How about you? How many plates to you have going right now? How do you decide which plates to let go?
A Portrait of Christ from Jeremy Cowart on Vimeo.
Thanks An Idol Heart & Donald Miller for sharing this!
This year, on April 30th, I turn a prime number. If you’re wondering which prime number, I’ll give you a hint: it’s not 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19 or 23. It’s also not 79.
It’s not really that significant, but when you’re getting up there in years you look for anything remotely positive to hang your hat on. Mine is that I’m going to be a prime number—which means I’m in my prime. Right?
But one positive about any birthday is gifts.
I like gifts.
And as a service to you all who love to get me gifts, last year I posted my list right here so the whole world could see it. Unfortunately, the whole world either forgot or remembered after April 30th and felt awkward about giving them to me after my birthday so they didn’t give them at all. That’s ok. I’m a very forgiving person. To show you how forgiving I am, I’m providing my list again this year for you to redeem yourself. Very thoughtful of me, huh?
So, here’s what I want for my birthday.
One of these would do nicely!So there you have it, my short, simple birthday list.
Remember, April 30th is the date!
I thought this was the “Land of the Free” and the “Home of the Brave”?
Doesn’t seem like freedom to me if we are at the mercy of the current state of the Middle East or East Africa.
Doesn’t seem like bravery to me if, in fear, the prices of resources we, as Americans, depend on daily, are driven beyond what we can afford.
So where’s freedom?
Where’s the bravery?
It’s times like these I’m reminded of the words of the one true source of freedom—Jesus:
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36, TNIV)
For more of Clay Bennett’s cartoons, visit http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/opinion/cartoons/.
TNIV, ©2005
Copyright © Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version, TNIV. Copyright 2001, 2005 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
This blog is driven by the Standard Theme for WordPress. When I first started this blog I created my own custom theme but what I realized was that I was spending a lot of time customizing it. It became a huge hassle. I was leery of going with a premium theme for a couple reasons. First, I am very picky when it comes to both layout and design. I want every ad, color and graphic to fit with the overall design of the site. The other main reason for shying away from a premium theme was cost.
But since I was spending so much time on design and layout and not enough on content, I bit the bullet and went premium. I signed up for an account with WooThemes. I found a theme I liked and installed it. I think I paid a one-time fee of around $125 for the theme and then a support agreement of around $15 per month.
Once I got the theme up and running I realized that there wasn’t a whole lot of freedom in customizing the theme without changing the code. To get the blog looking and functioning the way I wanted I realized I would be again putting a lot of hours into it.
A couple months into this venture I stumbled on to Standard Theme. It took me a couple months, but I decided to cancel my WooThemes account to give Standard Theme a try. I bought the $99 version which includes a support license.
And boy am I glad I did! I like it so much I signed up to be an affiliate.
I have been extremely happy with Standard Theme. I was able to have it up and running in five minutes. The beauty in this theme is how easy it is to customize it. By editing one CSS file (custom.css) you can completely change the look of your site without changing any of the functionality.
One of the best parts of Standard Theme is the support license. It includes access to a support forum so you can ask anything, whether it’s related to Standard Theme or WordPress, and be confident someone will be able to answer your question. The support license also includes custom themes and lifetime updates and more! And for a limited time you can get this all for $20 off the regular price! You can get Standard Theme with the support license for only $79.
So If you’re looking for a completely customizable, inexpensive, and professional-looking WordPress theme, Standard Theme is for you.
Take a look at this walkthrough video to get a sneak peek at what Standard Theme can do for you.
The Standard Theme 2 for WordPress Walkthrough from 8BIT Network on Vimeo.
This is one of the featured items on Time.com. If you click on the link you will see a list of people, mostly celebrities, CEO’s, and political figures that have been in the news this past year. Time would have us believe these are the people that mattered this past year.
I think Time is sorely mistaken. While I agree with the list to some degree, I think they completely fall short. TV, magazines, newspapers and all other media outlets would have you believe that to “matter” you have to be in one of the above categories.
This is absurd!
If there is one thing you take with you this year from A Boy Named Tracy, I want it to be this:
You don’t have to be on TV or in politics or a CEO to matter.
Sometimes the best gifts are those you don’t expect.
Yesterday I received one of those gifts.
If you would have told me Sunday morning that when I got to church I was going to get a gift from someone, I probably could have rattled off dozens of names that I thought maybe would give me a gift (hey, people like me, what can I say) but I never, ever would have guessed Pat.
Pat (who is a woman by the way) goes to first service. She is part of the older generation of the church. Sometimes the first service crowd and the second service crowd don’t see eye to eye. That makes this gift even more special.
She gave me a jigsaw puzzle.
And it was one of, if not the, best gift I have ever gotten. Not because of what it is or how much it costs—but who it was from and why it was given and that it was totally unexpected.
Pat gave the gift via my brother-in-law Rob. She told him that a communion meditation I had shared back in the summer has stuck with her. That day I talked about a puzzle my sister had given to our family from the Grand Canyon. I talked about the necessity of having all the pieces of the puzzle for the picture to be complete. I talked about the fact that Jesus had to be a piece to make our lives complete.
Pat remembered that. She wanted me to know that.
Pat taught me grace. I will always remember this gift. And I hope I can use this to learn to be more thoughtful and appreciative, not only to my friends and family, but to everyone I come into contact with.
What about you? What is the best gift you have ever received and why?
