Learning Curve

Our education doesn't stop the moment we walk across a stage to receive a diploma or degree. It's actually a lifelong process of constant lessons. How effective these lessons are depends on our awareness of them and our receptivity to what they are teaching us. 

The books we read, the people we interact with, the life events we experience, and the decisions we make all have the opportunity to shape us. Much like our time in an actual classroom however, we must be prepared to receive the lesson to take full advantage of what it has to offer. 

Not all lessons are pleasant to endure, but they can all be beneficial if we eventually apply what we've been taught. 

Listen Up!

What do you do when someone is trying to tell you something important? Do we take the time to set aside all distractions and focus on what they have to say or do we only partially commit our attention? I suppose that it might depend on who is speaking to us and the value we place on the words they will share. When it is someone we respect it changes how quickly we stop to listen. Our readiness to receive these words will determine how we take what is offered and put it into action.

Finding the Good

When our minds and hearts are open to receive it, we can find good in any situation. My quick trip to Florida for my uncle's funeral provided several of those moments even as we all mourned his passing.

• Conversations with my wife as we drove: some serious and thought-provoking while others fairly mundane, but all appreciated
• Dinner and breakfast at two of our favorite places to eat
• Watching the sun come up over the ocean
• A great sense of peace in being back in my hometown even just for 24 hours
• The perfect timing of God that let us have a great lunch with my mom & Mario
• Time to talk with my aunt on the phone and in person 
• Big hugs from so many family members that I haven't seen in several years
• Hearing about the impact my uncle had on so many lives both young and old
• Running into a parent of former youth ministry members who still talk about the impact God had on their lives when we served together
• A chance to share the legacy of a godly man and speak the truth of Christ to family members

Even in difficult emotional times God shows us the good that is around us if we are willing to look.