Life

I chose this "pic of the day" because I was thinking about how great it would be if it were as easy to succeed in life as it is in the Skee Ball game (or at least for some people it is easy to win at Skee Ball).

Challenging

It was a really challenging day that ended an equally challenging week. Then I came home to a jury duty summons for the one week next month that I had earmarked for vacation. Ahhhhh! My "pic of the day" is representative of craziness.

Busy Day

A busy, busy day with a lot of personal things I had to take care of. I wish I was at the resort in my "pic of the day", which is a pic I took of our Mexico resort we were at the last time we had an actual vacation in '07.

On a side note, I was so busy last night preparing for today's "busyness" that I actually forgot to do my blog until it was after midnight and I was already in bed.

Rapid Fire

I chose this as my "pic of the day" because some of the appointments I have make me feel like I'm under rapid fire. Today feels like a hodge podge of stuff...lots of appointments, getting ready for a big work event on tue. and wed., and hearing that two people that Paul used to work with just lost their jobs.

Finding Your Passion

One of my appointments today made me really think about finding the right career fit for oneself. It made me think about finding one's niche in life and figuring out where one belongs amongst all the options available. My "pic of the day" is of a path which serves as a visual reminder that we each have to find the road which leads to our passion in life.

Carving Out Paths

I find myself void of all creative inspirations tonight, as I've been struggling all day to do the things I need to do. Hopefully I will get out of this slump soon. The theme running throughout this day seems to be helping others get on track or back on course. I met with entering freshmen and current probation students all day and helped them either carve out a path for their future or correct the current path they were on. So, my "pic of the day" is of what else, but a path.

A Different View

I chose this "pic of the day" because I just saw a hot air balloon (not these particular ones) floating around in the sky as I looked out the window. This pic was taken at a balloon derby several years ago. Our apt. complex is the perfect place for hot air balloon spotting as there must be a field or something nearby that is perfect for launching balloons. We often see balloons start to float up into the sky and sail across our viewing area.

I've never been up in a hot air balloon, but I'd like to someday. I can just imagine the perspective one must get from viewing the world from above. It's a good reminder that we need to take a step back and remember how small we are in comparison to our surroundings. Today I heard a good tip...that we can't always remove the things from our life that we don't like, and sometimes we have to learn to like/live with them.

Life

I've been thinking about all the new beginnings of our recent graduates, as they have closed one chapter of their lives and are about to start a new one. Think of all the adventures, accomplishments as well as trials and tribulations which await them.

Yesterday I watched many of our students cross the stage with diploma in hand during MU's commencement ceremony, and I had to wonder what life had in store for each of our graduates. Many already had jobs, others were getting ready to start graduate school, while others were unsure what the future held. At any rate, they have started a new beginning. It makes me question what chapters in our lives (no matter where we are in life) need to be closed and what new beginnings and adventures need to be started? My "pic of the day" is of new spring life sprouting up anew.

Perseverance and Hope: At the Fishin' Hole

My "pic of the day" was inspired by the thought of fishing...more as an analogy though that popped in my mind as I walked across campus this afternoon. The closest picture I had of fishing was Penarth Pier in Wales (a pic that I took in Dec. '05). Following another 10 hr day, I have the following analogy to share below.

Imagine starting to fish alongside everyone else and one by one everyone else starts catching fish, but you don't. You try adjusting everything you can think of (the length of your line cast, type of bait, your location) but nothing seems to be working. Overtime everyone else has left the pier with multiple "trophies", while you strive to make the first catch. Chalking it up to bad luck, you try again, then again and again, only to come up empty handed. Meanwhile everyone else continues to catch more and more. Time passes, and your inability to catch anything starts to effect all parts of your life. Suddenly, you no longer can be a part of seemingly normal activities that others take for granted. This includes the community fish fry, contest for the biggest catch, money from fish sales, friendly banter between fellow fishermen, ect.). Many folks offer encouragement but they don't understand to what extent this "drought" is effecting you and your family.

Weeks turn into months and suddenly months turn into years and still no fish. You've watched as your friends have caught trophy winning fish; or several in a row; or have been given fish by those who have caught too many to keep...but still you have not been a recipient of a single fish. Overtime this has effected your quality of life, without money from fishing needed to survive you find yourself in a never ending cycle of wearing yourself ragged just to sustain the resources you currently have. At the same time you find yourself having to cut back on the amount of bait you use, having to duct tape your fishing rod together, having barely enough fishing line from having to cut out the bad places and tie the sections together; and not have the fishing tools necessary because you can't afford to replace them. At the same time you see folks that you were once on par with arrive to the pier with brand new top of the line poles having more bait than they can possibly use, and sporting all the newest fishing gadgets. These same people tell you not to worry about your recent bad luck and that it will change. It's easy for them to say as they aren't living day-to-day with the repercussions of not being able to catch any fish. Nor do they know of the other internal hardships that you've had to endure coinciding all at the same time. Hardships that others have not had to endure in their life, and combined with hardships that should just come one at a time over a lifetime not all at once.

During this same time, you encounter many other fisherman who don't have any sensitivity for your situation and who continually brag about their catches, tell you about all the fishing equipment they have just purchased and criticize you for being disappointed and down. Slowly overtime, your fishing supplies dwindle so much and you've lost so much money that you barely have the resources to keep trying. Your once long fishing pole is now a distant memory to the reality of your short, nub of a pole. You ration the bait to make it last, and you fishing gear is out of date while your clothes are starting to wear thin in places and tear. You wonder why you keep trying when nothing changes, when there aren't any breakthroughs and when no fish will bite. You feel a couple nibbles at your line, and you excitedly reel it in full of hope but there is nothing. You think about how hard you work and how many hours you put into this just to end each day in exhaustion while barely earning enough to survive and pay the bills.

You look up and see others moving forward: affording new fishing tackle and gear, new homes, vacations; being able to afford weddings and families; earning promotions from fishermen to bigger titles based on the amount of fish they've caught ; ect. Meanwhile, treating yourself to the smallest of treats (that others take for granted and consume daily) becomes impossible. At the same time you keep getting hammered with bad news, hardships and disappointments. You ponder what else you can do or what you are doing wrong (while wondering what else can possibly go wrong). You ask yourself when does this change? You become exhausted from preserving, working hard and striving to gain nothing. You realize how long and hard you are working for nothing except to barely keep your head above water. When does something good happen? It becomes a lot like treading water and we all know how fast one tires and can no longer sustain treading. Slowly you realize that your stamina is fading and you can't keep up this pace. Something needs to change, but what? How do you renew perseverance and hope?

"Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy." James 5: 10-11 (NIV).

I'm also reminded in a daily devotional that, "A tunnel of testing can produce a shining testimony." http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb.shtml. I'm ready for my tunnel to open to a sunny sky!

Life's Path

Today's "pic of the day" symbolizes life's path. After attending a funeral today for my uncle I was thinking about the journey each of us takes in life and how each life path is effected by the choices we make and the forks in the road that we take.

My remaining extended family are comprised of older individuals and I wonder if they reviewed their life journeys today during the funeral? If so, did they think about how their lives developed as compared to how they thought their lives would be when they first started out? What changes would they have made, what experiences would they not trade for anything, what regrets did they have and what dreams did they fulfill?

I think a lot of times we get wrapped up in the day-to-day stuff and forget to strive for the things we once had passion for as the daily burdens monopolize our time and talent. We need to remember that God has a purpose for us.

"Without a strong sense of calling and purpose, life is nothing more than routine busyness...The purpose of our lives is to let others see what God is like as they watch and experience His love through us...Our purpose is to show others less of us and more of Him...The Christan's purpose is to promote God's plan." (Daily Bread, May 21, 2007).