Understanding Andy: I would have worked harder to maintain the relatio...

Understanding Andy: I would have worked harder to maintain the relatio...: Job 2:11-13 (Contemporary English Version) Job's Three Friends 11Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamah [a] were t...

I would have worked harder to maintain the relationships I have and worry less about the ones I don't.

Job 2:11-13 (Contemporary English Version)

Job's Three Friends
11Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamah [a] were three of Job's friends, and they heard about his troubles. So they agreed to visit Job and comfort him. 12When they came near enough to see Job, they could hardly recognize him. And in their great sorrow, they tore their clothes, then sprinkled dust on their heads and cried bitterly. 13For seven days and nights, they sat silently on the ground beside him, because they realized what terrible pain he was in.

Friendship is an amazing thing. It ebbs and flows like and ocean tide. There are highs and lows. There are storms and moments of calm. Why people don't remember to maintain friendships is one of life's mysteries to me. Most people don't attempt to keep a friendship going because they think the cost is too high or the reciprocation from others is too low but the one thing I know is it is worth the cost.

The great divide among friends seems to be the end of high school or college. People leave to create a different life than the one they have. They seek other friendships and leave the one's behind they already have.

Years later they spend time seeking out old friendships from the past. I can't tell you how many times someone has said to me," do you know what happened to so and so? I wish we would have kept in touch".

Reconnecting can be hard. After years of being apart circumstances have changed. We miss out on our friends life story, the birth of their children, marriages and divorces, death of parents and other life changing events. We could have shared our life story as well. Catching up will never make up for time lost but it is amazing to restart a friendship any way.

Friends are a support system in good times and bad. As with Job, friends are there when life is a little rocky or worse.

With the invention of social networks, life has become easier to keep in touch with people. If you want to see what they are up too or where they are you need only to check there facebook, twitter or linkedin account. Still people loose touch. Sometimes they just lurk in the background never saying what is on their mind. Wishing, instead of actively saying we should still be friends.

No matter how long it has been, a friendship can be picked up from where it left off. Old friendships can become new again with just the simple act of saying hello.

I have friendships that have lasted more than 30 years. Some all the way back to grade school some of these people I don't see often but we do stay in touch.

Realizing people and not things are the important part of life when you are young will make it much easier when you get older. You won't care how much money you have or how many houses cars or toys you have if there is no one to share them with. It is easier to keep an old friend than make a new one.

So work hard to maintain the relationships you have. It will be worth every minute you spend.

I would enjoy my body just the way it is.

1 Corinthians 6:20 (New International Version)


You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Looking at ourselves in the mirror can be hard as we grow older. We compete against a society that says we should look a certain way and dress a certain way and even eat a certain way. Make-up covers a lot of sins or so we think. The truth of the matter is we care way too much what others think of our appearance and the sad fact is you shouldn't worry about what people think of you. You'd be amazed at how seldom they do.

We exercise and try to eat right. We buy stuff to remove hair, stuff to grow hair and stuff to hide hair. In the end we can do nothing to hide the inevitable process of aging. We will grow old and no amount of plastic surgery, make-up, exercise or holistic approach can prevent it.

I recently heard someone say that when God made Adam and Eve, he thought they were more beautiful than the sunset or any other living creature. If you take a moment to think that God sees you as the most beautiful of all things, how can you worry about your outward appearance?

I am not saying you shouldn't eat right or exercise. I am not saying don't wear make-up or shave. You should do these things because you care about yourself and it is right for you. I am saying you are beautiful no matter what.

Do not punish yourself for the thoughts and acts of others. Be comfortable in your own skin because that is the way God wants you to be.

Enjoy your body while you can. Be the beautiful creature that God made. Enjoy your body just the way it is.

When Christ died as a Christian you became his body. How beautiful is that? 

1 Corinthians 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:26-28 (in Context) 1 Corinthians 12 (Whole Chapter)

Dance Every Chance You Get

Dance especially with those you love and those who love you.
Ecclesiastes 3:4 (New International Version)
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance




"Daddy want to see my new dance?" Beautiful words from my daughter. " Well of course," I say. Seeing the joy on her face as she glides across the floor focusing on each step she learned in her dance class just fills me up. I can't wait until the father daughter dance I know will come some day in our future.

I have rarely seen an unhappy person on the dance floor, it is an amazing feeling to let the music coarse through you. It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, dancing is an experience that will provide memories for a lifetime.

I have heard many people over the years say I don't know how to dance or I don't like to dance. Well now is the time to learn. You will find the simplest steps still can make you feel wonderful after spending a little time on the dance floor.

My wife and I aren't great dancers but we like to dance. I love to hold her in my arms and see her laugh when I spin her or even when I mess up. We don't go out dancing but we dance at wedding receptions and have pushed back furniture at home, put the right music on and danced in the living room. When there is a dance floor in a bar we are in we dance.

Dancing is a great way to connect with the ones you love. You not only spend some time together but you share a love of the activity. You don't have to be good you just have to dance.

When you are sad and need a pick me up, dancing is a great thing to do. Find your favorite music and just dance and see how it makes you feel.

Life is too short not too. Dance every chance you get. Dance with the ones you love. I do.

I would look for the good qualities in everyone and enjoy them for those.

Every person you meet in life has some experience they can share that will make you a better person.

Jeremiah 1:7 (New International Version)

7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.

I always find it interesting how people judge each other. They make snide comments about other people, stare, laugh at or even ignore others.

 I have been many places and met many people from presidents to homeless men. The one thing I have found is they all have something to share, a moment in their life or experience that you and I can learn from.  Most of us never give them the chance. We look at their clothes, jobs, income and yes most of all their appearance and decide to pass them by.

What if in the one moment you chose not to speak to someone or acknowledge them, you have eliminated the chance to make a new friend or worse yet find an answer you have been looking for all your life. Life can't always be about money, glamour and the life we currently live.

If you do one thing for yourself today work on your people skills. Say hi to someone you don't know. Acknowledge the person you always meet on the corner or call someone you always said you would like too.  It may be surprising what you learn.

Remember you are not doing it for them you are doing it for you.

I would be braver. I still have a lot of things that I could do better. Taking the first step is always the hardest.

2 Samuel 10:12 (New International Version)

Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight."

I still have a lot of things that I could do better. Taking the first step is always the hardest. Being afraid can suck the life out of you.

Fear is a strange and dangerous thing. It only exist in our own mind. We can be in a room full of people and none of them might be afraid of the same things we are.

It is the most dangerous and destructive emotion because it can render a person immobile at the times when they most need to move forward.

I have wrestled with many fears over a lifetime. Being afraid of the dark when I was very young. Being afraid of what others thought of me as I grew older. Being afraid of failure in relationships and business  in recent years. Being afraid that I have grown old and the world has passed me by as I struggle with who I am and what I want to be now that I am all grown up.

The thing I find it hardest to do is give those fears up to God.  Listen to the following song called "Our God" by Chris Tomlin. If you don't want to listen to the whole thing go to the 2:37 minute mark and listen to the lyrics:

And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what could stand against us?

This is a lesson I learn over and over again. Telling others what you really think is the hardest thing to do. Do it and you will find a freedom that most people, will never achieve. Do it with kindness but do it and your world will be yours and no one else's to command

I have found there is only one way to be fearless. . A friend recently asked me what do you do when you are afraid of something. I responded I either run and hide or shoot to kill. But the fact is in the past I have done neither one. I have frozen like a rabbit and waited for my fears to finish me off. So what is the real trick to becoming fearless. I have heard many people say face your fears and they will go away. Sometimes that is  just too hard. The best way to become fearless is to come up with a plan to face them. Ask God and others for help and of course follow through with the plan.

So What are you afraid of and how do you plan to deal with it? 

I wouldn't be afraid of acting like a kid. Enjoy doing those embarrassing things that take you out of your comfort zone.

Job 33:25 (New International Version)

Then his flesh is renewed like a child's;
it is restored as in the days of his youth.

I play cards with the guys I grew up with. The faces have changed a little. The bodies have changed alot but we are much the same people as the day we first dealt a hand more than 25 years ago.

 Games are heated and moods change as we win or lose but one thing is for certain, we still hold on to the childlike quality that makes us a close knit group. We love to give each other a hard time and compete on every level. We are still kids in grown men's bodies. We do spend alot of time talking about our kids and living through their exploits and endeavors.

Stories like  this one dominate the table at times: My second  son is going sky diving this weekend, he is 21. I love that he embraces life and looks forward to doing those things that will make great memories and keep him young.  He invited several people to join him but they are too busy, too scared or not ready for an adventure like this one. I am sure one of them will tell him in the near future. "I wish I would have done that with you."

As children sometimes we spend alot of time wishing we were older so we can do the things adults do. The truth is most of the good times we remember are the times we spend with friends, the trips we take or the funny embarrassing things that happen to us along the way.

The stories we relive at the table always drift back to the trips we have taken together, the funny things that we did when we were young and the things we wish we would have done when we had the chance.

It was fun spending time with the guys at the wedding reception of my oldest son.  They made fun of how old I looked in my tux. They looked at the the younger generation in awe and remembrance of the time when we could drink and dance all night long without a care in the world. But the reality was many had to work the next day, or take care of the lawn, or pay the bills, or some other responsibility that none of these kids have.

My wife and I danced that night. Yes,  I stepped on her toes more than a few times.  We kissed passionately and acted like kids. We drank maybe a little too much. We took in the evening as parents should but the thing I remember, is I could have been 20 years old that night. We were young all over again.  It is a memory I won't soon forget.

It is times like these we need to think young, play, enjoy the company of our friends and never forget to be childlike at times.

What is it that takes you out of your comfort zone but you enjoy so much?

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