Storm of the Century!!

3 days left!  3 days to buy your supplies and be prepared to hunker down in your house for at least a day or 2.  That's right!  Because of the predicted 6 to 12 inches, maybe more, of snow you had better be ready to ride it out in your house for at least a day maybe even two.  Are you prepared?  Do you have enough food and water?  Do you have a generator ready to power the electronic babysitters in-case the power goes out?  What will we do?  Better make sure you hit up the grocery store and anywhere else you can buy supplies!
I love the predictions.  I've even seen parents telling their kids there will be snow days on Thursday and Friday.  I hope it does snow.  I like the snow, and the good news is now we're getting close enough to spring that it won't stay around forever, and maybe it will give us some much needed water.  So I'm with Mike...bring it on Mother Nature!
I hope you read some sarcasm in the previous paragraph asking if we're prepared to spend a day or two cooped up in the house.  I think the scariest sentence in that paragraph though is what happens if the power goes out?  No TV, no video games, no internet...oh my gosh no Facebook!  The humanity!  Whenever there is a snow storm and you are in your house for more than a day it doesn't take long for cabin fever to kick in.  Even though you really have no where to go it is almost like you've been stuck in that place for two weeks and just need to get out before you go nuts.  And if the electricity goes out, besides the fact it is going to get cold, how are you going to entertain yourself.  You might have to actually interact with your family.  You might have to break out a book and/or play a board game.  Would we survive? 
I think there is a lesson here, and it's not to buy a generator.  The lesson is how all of our stuff keeps us distracted from our families and from God.  We're so busy trying to keep up with whatever is going on in the world through various connections that we neglect the most important connections.  Our connections with God and our family.  What happens if you have a rule in your house no electronic devices during the week, except for work or school necessities?  Would you recognize your family?  Would you know what to do?  Of course I'm exaggerating a little bit, but I think we need to be careful in how distracted and busy we keep ourselves.  It is easy to lose the connection with the Spirit, and even your connection with your family.  During this Lenten season of sacrifice why don't we try to limit our time spent on electronic stuff and focus a little more attention on the Spirit and our own families.  I know it won't be time wasted, and I bet you'll even find you can enjoy each other!  Who's with me?

Boys will be boys

Tracy and Alex have been gone since Thursday, so on Friday I told Isaac he could have a friend stay over.  Oh the joys of listening to and witnessing two boys play.  If they are involved in a competition then they argue over every little thing, and if they are trying to decide what to do next each one is desperately trying to convince the other that their idea is the most fun.  Luckily it didn't come to fistacuffs, and I reminded Isaac that his friend was the guest in our house, which I'm not sure registered.  I was reminded of the times I played with my best friend as I was growing up.  We would almost kill each other over a game of 1 on 1 basketball.  But, as with most boys, and with Isaac and his buddy, when we were done playing it was all in the past and we were bust buds again.  I had to keep reminding myself of my past growing up to keep myself from barging into the room and telling them both to knock it off and get along! 
As I pondered my blog for the week I wondered how often God wants to barge into our world, or our rooms, and just scream at us to get along.  I would assume almost every minute of every day!  I'm not sure why God doesn't make us all get along.  I'm sure the answer to that question is about as easy to answer as to why God allows bad things to happen at all.  But we don't do a good job of getting along as a human race do we?  People starve as we eat pretty much when and what we want.  People go without basic needs for shelter and water while we redecorate our homes and by designer water in stores.  I suppose I could go on but I'm depressing myself.  If we don't like looking at the macro scale of human relations we can look at the micro scale.  Think how easy it is to put someone down, gossip about someone, and feel angry towards someone that we know.  There have been times when all of us have acted like little children when we didn't get our way and probably threw the same tantrums.  Why is it we find it easy to tear down instead of build up?  Why do we insist on our own way and argue like crazy whenever we feel like maybe we didn't get exactly what we think we deserve or earned?  In essence we never stop being kids who want their own way...especially when it comes to how we think we want our lives to go.
This Lenten season I have a challenge for you.  I don't want you to give something up...I want you to take something on.  Think of a friend...think of a family member...think of an enemy...someone you've not been close with for whatever reason and reach out to them.  Say you're wrong if you made a mistake.  Forgive them if they've wronged you.  Reach out to someone who needs to hear from you.  Make an effort to put someone else first for a change and see how rewarding and freeing it can be for you.  So...who's it gonna be? 

Client's Corner

Every month or so I get an email from my financial adviser.  I look forward to reading his emails because he'll forward an article and write some of his own thoughts on the market and investment strategies.  I like reading them because they keep me grounded.  When the market was in free fall a few years ago the articles came more frequently and they always contained data that showed what happened to people who jumped ship and to those that stayed the course in investing.  It's not like I have a ton of money in the market, but I enjoyed, and still enjoy, those articles because they remind me that I am a lifetime investor.  The articles showed the folly of trying to time the market and get in and get out at the right time.  I also enjoy talking to Ryan and going over our retirement plan every so often because it assures me that Tracy and I are taking the right steps now to ensure we can live comfortably in retirement.  We won't be on a private island somewhere, or traveling to exotic locations all the time, but we should be able to keep a roof over our head and some food in the cupboards.  It's good to be reminded once in awhile amongst all the doom and gloom that there is a rhyme and reason to all this and the future is something to look forward to and not dread.
As I was contemplating the last article Ryan sent I thought this would be good advice for life too.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the immediate goings on of the present that we forget the lessons of the past and the promises of God for the future.  Sometimes the rat race keeps us form seeing the forest because of all of the trees.  Wait, did I just mix a metaphor there?  Anyway, my point is we need to be reminded sometimes that there is a bigger picture.  God is in control, and even though life may seem like an out of control freight train sometimes we can be assured that God will never abandon us or forsake us.  We may certainly question sometimes what the world God's plan may be, but we should never doubt the fact that God is walking with us on our journey no matter how bad the present may be.
A good way to be grounded is to read some articles that God has given to us.  And by articles I mean the Bible.  Reading the Bible connects us to what God has done in the past for God's people, and also connects us to what God is doing for us in the present and will do for us in the future.  No matter how many times you've read the Bible something new will stick out, a new message can be taken from it's passages, and God can speak to you again.  Not only does reading the Bible remind us of God's actions and faithfulness in the past, it also gives us a concrete way to connect to God's plan for our lives going forward.  I challenge you to read your Bible for 30 days straight.  If you can commit to 30 days, for 15 minutes a day, I promise you that you will feel connected to God in a whole new way.  Let the Spirit work in your life.  The path may not be easy, but I promise the reminder and belief that no matter the trouble that God is with you will help ease the  burden.  Take the challenge and see if God's investment strategies for the future can give you a guide.