GIVEAWAY ALERT: You can win the book Blue Skies by this week’s podcast guest. Keep reading to find out how!
What if you started living with excited anticipation of what God is up to next? Would you live differently? What if no matter what life threw at you, you saw it all through a lens of hope, optimism, and trust in God?
Well today, author James Barnett reveals how you can move from a life of worry and fear to a life full of anticipation of what God is doing.
When my son Connor was six years old, he wrote a hilarious Christmas wish list.
I still remember his creativity and boldness in choosing the many, many, many, many items. I smile when I think back to the wintery day he asked to get out my laptop and type out his Christmas list for him. He stayed serious and thoughtful as he dictated each item.
When I found it recently, I laughed out loud and thought you may get a kick out of it too.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “People only see what they are prepared to see.”
How do you see the world?
In this time of fear and darkness and suspicion, it can be easy to see the world as depressing and scary. You watch the news or read the headlines and brace yourself, preparing to see the worst, right? I get it… I do — it can be pretty dark out there, but can you still see beauty and goodness and hope too?
You can if you are prepared to. So, I ask again, how do you see the world?
Years ago, one of my friends was struggling with a chronic illness. The girl was in bad shape, practically eating pain pills for breakfast just to make it through the day. After a few years of living with her illness, she was adjusting —as much as you can when you’re hurting. Her pain meds were managed well. She had gone through some counseling which had really helped her and she finally seemed to be getting her life back. She was moving on, even smiling more. She’d fought a hard fight and I admired her so much.
A few days ago, I was sitting across from Kim, the most amazing nail tech, who has done my nails for the past ten years. And, she gasps, “What is that on your arm? I’ve never seen it before. You need to get that looked at!”
I had no idea what she was talking about so I asked her.
“A mole,” she said, “it’s just come up in the last two weeks because I know I have never seen it before.”
She, then, took my free hand and dragged my finger across the top of the tiny bumpy mass.
I was a senior in college as I sat in the conference room with five psychology professors.
I was there to receive a special thank you for providing music at a conference the department had just hosted.
I was handed a half-dozen roses and the different professors thanked me, told me how much my piano playing had added to the event, and complimented my abilities as a psychology student.
I remember as I held the roses and the professors spoke, I wanted to shrink into my seat. I felt so self-conscious!
