Yesterday was Christmas Day 2010. The entire day was spent hanging out with family, watching NBA basketball and EATING. By the time I hit the scales this morning I quickly learned I had gained 3 lbs in the last few days and it was time to get focused on how much food I'm putting in my body.
Today as I reflect on some of the gifts exchanged yesterday and some of the readings I have run across in the last couple of days a consistent theme seems to be coming out of these readings (A new Heart).
As you know I love to play golf. This desire to play and play well did not begin really for me until after college. However, for the last 20 years it has become a bit of a passion for me. Yesterday I received a new Callaway (Diablo) 3W. I was so excited. Since tossing my old 3W away a few years ago and replacing it with 2 hybrids, I have really noticed missing that 3W distance I used to have in my bag.
I'm hoping this new 3w goes well with my new heart. I read this morning, "I will give you a knew heart and put a new spirit in you" (Ezek. 36:26).
I really am beginning to feel like a completely different person than I was 18 months ago. I can't really explain it? Physically I'm pretty much the same (maybe a few extra LBs), but mentally and spiritually I'm a totally different person. Today I have deep gratitude to a loving God that has done more for me than I ever deserved and when I say I thank God I mean it. I did not always mean it in the past when I thanked for for his grace and for pulling me out of the fox hole.
So hopefully this new 3W will be a compliment to my new heart.
Keep it in the fairway.
Chris
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
"Misfits"
Remember the holiday classic where Rudolf the Red nose Reindeer finds help from friends he met on the island of misfit toys? Well this may sound a little weird, but I have felt like a misfit person most of life. I never really felt like I fit in anywhere. It did not matter the demographic area I was living in, the economic conditions of the people or their professional status, I felt like I was always on the outside looking in.
During breakfast recently with a couple of friends I shared this feeling. But, I also shared that now living in sobriety I'm finally becoming more comfortable in my own skin and beginning to feel like I fit in just about every where I go.
After breakfast, in an email, one of my buddies sent this message to me. I told him I appreciated his email and ask him if I could use it in my next blog. He said absolutely. So, here it is....
"I enjoyed our meeting immensely. I'm really looking for direction from friends that have similar backgrounds as me and are looking for the same thing I am. Your analogy about being a "misfit" is interesting because I think we all feel that way to a certain degree...I know that I always have. I think it's a spirit of independence and freedom that God gives us. He says in Matthew 7:13 "Enter God's Kingdom through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it". I think being a "misfit" gives us the freedom to enter through the narrow gate. We've all joined the crowd (trying to fit in) and been on the wide road and we've seen where it was taking us and we've seen where many of our friends have unfortunately found themselves. I praise God for being a misfit. He made me this way and He knows what's best for me".
There really is nothing I can add to that other than to say Amen!
So, if you feel like your a misfit, you are not alone. You have at least one friend you can count on 100% of the time and that is God. He is waiting for you at the narrow gate.
Keep it in the fairway
.
During breakfast recently with a couple of friends I shared this feeling. But, I also shared that now living in sobriety I'm finally becoming more comfortable in my own skin and beginning to feel like I fit in just about every where I go.
After breakfast, in an email, one of my buddies sent this message to me. I told him I appreciated his email and ask him if I could use it in my next blog. He said absolutely. So, here it is....
"I enjoyed our meeting immensely. I'm really looking for direction from friends that have similar backgrounds as me and are looking for the same thing I am. Your analogy about being a "misfit" is interesting because I think we all feel that way to a certain degree...I know that I always have. I think it's a spirit of independence and freedom that God gives us. He says in Matthew 7:13 "Enter God's Kingdom through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it". I think being a "misfit" gives us the freedom to enter through the narrow gate. We've all joined the crowd (trying to fit in) and been on the wide road and we've seen where it was taking us and we've seen where many of our friends have unfortunately found themselves. I praise God for being a misfit. He made me this way and He knows what's best for me".
There really is nothing I can add to that other than to say Amen!
So, if you feel like your a misfit, you are not alone. You have at least one friend you can count on 100% of the time and that is God. He is waiting for you at the narrow gate.
Keep it in the fairway
.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Training the Tongue
It's a wintery Sunday afternoon. Keeley is at volleyball and Candice is running some errands. I finished some work around the house and now catching up on some reading. My reading has included SI, Golf, Daily meditation, Bible and the big book. There has been a common theme in my readings today, control of the small muscles.
In golf it's the proper grip. Sure you use your legs and arms in the golf swing, but you must have the proper grip in order to have a good swing. In life you must train your tongue. I have been reading the new testament the last few months and today I read James, chapter 2:1-12. In James I read "A great forest fire is set by a small spark. The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the part of the body. It corrupts the whole body". No wonder God gave us two ears and one tongue.
I have had to train my tongue. When agitated or provoked I used to immeadiately open my mouth and inevitably I would say something I later regretted. Today, I pause and instead of being quick to respond I try to think before I speak. I have learned that when agitated not saying anything is better than responding quickly.
Our words should be used to praise God and others, not used as a sword. Keep this in mind in managing all personal relationships and I think we all will find serenity in silence is more powerful than a sharp tongue.
Keep it in the fairway.
In golf it's the proper grip. Sure you use your legs and arms in the golf swing, but you must have the proper grip in order to have a good swing. In life you must train your tongue. I have been reading the new testament the last few months and today I read James, chapter 2:1-12. In James I read "A great forest fire is set by a small spark. The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the part of the body. It corrupts the whole body". No wonder God gave us two ears and one tongue.
I have had to train my tongue. When agitated or provoked I used to immeadiately open my mouth and inevitably I would say something I later regretted. Today, I pause and instead of being quick to respond I try to think before I speak. I have learned that when agitated not saying anything is better than responding quickly.
Our words should be used to praise God and others, not used as a sword. Keep this in mind in managing all personal relationships and I think we all will find serenity in silence is more powerful than a sharp tongue.
Keep it in the fairway.
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