Silly Saturday - Hockey goal celebration gone wrong

What happens when the celebration after a big goal goes wrong? Check it out:



I hope you have a great weekend!

Friday Top Five 11/20/09

Here are some of my favourite posts from this past week:

1. Community (Blog Carnival) (35 awesome posts on "Community")
Author: Bridget Chumbley
Blog: Bridget Chumbley

2. Identity is the New Guilt
Author: Paul Vander Klay
Blog: Think Christian

3. Finding Your Voice
Author: Jason
Blog: Live Free: A Blog by Jason Salamun

4. The Power of Talk: Spiritual Vocabulary
Author: Bonnie Gray
Blog: Faith Barista

5. Why It's a Good Day
Author: jason
Blog: Connecting to Impact

Take the time to check out these great posts!

What were some of your favourite posts from this past week?

Why do we miss opportunities?

I love that quote from Wayne Gretzky! It is so true! We miss so many opportunities by simply failing to try. The fact is that we will never know if something will succeed or not it we never step out and do it. I read this very challenging post from Perry Noble's blog today where Perry lists five reasons why we miss opportunities. Here it is in it's entirety:

Last month while reading the book of Jeremiah God slammed me with Jeremiah 46:17…

Pharaoh was a leader…he had potential…but for some reason he MISSED his opportunity.

It wasn’t that the opportunity wasn’t there…it was that he missed it. AND…the same thing CAN happen to us if we are not careful.

I began thinking about why we, as leaders, miss opportunities…here are a few reasons.

#1 – Laziness - Opportunities require action…period. Some leaders get so wrapped up in the way things are that they never even consider additional opportunities because doing so would require effort. (See Jeremiah 48:10!)

#2 – Fear - God never gives us the complete picture…He never says, “Do this and this…and if you do then I will do this and this and you will live happily ever after.” (At least He’s never done that with me…or anyone in the Scriptures.) He reveals Himself one step at a time…and demands that we have the faith to follow Him wherever He leads us. (See Hebrews 11:6)

#3 – Doubt – There are people reading this blog right now who have serious doubts that God could ever use you to do something great for His name…and you’re WRONG! Gideon wrestled with doubt (see Judges 6) until he realized that God didn’t see him as he was…but rather as who HE had created him to be!

#4 – Pride – There are some people that are so busy looking for the great and awesome opportunities that they miss the “little things” that God places in front of them every day because to acknowledge them would be somehow demeaning because, after all, certain “little things” are beneath people who are pursuing a path of greatness, right? Uh…the only real problem with that is Jesus…the GREATEST of all time…who, in His pursuit to be completely obedient took time to wash the feet of the men that were going to deny and betray Him. (See John 13) If God can’t trust us with the small things…then how in the world could He ever trust us with “big” things?

#5 – Unawareness - We lose sight of WHO HE IS (Isaiah saw Him and was ruined–see Isaiah 6:1-8). We lose sight of WHAT HE CAN DO! He healed the blind, put an Interstate highway through the Red Sea, made the lame walk and BROUGHT THE DEAD BACK TO LIFE. We read those stories in the Scriptures but many time fail to understand…HE’S THE SAME GOD!!! HE HAS THE SAME POWER!!! HE IS NOT LIMITED! HE WANTS THE CHURCH TO THRIVE MORE THAN WE DO!!! It’s not that He’s NOT wanting to do great things…but rather than He can’t find men and women who believe in Him enough to attempt what HE is leading them to do!!!

I am sure there are other reasons…those are just a few that hit me.

Can you think of any other reasons for why we miss opportunities?

I am a diabetic ... now what?

Last week I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. I know that this is a very common disease but it still was not the news that I wanted to hear. As a result, lots of lifestyle changes are in order. First and foremost I must lose some weight (44 pounds to be exact. Ugh!). This means changing my eating patterns and getting active again. The doctor (and dietitian) assure me that this change alone will make a HUGE difference in my battle against this disease. So far, I have been walking 20 minutes every night and I plan on continuing to do this and adding to this as I am able to.

I know that I have lots to learn but I am already learning a few things. Some of these things are: (1) How different foods affect my blood sugar levels. This is going to take some time to figure out but I am beginning to see this.; (2) How to use my blood sugar monitor. This has been a fun process (not!:) The first time I tried it took me SIX times to make it work. At this rate, my hands are going to be a pin cushion by the end of the week!; and (3) Balancing my meals. I am learning a whole bunch of stuff about how a diabetic should eat. I have already seen the dietitian (which was VERY helpful) and today I will be seeing the diabetic educator (which I am guessing will be very helpful as well).

One thing I have found very interesting in this journey so far (which has only been a week) is how many other people I know who have Type 2 Diabetes. What's interesting to me is that it wasn't until I started telling people that I had Type 2 Diabetes that I found out that they had it too. I am surprised that it had never come up in conversation in the past. I guess it is like buying a new car and suddenly being more aware of others who have the same car as you. It is comforting to know that I have people I can turn to for questions and concerns. It is also comforting to know that there are others who are going through the same "struggles" that I am.

I still have a TON of questions about this disease. I am interested in finding some online resources, groups, forums, etc. If you have any information that you are willing to share I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks in advance!