Leaving Behind Footprints

I was reading an article this week that was discussing Charlie Sheen. He is getting a lot of media coverage. Reports say that he is more “popular,” based on attention he is receiving, right now than President Obama and Lady Gaga.

Within the article, it mentioned something to the effect that it was sad how Sheen was going about presenting himself to the public. Some of it is on national television with interviews, but he is also recording his own rants and putting them on the internet for people to see — a free way to express yourself.

A portion of the sadness, as expressed in the article, would be that his sons would most likely be seeing these interviews and rants due to the electronic and technological age that we live in.

When I thought about it, I did think it was definitely sad for children to see their father (or mother) do things that are not only embarrassing, but saved in the archives of the electronic age to be continually embarrassing.

My parents may have done something crazy at one time in their life, but they were teens in the late 50s and young adults in early 60s. That was before there was anything electronic like there is now. If they did do something crazy (which I cannot imagine they did) I would likely be embarrassed or lose respect for them.

As we go about life, we must remember that we are leaving behind footprints. With the electronic age we currently live in, the footprints we leave behind have the potential of being permanent. Think about the crazy pictures and videos people post to their social media accounts. Think about that twenty-five years from now when the teens have teens or the parents are grandparents. It will be interesting to see what footprints are left behind. May we not only keep in mind those kind s of footprints, but also the spiritual footprints we leave behind. May our footprints be worth following.

Living Wide Awake: Focus

When do you find yourself having the most difficult time to focus? Is it when you are approaching a deadline? Is it when your kids are screaming around the house? Is it when you take too much on? Is it when there is noise, in general, going on that is not pertaining to the task you are trying to accomplish? Is it when things just aren't going your way (i.e. in a slump, crises, etc.)?

Focusing is important to getting something accomplished. When you have an idea (aka dream) and are following through with the idea, you have to focus in order to be able to bring it to completion. So you dream, put your confidence in Him, and focus. Notice that these are all things you must do - you have to be active. Living wide awake means that you are active in doing different things.

As I've said, too often, Christians, "sleep" in between church assembly times. Other things are on such a priority list that being a Christian is something you do "on Sundays". But living wide awake means that you are an "awake" Christian every chance you get.

Yesterday, we looked at the concept of focus. Keeping focused on Him, as we dream, is vital to accomplishing our goal. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

1. Don't look down - Peter started walking on the water and looked down - Fright loses focus - This climbing phrase holds true when you are trying to accomplish anything of magnitude. Don't let your fears of getting higher, on the accomplishment scale, cause you to look down and see all that you've overcome and then get discouraged.
2. Keep focused on Him - That goes along with last week's word of confidence (in Him) - Everything you should be dreaming of doing is for His glory, not for anything to do with you.
3. Keep the Son close - Jesus' parents had an instance where they failed to keep their son, the Son, close to them, so when they left the feast, they didn't have Jesus with them. They were a days journey away before they realized that no one in their company of friends and family knew where he was. As you go through the day, don't forget to keep Him close to you and your daily events. Don't let Him so far away as to wonder where he is at in your life!
4. Keep Your Dreams Accountable - When you write down a dream, ask someone to hold you accountable for trying to do all that you can to make sure the dream is accomplished. This way, even if you slack a bit, you will have a friendly and humble reminder to keep working on it.
5. Rid the Noise - You may not have to cut something out completely, but you may need to turn off outside responsibilities once in a while to help make sure you are working on what you wrote down as your dream.
6. Praise God for the Accomplishments - As you go through life living wide awake you will notice that God is working. You may not see it right away because you aren't used to looking for Him in your every day. However, even if you look back and realize that God showed up in an unlikely place, give God the glory and tell Him "Thanks" for using you in that situation.
   

A friend of mine enjoys looking for God to show up in the media. From the time I learned of this interest, I started focusing in on shows to see when God shows up. Last Monday, on an episode of "How I Met Your Mother", God showed up (and not in an put-down-religion way). If you are not familiar with the show, here's a short synopsis. Three friends are sitting around a table, when another comes over, bragging he was just given a girls phone number. They discuss that there is a "three day rule" where you should not call her before three days. "Not the three day rule...that is stupid...who even came up with that?" are the comments that follow. The answer, Jesus. He was dead for three days before he waited to come out to reveal Himself. Hence, the reason to wait three days. There is much dialogue that goes on regarding this situation. I personally found the dialogue humorous. He wasn't poking fun at Jesus, but trying to prove his dating theory. Regardless, "Jesus" was spoken several times and the event that they were speaking of was a real event - the resurrection. I was impressed how God showed up. However, if you don't focus on looking for Him to show up in the media, you could have missed the greatness of this situation.

If you aren't focused your frazzled. If you are frightened you're going to lose focus. If you dream, you're going to look higher and when you get there, don't look down! You'll be amazed at how high God can take you when you team up and see what you can do together in your every day!

Focusing on Him in my every day...