Mailing bricks...

At graduation this year, we had the mayor of OKC as the speaker... and he ended up really impressing me.  He told the story of Stanley Draper, and how you should make an impact on the world around you... When Draper came to OKC, there was no air mail service, and he thought that just wouldn't do.  He inquired with the head postmaster of Oklahoma about why there wasn't service, and insisted that for Oklahoma business to flourish there MUST be air mail.  The man replied that there weren't enough people in OKC to meet the 75 lb a day requirement to keep the service running, but Draper didn't give up.  They finally decided to give OKC a chance, and to nobody's surprise, they weren't making quota.  That was, until Draper started air mailing bricks to his friends.  For months, bricks showed up on the steps of countless friends, with no explanation.  Air mail hasn't left OKC since.  Wow. Making a lasting impression on the lives of those around you is easy; all it takes is mailing a few bricks.   

"Now you son of man, get yourself a brick, place it before you and inscribe a city on it, Jerusalem."

Ezekiel 4:1

Buyer's Remorse

After moving into the new apartment, I realized I didn't have MOST of the essentials for cooking in your home... So I went crazy and bought new everything.  I needed it, but after spending about $400 on things in the kitchen, I had a tiny panic attack.  WHAT HAD I DONE?!?! This, boys and girls, is known as buyer's remorse. They teach realtors to tell their clients it's "normal" to feel it the morning after signing a contract, to keep them from backing out.  Is buyer's remorse okay, or is it your gut telling you something is a TERRIBLE idea?  I think we all go through a bit of "buyer's remorse" from time to time, just in our everyday life.  Society teaches us that you shouldn't feel bad about some things, but isn't that just like the realtors' deception?  

2 Timothy 3:12-16 (New International Version)

¹²In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 

Graduation has come and gone... Now what?

You spend so much of your life working toward that moment when they hand you your diploma (cover), and then life hits fast forward.  Do you have a job?  Where are you living?  How are you going to pay for your insurance/cell phone/rent/every other tiny detail you never imagined?  Sometimes it can be hard not to panic... and in times like those I take a step back, say a little prayer, and reassure myself that God is taking care of me.  

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the lord is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:30