In Hot Pursuit!

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly. The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. A fool spurns a parent’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence. The house of the righteous contains great treasure, but the income of the wicked brings ruin. The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but the hearts of fools are not upright. The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him. The Lord detests the way of the wicked, but he loves those who pursue righteousness. Stern discipline awaits anyone who leaves the path; the one who hates correction will die. Death and Destruction lie open before the Lord–how much more do human hearts! Mockers resent correction, so they avoid the wise. A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly. Proverbs 15:1-14 NIV

Throughout life–once we reach an age of accountability–we learn that every decision we make, everything we say has a tendency to shape who we are and the paths we take. Even when we make mistakes, the mistakes made shape us–helping us to arrive at better decision-making–if we pay attention.

In order to reach our destination or planned goals, we must retain a desire to pursue–the goal, the prize, the end result that keeps our dreams alive. In other words, we must be in hot pursuit of whatever it is we desire, if we are to obtain that which we desire.

If we are pursuing happiness, we must determine exactly what it is that makes us happy. For many people that will be different things. Some want riches and others simply want peace and tranquility. Some want fame and some wish to live in virtual obscurity. Just as a person pursues fame–relentlessly–others pursue obscurity just as relentless in their pursuit because they choose to live in the background of life and not the foreground.

Though I’ve never sought the limelight for any reason, I have sought peace within myself and my surroundings. I am not an argumentative person, but I will stand and defend my positions on anything. I do not provoke animosity, but I will defend and protect myself and others from the onslaught of hatred, vigorously.

I was reminded in a phone conversation on yesterday about some of the things I’ve done in life and the person’s conclusion about me was–I have always stuck my neck out to help others–even to the point of sacrificing my own needs.

I have not always agreed with other people, but I have learned how to disagree, agreeably and maintain relationships with those who desired maintenance of the relationship.

Here I am, today and in the days to come, seeking support of a presidential run for 2020 from those who have come to know me through my blog posts and understand exactly where I stand on the issues that challenge Everyday Americans. Though there have been clashes regarding ideology, I would like to think those clashes won’t be a foundation to ignore each other.

At any rate–I am in hot pursuit–of righteousness and in garnering support for a chance in having a forum to see real change in America that will benefit all.

If you’re inclined to agree–check out the following sites: http://www.everydayamericans2020.com and http://www.facebook.com/YesIAm2020 and let me know what you think and what your challenges are.

If you’re not inclined to agree–you won’t discover how much I care about Everyday Americans and why I want to serve them.

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Why We Must Look Forward!

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 2 Peter 3:9, 13,14 NIV

Whatever God has promised us–we will receive when we obey and stay in position to receive. Sometimes, our own frustration and lack of patience lead us to believe that He is slow–but then His definition of slow or fast–is not ours. After all, according to His Word, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years as a day. So we cannot measure time the way He does.

How do we apply this passage of scripture to our daily lives? Though Peter is primarily talking about the promise of heaven and our looking forward to getting there, we can also look forward–in all aspects of our lives for if we keep looking backwards, there will be no forward movement. This is why we focus on things ahead and forget about those things behind us because we cannot go back in time and change anything.

If we dare to look at the things we have done compared to the preparation of things to come, most of us see that “if” sometimes keeps us from moving forward. Let’s face it, in life, we don’t get “do-overs” as the kids do in games. We cannot stop or pause life and start over. When we recognize the misguided steps we’ve made, we learn from them and keep looking forward, our eyes on the prize or goals we established for ourselves.

How tough is that? For a person who chooses to dwell in the past and sink into the trials of doing so, this is very tough. With Jesus on our side, we are empowered with His strength when our own strength is sapped by pointless regrets. None of us are perfect and most of us have made more than one mistake in our lives, but we don’t have to dwell on the past. We look at what happened, understand why it happened and make every effort to make sure we move forward in God’s Wisdom, not our own–so we don’t repeat those mistakes. 

Let’s face it–if we walk backwards–afraid to face the future, we usually end up stumbling over some obstacle or challenge we could not see. And if we’re backing up instead of moving forward, we also demonstrate a lack of trust in God. We have no need to fear the future and every reason to embrace the future–especially when we keep on our armor to fight the battles we know we’ll have.

If we dwell on past events, we lose hope in our future and never plan to have a better ending than the one we already know. Here’s the plan–we take off the blinders that keep us from seeing the bright future God has planned for us, cast off the past as though it was a smelly garment no longer wearable and look forward–to seeing all the great things God has for us. 

NaNoWriMo 2013

I’ve topped out at 65,093 words for the NaNoWriMo 2013 challenge. Book is not finished, but since I surpassed the goal, I need to direct my attention to some other things. Book will be finished and published (God willing and fingers work) before the end of December.