Keep Stirring

Today I want to tell you a story that I heard recently.  I was sitting around a table with some of my girlfriend's family a couple of days ago and Aunt M told us this story.  I think she actually knew the person involved but I don't remember that part for sure.

There was a man who was on his way to west Texas many years ago.  Now the drive to west Texas from central/east Texas is a very long one and there are some stretches even today where there are not very many gas stations, etc., but when this story took place, the man was stopping at the last gas station for many miles.  Since there was a long stretch of highway between gas stations, he decided to stop for gas.

While he was filling up the car, he noticed that there was a little hamburger place attached to the gas station.  Well, if there wasn't another gas station for miles, there wasn't another place to stop and each lunch either.  He was hungry so he decided to stop and eat.  As he sat down, a gruff looking waitress came over and took his order.  He ordered a hamburger and a glass of tea.  When the tea came she gave him only one packet of sugar.  So he put that packet in and stirred a little bit and tasted the tea.  It wasn't very sweet so when the waitress came by, he asked for a few more packets of tea.  To which she replied in her gruff voice, "Keep stirring!" and walked off.

So he stirred a little while longer and tasted the tea again.  There were still granules of sugar in the bottom of the glass but it tasted a little sweeter yet.  The waitress came by, looked at the glass and said again, "Keep stirring!"  Back to stirring he went.  When he got done, he tasted the tea and it was pretty sweet after all.  He was satisfied.  But the waitress wasn't.  She came by again and said, "Keep stirring!"  So he stirred until all the granules in the glass were gone.  When he tasted the tea it was very sweet all on one packet of sugar.

Now let me ask you this.  Have you ever been at a place where you think you need something?  Maybe you think you need more money.  How about this one.  Maybe you think you are not capable of doing something and you need more talent.  Possibly you think you need more love in your life.  Well met me tell you this - "Keep stirring!"  God has placed all the talent and love you will ever need inside of you when you made Jesus the lord of your life.  The bible says that David stirred up the gifts of God in his life with his words.  So Keep Stirring!  You have all the talent you will ever need.  I just may need to be developed in you.

That's another Opinion of the Minion.

Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing

OK I have written several blogs about how to handle situations in life that don't exactly go the way we want them too.  I wrote about not quitting in hard times and several other things along the same line.  But today I want to talk to you about what to do when things are going great.

Many of us have battled how much we weigh right.  When those pants start getting a little tight, we start watching what we eat.  We start skipping dessert and cutting down our food portions until our clothes with the way we want them too, right.  There are all sorts of other areas where this applies.  How about when you hit a crisis?

I know there are places in my life and situations that are challenging to say the least.  When I hit tough places, I normally turn to my bible and begin to trust God in whatever area I need the help.  If my financial picture changes for the worse, I quit spending so much money, etc and I believe God to deliver me out of that situation.  But what should we do when things are going well?

Keep the main thing the main thing.  In my life things are going really well right now.  I am in a great relationship with a wonderful woman, my kids are doing well, my business is continuing to increase and in general life is very good.  What I noticed recently was that I quit seeking God as much as I was doing when things were not as nice.  I quit being as vigilant to do the right things with my life, etc.  Since He is the reason my life got better, doesn't it make sense that I continue to seek Him when times are good?  I think so.  He is my main thing.  But because He is the main thing, everyone else in my life benefits from my being near Him.

I have learned to be more loving and caring, to be smarter at work, to see needs better.  In short, I am continually transformed more into his image when I keep the main thing the main thing.  Now I am not saying that I am perfect by any stretch of the imagination.  The woman that I am dating says that we all get to be human and I think that is so appropriate.  But I am telling you that I am learning more and more every day to keep my focus in the right place.

Guess what, when we keep our priorities right and continue to do what we know to do, the number of valleys we have to go through will decrease.  Why?  Because sometimes the reason we wind up in the valley is because we are looking at the sky and fall off the road all on our own.  We quit paying attention to the small path leading us to the top and wind up in a mess.

So remember, Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing.

That's another Opinion of the Minion