Tag Archives: blessed

Amaze

dictionary with letter A

Amazement: (n.) a feeling of great surprise or wonder: e.g. she shook her head in amazement

Come on, Webster–shaking your head is not an adequate sign of amazement.

I love that word. I love to be amazed.

It is a three-step process:

1. I contend it is possible that I have not seen, heard, known or believed everything.

Frankly, you will never be amazed if you have closed the shop of your brain, shut down the tent of your spirit and shuttered off your emotions from further contact with additional realities.

2. I’m looking for reasons to be blessed.

Whatever you’re pursuing in life you will easily find. If you’re looking for curses, they are available. If you prefer disappointments, they are plentiful. If you’re advertising for asses, the donkey barn is constantly procreating. But if you’re looking for blessing, you will be astounded at how often the opportunity to tap into one comes your way.

3. I am not embarrassed to celebrate.

If you have become too old to be giddy, you have become too old to live. One of the most hated phrases in the ears of God is when human beings say, “I’ve seen that before.” Life is not about discovering new worlds, but rather, finding precious islands and inlets in the worlds you’ve already discovered.

  • I am a fan of amazement.
  • I shout its glory.
  • Because somewhere right in the center of amazement … God has built a home.

 

Albuquerque

Words from Dic(tionary)

dictionary with letter A

Albuquerque: city in central New Mexico on the Rio Grande, pop 448,607. It is the largest city in the state.

A plan is when we attempt to connect two things which seem to be related, but after we’ve made our agenda, they end up surprising us with unknowns.

That’s why we’re so funny. Human beings are determined to put life in order when the experience of living was never meant to be orderly.  It happened to me in California about five years ago.

I needed to get across the country–to Nashville, Tennessee–in about seven days. I decided to schedule some gigs along the way, to break up my journey, meet new people, and of course, cover some expenses. Sitting right along the main route was a town called Albuquerque, New Mexico.

  • It was perfectly placed.
  • It was perfectly timed with my driving concept.
  • It was perfect.

What made it even more special was the fact that I quickly discovered someone eager to have me and my traveling buddy come in and put on a show. It was one of those junctures in life that we call “ordained, blessed, miraculous, destined, or unbelievable.”

I was going their way, they were coming my way, things were going to be wonderful, and I would end up with a stop off in Albuquerque with the potential for memorable, if not eternal, consequences.

Arriving at the venue, I did my setup, went backstage to my green room, and emerging at the hour of showtime, discovered there were four people in the audience. Apparently the populace of Albuquerque had not been sufficiently cued in to the amazing nature of this well-conceived plan. So what started out to be an inspiring notion, with earthly possibilities and heavenly overtones, ended up being an evening for six, with clever–though it be awkward–conversation.

Albuquerque taught me a lot.

You can plan until your planning seems to be immaculately conceived by an overshadowing spirit, but when you get down to it, human beings don’t really care about either your organization or even your feelings.

We are selfish–which is no problem at all … as long as we remind ourselves of it.

 

Acorn

by J. R. Practix

dictionary with letter A

Acorn: (n.) the fruit of the oak; a smooth, oval nut in a rough, cup-like base.

I decided not to look it up. You see, I found that my feeble attempts at trying to REMEMBER the old saying were much more comical.

  • I think it’s “Big oaks from little acorns grow.”
  • Although it could be: “little acorns make big oaks.”
  • I’m pretty sure it’s not, “Big acorns amazingly make little oaks.”
  • There is a chance it might be, “Big growth comes from little acorns which cause oak trees.”

You get the idea.

It’s one of those little slogans made up by people to take basically worthless objects and make them seem valuable. Here’s the problem with acorns–you can’t eat ’em.

No matter what else the acorn does, it is completely obliterated by the walnut, the pecan and any number of other similar nuts that end up in our tummies instead of our Book of Proverbs.

I do not know why some people can’t understand that value is placed on objects. Things that are lesser are sometimes just short-changed.

I became a happier man when I realized that every time I walk into a room, there are people in that enclosure who are smarter than me. I do not have to be equally attractive, equally intelligent or equally blessed with everyone I meet. And acorns just need to understand that the little cap they wear on top of their heads may be cute, but they’re just a hard nut to crack.

So … let me be the first one (or tenth one, depending on how far this has moved along) to say that merely declaring everything equal in quality does not make it so.

I think by creation and by mission, acorns are just as good as pecans. But until they come up with a way to transform themselves into a delicious pie, they need to understand that in my book, they are not promotable.