I'm Getting Engaged in 2016

"I'm Getting Engaged in 2016!"
I heard someone say that yesterday, and I thought "So am I".  Of course, hers meant making a commitment to getting married, but in my case, it's about being less distracted and more on-purpose to give my full attention to those I encounter. It's looking into someone's eyes when they speak to me -- giving them my undivided attention.  My goal is to be engaged and present in a family game or watching a movie together or going to church together or sharing a moment together or just enjoying a meal together without interruption.  To be engaged means capture attention, grip, captivate, absorb, pledge, contract, promise, agree, bind oneself, interlock, unite.

Have you ever "engaged" someone in conversation, only to see them looking away or looking at their watch or phone?   How did it make you feel?  On the other hand, was it you that someone was speaking to, and you didn't seem to care about what they were saying by your body language -- looking away?

While I want to do better in being engaged and in the moment this year,  I want to be "engaged" in listening for God's voice and cultivating my relationship with Him as though I were engaged to marry someone.  When my sweetheart and I were engaged, we spent countless hours on the phone -- we couldn't get enough of "talking and sharing" with each other.  He was ALWAYS on my mind.  My focus was on him -- morning, noon and night.  I was ENGAGED and I acted like it in my thoughts and daily interactions with him.   Remember when Peter had the courage to get out of the boat and walk on the water to Jesus?  He did, but then his eyes looked away at his circumstances, he almost drowned.

Most of all, I want to be ENGAGED in my walk with God --  seeing Him everywhere I turn, keeping my eyes on Him, and listening for His voice.  When I do that, I will see, hear and know the path to walk in.  He is THAT important to me.

In dog obedience training, they put a dog at one end of a room and its master at the other end of the room, with a plate of food in the middle. And then the master calls the dog. If the dog eyes the food, he’s a goner; he’ll go straight for it. So they teach the dog to focus his eyes on the master. If the dog keeps his eyes on the master, he won’t be tempted. Instead of heading for the food, he’ll head straight to the master.

We need to keep our eyes on our Master or we, too, will get distracted. We need to get our minds off our circumstances and our problems, and focus on God’s goodness, His closeness to us in our present and His power to help us in our future

“Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.”   Hebrews 12:2

Think Before You Speak

Oh, how I want to put my finger to people's lips and say "Shhhh -- don't say that!" when I hear then say things like “I’m so stupid", "I can just look at a cookie, and I gain weight", "I get a cold this time every year", "I could never win at that", "I’ll never be able to afford that", "I’m too old to do that", etc. And, you know what…..they will continue to get what they are saying and thinking.

I am an optimistic and quite experienced, positive thinker. I wasn’t born that way, but through conscious effort and repetition, it's now, my mode of operation. In all seriousness, I anticipate happiness, good health and success, and I sincerely believe that I can overcome any obstacle and difficulty. Optimistic and positive people really do experience happy feelings; their eyes are bright, they're almost always smiling, they have more energy and their whole being broadcasts good will, happiness and success. Even their health is affected in a positive way, and they walk tall, their voices are more powerful and their body language shows the way they feel.

Positive thinking is contagious, but so is negative thinking. And, my heart is to inspire others to stop having stickin’ thinkin’. Thinking positively and speaking positively really works. We really can control and change our thoughts. It’s like changing the channel on a TV – we see a program we don’t want to watch, so we change the channel. In the same way, when a negative thought comes to us, rather than continuing to think that negative thought….change the channel to something good and positive. Those who think themselves a failure or unworthy of success and live in fear of what tomorrow may bring, will encounter stumbling blocks, closed doors, being late to appointments because of losing their keys, and other distractions that will keep them from succeeding.

But, if we make a conscious effort to speaking positive, writing positive, reading positive, watching positive and take actions that make us feel positive, eventually, it will be second nature for us to shift any negative focus to positive. It doesn't matter what our circumstances are at the present moment. If we think positively, expect favorable results, then our situations and circumstances will change. If we persevere, we will transform the way our mind thinks, as well as the beautiful things that will start coming our way. So, let’s start “THINKING BEFORE WE SPEAK”. Who knows? Those positive thoughts just might produce the harvest we’ve been believing for!”