Divine Opportunities

A quote from G.K.Chesterson:

“There is the great man who makes every man feel small, but the really great man is the man who makes every man feel great.”

A quote from Henry David Thoreau:

“The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal amount of time.”

A quote from John Maxwell:

“Character is the sum of my behaviors, public and private, consistently arranged across the entire spectrum of my life.”


Last night I had the opportunity to visit with a retired pastor in the halls of a nursing home. He doesn’t live there, but his wife does as a dementia patient. He spends most of the day there with her. It became obvious right off the bat that this man has a story to share from over 50 years in the ministry. I found a new friend in that meeting. I believe God gives us divine opportunities like that every day if we let Him.

As I left was reminded of the man who spent day after day at the nursing home with his wife who no longer remembered who he was. He was asked why he keeps coming day after day if she doesn’t know who he is. His response has been a beacon for me in the area of character. He said, “It may be that she no longer knows who I am, but I know who she is.”

Wow!

Five minute destinations

A thought from a book I am currently reading:
Dr. Henry Cloud in his book, “Integrity, the courage to meet the demands of reality”, points out three pitfalls to avoid regarding the components of character.

Hitting a performance ceiling that is much lower than one’s aptitude
Hitting an obstacle or situation that derails you
Reaching great success only to self-destruct and lose it all

Your character will directly affect those three areas. He says these three scenarios have little to do with competency, brains, or talents and have much to do with the person. It is tragic that there are talented people not going anywhere. We ought to have some destinations in mind today. Some goals that will give us a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes it seems like I have so many goals that others have set for me that I have no time for my own. I need to change that at some level, even if it means getting up 5 minutes earlier to spend quality time with God. Perhaps it is taking something that is cluttering my world to the landfill. In the case of last night it meant tightening up the screws on the mailbox that has been ready to fall off the pole for several months. I think if I started a list, I could come up with lots of five minute projects that I could call destinations today.

I need to stop writing now and go fix that dripping faucet that has been driving us nuts for months. That new washer should take about five minutes to put in.

Character counts

I am writing a shorter blog entry this morning to give us a thought to ponder. In my early morning reading this morning I found the following statement from Dr. Henry Cloud:

“Who a person is will ultimately determine if their brains, talents, competencies, energy, effort, deal making abilities, and opportunities will succeed.”

It’s the “character” thing. It counts. Success is not only related to talent or brains. It needs to be in our DNA.