Strong connections

I spent some time this morning thinking about authenticity of connections. One of the core priorities of my day needs to be checking connections. I spent many years in the electronics field as a technician. I learned early that most problems are a result of a weak connection rather than a failed component. We live in a day of module replacement. It is cheaper to replace the circuit board than to diagnose a problem component. The frustrating thing is that the new component will not fix the problem if the issue is with the connection leading up to it. I find this concept to have application in all areas of life. If my connection is weakened by lack of maintenance, friction and heat can burn out the wires and cause inefficiency.
Here are some solutions that will work:

Shine up the contacts. Dirt and grime in our lives can coat us and keep us from being able to transfer energy to each other.
Blow out the dust. Junk in our lives not only keeps us from getting into the rooms, it can blur our vision to the point where we run into wall and barriers instead of entering rooms and hallways of people’s lives.
Study the blueprint. The Bible is God’s plan on paper. It explains what a good connection looks and feels like. When we know it inside out, we are not trying to find apples on the orange tree. Many connections in our lives have been “temporarily” bypassed to get us by and we have forgotten to re-establish the original design. Let’s get the gator clips off and get it back to the way it was made.

God does not make mistakes. He does not need improvement in His plan. If we connect well, we will be fruitful.

An old Chorus:
It will flow like river
It will fall like the rain
It will rise as the dawning of glory o’er the land
For the Glory of the Lord
Shall fill all the earth
And the Spirit of the Lord Shall fall

Chocolate milk and donuts

I have been blessed to live in a day of technology in the area of connections. Networking and connecting happens so easily now with wires, and cyberspace. However, I am reminded that my generation did not invent the concept of connections. The design of the human mind is such that connections are made all the time. Later today I am attending the open house and ribbon cutting at an implement dealership. I still really enjoy talking to farmers and agriculture people. Partially because of my Minnesota farm roots, but also because God is a farmer and I am created in His image. He created man in a garden with soil and plants.

Back to connections, I have a toy tractor on my shelf that came from an open house at an implement dealership that my Grandpa Hazelton and I went to when I was very young. It is one of my earliest memories of an outing with just me and him. If I look at that tractor, I connect in a very real way with the colors, sounds, smells, tastes and feelings of that day. Chocolate covered donuts with chocolate milk lead me to that same connection every time. I love it that God created us with that amazing ability.

I don’t want this to seem like I have gone off the deep end, although I tend to live there, but, in a sense, I will be with my grandpa today. If they have donuts and chocolate milk, you might just find me playing with the toy tractors in the corner.

I am Blessed!!!!!!!