Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient:  Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.153). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I’m sure you have found that to be the truth. Ray says, “I tell every couple whose wedding I officiate the same story. On my wedding day, my pastor gave me three words that summarize what the Bible teaches about marriage. Taken seriously, a marriage can last a lifetime filled with fun, faith, and faithfulness . I engrave those words on matching silver key chains, one for each of them, and tell them that I’m going to test them on those words after the honeymoon.” First, of all, he says, “If you play together, you will make your marriage fun . Life will make you uptight, so make laughter the number one sound in your home. Cemeteries are filled with people who are dead serious about life. Keep dating! Get out of town! Plan vacations! Get hobbies! Goof o

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient:  Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.152). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) It is so easy to play the blame game, isn’t?   But it doesn’t solve the problem, does it? Ray says, “Blame is deadly. I’ll never forget a young couple who came into my office years ago, seeking counsel for their troubled marriage. They looked sharp; they had two beautiful young children, a gorgeous home, and scowls that blistered the paint on my office walls. “’What’s up?’ I asked. That’s all it took. “’Well, he... ’ She took off and shredded the guy for what seemed like thirty minutes. Then she made a strategic mistake— she took a breath. He took over. ‘Well, she  ...’ Out came a machine gun of hurtful words that riddled her. Back and forth they went, with increasing volume until staff members stationed outside my office left to work at the lou

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient:  Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.140). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) So many of us, so many times need to do this, don’t we? Ray gives us a good picture of what he means.   He says, “An old parable tells of a farmer who owned a mule that fell into an abandoned, dry well. The farmer decided that neither the mule nor the well were worth saving, so he enlisted his neighbors to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery. The old mule brayed hysterically as the first shovels of dirt rained down on him. But as he struggled, a thought struck the mule. Every time a shovel of dirt lands on my back, he thought, I’ll just shake it off and step up. So that’s what he did. Shovelful after shovelful, the old mule fought panic and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up. Shake it off and step