Character Sketch: A Tribute to My Father

As today being Father's Day, I thought I would throw something down about my Daddy-O, so I dug something out that I wrote while in High School.

CHARACTER SKETCH

"Growing up to be a football star or basketball star is what he wanted. It is what I wanted, too, but academics is always the top priority. Being the first born son carries a difficult burden, but creates a great, comfortable relationship. Is the choice to drink Non-Alcoholic beer a personal barrier or is there love for a family to do what is best? His slicked back, brown hair and long reddish mustache make him look young, but his bad back and worn out knees make him prime candidate for "old man of the year". His aching muscles will make him complain, but get him to work twice as hard at Nor-Lake. Closing on thirty years of lifting and bending metal will get any man worn down. To watch his kids play ball every week is a treat for him and he would not want to miss it. His classic starter jacket and Reebok kicks make him suspect for being an arrogant sports nut, but people see his down-to-earth personality and his respect to others. I wouldn't trade him for anything, even those classic Hormel hot dogs and egg sandwiches that he knows I like best. "

My dad has always inspired me to become a great and kind man, and this is just a reminder that I, along with every man, are called to become a father, a courageous father, either earthly or spiritual.  Let us all be reminded of the courageous fathers out there and be inspired to become like them.

Thanksgiving: Fathers

Give Me a Drink

Here is just a little something from my journal the other day:

"He had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well waw there, Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me a drink..." John 4:4-7

Lord, You asked the Samaritan woman to give you a drink from the well, and I felt as though You were saying, "Give me your life". Part of me is wondering, "What else? I have given You my life as best as I can." But then reading on, I realize that the cistern in the well is very deep just like myself, and there must be hidden things. Have I given You everything? I would like to think so. But reflecting further on, there is a good indication that there are still some parts of my heart I am not willing to give at certain times. Give me a drink, Lord, I need Your wisdom to discern what is Your plan in the situations I am involved in, because humbly I say that I am not the best in a lot of these ways.
Sometimes it is hard to know what is in the deep, but I know that You told the woman that true worship is in the Spirit. I want to thank You for making me feel weightless, letting me have a taste of that living water and resting in Your Spirit that you long everyone to drink. I need it more often.


-Let us continually ask for the living water Christ wants to give us, to sanctify us, and to call us more deeply in love with Him

Thanksgiving: Moments of Grace that lift us up

Remaining at Peace

There have been a lot of things in the past couple weeks that challenged my ability to stay at peace. I credit all of the ability to remain at peace to the grace of God and also the knowledge and wisdom in a book called "Searching For and Maintaing Peace". It has helped me Big time. It outlines why it is so important to maintain peace and how one can go about finding it. I can recall a number of times where I could have been discouraged or frustrated, but by grace I remained calm and confident in God's mercy and Providence, knowing that I am not perfect.  I struggle with a sense of false humility sometimes, but striving to maintain peace has given me such freedom.  Even still right now, there could be a number of things that could make me anxious and worrysome, but I feel more able to abandon myself.
This pertains to my last post, because with some of the habits and addictions that we all face, it is easy to become discouraged. But without going into deep detail on this, I just want to let you all know that we must remain calm, confident, and at peace, knowing that God will come through for us with our help. The help comes with us trying to starve the rough spots in our life, but also knowing that God will not put us through a test that we cannot handle alone.
As the book I referred to above states, we are like a lake- if it is as peace and tranquil, you can see the reflection of the sun, if it disturbed and at torment, you cannot see any reflection. If we are at peace, people can see the sun and feel the warmth. Let us be at peace

Thanksgiving: Books that fill us with life.

Starving the Sumo

Just imagine this...you are in the ring with a Sumo wrestler- How do you think you will do? Probably not very well. Pancake. If you had to think about what you would do next time- what would your strategy be? You are probably just as smart as I am, and know the title gives it away. Yes, I am saying you would have to starve him in order to defeat him. Now I know a lot of you are looking way into this and saying, "That is impossible, I just wouldnt step into the ring!" Well, lets just say that you have been bribed into it, and you have 2 months to prepare for this match. There are a lot of variables to consider, but lets just leave it hypothetical, and just assume the obvious about defeating the sumo. You have to starve him. I am saying this because this same situation happens in life. Its called addiction... Or even on a smaller scale, habits that we all want to break. A lot of situations make people feel like they are thrown into the ring with a sumo wrestler, and no way to defeat it.  Even with attempts of combating these things, we just keep feeding it, probably in ways that we dont even recognize. If you want to break a bad habit, or even an addiction, you have to 'starve' it, and cut off anything that you think might feed into it. This is just something to reflect on, I know its easier said than done, but I will have a more explicit example in my next post...

Your Calling

I went to an event today that talked about Vocation or simply "your calling" in life. Sometimes I think we can get bombarded with questions like: "So what are you going to do with your life?" or "What is my calling in life?". We ponder this over and over again and eventually get a headache, but the beautiful thing is we are not alone. This same event about Vocation used Christ as the center of this very decision, and that He is the one who will call you to something great. We must take silent time in our day to listen to God and our heart, and follow where we think He is leading us. Additionally, there are a few other things. I'll ask people, "What are you passionate about?", and then I will advise them to do something that allows you to do that. I know that sounds too simple, but I think it gets right to the point. But I also think that if we are open to a plan, we are being guided everyday, we just have to stop and think every so often. I will leave this pretty short and open-ended, but I think a quote can sum up our intentions in life and what we ultimately need to strive for. "Aim at heaven and you will earth thrown in; aim at earth and you will get neither." C.S. Lewis. Our ultimate goal is to get to heaven, and if we strive for that, then the steps and all our desires in life will be fulfilled.

Thanksgiving: good conversations with good friends

Peace out,

Mark

Joy Down In My Heart

I've got joy joy joy joy down in my heart? Where? Down in my heart. I think we all want happiness in this life, but people get me thinking there is something much deeper than happiness-it is joy. What is joy? Alot of people would think it's closely linked to happiness, but a few others teach me that joy comes from following a plan that is not your own, by embracing life's challenges and being content with them, and catching people with a love greater than your own. No candybar, person, job, etc. can give us joy without the former things I stated. And joy a lot of the times is a choice because we all have those days where we would rather be just stuck in the dumps. It is a choice to leave behind the things you think you want but know are not meant for you or good for you; it is a choice to not let disappointment or fear disturb your peace; it is a choice to deny yourself so that something better might come of you. I can get happiness from a twix bar or playing bball or hanging out with so and so, but it can become joy under the recognition that it is part of God's plan for me, and the peace which results from the recognition. "If we believe in the incredible, we can do the impossible" Bishop Fulton Sheen

Thanksgiving: talks giving me my blog material

peace out,

Mark

A Patient Spirit Is Better Than a Lofty Spirit

How often do we reflect on our interactions with other people? One of my friends told me a quote that helps me in my interaction with other people- "A patient spirit is better than a lofty spirit".  In a previous blog, I referred to a Scripture quote that told me to "be quick to hear and slow to speak", and my friend's quote kind of re-echoes that one. I am someone who probably resembles a 'lofty spirit'-full of a lot of energy and excitement- but with those attitudes sometimes I can forget about other people's feelings.  I am not saying we can't be zealous for life, or have energy, but it does have a time and a place if we want to influence people.  Because maybe people are not always going to be as excited as me to play lasertag or drive donuts in the parking lot. Again I am not saying that either of these are bad, but sometimes in this 'spirit' we neglect the concerns of others involved. But a patient 'spirit' understands the situation, recognizes the appropriate amount of excitement, in order to have a greater esteem on men.

I think this also resonates in our conversations and reactions as well.  I feel conversation becomes so fruitful when I am willing to wait a little bit to make sure my contribution is a couple things: helpful, inspiring, kind, and thoughtful. I also think people respond better to a patient person, and soon turn to you when they do need you. I also heard that patience is also the ''willingness to suffer", so some of you (like me) may find it hard to be patient...but we all know that patience is a virtue, something I believe helps in a lot of situations. Do I respond to people with patience?

Thanksgiving: Coffee and Ice Cream Cake- luxuries of food in life that a lot of people dont have

Peace out,
Mark

"Why do I love...?"

If you could think of one thing that you follow in your daily life... what would that be? Maybe it is a belief, or a job, or an ideal, or a concept, or a personality. This is hypothetical, but lets say you are sitting at starbucks drinking a white chocolate mocha (my favorite by far) and someone comes up to you and says "Why do you love...(fill in the blank with an answer to the first question)?" I would say that you should have a pretty good answer for this.  But for my purposes in this blog, I am going to fill in the blank for you.  I am going to say "MY JOB!". I know you are all built up with excitement. Everyone has a job for a variety of different reasons: buying a car, supporting a family, time waster, money maker, or just because it fits your path in life and fits your niche.  But setting time and money aside, you should have a job where you can answer that pivotal question- Why do I love my job?  As I've said before I work on a team with other young adults for an organization that runs Catholic retreats for youth. Not much in pay, a lot of hours, but the reason I love it outweighs those ten-fold. The students that go on our retreats have an experience that changes their life, and we get to hear the fruit of our labor on the evaluations they write.  I had the priveledge of hearing some of the student's feedback, and it was so overwhelming to think that I played a part in this in some way, even though I would give ALL of the credit to God for giving me this opportunity. God alone is the sole reason why these kids change and experience life in a different way now, but I do see myself as an instrument in the performance. So...in hindsight, my job brings me purpose, joy, and a sense of mission, and that is why I love my job.  It brings value into my life. If time and money is not a factor in your job, then ask yourself- do I love my job? If the answer is no, I think you know what I would say. If you said yes, then thanks be to God! Let us all ask ourselves that question, even in different aspects of our life, so we can find deeper meaning in our beliefs and followings in life.

Thanksgiving: Having a job I love

Always on mission,
Mark