The Right Place at the Right Time

I had my alarm set this morning and woke up to the kid's radio program, "paws and tails". It's always pretty cute, so I left the radio on and listened to the program.
One of the adult characters was going to take a young character out fishing. Everything that could happen prevented them from getting away on time. The young girl broke her compact mirror, they stopped to help an elderly lady start her car and ended up with her handkerchief, they ran into the scout troop at the fishing store as well as a few other untimely events.

When they finally got out to the fishing spot caught a huge fish, they ended up chasing it down the river. Sadly, the fish broke the line and got away. Then...they heard someone moaning. It turns out that they ended up in the right place at the right time. They were able to help rescue a man who had fallen and banged his head. They used the handkerchief to cool his forehead, the broken compact to signal the boy scout troops who were camping not far off...and the fish that got away led them to the right spot. So even though all sorts of problems happened, everything worked out for good. They were able to help rescue the person who had fallen.

The scripture that they brought out was, "God works all things together for good to those who love the Lord." Now, this doesn't mean that God causes bad things or difficult things to happen. But, he can turn the bad situation out for the good.

If I think about some of the things that I have gone through, some of the bad things that have happened, often I can also think of something good that came out of it all. Has it ever happened to you? Did something good come out of the ordeal? Next time when you have gone through something, look back - maybe something good ended up coming out of a bad situation.

Put in the Big Rocks First

Happy New Year Everyone!

In First Things First, a book by Stephen Covey(an author I really like), he tells a story about a presentation given at a seminar. The seminar presenter pulled out a wide-mouth gallon jar and placed it next to a pile of fist-sized rocks. After filling the jar to the top with rocks, he asked, "Is the jar full?"

The group replied, "Yes."

He then got some gravel from under the table and added it to the jar. The speaker jiggled the jar until the gravel filled the spaces between the rocks. Again, he asked, "Is the jar full?"

This time, the group replied, "Probably not."

The speaker then added some sand and asked, "Is the jar full?"

"No!" shouted the group.

Finally, the speaker filled the jar to the brim with water and asked the group the point of this illustration.

Someone replied that you could always fit more things into your life if "you really work at it."

"No," countered the speaker. "The point is, if you don't put the big rocks in first, would you ever have gotten any of them in?"

This is a perfect example of your life! The big rocks represent the things in your life that are important to you. These are the things that will make you happy, successful and healthy in life. Say yes, to adding the big rocks first. Fill your life with things that really matter, enjoying the things that you love and having time for yourself. Don't try to fit the important things that matter in around all those little things (the sand) that don't mean as much. When the smaller gravel or sand tries to fill your time, you won't have time for those "big rocks".

After all, you CAN always add more into your life, but it just makes it fuller, not necessarily better. So, think about the big rocks in your life as you start this new year.
Some of the big rocks in my life would be; God, my family, my friends, my business, my volunteer work, down time to do something I enjoy and a few other things. What are some of the big rocks in your life?