Does 10 + 1 = 7 ? (It All Adds Up To Extraordinary Relationships)

May 15, 2013 in Breathing Deep with 0 Comments

All Sorts And Conditions Of PeopleWell, if you’ve followed the 10 + 1 series over the past year you may realize that I have reworked the material into The 7 Essentials Of Extraordinary Relationships, the subtitle of my new book that was released today, May 15th. There are, in fact, 11 chapters to the book, but only 7 of the building blocks were strong enough, IMHO, to make the list. It all adds up to love as this is the twine that ties it all together. You know, the cord of three strands? Yep, it’s a Jesus thing!

Here’s a glimpse of “All Sorts And Conditions Of People”…

“… and they lived happily ever after…” - It’s the standard ending to fairy tales, or stories that imply the good characters were blessed with happiness or joy. Happily ever after suggests we’ve found the right person or people to share life with. The saying also implies that the journey is ending. That’s cool in fairy tales. In our lives that’s just when things get exciting, and real. I’ll outline how finding the right people is where the journey begins, and the 7 Essentials that I will share with you will then put you on the right track to having extraordinary relationships.

Surrounding yourself with the right people is probably the most important aspect of finding satisfaction in your life here on earth, next to having a personal relationship with Jesus.

Sound interesting? You can take a closer look inside at Amazon by clicking this link, and purchase it there too!

It Could Happen… (Why I Like Medium)

May 13, 2013 in Breathing Deep with 1 Comment

“We now live in a world of infinite information. Most of our systems weren’t designed for this world. Even if you had the best recommendation system ever, and everyone stopped publishing interesting stuff tomorrow, you’d never get through all the content you’re interested in. You need a place to start. So our goal is to help people pay attention to the most valuable stuff first and to have the best ideas win.” Ev Williams,  founder of Medium.

medium

Like I said about 6 months ago, a whole bunch of people just spent a whole bunch of time writing a whole bunch of material on the internet. How do we sift through the ashes to find the best of the best? I believe they just may have a model with the A to the Q.

These guys brought us Blogger. And Twitter. Hello, did you register that one? Like these dudes have been on the cusp before, maybe just maybe they’re on to some new goodness here too?

So here’s their angle:

  • Great ideas compete on their own merit at Medium. They rank short stories and manifestos based on interest and engagement.
  • They claim the best in-browser editor on the web. There is no layer of abstraction. “Smooth as butter and like no other” – Hmmm… it is incredibly clean. What writing should be :-)
  • Writing here is a collaborative effort. That can be in the form of writing on a shared idea, or by inviting collaborators to help polish up a piece before publishing it. I like both of these possibilities.

OK, I got an invite and I hung out a shingle. “Just Out There” is my namesake. I have some material on the back burner for this place… we’ll see where it goes.

Please stop by and check it out, pretty cool!

The HA!! : The Secret Sauce To Reaching Home Plate

May 9, 2013 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Time for “The HA!!” – This is my mini-series on life lessons I’ve gained through my humbling sports endeavors… I LOVE sports but genuinely suck at most of them, and, therefore, I’m a “HA = Humbled Athlete.” Please check out the posts in this series by clicking this link.

The NY Yankees... the best team money can buy?

The NY Yankees… the best team money can buy?

Baseball, like many sports, is a world of statistics. They keep track of lots of numbers – runs, hits, errors, earned run average, runs batted in, and batting average, just to name a few. One number they don’t keep track of: What are the odds of any given batter making it around the bases and scoring? I guess this stat, like a cumulative of the rest, goes into the most important one of all, the won – lost column.

Growing up in Vero Beach, we had a professional baseball team for spring training. The Brooklyn Dodgers, later moving to L.A., trained in Vero from 1948 to 2008. They had a decent team at the time I was growing up and watching them play. It was fun to brush shoulders with legends.

I started following the Yankees later on. I guess if there was a baseball team that seemed to attract lots of drama it would be the Yankees. Why? I guess it’s the personalities, and the money that feeds them. Is there any humility there? Not sure. Feeding the big dogs as they round the bases…

Continue Reading…

If I Had Known Then What I Think I Know Now (Why I Wrote A Relationships Book)

May 7, 2013 in Soul Food with 2 Comments

The journey IS the goal - CV

The journey IS the goal – CV

I’m really excited about my forthcoming book, “All Sorts And Conditions Of People: The 7 Essentials Of Extraordinary Relationships”. It’s scheduled for release next week, on May 15th (not to worry there will be a reminder :-) ). Why did I write a relationships book? And what makes me qualified to even write such a title?

Well, I’m not a relationships expert like Dr. Phil or Oprah, that’s for sure. However, I will say this: I’ve been in a relationship or two, some good and some not so good. And it took me a long time to figure out the secret sauce to successful relationships. I think most would agree that in life we are in contact with all sorts of people every day. By all sorts I mean those who are different from us, possibly coming from different socio-economic backgrounds or those with varying religious beliefs. Heck, for that matter, just look within a family and you’ll find “all sorts” too! Some of these places we journey through are where we have to learn to get along, like at church or at work. Remember this tidbit from the Bible…

Continue Reading…

Carol’s Gems: May – The Emerald

May 2, 2013 in Geology with 3 Comments

Today’s post, “Carol’s Gems: May – The Emerald”, is a monthly series on birthstones from one of my favorite blogger friends, Carol Peterson. Carol is a writer with a heart for encouragement, sharing parables of faith at her blog From Carol’s Quill and making learning exciting in Fun with Finance and other teacher resource books.

Every month has a birthstone. The birthstone for the month of May is the emerald. And it reminds me of Jesus.

emerald

The gorgeous green emerald symbolizes rebirth, reminding us of Jesus’ resurrection as well as our rebirth into God’s family when we come to Christ.

Several healing properties have been mythically associated with the emerald. The one that makes me smile is that gazing upon an emerald soothes the eyes. Well, of course it does. It’s just that beautiful. As is our Lord when we gaze upon Him.

Ancient Greeks and Romans, associated emeralds with Aphrodite/Venus—their goddess of love. Our Heavenly Father—the one true God of love—proved His love by the physical act of becoming human and dying for our sake. In Christian symbolism then, the emerald stands for rebirth in Christ, faith and hope and love.

So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Sort of makes you want to go find an emerald and gaze upon its beauty, doesn’t it?

Happy birthday to everyone born in the month of May.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for the extravagant beauty you have spread throughout this world. Thank you for even hiding bits of your glory underneath the surface of the world for us to find and enjoy. Thank you that everything in the universe provides us with an opportunity to thank you and exclaim your glory. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? This is the final post in the Carol’s Gems series. Have you followed the monthly birthstone blogs? Which birthstone most reminds you of Jesus?

Page 1 of 8912345»102030...Last »