Timing is everything when it comes to our walk in faith. Ever sit in the pew on Sunday and feel like the priest picked out his homily or the readings just for you? Or maybe when you open your Bible no matter the day or circumstance the pages fall just open right where you need them? This is of course all coincidence or just human nature right? Or is it? Have you sat in a doctor’s office and anticipated the worst news ever? Did you pray and trust or did you allow the anxiety and angst build up in the moment? What about when your boss says he needs to meet with you and you don’t have a scheduled meeting? Or maybe its your own self-doubt that has a hold of you. Are you tied to the things of this world so tightly that you cannot see letting go? We try to control every aspect of our lives, not only our present, future but even our own pasts. This past weekend at church the readings brought  some truth and honesty from our priest. In his homily he shared challenges that he had faced before entering the priesthood. Challenges that any young man who was in a relationship that had ended would encounter. Self-doubt was overwhelming him at the moment when he should have been closest to God. He shared a portion of a homily that the priest back then had shared with him, a story that we could all relate to. This story of putting your […]

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Everyone knows that trust is a difficult thing to come by.  Even those of you that are ‘trusting’ until you prove me wrong are usually just kidding yourselves.  It almost never fails that someone somewhere at some point will break that bond of trust. As someone who works with homeless and abused animals, trust is word that does not always come easy nor is taken for granted.  This past weekend I witnessed trust get shattered in a blink of an eye. We were at the park for an annual family reunion and we brought our two rescues along as they are family too.  Both dogs usually have great social skills with people and are happy to see anyone that might pet them or pay them any mind. Everything went off  without a hitch, we ate and talked and had a good time.  The dogs were the center of attention as they usually can become.  We take them with us to work on socialization and to continue building the trusting bond around other people.

This past Sunday at church I got a little fired up! Fired up in a good way that is.  The sermon was on the differences between being a thermostat and a thermometer in your spiritual walk. This is an old adage that I think is deserving a revisit from time to time. We all know that a thermostat controls the temperature whether for your air handler or under the hood of your car.  Meanwhile a thermometer merely reflects or measures hot or cold with no controls. My question for you is ‘do you influence or control the tone in your life or do you simply react and measure the ups and downs?’ Our thermostats in our homes have been working overtime lately with all the weather changes. Are you working just as hard to influence your house as well?  What about at work, in the community or even at church? Many of us act as thermometers where we gauge our surroundings and allow them to dictate out moods and behavior.  If our work is stressing us out, or our home life is in shambles so are we.  Rather than being a leader that inspires others we become irritable and difficult and thereby diminish others’ trust in us. Being a leader that works as a thermostat, you have the opportunity to check the temperature and make necessary adjustments.  This type of leader is caring and aware of the mood or temperature and with their finger on the pulse is able to adjust accordingly. The purpose of […]

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