Tag Archives: wisdom

  • Fear of the Lord

    December 28, 2011

    2 Comments

    Proverbs famously says that fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom.  Old time fire and brimstone preachers said this meant we were to live in fear of the coming judgment.  Others, pointing to the finished work of Christ said that we need not fear judgment and that this verse was simply saying that we needed to have an attitude of reverence towards God.  Or it was fear like a child has of their parents.  But the word used is fear, not reverence and using fear to control children is rapidly falling out of favor. 

    I have come to my own understanding of this verse.  I think that fear of God comes from really knowing that God does not respect our limits.  This is a God who created a world of predators and prey.  This is a God who made a world with mosquitoes and earthquakes.  Why would God create a world like this?  A lot of people embrace some version of religion which denies that God did create a world like this. Continue reading »

  • lecturingkidsmain-300x264

    Things I always tell my kids

    August 30, 2011

    4 Comments

    I think I’m going to write a book titled “Things I always tell my kids”.  Samples:

    • Dumb people never learn from their mistakes.  Smart people learn from their mistakes.  Wise people learn from the mistakes other people make.
    • If this is the worst thing that happens to you today, you’re having a pretty good day.
    • As you go through life, you are going to make the best choices you can.  The people around you will make their choices.  Then the world will throw in whatever it comes up with.  And you will wind up where you wind up in the end.  If you are making your choices the best you can, the only other thing you can control is how you deal with the journey from here to there.  So you might as well do your best to be happy on the way.

    What are some of your favorite things to tell your kids?

  • cover 3

    The Upside Down World Is Here!!!!!

    August 12, 2011

    Leave a comment

    It seemed to take forever, but my book The Upside Down World, A Book of Wisdom in Progress is finally available for sale on Amazon.

    It is a collection of essays, poety, art work by my lovely sister Cindy, quotes, stories and more meant to help people find a better view of what Wisdom looks like and how it can work in our lives.  This isn’t just a vanity project for me.  It is my sincere hope that people will be inspired, comforted, challenged and entertained by the book.

    And for those of you who have slogged through some of my long, complicated posts, rest assured that the book is easy to read and understand.  It is meant to be read, thumbed through and picked up and put down over and over.  It would make a great gift for a college student heading off to school (or anyone else you love!).

    A word of warning for those with Kindles: due to formatting issues and such, the Kindle edition is a scaled-down version of the book.  It is missing the artwork, notes and the story “What to do when you wake up in hell”.

    Please join me in spreading the word about the book.  I know that there is so much noise and so many voices out there competing for your attention.  However, this book isn’t quite like anything you have seen before and the voice comes from a lifetime of learning wisdom which is all-too lacking in our world today.  I hope you will purchase the book yourself and be blessed by it.

  • Reading the Tea Leaves

    March 2, 2008

    4 Comments

    My husband and I are on a tea kick right now because, well we have several boxes of tea in the cabinet, it only takes water to make and since we have a well, water is free! Anyhow, Celestial Seasonings’ tea boxes are covered with quotes and when making myself a cup of tea, I read one on the box I hadn’t seen before and thought I’d pass it along.

    Add Joy to Your Daily Life

    1 Pay as much attention to the things that are working positively in your life as you do to those that are giving you trouble.

    2 Memorize your favorite love poem.

    3 Learn three knock knock jokes so you will always be ready to entertain children.

    4 Don’t let weeds grow around your dreams.

    5 Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something.

    6 Regardless of the situation, react with class.

    7 Let some things remain mysterious.

    -H. Jackson Brown, Jr., Life’s Little Instruction Book, Volume II Rutledge Hill Press.

  • Words of wisdom from Steve Jobs

    April 5, 2006

    1 Comment

    This is almost a year old, so perhaps some of you have already seen it, but if you haven’t read Steve Jobs’ 2005 graduation address at Stanford, you should. His brief description of dropping out of college to learn seems especially pertinent for those of us who are homeschooling our kids. My favorite part though, because it speaks to where my family is right now is this:
    “you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
    We’ve all been taught to “begin with the end in mind” which is generally good advise. However, this presumes that we actually know what the end is. Sometimes we just need to do what we know to be right today, even if we cannot see how things can possibly cometogethere in the end.