The Big "If Only"

Have you or others said "if only I had" or "if only I was"? Life can be filled with "if onlys"  It seems like we are always looking for that next goal. There are a myriad of categories of "if onlys" that seem to tug at our imaginations and hearts. Let's look at a few.

If Only I Was Smart and Educated:

There are many in the quest for knowledge and education so that they could either show others or progress in a better way in today's world. While this is a good thing to want, it's a never ending journey with constant thirst for more. Many people get stuck in a cycle for more knowledge and credentials.

If Only I Was Great Looking:

There are even more folks that desire to be attractive. This is what drives a significant amount of marketing and advertising. There are whole industries that are driven by our wanting to be desirable. While this a a good thing if handled with some reason. The fact is we will all age and look worse over time makes this a bit futile.

If Only I Had Enough Money:

We all want to be debt free at some point and have enough money to buy the desires of our heart. While more riches many help, it also is a drug that addicts. If you have ever watched the very rich, they always want more and contentment is elusive. The love of money is the root of all evil.

If Only I Had a Life Partner:

Everyone want to be loved. Sometimes it's hard to admit, but we need others. If it is a close loved one or a circle of good friends, we want and need close interaction. Some hop from person to person seeking that perfect match, but many prefer to settle in on a deep and stable partnership.

If Only I Had Health and Energy:

We all wish to be well at a minimum level to function without pain and sorrow.  Many seek to have that perfectly cut body, but most of us want to enjoy ourselves and stay in a good body tone zone. We want to feel good about ourselves and our ability to enjoy our physical world greatly. If might be great journeys (a nice walk for me now) or great adventures (free climbing in my younger years) enjoying our bodies to the fullest. We don't want our bodies to betray us, but eventually bodies die.

THE BIG IF ONLY:

The most important, in my mind is to know what happens when we are done on this earth?  Will God approve of my life. I have chosen the free Grace that God gives to forgive the fact that I am not perfect nor will I ever be perfect. God loves me no matter what I say or do. I have put my faith in His grace and mercy to help me have a time for eternity with Him when my body finally gives out. I wouldn't want to say "If only I would have trusted God for his grace and mercy?"

We all like free and God gives this mercy to all of us for free. We certainly like free especially if it is from God. He gave us our lives and gifts, now he offers eternity with him. It won't be boring. Only If we all had eternity with God. That's my big "If Only"

Rogue One: One with the Force

While Rogue One did not disappoint with brilliant action and a great plot, there was a strong theme about being "One with the Force"  While it is significantly repeated by one character and passed on to another through circumstances and inspiration, what is the real meaning?

 Is it about community? Is it about something greater than all of us?  Is it about aggregate good? We believe that it is the representation of hope that can only come with peace with our maker. We see the good side of the force in family, nature, human friends, applied science, demonstrated kindness and love. We see the bad side of the force with cruelty, power, oppression and hate. Often people wonder how both exist in the force. This is the very situation we find ourselves in that the world and the universe we live in has both the light and the dark side.

In that same way we all have both sides of the force in us. If we are honest, we all have a force for good at times and a force for sin in others. This puts us under the spell of death and at odds with a perfect God. The difference for us is that God provides us a pardon if we just humble ourselves and accept his peace offering. An offerring that allows us to beat our personal "death stars" and spend eternity with our Beloved God.

Bottom Line:

We have the hope, love, peace and joy that defeats death and destruction. If you get a chance to see Rogue One again, which we will, keep pondering the meaning of " One with the Force". We hope you find the meaning.

Rogue One: Extraordinary People

In Rogue One the rebels come together to destroy the death star. Their strength was in their togetherness and their belief in "the Force"  We all face our own personal "death Stars" in our daily challenges and our life journey which ultimately ends. While most of us depend on others and depend on community, the challenges we face are ours. While we are all truly extraordinary in our own unique ways, we were made to bond with others and our Maker to face life challenges. See the previous Rogue One article here.

In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire's ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.

Extraordinary You:

We are all wonderfully made, even with all of flaws and imperfections. If you just contemplate how intricate and complex your body is, working normally or not. It is amazing. Your mind is also brilliant and capable of both great good and otherwise. Your heart can be filled with amazing emotion and feelings. Now combine body, soul and spirit together to create the extraordinary you. What a creation!

Extraordinary Community:

Combine many wonderful people, each with special gifts, and now you have tremendous ability to do good. Imagine if each is guided by a common goal, the things that could be accomplished are truly great. The community provides acceptance, socialization and the combination of talents and abilities that can do extraordinary things.

Extraordinary God:

We all have a Maker that made us extraordinary with gifts and challenges. He has imparted to us not only our existence, but a love that doesn't care if we mess up. That love is eternal and enduring and helps us cope in situations we could do on our own or with the help from a community. All we need to do is humble ourselves to accept and believe it.

Bottom Line:

Like the Rogue One characters we can accomplish extraordinary things with the gifts our Maker gave us, the talents we honed and the group of people we ran into over time.  We are extraordinary. All you have to do is believe in that fact. You are accepted.

Rogue One: Fear Vs Faith

The excitement of the release of Rogue One has us in great anticipation. The story line of Rogue One seems to parallel our times in significant ways. This is the first in a series of four posts that will pick some key themes in Rogue One and discuss openly the threads entice us. We hope you will enjoy the movie and the discussions :)

In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire's ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.

We live in days of great uncertainty and conflict. You can see it world wide as we all grapple with a growing population, competition for remaining resources and the economic extremes that exist. It seems we are living in a time of rumors of wars and conflict. It is pretty similar to the pressures we see on the rebels in Rogue One as the ultimate oppressor is preparing a weapon of awe in the Death Star. There are two ways to respond to these pressures. One is fear and the other is hope. We see the rebels ultimately opt for hope. We should do the same, but what do we put our hope into these days?

Fear:

Natural human tendencies are to let fear grip us and cause reactions that don't really work. We can run away and get as far away from the threat, but that hardly works. We can boldly lash out in the face of an overwhelming dark side of  "The Force:" and pay the consequences. We could make sure that others succumb first buying us time. we don't think this really works for the long term. Our suggestion is hope that the rebels chose.

Hope:

Hope is only as good as what the hope is placed into for resolution.  You can place hope in your family and friends. You can place your hope in community. You can place your hope in your investment portfolio. You can place your hope in your own efforts. The rebels put their hope in working together guided by the good side of  "The Force".

Bottom Line:

What or whom you put your hope into is a big bet for your life. It's a matter of life and death as it is in the movie. Where does your hope lie? Our lies in the proven and great God who sent his son "Jesus Christ". We are excited about celebrating Rogue One, but we are even more excited about celebrating Christmas as the birthday of the One we our hope in today and for eternity.

What Does Real Acceptance Mean to Us?

This is a place we have created to feel safe and accepted. We may not be accepted in todays’ society per say due to our out of the ordinary viewpoints on life and how we live it, but it is in this space we are accepted. According to Dictionary.com acceptance is defined as:

                       The act of taking or receiving something offered

                        Favorable reception, approval or favor

                       Act of believing

                       Act of being accepted

God openly invites all to accept his gift of forgiveness of sins and live a life glorifying Him and spending eternity with Him. While He puts this offer out, he also intends to accept all who seek him. Each and every person has a desire to feel wanted and accepted. You are being offered an invitation into a life of acceptance. This takes a special kind of love to accept us as we are that only God can offer.

What is your response to this offer of acceptance? Is it thankfulness? Is it skepticism? Is it a complete and utter rejection? It may vary by your season of life, but for us it is thankfulness. We hope you will join us in discussing contemporary issues in todays’ world in light of this wonderful kind of acceptance we humbly enjoy.

Nothing but Thankful

While it's easy to think about being thankful when there is a holiday created to focus on thankfulness, but I think I could be more thankful on a daily basis. Thankfulness is an important step to self acceptance. We may not admit it, but we all struggle with self acceptance in some way or another. In order to be accepted by others we have to accept ourselves. Being thankful is a great daily step we can all take. Even if others won't accept us, we can accept ourselves. In that vein, I'd like to list (below) many things that I should be thankful for every day.

I've always lived in a environment that protects me from the elements. Sometimes a sleeping bag under the stars, other times in a tent, but mostly in some kind of housing. Thanks :)  I hope and pray for others to have the same. 

I've always had enough to eat to sustain myself long term. Sometimes it was pancakes with no butter or syrup because we had no money, but mostly three squares a day. Thanks :) I hope and pray for others to have the same.

I've always had someone to talk to and be friends with during my life. Sometimes it was the other kids that were bullied too, but mostly I have had great friends to share experiences with on a regular basis. Thanks :) Thanks especially to my best friend and spouse. I hope to be a good friend who shows mercy and kind honesty. I hope others can too. 

I have a great family with guiding parents, children that are caring and productive people, grand children that are discovering life. Thanks :)  I hope others have some family or friends that are like family. 

I'm on a life journey that teaches me at least one thing new a day. I am thankful to be able to think clearly and have a body that still works well for my age. I hope others can discover and create in ways that make them feel good. 

I'm thankful for the beauty of nature when I make time to stop and enjoy it. Soak in nature. 

I'm thankful for resources I can share with others that don't have the basics. Share a little something.

My main problem is I don't continually think in a thankful spirit as I go through my day to day activities. Let's hope that we can all do that be thankful on at least a daily basis. I appreciate all my readers and hope I can continue to serve as a helpful blogger. Happy Thanksgiving for my US friends !!!!

We All Need Acceptance

We all, as humans, want to belong and feel apart of something. To that end, this new blog is being created to discuss acceptance and how we can be part of something even if it is discussing this blog site. Officially the definition of acceptance is "the action or process of being received as adequate or suitable, typically to be admitted into a group"  Our hope is to spur folks to discuss contemporary and current topics as they relate to being human.  The first series will be discussing the new Star Wars Movie Rogue One as it deeply raises great discussions around what folks can do as a group or a collective. 

Please join in on the discussions as we hope this blog becomes one of interest over time. We are certainly open to discuss topics of your interest and create a sparking post to get things going. Please comment on topics that would help you with acceptance and personal growth or send us an email at Acceptanceone@gmail.com. Perhaps this blog can be a good place to show acceptance. We look forward to what sprouts and grows here.