We could learn a thing or two about patience part 2

Does patience have a beginning? Does it have an end? What exist at the end of our patience road? When we exercise patience, are we being protected from anything or we are just hurting ourselves? Who is the beneficiary when I exercise patience? How does it help me?

In my quest to find answers on this ever important issue and virtue of patience, these are some of my findings:

Where should patience start?
Patience begins the moment or instant you recognize the need to exercise it. That time when you become anxious and overwhelmed. It should begin at that point you feel most uncomfortable because it is just not happening for you.
James 5 v 7 says, “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.”If you have an interest in something, or you have invested your time, your money and energy, then you will want to wait out the process to see the results of your labor. I recall writing these words as a blog in the month of March, “Most of the weights we carry around in life are due to an unwillingness to wait.”
I have found this to be so true even in my own life. Patience must begin with each new day. Forget the ills and forbearance of yesterday. Every day is a day for a fresh start. I cannot overemphasize the importance of ridding ourselves of yesterdays unwanted, that is a blog all by itself.

Who does patience benefit?
As I look at it, the giver of patience will reap the greatest rewards of giving it.
Why do I say that?
Well, let us look at closely. First of all this was what the wise man Solomon had to say in proverbs 19 v 11, “A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.”

Does it hurt to exercise patience? Until we reach the point of a change of attitude or a change towards the situations around us; then what appears to be ‘the pains of patience’ will continue to exist. In order for patience not to be painstaking, there must be a change of heart to whatever is bothering you. It is so amazing that as a result of our willingness to wait we become less pressured, less stressed and less frustrated with everything around us. Patience is hard work, but it leaves us feeling free and calm.

I have to deal with impatient people every single day as I drive on the Jamaican roads. I only wish it was as easy to inject into others this all important ingredient to life as it is easy to talk about it. I would have been able to heal many homes and families, employees and managers, friendships and all.

I want to close by talking a little about principle no. 2. In part one of this blog in February I expounded on principle no. 1 which says:
Whatever you need you are going to find it difficult to give
This explains why some of the persons you meet who really need patience are the very same persons who find it very difficult to give it. They need it so they can’t give it.
In principle no. 2

You receiving what you need and so desperately desire is tied up in you giving the very same thing you need.

Quite a profound principle; if you want love, start loving others and you will be surprised just how much love comes back to you. The same is true for friendships, patience and so on. Start being friendly to others and you will win more friends than you could ever imagine. The minute you start to exercise patience you will become more and more patient. After all, it is a fruit of the Spirit.

In part 3 of this topic I want to close off by talking a little about what are we being protected from when we exercise patience. It will answer questions such as why did God instruct us to have patience and also expect us to do so in all our relations, even when dealing with him, the Divine?

Then finally I will expound on what exist at the end of the road call patience. What will you and I meet up there? When your patience has run out what happens next?

Babies

Babies bring out the best of our survival skills, our smiles and our power and will to care. If it doesn’t come out, then it just isn’t there.

copy right (c) 2008 J D Gordon. All rights reserved

People who touch our lives

Some people are like angels, simply heaven sent.

They touch your heart and make you do and believe things you just never thought possible at all or perhaps you thought you could do it, but just needed the push, the energy and the determination to get it done. You perhaps just needed someone to believe in you, someone to cheer you on.

God delights in using each of us to better the lives of those who we come in contact with on a daily basis. If you are an Angel, then continue to touch the lives of those who are in your way and even those who you will have to sometimes detour to see.

If you can touch one heart, then you would have rid the world of one more broken heart and one more victim. Each heart that is touched will then create many more transformed lives.

Think about those who have touched your lives in recent times, say a prayer for them and thank them. We thank God for family, friends and strangers he has placed in our lives that have touched our hearts forever.

Instrumental music for the soul

I love instrumental music and I have been composing a few new ones. Check out some of my music and enjoy it by clicking on the following link:

http://www.dubtunes.com/process.php?PHPSESSID=e72adfa28679878874db2158bbb32a34&pname=ShowAlbumDetailsProcess-Start&CategoryID=CategoryID&AlbumID=4

Find your soil or die

In November of 2002 I was talking with a young Lady residing in Canada, who was going through a rough period in her life. She was married, unemployed and a Christian. Ironically these three areas were her greatest areas of struggle. She felt as though she was being stifled at her church, just barely hanging on. Her marriage was almost over and she was just not getting hooked up with the right job and her finance was drying up.

She and I spoke for hours as she shared her heart and one story after another. She was perplexed and sad, but hopeful. She was desperately searching for answers and among the answers she needed was to ‘find herself.’ So after listening to her full story, I made a comment which many may have regarded as too simple response for such a multi-faceted problem.

In my response I told her, “Find your soil or die”. I was so moved and surprised by the profoundness of the statement that I went further to write about it in my book, “The Colour and Power of Your Thoughts – Inspiring, witty and motivating words.”
I made sure to comment that finding your soil doesn’t necessarily mean going in search of a new environment.
Sometimes it means finding a more fertile area in the ground in which you have been planted. Sometimes it requires creating that environment for your own survival.

I do not know much about farming and gardening, but I do happen to know that sometimes a plant is drying or dying and despite your best efforts it just will not flourish. So you uproot it and plant it somewhere else and amazing results starts to happen. The plant becomes revived, it begins to flourish and bear fruit. I thought to myself, ‘what an awesome message.’

In the same breath you might be struggling where you are and barely making it. You may even be operating at a level ten times less than you were created to be. You could be earning more, helping more, and giving more, living healthier mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. You are just not living victoriously. Where you are planted is not fertile enough for you to grow.

Your roots are desperately in need of a better soil, a better environment. So you decide it is time for a change; a change of heart, a change of attitude, a change of friends and sometimes even a change of your support group. I am so touched by this, that every time I begin to talk or write about this subject, my hands become filled with goose pimples.

I spoke with the young Lady late last year and in a brief exchange she told me she was now living in Florida and felt as though she had just started living.

Not because we don't get along

Not because we do not get along it means you are devious and I’m not.
Nor, are you imperfect and I am flaw free.
The greater the tendencies to disagree the more divine the love and accord will be where it is found.
They say, two can not walk unless they agree, but two will not agree unless they learn to take little steps together daily; trusting each other to make one move at a time.

Not because we do not get along it means that God loves you any less than He loves me.
Trials are supposed to make us strong, not become bitter, but aspiring for better. It always presents an opportunity to learn something new, something different and something which gives us that "wow" reaction.
Even though we have our struggles you have taught me a few things about me.
First, I must be a little more patient, forgiving and a little more caring.

Second of all, I must open and maintain an account of love, patience and forgiveness;
An account where I can make withdrawals once the need arises.
For there will be days when what you say will hurt me and what you do will cause pain.
My friend, my colleague, my relative and you too stranger

Above all the things I have learnt, this one stays with me most, if we are going to get along it is a choice we must make. A simple yet painstaking step we must take.
I choose who to love and who to hate, who to forgive and care for, even if it is a fake.
But once I started giving you a chance, I suddenly realized the many beautiful and wonderful things about you, things that were being covered by the shadows and the clouds of my anger.

Surely, we have got to find a better way, a better way to live and be.
As difficult as it may seem, the choice is mine, for with the choice comes the will and the attitude to win, to do and to become. Tell yourself you can and you will.

Keep the tap on

You are flowing with inspiration and burning with fires of passion. You are able to think and reason at a much higher level than normal. You have finally tapped into your creative imagination and what seemed impossible is now but a ‘walk in the park’.

God has positioned you right where you are for such a time as this. You are affecting lives and lives are being changed to a commitment to Jesus Christ. Your wisdom is God-given.

I urge you my friend, to keep the tap on. Whatever makes you glow like a bulb, shine like a star and become all that you are, keep it on. You have much more in you to give and to pour out so keep your tap on.

Some things in life will dry up or cease once they are no longer desired, treasured or cared for. I urge you my friend, to keep the tap on.

If along your journey your pipeline becomes clogged, just seek the help of the ‘Great Plumber – God Almighty.’ In all that you will achieve and do, remember there are many who are counting on you, so keep the tap on.

I am a Natural

I have drawn the conclusion that of all the gifts God has given me; he has made me into a natural. Of all the stuffs our parents gave us they gave us some of the most essentials which are keys to life and motivations for living.

Apart from being real, corporeal, flesh and blood, I naturally fit into to any mold.
Like water in a mug and socket to a plug. It is a God-given gift to be able to fit into the position of a carpenter, a plumber, a builder, an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer and so on. Don’t get me wrong now I am very mindful of my limits.

Being number eight of a total of nine children to both parents, these are some of the roles we would play during our play times. Can you recall ever being a fire fighter, a police officer or a nurse? Well, I can recall some of my fond childhood memories.

When I say I am a natural. I am lifelike, inimitable, congenial, and sympathetic, true to life, true to nature, faithful, true as steel, spontaneous, friendly and fully homemade. I delight in nature and I am a deep admirer of natural beauty.

Even in drama at school or at our church we were great actors playing our roles with sincerity and passion. After all, isn’t life a big drama and we must all play our roles well?

Our parents paid us the necessary attention to ensure we were all able to do everything around the house. We were being groomed to become self-reliant yet remaining human enough to offer a helping hand to someone in need as well as knowing when we needed help.

As a natural, I am not motivated by material stuff and possessions. Instead I am motivated by love, laughter, passion, smiles, hugs and kisses and other thoughtful deeds. I am motivated by purpose, a purpose to live and a purpose which I must fulfill. For at the end of this natural life I will not be remembered for the things I possessed and owned, but for what I did, the way I made others felt and the things I said.

I am a natural, not complicated but true to the cause for which I stand.

The power of mothercraft

"She who mothers a child also mothers the children with whom her child interacts."

copy right (c) 2008 J. D. Gordon. All rights reserved.

Moms’ applause

In mom’s applause the hands are the hands of the world,
They are the hands of every mother’s child
For with our hands we can do, we can give, receive and help
So we applaud you with the clapping of our hands together
All at the same time, all over the world, with thunderous applause.

We applaud you mother, grandmother, step-mother
Grandmothers have earned their honors and more,
A gift would be too small to give, a life too short to live
Too limited to represent what you have done
We applaud you with the clapping of our hands together
All at the same time, all over the world, with thunderous applause.

The burdens you bear and times of good cheer
When mother is happy the home is happy
For this cause we join our hands and we unite our hearts all over the world

We acknowledge you as far more precious than what we can get with diamonds and pearl
We applaud you with the clapping of our hands together
All at the same time, all over the world, with thunderous applause.


Every year since 1913, the second Sunday in May is devoted to your honor.
Special, self giving and sacrificial is the love of a virtuous mother.
We commend you highly, we praise you sincerely
We express our deep appreciation for you mothers of all kind
And so, once again we pause to applaud you with the clapping of our hands together
All at the same time, all over the world, with thunderous applause.

Mom you are a one of a kind girl, have a great day

We need a family renaissance

The entire month of May will be celebrated as family month.
I want to talk a little about the entire family unit and dedicate the weekend to the appreciation of our mothers.

As I sat at home yesterday half sick but not well enough to do anything, I thought about the monster call crime and the various atrocities committed by one human being to another.

I wondered also whether there is a direct relationship between the degree of dysfunctional families and the level of crime in our society.

In my call for a redefinition of the role of fathers and mothers, I am also calling for the overhauling of the entire family. There needs to be newly established family traditions and values. Things that the family can hold close to their hearts and which preserves the institution of family in the way it was designed to be.
Men, women and children are all at risk of dying young and living sub standard lives if the ills of families are not addressed.

Happy couples make happy homes and happy homes have happy children. Happy children make happy families, then happy communities, happy schools, happy churches and so on and so forth. The fact is it all begins somewhere and end up at another place but for sure it will return to where it started.

It is a fundamental principle of life and the bible tells us, we reap what we have sewn.
As I prepare myself to become a member of the specially privilege group called, parents. I am reminded that this is a position of tremendous responsibility.
Children require a great deal of supervision and attention. That is just the way it is.

I would support moves to hold parents more responsible for their child’s ills. So if my child was guilty of a crime then my entire family would require rehabilitation, counseling or therapy. Clarissa Graves, the British poet says, “What a man sows, that shall he and his relations reap”

I am not for one minute purporting an eye for an eye. I am not even suggesting it, because unforgiveness is one of the deadly venoms destroying our families and the society.

Let us teach parenting, it is too important a role to leave to chance. The framing of a young, delicate mind is a BIG job and the rewards are far beyond dollar value.

The Chinese proverbs put it beautifully; “If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people”

Completely flawless

I am not sure whether I am complete, for I still need a little more carving down, a little pruning and then some refining. When I am broken, it is then and only then, I can be melted and remolded into a perfect vessel. Others may not see just what I am meant to be, but I trust my Master to complete his handy work and make me into a master piece.

Good Teachers are our Heroes

Today is a very special day as we pause to salute our nation’s teachers.
A profession that is the back bone for all the nations of the world.
Teaching is also the pillow which holds the heads of the world.
If I were to use one word to describe a good teacher then it would be ‘hero’.

A teacher has the ability to break a child’s will, destroy his spirit or mold him or her into something great. When I consider how much my early childhood experiences were framed and carved from my interactions with good teachers, then I consider myself blessed.
Blessed to have had the opportunity of my mind being trained by women and men of great integrity, good values and moral standards and above all, they had the fear and wisdom of God.

These are the true heroes of the day; Spending their time, their energy and their lives helping to develop the lives of others. Finding and reaping very little material rewards at times, but gaining greater joy from others accomplishments and their success stories.

If we are able to truly give of ourselves and to find at least one person who we can pour ourselves into. If we can find someone who we can guide, instruct and help to make it to the top of their mountain, then we have reached a plateau of maturity where only the heroes among us go.

I salute you, unsung heroes. I wish you will find heart-warming joy and fulfillment in everyday life as you give to the world.

Emotional inventory

Taking a daily emotional inventory helps to track who you are becoming as you are influenced by life's forces within and without.

Copy right (c) 2008 J.D. Gordon. All rights reserved

Managing your money and managing your love life

I have spent quite a great deal of my youthful years studying accounting and finance.
Most of these years have taught me the importance of not only balancing my accounts but also my life.
Most persons struggle with managing their money, as the saying goes, just when you're about to make ends meet, someone moves the ends.
Managing ones money is a combination of the following:

• Setting goals and devising a plan to achieve it
• Staying organized
• Cutting spending waste wherever they occur
• Building and keeping a budget
• Always keeping your revenue above your expenses (Inflows v outflows)
• Saving and investing money

Managing your money is much like managing your love life. Some persons may not necessarily agree with me; however stay with me a little. Managing your money and your love life both require a lot of attention and they both affect each other. Poor money management can lead to a bad love life or even no love life in some regards. On the other hand, not managing your love life properly could also steer you into serious money woes. Let us take a look at my list above in the reverse order.

Saving and Investing
Most people do two things with their money which are to spend and save. There is also a third and important use of money; that of investing. If you were to keep your money at home under the mattress, instead of investing it, your money doesn't work for you. However, if you invest your money, you make more money by earning interest on what you put away or by buying and selling items that increase in value. The idea behind investing money is allowing your money to work for you as well as getting back more than you have put away.

In like manner, the experts will tell you that you must invest in your love relationship and spend time building a solid relationship even more than you would for a solid investment plan. This will definitely ‘save’ you unwanted relationship stress.

Inflows and outflows
In money management you should always keep your inflows above your outflows.

However, in managing your love life it is recommended that you always give more than you expect in return. Simply put, keep your outflows above your inflows. According to relationship specialists if each partner gives 60% and expect only 40% in return, then they both will receive more than they were expecting.

Building and keeping a budget
A budget is a tool to help you prioritize your spending and manage your money—no matter how much or how little you have. Keeping the flames alive in your romantic relationship should be a high priority item. Being creative, keeping the intimacy alive and communication are three important items in a successful love relationship.

The remaining three items above will be dealt with in the second edition of this blog.