The polar vortex arrived this morning with a vengeance. It was -26 in our little town of Fox River Grove, IL. It brought back memories of our time winter camping in 2002 up at Kettle Moraine, WI. Larry talked me into winter camping up at Kettle Moraine, WI after our first night in a motel. It had been a relatively mild winter and after begging me to camp, I finally agreed, half heartedly. The advantages he said were as follows: No bugs, no mud, no loud obnoxious campers, almost free lodging and our choice of campsites. We had bags that went down to zero degrees and a tent used on Mt. Everest. During the night, I was cold and put on his stinky sweater. He had been X-country skiing in it for the past two days. I spent the night ducking in and out of the sleeping bag. Under the bag, I would gage because the sweater smelled like stinky feet. Outside the bag, it was freezing cold. We woke up at 6:30 AM to -12 degrees and rushed over to our favorite coffee shop in Oconomowoc where our teeth chattering while drinking our hot coffee. Like a homeless person, I made my way to the bathroom and brushed my teeth once they settled down. This was another lifewithlarry adventure but my heart goes out to homeless people who be looking forward to much warmer temperatures at the end of the week.
In a life time, the heart will beat 2.5 billion times. What is your heart beating for? What is your vision? What keeps you up at night? These are questions I ask myself. I strive to make each day a masterpiece. I have found that my greatest joy comes from helping others attain their vision. Without a vision, the people perish. If you listen well to others, you will know what makes their heart skip a beat. Then I can come along as a mentor and help them climb their ladder. We cannot remain stagnant if we want to grown spiritually, mentally or physically. John Wesley has worded it so well. “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.”Just think of Forest Gump as he ran across the United States inspiring others to run. Fictional, but it had a point.
Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it, is your gift back to God.” Have you noticed that the talent you have been given needs to be developed and honed by hard work, sweat and tears. My goals are to be a better writer, to improve my piano skills, to speak Spanish and to be in good physical condition to accomplish my goals. You may ask. Why these goals? These are the tools I can use to further the kingdom of God. . To bring others into the abundant life I am experiencing. Our purpose is the change the world. Now that is a lofty goal. “In this life we cannot do great things, we can only do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa. That is true but Helen Keller had another way at looking at life. “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much. “ Continue to check my blog, www.lifewithlarry.org for tips about stepping out of your comfort zone and into the person God created you to be.
