Love came down at Christmas

Days have a way of creeping up on us and days have a way of passing by so quickly. It is quite possible that I have connection with days that may seem weird to many. When I was a teenager, my mother bought me my first journal. I started then writing things down. Recording events, happenings in my life, people, feelings, if you can name it I’ve written about it to myself. In the 56th year of my life, I recorded my thinking in a different way. I shared through social media my daily thoughts of encouragement. Things that I wondered about, believed, had confidence in and encouraged myself with. On the 301st day of the 56th year of my life I wrote: “The greatest gift is love. The most precious gift is time. Opportunity is where these two change lives”. Following Thanksgiving, Christians began a Season in their lives referred to as Advent. Advent is about the coming of the Lord as the Savior of the World. I’ve been thinking this year as the 4 weeks before Christmas arrived that Advent is really a “seekers” celebration. We Christians might hold the time dear because of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but Advent this year I have been thinking about back to a time before I knew Jesus personally. As a person who was just living life, day by day, doing what I’m thinking most of us do, just living and whatever happens, well, just happens. That’s rather carefree living but as a “seeker’ there is something in life that I know is missing. “Seekers’ have this feeling inside but we can’t seem to put our finger on what’s happening. So we keep looking, we live our lives in such a way that we are hoping whatever is missing, we will bump into it. The Wise men in the Christian narrative of the birth of Jesus were seekers. The difference between them and many wondering people is that they had seen His Star in the East and we're on a journey to find the Christ child because they had seen. Christmas I sum up in the words “Love Came Down at Christmas”. The greatest gift in this world is love. Love has been defined by Jesus and what He did for us that we could not do for ourselves. Love’s characteristics have been defined by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Love is the gift that changed everything. The dually important and equal gift in life is also time. If you searched the Bible you will find plenty about time, how it has operated, how time has been recorded through the lives of so many individuals and how time has been noted through history. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 has a great collection of issues, themes, discoveries, and truths about time. It is often referred to as a time for everything when quoting headlines of scripture. Time is that unique moment that when it happens, it is now or never. My quote references love and time as two of the greatest gifts. The element that brings these two into perfect harmony is opportunity. If you have love, but don’t give it away, what is its value? If you are looking for recognition that you have love in your possessions, congratulations on hanging on to love, but if you are only holding it, what remains its value if not used? Time is not a difficult concept to understand. It ticks away in seconds. I would suggest the easiest way to grasp the concept of time is to simply sit around, do nothing and let time just tick away. I’ve responded to the question before, “what are you doing?”, with the answer nothing, which could be either really sad because I was just in a state of lack of purpose, and had been wasting time, or it could be the perfect moment because I could be free and available, which is opportunity for me. Love, time and opportunity, three great companions of change! I am not sure how you spend your days or record your time, but both are important tools that when mixed with opportunity will allow us to use what we possess for change. Until then

Focus, distraction, discouragement, vision and hope

The world is a busy place, even if you live here in Southeastern Kentucky. Sometimes we have the tendency to think that the rest of the world is busy busy while things here never change, the world has already passed us by and we are in slow mode and nearly void of the rest of the world’s problems because of such. If that’s your thinking, I would suggest for your consideration that there is a difference between feelings and reality. Feelings have the easiest track into our lives to misdirect us, lead us down emotional stair cases and to put such weight on our shoulders that we feel completely stuck in the mud, with no hope of getting out. Along the by-ways and highways of life we each will face moments in our travels that we overtake us or that we will overcome. My personal encouragement, “Don’t be distracted and don’t get discouraged. Focus eliminates distraction and vision creates hope”. Focus is that which causes us to fix our eyes and energies toward our goals or need to discover solutions. Focus is that which requires us to create an action plan of steps. Focus is a process of eliminating distractions from the answer. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in life is focusing on all the reason why I wasn’t able to accomplish my task. Maybe your like me and you could spend days pointing out to all our sympathizers the issues that others created, the problems that others should have dealt with on their own time but no, their issues become ours and they are to blame for our lack of achievement. I feel better already having written that and gotten the truth out there…..of course that’s the way we feel…..and all that has created the perfect distraction that is almost a guaranteed remedy for failure in reality. Focus is the answer for discouragement. Once we have allowed our feelings to take over our emotional well being, we have lost whatever ground we had hopes of achieving. There is no more of defeated state of being that realizing all we had worked for seems to have been lost in a single moment because of our action or lack there of. Discouragement is that which creeps up on you. If discouragement had the characteristic of jumping out at you and announcing itself we would all no doubt t punch discouragement right in the throat, or at least that would be my first thought. However discouragement doesn’t work that way. Ot happens little by little and it arrives at your doorstep without the slightest observation that it was even walking up your sidewalk. When we take hold of our reality and align it with focus it is amazing what happens to distractions and discouragements. We will always have distractions in life. We will always have things that will interest us and can easily get our attention creating a perfect distraction from the things at hand and the foundation we are attempting to build and build upon. Don’t be distracted, remain focused. Focus will lead to success, but the process is not an overnight experience. Focus creates hope because with each step of success we are learning along the way we can overcome issues instead of being overtaken by them. We learn that because of that type of success we discover vision because we are not drowning in hopelessness. Vision is a product of focus by which discouragement is eliminated and replaced with hope. If we are removing one thing from our lives, life has a requirement that it be replaced with something else. Our choice regarding what we are removing and replacing is all on us individually. Our attitude in life has influences that impact our way of thinking. Situations and various circumstances we have encountered also have an impacts on our attitude. These truths however do not eliminate our personal responsibility for that which we can control. Focus, distraction, discouragement, vision, and hope. These five elements are generally in close proximity to each other at all times. The amount of attention and focus we give to these different characteristic elements play a huge role in our life’s journey. Will you be distracted at times in life, yes. Will you become discouraged as you live, go and do, absolutely. Should we leave these two D’s by themselves? No! Focus is the answers as it lays out a welcome mat in our lives, inviting vision and hope to come on in. Until then

Thanksgivings and people. Trosper Buchanan, Jonah Lewis and Bo Brown

Presently I am in the midst of what I have hash tagged as #thanksgivings. Thanksgivings are those people, places, experiences or books that have each enriched my life on their own merits. Growing up I had the concept in my mind that thanksgivings are a one day a year moment in time. Of course I would right? After all Thanksgiving only happens one day each year and after that day of turkey, ham and cranberry sauce, we were off to “ho ho day”, when Santa Clause comes to town. As I have aged my mindset has changed from a one day a year time of thanks, to a year long attitude of thanks as each day passes and especially during the fall season I have #thanksgivings that I especially point out, highlight or acknowledge. The importance of life and the quickness of time has played two big roles in my change of attitude. In our youth we often skip over the meaning of moments in life. I can easily become sad reflecting on the conversations I’ve missed or the lack of understanding on how important some situations are. By reflecting, I pray I have sharped my skills in recognizing the importance of opportunities. Today my skill set recognizes the many #thanksgivings I have daily. Too often we get caught up making big to-do’s over one activity, event or experiences that we miss the next one coming toward us head-on. Take for example meeting people. I realize that some folks are so-called shy and they just don’t feel comfortable introducing themselves, or saying hello without someone else speaking, but that just not me. First, I know what it is to want to be left alone, I get those moments, but everyone deserves an acknowledgment. Does it take time, yes it does. Will it slow you down some, yes it will. What will you miss because you walked on by?, only Heaven knows but I’m one to not take many chances on missing anything that Heaven might have in-store for me, so I’ll probably be that guy reaching out his hand to shake, (even during Covid) and yes, I’ll probably be that guy saying hello or asking a question without any formal introduction. My #thanksgivings include some of the neat people I’ve met. Call me selfish if it helps you get outside yourself, but you might miss the very answer you’ve been search for through an introduction. Recently I traveled to Mercer County to watch Trosper Buchanan play in a high school football game. I said hello to two student athletes who were kinda standing off by themselves. I met Jonah Lewis and Bo Brown. I learned about Jonah and his desire to come to Union College in Barbourville, Ky…(I know what’s that odds of that, he and I meeting each other, oh the connections we talked) and Bo Brown, who is just a junior is already planning out his career choices and direction too. He had his heart set on the University of Louisville. Both kickers on the football team and both soccer players too. Trosper Buchanan’s grandfather is Ernie Trosper. Ernie’s connection to Union College and the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival are legendary indeed. Every football game needs sports officials and during a dead moment in the sideline I asked the linesman, did I hear the announcer say that Doug Chaney was the referee for tonights game? When this guy said, are you Tim H Mills?, my response yes, he said, it’s me, Mike Helton..lol. Doug’s father and I officiated sports together, I remember Doug and his brother when they were growing up. Mike I have known forever too. Life, ministry, community, all just a part of the blessings to me. I’m just thankful for the blessing of meeting folks throughout my life, all a part of my #thanksgivings 2021 Until then

Clueless Thanks

My personal list of things I have attempted to go after head on is so long that there is no real way for me to publish such a list of those moments. I’ve wanted to charge forward on so many situations believing I could help and because I had a desire to help too. If there is any such self-reflection in your life I’m sure you could create a list as well of such times in your life. In 2020 I began sharing from my personal journal written thoughts throughout my social media daily. I shared thoughts I was thinking, pictures that reflected a specific moment of thought, scripture, quotes, whatever was my focus of the day, I shared via twitter and Facebook. The 365 thoughts were a part of my desire to write a daily devotional book of encouragement, motivation, a reflection on Christianity and my personal thoughts as just another person living life as each day unfolded. On the 63rd day of my 56th year of life I recorded: “I thank God for all the things I haven’t a clue He has shielded and protected me from, which are countless no doubt. What can you name you know He has protected you from? #THM #56-63” Today as I continue to work toward completion of that project I find myself again thankful for all the things I haven’t a clue He intervened on my behalf. I do have a list of things I can name that there is no doubt He stepped into within my life and shielded me from. That list includes situations where I knew better than to get involved with, and only time proved His intervention was so “right on time”! My moments include relationships, purchases, trips and conversations. Sometimes our decision making ability seems to be infected with a virus of stupidity…go ahead, laugh at me if it helps you see those moments in your life where we reflect back and say “what was I thinking?” But what about all the times we are clueless about where we cannot see the direct hand-i-work of God in intervention mode? When I think about these moments, I think the only way to experience such wonders in question is by simply living a life of faith where we are doing what we should be doing and not questioning every step and decision involved in the moment. Should I pray…why wouldn’t we be praying all the time? Do we really need God to come and hold our hand and walk us through life like our parents did the first time we went to school and we had to leave the safety net they had built around us? We know what our parents had taught us thus far in life. At that age, if you have a question ask. If you don’t know what to do, ask. If you need help, ask the teacher. However, that which we know to do we should do automatically. Our parents taught us, if someone else is talking, listen. If you need help raise your hand. If you are told to go stand in line and be quiet, do it, you know how, follow the rules, or listen to the instructions. Such guidelines are here to help us navigate this new world of school safely. Faith and God’s all protecting hand is also there and we should find our spirit of thanksgivings readily available given the fact we know we can easily mess things up in seconds that took quite a while to construct. The ever protecting hand of God is always at work, actually His skill is so awesome we might even think we traversed such obstacles in life because we are a good decision maker or planner, all the while, forgetting to thank God for His interventions. Let us never forget to thank God for the things were are clueless about. Until then

Traveling connected

“It is easy in life to travel the wrong road spiritually. Just think about the last time you were traveling and lost. You kept driving along thinking I’m gonna see something that will help, but there is nothing on the wrong way that does”. #THM I have logged many miles on like’s highways. These logged miles include walking on foot, in a car, on a bus, in the air on a plane, by horse, and 4-wheeler to name some of my personal modes of travel. In each of these experiences I have looked for familiar sights that I recognize. Air travel I never had figured out how to spot the sights I need for reference. I’ve flown into the Northern Kentucky Greater Cincinnati Airport hundreds of times and seems like every flight travels from some new direction and I know there are only two approaches to the airport, so go figure my thinking. Life is often this way. We should be able to figure something out, but we don’t. We should be able to recognize where we are, yet it is so tough to do. We should be able to get our bearings but this is much more challenging to do at times than at others. As a Christian I have found myself in many a mess spiritually. I realize that this confess is tough for some to admit, but it helps me as a Christian to admit how easy it is for me to make a mess. The challenge for me as a Christian is staying in touch with my base, my base foundation being Jesus Christ. My communication connections are prayer, Bible study, listening to sermons and messages, reading the Bible for pleasure and allowing God to speak into my life. Thankfully the pilots of the airplanes I have flown have been in constant contact with air traffic control. A super system if you will, that allows for radar tracking contact, vision contact, radio contact, each with a specific purpose and yet each playing their part in the big picture of safe air travel. These features between the airplane and air traffic control helps keep the plane on target and on the correct coordinates that will land the plan in on the proper runway and even get we passengers to the proper gate for disembarking the plane. Really amazing how all these work together for the end product. It is possible that one of these different elements could be lost for a time period and all things still operate safely. For example radar and visual are important and we need both but there was a time that pilots landed plans by visual sight alone without radar. Radio communications are important, but with a clear understanding of what needs to happen, things can go on safely without incident if everyone does \their part and what they know to do and what others are expecting them to do. In the Christian life, sometimes we are absent some of the important elements that helps us as Christians navigate the journey of life, spiritually. Sometimes we forget to pray, sometimes we haven’t read our Bible, or taken time to make sure we remain solidly grounded by keeping all our contact points clean and grounded. I believe it is easy to travel down the wrong road and we help that dilemma because we keep traveling thinking we are going to see something that will immediately provide us our bearings and foundation again. Stay connected might not be easy always, but it is a sure way to travel safely. Until then

The value of life, you decide

The 56th year of my life was personally documented with daily published thoughts, expressions, photos, ideas and questions through Facebook and Twitter. Highlighting you're thinking through social media was challenging for me. I took this course of action as a way to publicly share my self-motivations, thoughts on Christianity, my attitude about life and what keeps me smiling. I have written personal journals throughout my lifetime, but never have I attempted to condense my thoughts down to 280 characters or less. I remain fully committed to the thought that most people like to think they will always remember what we believe, shared or the stories we told, but with time and age memories sadly fade. However that which we write down becomes a recorded part of history about us, our life, and all that we write about, that will never fade away. “The value of life is one lived where a difference is made in the lives of others”, my written thought for day 329, which occurred on July 23, 2021. I have the practice of identifying key words from a sentence and then putting them together and seeing if they communicate the same intent. It’s kinda my own sentence diagram and in this case, the message communicates strongly for me. Value, life, difference, others. One of the greatest opportunities we have in life is the gift of observation. Having the chance to see and watch others and to witness how they live their lives is one outstanding teacher. I would never suggest that one embraces freely and without any cost analysis the impact of following the leader, but to see the positive and the negative provides a clear picture of what is best for you. To question the value of life, I’ve see the value be placed at such a low cost. The value has such a low threshold that mentally one could care less whether you had it or didn’t. Thats not the value I have for myself or anyone else. Attempting to give others value can be an up hill battle especially if they have never cherished life nor considered what an appropriate appraisal would look like. Selfishness is one of the easiest traits that can develops and grow. Without consistent checks and balances you can be overwhelmed in no time flat. In developing land, environmentalist, engineers, and contractors are always interested in the “Impact Study”. What is going to happen if we do this, or if we do that? The same is true for individuals and this one life we have to live. The difference I want to make in others is positive, but I know my short-comings and how easy it is to miss the desired impact, but I won’t miss it because of a lack of effort. Real friendship and investment allows for honesty to be a hallmark of ones life, surrounded by mutual respect and appreciation. Failures, when shared constructively, are an awesome tool of learning and difference making. I am not sure what you consider your life purpose to be. I don’t know how you evaluate if a life lived was a good one or not, but for me, I’m watching to see the impact of your life on others, then that will tell me a big chunk of who you are. Life can be filled with quotes, phrases, thoughts and ideas, but if action is never taken purposely to intentionally make a difference in the lives of others, I would say you missed the value of life completely. Until then