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It’s not just about me…

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I’m having another “Suck It Up” day.

My Problem:  

I want for praise and reward from this world (or my family/friends) very much but I am doing so little (non-kingdom building) work to merit praise or reward. The work I do for HIS kingdom, is for the Lord, and as Matthew 6:1-8 discusses, I don’t want or expect earthly reward for that effort. It is an effort made as an offering.

The short version is, I am doing something I luv to do in ministry. I am not doing much work that allows me to pay bills, and I am trying to keep my house together in the process. The side effects being that I am getting nothing in return to fill MY tank. (reference to Gary Chapman’s The 5-Love Languages. My primary languages are words of affirmation and physical touch).

The end result is that I am grumpy at home and while working, but perfectly happy at Church when surrounded by those who are also working for the glory of our Lord.

So essentially,  I look and feel like a schizophrenic boy scout. I keep trying to get my home life merged into my ministry life but EVERYTHING gets in the way… schedules, school, work, illness, and so on… I feel so empty when I am not working with MF-TGA or ISI/BIC that I ALWAYS want to be working on those things…  This of course means I am not at home to connect with my son, or with my wife (when that is even possible). The internal reaction is that the control monster in me comes out. When things don’t go according to my planned schedule and efforts to bond with my family, I become grumpy monster again… I can’t seem to catch a freakin’ break!

The Solution:

So what do I do? Well, for now… I suck it up…

As I read scripture today I have been reminded THREE times ( Colossians 3:17,  Colossians 3:23 , and Ephesians 6:7 ) that ALL of my efforts are to honor our Lord Christ Jesus and it is His reward and approval alone for which I must strive. I am told as well that I am not given more temptation to sin through my selfish behavior than I can handle, through the will of God and the Holy Spirit, (1 John 4:4 and 1 Corinthians 10:13).  Also I am to continue to pray to NOT be led into this temptation to begin with (Matthew 6:13). Additionally, I am called to LEAD MY EMOTIONS with wisdom and love and not the other way around. (Proverbs 28:26, Galatians 5:16-17, Galatians 5:22-23, and Ephesians 4:22-32)

So, though I am not alone and the Lord is with me. I have to make the CHOICE to look for his love and mercy through prayer… Like I said. It’s another suck it up day.. but Like the Lord says. the best is yet to come…  (Isaiah 65:17-25)

Take “The 5-Love Languages” quiz.: Here

May Jesus have His way with your day

  – Gary C –
Gary Cartagena is a dedicated husband and father.
He is Founder and consultant for Tek Management,
Founder of the Men’s Leadership site: CalebStrong.org,
Co-Founder of the online Bible study app: BibleCounts

View Gary Cartagena's LinkedIn profile
View Gary Cartagena’s profile

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No Man Is An Island

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No Man is an Island

You have heard it from your pastor. Speakers like Robert Lewis and even Tony Robbins talk about building a support team or being in a small group. I will say it again.. though with many, many more words, because I like (the sound of my own voice) to prattle on..

We all go through times of crisis. Crisis of identity,  faith, purpose, or usefulness. We experience it in times of difficulty with finances, relationships, work, injury, or even depression. More than the tests and trials of life, we experience moments of doubt, so severe, that we forget whom (who?) we are and for what we were designed. We know we … Click to Continue →

Suck it up

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In case it doesn’t display the video for you, Click here:  Can you hear me?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD1_AkhK2hI&feature=colike

I like the “Can you hear me” …. It really encourages him to listen to her and drives her point home. My grandfather used to whisper when he really wanted to be sure you heard him. The logic was that you would HAVE TO pay attention in order to hear him… much like the “Can you hear me” question.

“Suck it up”

English

Etymology : Probably a variation of the expression “suck up your chest,” meaning roughly “compose yourself, bear your troubles, stand tall, and proceed.”

Verb : suck it up (third-person singular simple present sucks it up, present participle sucking it up, simple past … Click to Continue →

You know you are maturing…

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Something fun for the day:

I thought I would list some observations about my own behavior patterns over the years.

As we all walk our road, with or with out the Lord, we do, some slower than others, mature. We also recognize that as we mature we grow as people and into something new. Some of these changes are really tragic, others comical. All in all I am still looking at them from the end to the beginning and, I am blessed enough to be able to laugh at them.  Feel free to add on some of your own in the comments.

As the week continues I will add more as they come to me.

This posted started because of this first observation…

You know you are maturing when:

  1. That bottle of Sunny-D looks better than the bottle of premixed margaritas… (can we say alcohol tolerance?)
  2. You have a craving for vegetables or oatmeal.
  3. You tell someone ELSE that they have had too much to drink, and YOU are driving THEM home.
  4. You notice yourself working the words Jesus, blessed, and Bible into conversation, with anyone at anytime with no concern to who hears.
  5. You would rather do it RIGHT than do it FAST.
  6. You catch yourself writing lists of things that you USED to do…

 

More to come. out of time for today.

May God bless you all.

May Jesus have His way with your day

  – Gary C –
Gary Cartagena is a dedicated husband and father.
He is Founder and consultant for Tek Management,
Founder of the Men’s Leadership site: CalebStrong.org,
Co-Founder of the online Bible study app: BibleCounts

View Gary Cartagena's LinkedIn profile
View Gary Cartagena’s profile

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

© 2008-2021: All content on this and other pages within the TekMan family of domains are the specific intellectual property of the owner of the site, Tek Management and/or TheStrongFoundation.org.
Content may be reused or reproduced according to the licensing restrictions without the specific permission of the owner or a reference to the source as per the licensing restrictions found at the link above.
Opinions of the authors may be generated from content obtained from other sources and such content is referenced as appropriate.