Marriage Assassin or Economy Assassin.

In his book, Right People, Right Place, Right Plan, Jentezen Franklin exposes things which can destroy a marriage.

He lists number 8 as Economic Pressure.

"Arguing about money can destroy a marriage. The thing that bought you together didn't have anything to do with money. When you were first married, life was all about being together. It's so easy to lose sight of that.

For many marriages, I highly recommend plastic surgery. That's when you cut up those plastic credit cards that are charging you 18% interest. Put yourself on a budget. Don't try to keep with the Joneses, because by the time you've finally caught up, they will have refinanced."

Good, simple advice.

It's interesting that the Western economy is teetering on the brink of recession largely bought about by people like you and me wanting more and more, so that we may keep up with the Joneses.
Banks and other lender have been more than happy to supply money to people like us because they were charging us ludicrous interest rates and, for quite some time, we were paying.
Then suddenly, well some would say not so suddenly as a fall had been predicted by those bold enough to say it up to 2 years prior, people could no longer afford to pay.

The Sub Prime fiascio hit the U.S.

This quickly spread across the world as the lenders in the States started revealing the depth of their exposure and the amount of their losses.
Banks in other countries slowly began to state possible losses because they too had exposure to the Sub Prime market. They too had been pouring money into, what had seemed, great cash producer.

Investors became nervous and started selling stocks and they kept on selling. The oil price rose and kept going and base metal prices started going south. The stock market is now a shell of its former self. Investors have lost millions and many Superannuation funds are a shadow of their former glory.

Would it be too bold of me to suggest that the state of our world economy today has been bought about by our need to over use that piece of plastic that we have secreted away in our wallet.
The world economy consists of a whole lot of smaller economies and they consist of smaller and so on, right down to us and our household economy.

How well do you manage your economy?

Attitudes we have.

We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon.

Konrad Adenauer

Negativity

Peter Irvine, co-founder of Gloria Jean's Coffees writes: People who are in a negative state of mind will usually exaggerate the situation. They will often declare,"Everyone says this won't work!" or "Everyone thinks we should give up!" There have been many occasions where people have come to me and made similar statements such as, "Everyone is doing it this way." But when you ask who everyone includes, almost always you'll find that everyone ends up being one or two people. So in response to these sweeping statements, I learned to ask the question, "Who is everyone?" It's actually never anyone.

Too many unfair judgements have been made through ignorance. Have all the information in front of you before you pass judgement on a situation or on someone. After all, that's what you would want others to do to you.

He goes on to say.....

Negativity stunts your growth. If you have a negative attitude, you will stop growing; you will stop making wise decisions and this will slow your progress. People with a negative mindset tend to believe that every decision they make will bring about a poor result. If you are like that, you need to fight those thoughts by reminding yourself of your successes. You need to remind yourself of what you have achieved to date and start to develop and more balanced, positive attitude. By maintaining a negative spirit, you limit your effectiveness in the present and you sabotage your future; you stop moving towards the resources that will eventually bring you success.

So you see that viewing every situation from a negative point of view is not a great way to manage your business, run your life or maintain relationships with other people. It's so easy to be negative with other people, but we have to learn to be positive and to see the best in each situation. We have to get away from the ceiling mentality in which we believe we have reached the ceiling or the potential in our business or relationships. if you believe you have achieved all that you can ever achieve, then you must believe that there are no more opportunities for you.

Your choice.....

"Any change, any loss, does not make us victims.
Others can shake you, surprise you, disappoint you, but they can't prevent you from acting, from taking the situation you're presented with and moving on.
No matter where you are in life, no matter what your situation, you can always do something.
You always have a choice and the choice can be power."

Blaine Lee
The Power Principle

No more clutter,

Never again clutter your days or nights with so many menial and unimportant things that you have no time to accept a real challenge when it comes along. 

This applies to play as well as work. A day merely survived is no cause for celebration. 

You are not here to fritter away your precious hours when you have the ability to accomplish so much by making a slight change in your routine. 

No more busy work. 

No more hiding from success. 

Leave time, leave space, to grow. 

Now. Now! Not tomorrow!

Og Mandino

What's in your hand? Part 1

Often we go through life asking; "What is this all about? What am I meant to be doing? What is my gifting? What am I called to do?" 

Many times we get frustrated, we feel robbed of our calling because we are not working in what we believe to be our calling. 

Some words from Brian Houston reveal more:

"The best way to fulfil what the Lord has put in your heart is by being faithful with what he has put in your hand.

What is in your hand? This is the question God asked of Moses in Exodus 4 as he was grappling with the fact that God had asked him to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and the bondage that they lived in. Moses tried to convince the Lord that he was not the right person for the job. The gist of Moses' response to God recorded in Exodus 3 and 4 was, "Who am I and who is going to listen to me? How am I possibly going to do that?"

God replied, "What is in your hand?" (Ex. 4:2). Moses was holding a staff, and that is exactly what God told Moses to use in order to see God's desire to free the people of Israel fulfilled. 

Often your calling is screaming at you; it is staring you in the face. It is what you do naturally, the very thing that is in your hand. Sometimes people are waiting for a still, small voice to tell them what their purpose and calling are. They tell God (and anyone in earshot), "I just don't know where I fit. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't know what God's will is for my life." But the actual Bible word called means to "call out aloud." There is nothing still and small about it.

Ask yourself, "Where am I gifted? Where are my talents? What comes naturally to me? That is your calling.

There are those who say, "I just feel like God wants me to lay it down." The result can be Christian sports people who want to be pastors, and pastors who want to be business people, and worship leaders who want to be rock stars, and pastors who practically sing their sermons because they want to be worship leaders! The fact is that we do not actually have the right to lay down what the Father has given to us as a gift.

Maybe you have acquired some skills along the way that do not seem to have a whole lot to do with Jesus and the cause of Christ. Maybe over the years you acquired a knack for getting out of tricky situations by stretching the truth. If your gift is clearly at cross-purpose with God, then it is probably best to lay that talent down. But we can often underestimate the God-given gifts and talents we have.

James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights." In other words, the Lord does not change his mind. He is not schizophrenic; he has not made you one way to use you a different way. 

God has given you gifts and talents for a purpose - His Purpose."

Rick Warren - What's in your hand?

Rick Warren speaking to a group of influential business people.

This is 21 minutes long so make sure you allow the time.