Today: Read the blog of someone you disagree with

Surrounding yourself with only people who think like you is the road to arrogance. Having friends who think differently than you (and share their opinion) is a wonderful gift. Last year I sat down with a former TV evangelist and he talked about how there was a strong discouragement to read material that is different than their thinking was. Someone might bring up a book and say, "Have you heard anything about this?" and people would say, "You don't want to mess with that stuff." You might find this as a strange practice, or something unintelligent people do.. that is let people do your thinking for yourself.

I don't think its a good practice.

Amazingly normal and acceptable in most churches, yes. But not a good practice.
But don't take my word for it.

Here are some folks I read for a very different perspective on things: Some are way more helpful than others.
My friends Bobby and Craig
Dan
Team Pyro
The Parish
Kevin
Ed

Today: Name one thing that is True about yourself

This is harder than it sounds.
There are things we hope are true about ourselves.
There are people we often hope to act like, or resemble, or be like.
There are faces and masks we put on depending on who's standing in front of us.
Knowing what is true about us is a difficult thing.
It's something we probably knew as a child, but forgot during adolescence, or another time when the pressure outside us to perform a certain way, or live up to someone elses expectations dominated how we lived and understood ourselves.

Today, most of us struggle to know something that we can say with certainty is true about us.
Today, most of us struggle thru life attempting to answer this question in a lot of troublesome ways.

Are we really what our parent's told us?
Are we really the sum of our report cards in school?
Are we really defined by our kids?
Is our identity wound up in our possessions?
Or our work ethic? or our current economic status?
Are we really the sum total of our relationships?
or the friends we keep?

Does it feel like it changes? What is true about you, has always been true about you. But maybe you've forgotten, or been confused along the way.

Think about this for a while. Let is saturate your thoughts. It may haunt you, but answering will free you in ways you've only dreamed.

Today, name one thing that is true about yourself.

Today: Make up a story

Make up a story. Maybe write it down. or just tell it to your kids, or a friends kid at bedtime.
A story answers the questions, who, what, when, where and how.

let the kiddo name the main character.
who: Eek Eek is the story my son Jaden loves me to tell stories about. TwoShoeKoo is who Zachery has loved to hear stories about for 8 years.

Sometimes TwoShoeKoo and Eek eek's paths cross.

There is often a battle after some wondering in the woods.
With Mikayla there is often a princess. (she doesn't have a regular character name yet.)

Eek Eek and TwoShoeKoo's adventures always start with wandering into the woods, down a path to a lake, where they fish. You never know what they'll pull from the lake, or what it will say.

Harry Potter, Star Wars, Larry Boy, cheeseburgers, papa fish, alligators with light saber tails, and other assundry creatures find their way into the story.

Occassionally, there are dance breaks, where I sing a song by one of the characters, and the kids dance. At especially Jaden.

There are no rules for telling stories. Your character can do anything it wants.
There doesn't have to be a moral to the story.
don't feel a pressure to make it similiar to a biblical story.
The best stories are moralized. They are simply told and in the act of telling them, you tranfer the very things you believe and hope for. It's best if you don't try to hard.

Make up a character. start them on a plane, a boat, a beach, a bed, a star, a space ship and then make it up as you go.

I'll bet it will be a great story.

Today: Tell a story about yourself

Tell someone a story. You may be out of practice. Some people can tell stories better than others. Often after seeing someone who is gifted tell a story, we try and it we screw it up. Great story telling is an art form.

But it's no excuse for you and I to stop telling stories. We are a part of the grand story of God. We each fit into it differently. Sharing a story about yourself is part of how God transforms others. You never know how meaningful the ordinary detail will be to someone else.

What is ordinary to you is often dramatic to someone else. The stories from your life seem ordinary, because they are familiar to you.

Telling a story about your dad, might impact someone who never knew their dad.
Telling a story about the time you broke your leg skiing, or how the doctor recommended to your parents the give you some scotch to help you sleep better, or the time a family member died may be exactly the story someone needs to hear. You feeling inept about telling your story isn't a good enough reason not to share a bit of who you are.

I'm not asking you to tell your darkest secrets, though you may.
I'm not asking you to tell your most embarrassing moment or to endlessly brag on yourself.

tell a story today.
everyone loves a story.
and who knows, you might find out that you're pretty good at it.

Today: Go for a walk

I know you are tired and don't feel like it.
I know the weather might not make it easy. It may be too hot, too humid, too cold.
The sofa and TV are a not a good representation of life.
Maybe you can take your old dog, who hasn't been walked in years for a walk.
Maybe it's just you.
Maybe it's just around a couple blocks in the neighborhood.
or maybe it's a trail thru some nearby woods.

go for a walk.

Today: Make a face at a child

put your fingers on the sides of your mouth and make a face.
see what happens.
if the child cries you did it wrong and you need to work on it a bit more.
do it. don't think about it.

Today: Find God in Beauty

A work of art you walk by everyday.
A song you hear on the radio.
the smile of a blond or brunette, or balding person.
God speaks in more ways that sermons or books.
A dancer.
A lyric.
A sandwich.

Today find God in beauty. If you do, tell me what you saw.

Today: Quit your job

If your job is killing you, quit.
If your job doesn't awaken hope, love and life within you on some level, quit.
If your job is mindless and you want to dream and think and live, quit.
Life is too short to work a job that kills you slowly one day at a time.

You may have a family. You need to feed your kids. I get it. Trust me. I do. Your kids need to eat.. that is important and feeling responsible for that is respectable.

But does your job steal from you kids in different ways? do the dreams you have for the world and the dream of God overlap? Are you contributing to a better world through your job? If your job is killing you, your kids can have big meals and wii's but see their father/mother shriveling up.

You may have a mortgage. there are smaller houses with less amentities.
You as a healthy parent are more important than a nice house to live in.

I'm guessing some of you will resist this. But I'm not talking about being irresponsible. I'm saying quit, because it might just be the most responsible thing you can do for your family.

Today:Let yourself grieve

maybe it s funeral you of a grandmother today, or the loss of your father when you were 4 years old. let yourself grief.
maybe it's the life you thought you would be living by now, or the teen years you gave up to raise the kids you had to early.
let yourself grieve.

maybe it's bad news from the a TV news anchor about a child.
don't be tempted to self medicate. absorb the pain, bear the cross, engage community. Let yourself be loved.
Let yourserlf grieve.

Today: Try something new

A new flavor of ice cream.
A new grocery store.
A new brand of coffee.
A new brand of toothpaste.
A new item on the menu of a favorite cafe you've visited for years.
Break your routine with a different radio station.
A new seat on the bus.
A new route to work.
A new pet name for a spouse.
A new brand of toothpaste.
A new goodnight to your kids.

Lennon said, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."
Jesus said, "I came that you might have life, and have it abundantly."
The Narrator of Fight Club says, "Love & life belongs to great risk."

Your old ice cream is good, you don't try a new one because it might not be as good. There's a chance it won't be. Why risk it?
Over time, you can nail your life down. You know what music you like and don't like. You know what seat you'd prefer on an airline.
You know what kinds of cereal are good in the generic form and which are not.
You know what turns you on about the opposite sex.
You know what brand of detergent smells the best to you.

Everything little thing has it's place. Every dishrag and sock are folded just so. You no longer need to decide what you think of owning a cat. You now know the reason church or mosquito's exist and their role in the world. Or at least they sorta work.

New is a threat to the status quo and safe world you've constructed.
Take a risk. Order the sushi.
It just might awaken transformation in you.

Today: Smell a Flower

Yes. take time to do this.
If you have bad allergies and smelling the flowers might cause your face to swell, then admire flowers from afar and image what flowers might smell like.

Today: Put a spoon on your nose

When was the last time you put a spoon on your nose?
Tonight at dinner, at home or out, have a contest with your dinner guests. See who can keep the spoon on their nose the longest.

Today: Say "no" one less time

While there are somethings that are very good and healthy for you to always say no to, there are some things that we get into a habit of quickly saying no. So say yes this today to something you've made a habit of saying no to.

Some things you might say yes to this week.
Say yes to your children when they ask for an unhealthy snack.
Say yes to a bottle of wine with a good friend.
Say yes to your wife when she says she wants to see a sappy, "chick-flick".
Make love to your spouse some time or place when you normal would normally say no.
Say yes to dessert.
Say yes to going outside to play with your kids. (the first time they ask)
Say yes to helping out at the school.
Say yes to the person on the phone asking for money for charity.
Say yes to dancing as the band plays.
Say yes to trying a nice cigar.
Say yes to doing that one thing you always say no to.

Today: Skip a Meal

Skip a meal you normally eat. Take your lunch break, but instead of going to the cafeteria, or local eating establishment, go to a park. Spend the time praying and listening to what God is telling you.

Consider taking the $5 you would have spent on lunch and find a creative way to give it to someone else.

Today: Smile and Frown without Guilt

When I was a kid an adult told me it took more muscles to make a frown than it takes to smile. The message was essentially, "quit working so hard to be in a bad mood, happiness is easy."

Nice.

Not only do I feel like crap, but not I have guilt about not smiling.

I think smiling is harder than frowning. Certainly there are those freaks who smile all the time, every moment of every day. Many who found a career in TV evangelism. I'm not going to say that they are faking it, but I'll say they are not normal. Frowning is a gift from God too, one that the church today doesn't value enough. There are entire books of the bible devoted to frowning. Frowning is a Christ-like characteristic, just like smiling. We need to own it.

But this post is about smiling.
In a world with bad news, all the time and stories about pain and suffering from around the world, and around the corner, frowning seems to dominate the landscape.

so today. smile at a stranger. smile at a friend when you greet them. smile and mean it. don't fake it. but let yourself smile today.

and when you frown, do so without guilt!

Today: Prune something

Get a pair of clippers and go to work on a bush, or tree in your yard. If it's a tree, cut all new small budding branches on the interior off so that it cleans it up.
Don't think of it as cutting, think of it as sculpting. There is a lot of beauty and growth that comes from cutting away nice things.

Today: Look a Homeless person in the eye

On any given day there are 800,000 homeless folks in the US. 200,000 of them are children. If you work downtown or drive thru a busy suburban intersection. Occassionally you might come across someone who is homeless. About one third the homeless individuals are mentally ill, another third living with the consequences of bad choice (addiction), and a third have had a bad break. It's the final third who are the folks who were one paycheck away from living on the street and the paycheck didn't come.

People who are homeless often feel less than human, or struggle with their identity for obvious reasons. The folks you drive past begging for money at that one intersection or the folks sitting on the park bench downtown.

When people are in a position to ask for money it feels dehumanizing to them. When people ignore them or don't look them in the eye it contributes to the growing disconnect they feel to the rest of the world.

I'm not telling you to that you should give them money.
But, today, look a homeless person in the eye.

Today: Sing in the Shower

Sing loud. If you are shy, put a radio in the bathroom with you and turn it up loud. Maybe you could picture you are singing to a large crowd. Still shy? I hear that sometimes it helps to think of the crowd being naked. oh wait.... well.. sing anyway!

Go for the big notes!

Today: The Radio

Turn off the radio for one whole day. Sound crazy? Then you really need to do this. Don't pick your cell phone either. When you are driving try to answer the question, "What makes me so uncomfortable about silence?" or "What's that noise my car is making and how long has it been making it?"

Silence is often where God is.

Today: Talk to your Neighbor

You know those people who live around you? The folks who you aren't sure if you remember their names. Start a conversation with them. Ask them about how things are going, or what their job entails. There's a beautiful story that comes with your neighbor, though they might not know or recognize it. Part of being a good neighbor is seeing the beauty in their story and helping them recognize it. Sometimes loving your neighbor is as easy as listening, learning and laughing with them.

Today: Savor

Eat something you love. But not fast. Enjoy every moment the food is in your mouth.

Today: Listen to a Child

Kids have something you need. They know secrets about life that you've forgotten. They will teach you if you listen. So don't ask about a movie, or some cartoon character ask them about joy, life, singing, dancing, and fun.
It may take a while, but if you listen they'll show you the keys to the kingdom.

Today: Watch the clouds

Everyday I ask myself, which way are the clouds moving. It makes me slow down. Stand still. Take a deep breath and realize I'm moving to quickly.

Stop. Watch the clouds for 60 seconds today.
Take a deep breath.

Today: Draw or Paint a picture

Spend some time on it. ask a pre-school child if they are an artist and they will answer yes, without hesitation. the older kids get, the less they think they can draw. by 5th grade most kids have stopped drawing, or thinking it's worth their time.
This is not because they are bad, or have nothing to paint or draw, but that they don't want to be made fun of. Their understanding of themselves as creative and artist is drying up.

You most certainly are older than a 5th grader. When was the last time you sketched a picture. (I'm not talking about those doodles you make during staff meeting.)

Someone told you you couldn't draw, or you felt like they did.

Draw or paint a picture today and reclaim a part of who you are.

Today: dance

in private or public. With a loved one, a friend, a child, a spouse or by yourself. spend 5 or more minutes dancing.

Let yourself go.

See how it feels.

Today: Hug

Today, give a hug to someone you've never hugged before. Pick someone who might not receive a hug very often or a person who might not even touch anyone outside of an occassional handshake.

Hug big.

Today: Compliment

Complement someone today.

Some one. A person. A man. A woman. A child.

"I love those shoes."
"Nice car."
"Dude, I dig that watch."
"That's a pretty outfit your wearing."
"I like your haircut."

These are not compliments for people. They are compliments for things. Things don't need compliments. Shoes, cars, watches and outfits don't particularly care if you like them.

People do care. These are half-ass compliments. Nice motive with limited effort and poor execution.

If you really like a child's outfit, compliment them while doing it. "You have great taste in clothes."

Compliments are transformative. They are one small way in which God uses community to help us understand ourselves. When you tell a girl that you like her hair, you are not complementing her, you are complimenting something she can't control and are re-enforcing an understanding of identity and beauty that she can't control. Tell her that you think she makes good decisions with her hair and how wise she is.

Stop half-ass compliments. Put some thought into it. Complement a person today.

Today: Question God out loud

Ask a tough question that you really struggle with out loud to someone today. No need to follow up with a deep conversation. Simply get it off your chest. See how it feels to say it out loud. Sometimes questioning God is the most faithful thing you can do for God.

Today:Do something that scares you.

Start a conversation with a total stranger.
Try a new food.
Attempt to balance your check book.

Don't let the day go by without taking a risk.
Risk is often where the new life happens.