Sunday, October 2, 2011
Construction, while going on everywhere, shouldn't be overlooked in us as people.
Construction is everywhere. Despite the slow economy, one can find roads being constructed or repaved, new buildings being erected and landscapes being overhauled. Here in Smyrna, there are a number of these projects on the move. While money is certainly tight these days, construction is made a priority and continues on because people see the importance in keeping things maintained and growing. Without growth and change, things can get stale and unrefined quickly. The same can be true in our lives as well once we stop taking the steps needed to keep growing. It is much easier to be complacent than it is to keep growing and there can be several reasons why. One of the key reasons is that we become satisfied with who we are and what we do. …
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Walking closely with God in the good times can be a key to quickly getting through the bad.
When dark times come into our lives, it can be almost impossible to see through to the other side — to a time when things will inevitably get better. Equating the hardest parts of our lives to darkness seems very appropriate. Being caught in the middle of a seemingly hopeless situation can make anyone feel like giving up because we often can’t see a clear path out of it. When we fully understand what Christ can do in our lives, though, it isn’t hard to understand why He chooses to call himself “the light.” While I would never say my life has been a bed of roses, I have had more than my share of good times. I’ve travelled the country, been in love and loved, enjoyed good health and gotten to do what I want to do for a living. When the dark …
Sunday, September 11, 2011
A decision to fly on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 causes the author to take a hard look at his trust in God.
I’ve been in a long distance relationship for about a year and a half. Alisha, who is now my fiance, lives in Phoenix, Ariz., and I live just across the Smyrna line in Marietta. When I say long distance, I mean it. We see each other as often as we can and have made the best of it. For scheduling reasons, whenever I go to see her, I always fly out on a Sunday afternoon. When I realized at the beginning of August that I would traveling to Phoenix in September to go see my lovely lady, a quick look at my calendar revealed that leaving on September 11 would be my best bet. I booked the flight pretty quickly after that, without giving any real consideration to the fact that I would be flying on September 11, the same day that terrorists …
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Recent study shows that bitterness can cause physical harm to your body.
I once knew a woman who was so full of bitterness that I believe it literally made her sick. She had gone through hard times in her childhood and as an adult, experienced even more turmoil with her own children. Since she was never able to let go of the things that happened early in her life, each new bad experience was piled onto the last. Her body ached all the time; fibromyalgia was what the doctors told her it was but they couldn’t say for sure. Many days she simply stayed in bed. She was in her 50s when I knew her but seemed old beyond her years. The last time I saw her was in 2007. However, I was reminded of her when I read a recent report about how harmful bitterness can actually be to our physical health. When it comes to the …
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Having confidence in who God created us to be can help us through those "first day of school" moments, even as adults.
Even at 32 years old I remember my first day of elementary school. I’m surprised at how many details I am able to recall from the morning my mom walked me into Mrs. Lott’s 1st grade classroom. I remember the school feeling like a different world compared to anything I had experienced before. It was massive, filled with new faces, new atmosphere and a new feeling of independence (sort of, anyway). While thinking about the fact that so many kids and teens are gearing up to head back to school, I realized the impact my first day at Westside Elementary School must have had on me to be able to remember it so vividly. There are obvious reasons why that day would stand out in my mind and others that might not be so apparent. While it may have …
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Many of us live "zombie-like" lives without purpose, but God wants more for us than that.
Imagine a world overrun with zombies – “undead” humans that walk around aimlessly, their only goal being their next meal. They grunt at each other to communicate, never having a genuine conversation. Science fiction – or is it? The reality is that many people who are very much alive choose to live this way. While they may not walk with their arms outstretched and have decomposing flesh rotting off their faces, they do live without a true sense of purpose. Life for them simply becomes wandering around from one mundane task to the next. All things zombie related are on my mind lately because AMC’s hit television show, “The Walking Dead” will be filming in the Cumberland area Monday. The show centers on a Georgia sheriff who awakes from a …
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Understanding that God's timing is not our own can be key in trusting Him.
We live in a society where learning to trust can be difficult. People, at their core, are pretty untrustworthy aren’t they? We all make decisions everyday that either help or hurt others and all too often our choices end up doing more harm than good. Even those that we love and know would never do anything intentionally hurtful can end up letting us down, making it hard to ever fully trust them again. This lack of trust extends beyond personal relationships and seeps into other areas of our lives – people we work with, businesses we patronize and those who have been elected over us in government and other leadership positions. I remember the night a few weeks back when President Barack Obama appeared on television to announce that U.S. …
Steven Doyle
4:10 pm on Sunday, September 11, 2011
I have no religious beliefs or faith, but I do appreciate the philosophy expressed. Fear never helps. more ›