jeff noel.org

The Joy of Living is one of the most elusive of all endowments.

Why?  Just watch a child and you’ll find your answer.  Having a child (9-year old boy) in our home is a daily reminder.

We all, at least I do, need daily reminders of this simple fact, don’t we? Why?  Because life is hard, especially in today’s challenging and uncertain world.

Every day is an opportunity to count our blessings.  Anyone need a calculator?

A lifetime of learned behaviors.  Life is hard.  And mostly difficult. And busy.  And distracting.

Some days, maybe while watching a movie or TV show, we see a Family that seems to have it all together and wonder why we can’t live like that.

It’s a movie, okay?  It’s not real.  Yet perhaps there’s some compromise between what’s portrayed in books and movies, and what is our current reality.

Maybe.  maybe not.

I’d like to find out.

Carpe diem, jeff

Failing?  Probably.  It weighs heavy on my soul and heart.  I’d really like to be a better:

• Son
• Brother
• Nephew
• Uncle

Yet after decades of learned behavior, there’s a struggle deep down inside that seems overwhelming.

Overwhelming, yes.  Impossible, no.

The people involved in this are going to have to want this too.  It takes two.  This is not a one-sided challenge, nor a one-sided opportunity. Is it me, or is that ticking sound the clock?

Stuck?  Sort of.  A lot has happened this past week.  Some incredibly awesome stuff.  Some horrific stuff.

I work hard to focus on the positive side, without sacrificing what the horrible stuff is telling me.

Love and hate.  Heaven and hell.  God and the devil.  Faith and unbelief. Mysteries and facts.

So what is surfacing as I type this (and I trusted something would), is that we all have a choice to make.

In fact we have lots of choices.  Each day.  All day.  Everyday.

It takes practice and discipline to increase our “batting average”.

Make today a great day.  Go in there swinging and keep your eye on the ball.

What I mean is I hate hearing when tragedy happens.  Two days ago an email shared the news that one of our college buddies had a tragedy.  His teenage son died of a drug overdose.

Can you even fathom this?  I can not.

For our friend, this probably makes 9/11 look like a picnic.

May I simply ask anyone reading this to try to absorb some of his pain?

Tragedy strikes us all.  None of is immune from this.  Perhaps this is the time when we are tempted to believe God doesn’t exist.

God never said life would be easy, He simply promises we will not walk alone.  Our big challenge is to actually believe this when horrific tragedy is our shadow.

September 11, 2001

Click here to see Darryl Worely’s music video, “Have You Forgotten”.

Then again, maybe you have forgotten.

Have you?  No?  Then do it, click here.

PS.  I HATE war. I LOVE our military men and women.

Catechism.  Missed the first one last night.

Life is insanely busy for many people.  Organizational structure can help alleviate (not eliminate) common, everyday hassles.

To that end, every day my wife takes our son to school (no bus service available).  I pick him up. When there are exceptions to this process, the alternate plan is simple and crystal clear.

Everything changes.  Like when I travel.  Like yesterday.  So I missed the first day of Catechism.

Not a big deal.  Usually.  Except for one thing.  I volunteer as a “junior assistant” third-grade Catechist teacher.

The full time teacher is a pro and can clearly handle my absence.  But it’s not her I’m worried about.

Labor day afternoon, I pulled our 9-year old son aside, “You impressed me this morning”.

Three 9-year olds, the day before, took turns ganging up on each other in our pool. Playfully wrestling and fighting the way puppies or kittens do.

However, the next morning (Labor Day), it was 2-against-1 the entire morning.  The other two boys are very athletic.  Our son hasn’t played any sports yet.

But you would have never known.  Not only did he have strength, he had endurance too.  It would have been hard to take pick of the litter.

As we cuddled in bed that night, I purposefully asked him if he remembered our earlier conversation.  He did.

It was the last thing I wanted.

Why?  One of life’s most important questions.

We readily ask, but most don’t wait to hear the answer.

Why?

You tell me.  Speculation says it’s because of three simple truths:

1. We are afraid of the answer
2. We are easily distracted
3. Both

Why?

Not sure.  Oh look, shiny.

Carpe diem, jeff noel

Yesterday a fellow public speaker asked an excellent question.  By the way, great professional speakers ask great questions.

“What about volunteering with your family”? It was not clear in yesterday’s post, so here it is now.

All our volunteer efforts start with, “Can we do this as a Family”?

Not only is being visible important to setting a good example, but so is involvement.

My wife serves as a Minister of Holy Communion on the days I Lector. Afterwards, our son helps me carry the Gospel (a very large, heavy book) back to the Sacristy.  Been doing this since he could walk.

It was cute the first few years because it was only symbolic.  He was not strong enough to actually help. But children don’t care. He actually believed he was lifting it.

You know, in a weird sort of way, he actually was.  Carpe diem, jeff noel