the value of time and thoughts

this post has been sitting. it's been looking for love. yearning to be posted. every time i try to finish it i change my mind on something i've typed. i've been thinking a lot lately. i've been thinking about life. my future. and what to do about college. i've been doing too much thinking. too much questioning. and i want all the answers because i have a control problem. i like to be in control all the time. doesn't matter where or what i'm doing i like to be in control of things. but i think that i've only made myself think i'm in control. i'm not. God is and when i can truly accept that i'll be living. until then i'm only tricking myself to believe i'm in control. so right now i'm sitting in silence, only to hear the clicking of the keys, and staring at the blinking cursor wondering what do i need to say.. but nothing comes.. from here on out my heart is leading the words written. not my mind. i don't need to say anything. but i always will have something to say. i thought blogging would be a spot to just throw my thoughts down, but now it's become the spot to throw everything down and organize it. i also had the assumption that it would be somewhat of a hassle to blog. i've started blogs before and left them just sitting on the internet wasting space. but this blog is fun to write on. i can't tell you how long i've really despised writing but this blog is fun to write. it's enjoyable and i think i like writing now. if you're reading this mumble-jumble of mess i like to call my blog. thanks. it's nice to think that someone, somewhere reads what i write. it's nice to know that you care about the mumbled-jumbled things that i like to call my thoughts. it has been a busy day and i'm looking forward to resting. i can't help but wonder what all my busy schedule means. does it mean that i'm trying to figure out how to manage time? what does it mean? i'm confused. bewildered. puzzled. i just don't have all the answers...yet..will i ever?

quote of the day:

'until you value yourself, you won't value time. until you value your time, you will not do anything' - m. scott peck

joke of the day:

70-year-old george went for his annual physical. he told the doctor that he felt fine, but often had to go to the bathroom during the night. then he said, "but you know doc, i'm blessed. God knows my eyesight is going, so he puts on the light when I pee, and turns it off when i'm done!"

a little later in the day, dr. Smith called george's wife and said, "your husband's test results were fine, but he said something strange that has been bugging me. he claims that God turns the light on and off for him when uses the bathroom at night."

thelma exclaimed, "that old fool! he's been peeing in the refrigerator again!"

have a lovely saturday. look for nice weather. much love and peace, dmaloney

it's called a sacrifice for a reason

here's a link to a church cartoon blog, some fun, truths about the church in cartoon form so it's pretty cool. to the left is one of his cartoons. and the link is below

http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/

lent continues to be a topic of interest in my mind and in my house. and i hope my post on ash wednesday was not miss interpreted, and the more i think about it. i maybe completely contradict what i said.

after much more considerations and prayer i've realized that i should sacrifice something for God. i've been give up a plethora of bad habits in the past couple weeks. and it someways i think that it has changed me. i'm more jovial. but i still feel that God wants something more from me. i feel that God is the usher standing with his outstretched arm, holding the offering plate that 'everyone' has contributed to. and in a way i feel that i shouldn't fall into the pressure of lent. change my own opinion of lent. but the other side of me says "jesus, gave his life on a cross. he had nails driven into his hands and feet. worn a crown of thorns. and all you can promise to do is blog for forty days. lame." the purpose of all of this is sacrifice. what am i sacrificing to feel maybe only one-billionth of what jesus sacrificed on the cross.

so i've thought about fasting. i've thought about technology. i've thought about reading more. i've thought about a bunch of things. our lives revolve around time and technology. am i wrong? we wake up run to school/church/work. then to some much we barely sit for more than twenty minutes at a time. and through all of this we're facebooking, tweeting, blogging, texting, calling (you get the picture). and then we repeat.

we do all of this without even thinking if maybe all we need is some silence. time to sort things out, but we're so absorbed in all of lifes distractions that your prayer can be interrupted by a call.

so i think this lent i'm going to do my best to blog to you for forty days+. and i'm going to spend time in silence. what i like to call jesus time.

quote of the day:

“dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. no one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”- 1 john 4:11-12

quote of the day:



What do you call a country where everyone drives a red car?





A red carnation.





photo of the day:

what sacrifice will you choose this lent? much love and peace, dmaloney

what's your metaphor?

i recently started listening to regina spektor thanks to becca and emily and i came upon this song laughing with. the song really made me think so here's the link to the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rov3pV9PsRI

and i've listened to it time after time and every time i try to discover her message. i mean what is she really trying to say. is she trying to tell me not to God so seriously? is she saying God can be funny? maybe she's saying God is multifaceted. she's saying God is there for every situation. you can rely on him in when the police officer comes to your door with bad news. he's there when you're in war. he's there when you're starving. he's there when you're in the hospital. he's there when you need love. but he's not only there for the bad. God is there for you when you're searching for something funny to say. he's there when you just need someone to bounce ideas off of. so maybe regina spektor has the right outlook on God. God is always there in the good and the bad, and just like love, he wants all of you. he's wants you all the time. not only when you're scared or hurt or worried. he wants you when you're laughing. when you're crying. when you're thinking. when you're cleaning. when you're driving. when you're sleeping. God wants all of you. your soul. your mind. your strength. all of you all the time and that's a scary concept. it scary to give all of yourself to something you can see but that the point of faith. God doesn't just want your mind. he doesn't only want to see you on sunday. he doesn't just want you to call on him when you're struggling or in pain. he wants to hear it all. God wants to know about your paper-cut. your promotion. the five dollars you won on a scratch-off lottery ticket. he wants it all. the best analogy i can think of is when your best friends finds out some awesome news and not only do they neglect to tell you but you find out from an acquaintance that you barely know. the feeling is horrible. and that's how God feels when you only talk to him when you need a favor. i have been reading a book called God the what? lately and it's a book about our metaphors that we have for God. i think we all have our own metaphors that show each of us something different about our faith. i like to think of God as a best friend. a nursing mother. a light. the most-high. and love. we each have our own unique metaphors for looking at God and for myself my metaphors for God change with the situation that i'm in. when i'm looking and worrying about my future God is a light. when i'm in pain God is a nursing mother. and when i just need someone to talk to God is my best friend. this is what regina spektor is saying. God isn't just a healer. he's not just a father. he's everything and no matter what time of day he's there. so don't just go to God on sunday mornings or when you're scared. go to him when you're happy. sad. and looking for love. bring it all to him.



" we do not have to let go of one sense of God to take up another. neither do we need to about challenging old metaphors. what is crucial is to find a metaphor-- or two, or six-- that creatively point toward what we believe." - from chapter one of God the what? what our metaphors for God reveal about our beliefs in God

Joke of the Day: this one is quite long.. but i really like this one.. credit to jay cooper..
Little Carol came into the kitchen where her mother was making dinner.
Her birthday was coming up and she thought this was a good time to tell her mother what she wanted. 'Mom, I want a bike for my birthday.'Now, Little Carol was a bit of a troublemaker. She had gotten into trouble at school and at home. Carol's mother asked her if she thought she deserved to get a bike for her birthday. Little Carol, of course, thought she did.
Carol's mother, being a Christian woman, wanted her to reflect on her behavior over the last year, and write a letter to God and tell him why she deserved a bike for her birthday. Little Carol stomped up the steps to her room and sat down to write God a letter.

LETTER 1:
Dear God:
I have been a very good girl this year and I would like a bike for my birthday. I want a red one.
Your friend, Carol

Carol knew this wasn't true. She had not been a very good girl this year, so she tore up the letter and started over.
LETTER 2:
Dear God:
This is your friend Carol. I have been a pretty good girl this year, and I would like a red bike for my birthday.
Thank you, Carol

Carol knew this wasn't true either. She tore up the letter and started again.
LETTER 3:
Dear God:
I know I haven't been a good girl this year. I am very sorry. I will be a good girl if you just send me a red bike for my birthday.
Thank you, Carol

Carol knew, even if it was true, this letter was not going to get her a bike. By now, she was very upset. She went downstairs and told her mother she wanted to go to church.
Carol's mother thought her plan had worked because Carol looked very sad.
'Just be home in time for dinner,' her mother said.Carol walked down the street to the church and up to the altar. She looked around to see if anyone was there. She picked up a statue of the Virgin Mary, slipped it under her jacket and ran out of the church, down the street, into her
house, and up to her room. She shut the door and sat down and wrote her letter to God.

LETTER 4:
I GOT YOUR MAMA.
IF YOU WANT TO SEE HER AGAIN, SEND THE BIKE.
Signed,
YOU KNOW WHO


enjoy your saturday and valentine's day.. much love and peace, dmaloney

does love have a price tag?

so it's that time of year again... valentine's day. it's pretty well a love or hate holiday. am i right? i've always thought of it as a halmark holiday. a day to spend extra money as proof of love. chocolate. flowers. expensive dinners and wine. but maybe it's really a holiday to remind us to love. it's not the money you spend but the thought. the care. the love. so this morning i looked at one of my favorite pair of shoes and saw that they obviously needed to be loved. so i grabbed the crazy glue and i glued them back together and as i worked to get my shoes to look somewhat presentable i glued my fingers to the shoe. at first i didn't realize it but when i pulled my fingers away the glue ripped some skin off of my fingers and it hurt. now i know that this may sound ridiculous but i tried to revive my shoes out of love. right? so i caused pain on myself out of love. love is crazy and it makes people do even crazier things. people throw themselves in front of buses for the people they love. and when i think about the craziness of love i can't help but think of the life of Christ. i just think that he lived knowing it would all end on the cross, in pain. but it was out of love. so maybe, just maybe, the missing skin on my fingers is a small price to pay for love. does love have a price tag? no, it wants all of you. love calls us to give everything and love is paralyzing. so this valentine's day don't buy overpriced flowers or chocolates. just love with all you are because we all need love.

Quote of the Day:

"The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread."-mother teresa

Joke of the Day: longer than usual hope it's worth the time.

Two friends are discussing the possibility of love. "I thought I was in love three times," one friend says.

"How so?" his friend asks.

"Five years ago I deeply cared for a woman who wanted nothing to do with me."

"Was that not love?" his friend asks.

"No," he replies. "That was obsession. And then two years ago I deeply cared for an attractive woman who didn't understand me."

"Was that not love?"

"No," he replies. "That was lust. And just last year I met a woman aboard a cruise ship to the Caribbean. She was smart, funny, and a great conversationalist. And everywhere I followed her on that boat, I would get this strange sensation in the pit of my stomach."

"Was that not love?" his friend asks.

"No," he replies. "That was motion sickness."

Picture of the Day:

try looking at things with a new perspective.

enjoy your friday night and valentine's day. maybe it's love or maybe it's motion sickness.

much love and peace, dmaloney