A rude awakening...

The thrust of our summer series, "The Good Stuff," is to focus more on the good, positive, productive things in our life that God has given us, and less on the negative, unhealthy, unproductive stuff. We're using Galatians 5 as our text, keying on on what Paul calls "fruit of the Spirit." These "fruit" are things like love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, self-control...and a few others. Good stuff, indeed.

In order to get a better handle on these things that seem intangible and maybe hard to get a handle on, we'll be using some real-life kind of situations that are easier to grasp. For instance...

One of the ways I tend to focus on the "bad stuff" to the exclusion of the "good stuff" relates to my health. I like food that is bad for me, and don't like food that is good for me. I like sitting and watching movies, and I don't much care for exercise. The result? I'm gaining weight and have much less energy. Not a good thing.

So, I've made a commitment that during this 9-week/10-Sunday series, I'm going to focus on the good stuff and less on the bad stuff...meaning I'm going to eat less, eat healthier, and get more exercise. My tangible goal to help me is to lose 10 pounds.

So...I began a couple of days ago. Eating less junk. Eating more healthy food...including stuff that I do not like. Eating less in general. And working out. I worked out for the first time...in a VERY long time...today.

A very rude awakening.

Maybe you'd like to set a goal this summer to help you focus more on the good stuff and less on the negative. I'll have some ideas for you in the days and weeks.

Stay tuned. More to come.