day 1119: Forgetfulness

"No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead..."

Okay, in the spirit of full transparency, I have become more forgetful. Call it age, call it too much on my plate, or just call it too much data/information coming at me, but whatever it is, I'm more inclined to be forgetful today than in the past.  I've always been a note taker and today I am more so than ever.  What is cool about today is that with so many different pieces of technology that can help us store, organize and recover what we have gathered.  There is Evernote, which I love.  Our phones give us apps like Catcha and built in applications for note taking both written and spoken. There is also Dropbox, Google Drive and Box for storage.  I guess the problem could someday be that we become forgetful about what is stored where, but I suspect there will be a solution for that as well.  What is for certain is that with all of the technology solutions that there shouldn't be any excuse for forgetfulness. Within the coming years, those who are forgetful will become more obvious for being unorganized, lazy, or symptomatic of a greater problem. Will this make us more efficient and productive within our companies, we will see!

So, there is one area of our lives that we are to be forgetful and that is our forgiveness of others. Nope, we are not to write down all of the transgressions that others have committed against us and keep them for after we forgive.  Imagine if God was to do that with us?  If He managed our sins like a credit score, we’d all be in big trouble.  But, that is not God’s way. His way is to model for us the ultimate in forgetfulness.  Once we ask for forgiveness, He doesn’t keep track, He just forgives and forgets, like we should.  Being truly forgiving and forgetful towards others is one of the most powerful examples of Christ that we can take to work with us today. Imagine if our reputations were to be the person that everyone could count on to be truly forgiving and to never dredge up the past?

Reference: Philippians 3:13 (New Living Translation)

day 935: The Right Course

"My child, listen and be wise; keep your heart on the right course."

Our future is built upon our past.  Seems simple enough to understand but not always appreciated and too often the past is forgotten so we make a mistake again that was made before.  Every now and then it is good to evaluate our past and what it is that we should continue to take forward and what it is that we should shed.  This is why I like services such as EverNote that allows for us to store and keep those things from the past that can be brought forward into the present within keystrokes.  It is also good to honor achievements that have brought us to where we are today.  43 years ago yesterday, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on the moon.  I have had the pleasure of meeting Neil and serving along side of him in purposes of our shared alma mater, Purdue.  Neil won't be with us forever, but what he did and the course that it launched our country on with science, technology, engineering and product designs, will forever be remembered and hopefully appreciated.  Like the monumental task it was to get a man on the moon, each of our businesses need to have those seemingly crazy dreams and goals to push ourselves onto a course that once on, would seem just as crazy to abandon.

King David challenges us to find and stay on the right course in maybe the hardest of all places; in our hearts.  How easy it is to say, "I've had a change of heart". When we say those words, or hear them, let's take pause and be sure that we are listening and challenging ourselves about the course we are on.  How sweet it feels when our hearts are right with God and others!  Today, as we start this week, let's put a crazy challenge in front of ourselves and establish a course that is right for our heart that would solve a problem we might have with a co-worker.  Without knowing, who or what, I know that we all have something and someone that if we listen closely to what God is saying, we will know what it is that we need to right.  Tomorrow's post will continue this course more....

Reference: Proverbs 23:19 (New Living Translation)