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Monthly Archives: January 2018

Words Of Wisdom

An Interview With God

I was cleaning up my desktop on my computer the other day.  No easy task.  If you saw my desktop, you would know why.  In the process of exercising my best efforts of tidiness and organization, I came across a document that I had titled, What surprises you most? I had no idea where I found this in the first place so, in an effort not to plagiarize words; I did some research.  Here is what I found out.  The actual author of these words is a gentleman named Jim Brown.  Mr. Brown is no longer with us as he died in 2002, but his original work lives on.  Here it is:

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.  “If you have the time”, I said…God smiled.

“My time is eternity, … what questions do you have in mind for me?”
“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered.

“That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up and then long to be children again.”

“That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health.”

“That by thinking anxiously about the future, that they forget the present, such that they live neither in the present or the future.”

“That they live as if they will never die and die as if they had never lived.”

God’s hand took mine and we were silent for a while.  And then I asked.
“As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons

By |2018-01-29T11:50:00+00:00January 29th, 2018|Categories: Thoughts from the Barn|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments
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Running Through The Dark

The Dark Side

The past few weeks have brought with them some challenges.  Many of these trials feel like they have a dark side to them.  As I was reflecting on the best way to handle each of these tests of my mettle, I remembered a story that I heard many years ago.  It is the story of The Legend of Cliff Young.  It goes like this.

Cliff Young

In 1983 Cliff Young showed up to the starting line of one of the world’s toughest races.  Every year, Australia hosts a 544-mile ultra marathon from Sydney to Melbourne.  This race has been coined as one of the most grueling endurance races in which someone can compete.  This event takes five days to complete and as a rule only world-class athletes who train exclusively for this race dare to enter.

I Can Do This

Cliff Young was a 61-year old farmer who showed up in his Osh Kosh overalls and workboots with galoshes over the top to run the race.  Cliff lived with his mother, had never been married, and had never run in any kind of a competitive race before.  He was asked by reporters if he had any sponsors or backers.  People said he was crazy and that he would never finish the race.  Cliff told the reporters that he grew up on a farm with no horses or four wheelers to round up the sheep on the farm.  Cliff talked about having to gather the

By |2018-01-24T13:45:50+00:00January 24th, 2018|Categories: Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Addicted and Disconnected

Addicted and Disconnected

Addicted and disconnected. It seems like the more access we have to smartphones, iPads, tablets, and computers and the information they provide the more detached and disengaged we are becoming. And, make no mistake the creators of social media sites have and will continue to exploit the vulnerability in human psychology.

Here are some sobering facts for you:

1. Pre-teens spend at least 8 hours a day 7/24 in front of a screen.
2. Teenagers spend up to 11 hours a day 7/24 in front of a screen.
3. Research shows that anyone who spends more than one hour a day online will have the activity patterns of their brains changed dramatically.
4. Sixty-four percent of households leave the television on during dinner.
5. Sixty percent of eleven to fourteen-year-olds play violent video games. Seventy-two percent of fifteen to eighteen-year-olds play violent video games.
6. The average parent spends on 3.5 minutes a week, yes a week, in direct connection with their children.

The copious amount of time that we are spending on our devices is changing the neuroplasticity of our brains. Young children and teenagers are the most at risk because their brains are most malleable and able to adapt to what they are being exposed to, all leading to mental and emotional health issues.

We Are In Trouble

We are in trouble folks and if you don’t believe it, or don’t want to believe it, watch this video and then pick up a copy of Thomas J. Kersting’s book called Disconnected: How to Reconnect Our Digitally

By |2018-01-10T10:09:38+00:00January 9th, 2018|Categories: Thoughts from the Barn|0 Comments
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