So I was watching one of my favorite movies the other day with the kids. Actually they were watching it with me. I was the one that started it with no one else in the room and they all gathered together within minutes of hearing the theme song. You know how it is when you have an urge to watch something. So there I was on the couch watching “The Incredibles” One of the best movies ever.

The essence of the story as you remember is that you have a super hero, ‘Mr. Incredible’, who has been asked along with the rest of the ‘Supers’ to integrate back into society and not do there superhero work anymore. So we find Bob Parr (aka Mr. Incredible) relinquished to the cubicle world of an insurance agency. He dreamed of being back out on the street helping people and was hating his new job and living in a cookie cutter neighborhood. Why would someone not care for a stable family, job and house in the middle of the suburbs?

Because he had been ruined for the ordinary. He used to be a crime fighter, lifesaver, and front page news. Once you have experienced something really great you do not want to go back to just everyday living.

Ever had really good sushi? You have no desire to buy that party platter at Costco ever again.
Have you have ever been to a really great water park? The kiddy pool seems so anti-climatic after that.
Been to Powell’s bookstore? There doesn’t even seem to be a need for a Borders anymore.
Have you swam the water in Hawaii or the Caribbean? Nothing else compares.

You get ruined for the ordinary once you have experience some the of the finer things of life.

This reminded me of the story in Acts chapter 4 and 5. Peter and John just healed a guy that had been paralyzed for several decades. Because of that, they get in a bit of a pickle with the religious establishment. They are imprisoned and told not talk about Jesus or heal anymore. They are told to just be normal, like the rest of the loyal citizens. They were faced with being excommunicated from the church, being imprisoned and possible being put to death.

But on their day of freedom they prayed for more boldness, more healings, more miracles. They pray for the same things that got them in trouble. (or better said) They pray for the finer things of life. They had been ruined for the ordinary way of going about their day to day life. They just saw a man get healed and you can not go back once you have seen that. They had been ruined for the ordinary.

As I was watching Bob Parr transform back into Mr. Incredible I wondered why he would want to put the work in to getting in shape. Why would he forfeit making an actual salary? Why would he want to put his life and families life back into danger? Oh that is right, he was ruined for the ordinary.

What things have you experienced that make you not want to go back to the ordinary?

So I have been drinking water in substitution for all the other drinks I might consume for over a week now. I am doing this for the 40 days of water campaign to raise money for drinking water wells in Uganda.  Check out my progress thus far.. http://40days.bloodwatermission.com/josephfehlen

I have also been feeling really much better about myself while doing it. (after I got through the caffeine headaches.)  I came across these states about water that would seem to back up how I have been feeling.

Always remember that 23% of stats are made up on the spot…or was that %34?

 

#1.   75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the world population)

#2.     In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger

#3.    Even MILD dehydration will slow down one’s metabolism as much as  3%.

#4.   One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

#5.     Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

#6.    Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

#7.    A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page 

#8.   Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?

 

 

 

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Has your mother or father ever said, “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today”?  Or have you had a teacher that got on you for procrastinating?  I find myself most Friday afternoon wondering why I didn’t study more during the week for my messages. Procrastination is not a good thing…unless.

Unless you are procrastinating your worry.  Worry is a perfect thing to put off until tomorrow and if you do today well it just might not be there when tomorrow rolls around.

Gail Hyatt wrote a great piece recently. In it she says,  “You may have very good reason to worry. The worst-case may indeed come to pass. But … not today. Just wait to worry”  Coming from a women with great motherly advice this is a great article for you to check out.

As I have said many times, do today well and tomorrow will take care of itself.  We only have the time we are in currently and if we do that well the rest will be better. Worry is a thing that hinders us from doing the now well. I would encourage you to wait to worry.

I have been feeling this uneasy pressure lately that I am becoming engulfed by media and what it is developing me into. Then I read “Vertical Self: How Biblical Faith can help us discover who we are in an age of self obsession” by Mark Sayers. This is ultimately a book about finding our true identity in God as we move more towards peace and balance in our lives. But ultimately I saw it as a great eye opener of how our culture and media is imprinting its identity and expectation on us.

Sayer takes great pain to move us from our horizontal self that is being formed from our surroundings to being a part of a greater reality, our vertical self. He takes a new and updated approach on the classic literature we have on holiness and purity. Through a tremendous amount of stories, studies and personal experiences the author brings you right into the book. A chapter does not go by where you do not see yourself or someone you are in close relations with in the words he writes.

He hits hard our concept of cool, sexy and life being about “me”. Because of these pursuits for horizontal experiences we have lost the vertical experience with God. We have become consumers of Christianity and have not allowed it to change us.

This is a great read. Not to heavy, not to light. I have personally started to change some of my life habits as I detox a bit from my horizontal self.

 

“I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review.”

 

 

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As many of you know I work with Casino Road Ministries to help kids in an area of our town that is not to be desired.  We do this through homework clubs, Bible clubs, and mentoring kids. I volunteer at our Tuesday afternoon Cooperstone Apartment club and Wednesday night homework club. I also go weekly to the local middle school to help two eighth graders with their math (and basic social stuff). These activities are the life blood of my week.

I came across this great video which highlights what it means to help a little one.  This comes from Donald Miller at The Mentoring Project down in Portland.  It is just two minutes, so check it out. 

Why don’t you think about how you can impact the life of a child today!