Solving The Puzzle

My wife and I have started playing a game called Kami 2 on our mobile devices. It’s a puzzle game where the player has a predetermined number of moves to change colored segments into one, unified color. It is addicting and if you really get into it, you will become frustrated. But if you keep at it and solve the puzzle, you will be satisfied...until you start the next level and become challenged all over again!

My wife introduced the game to her friend, who fell in love with it, even though she continually cursed it out!  She would play all night.  One morning, after staying the night at our house, she woke up tired. I asked her if she was ok. She stated, “Your wife has ruined my life!” I ask, “Why? What’s wrong?” She stated, “I stayed up until 1AM playing that darn game!  I got stuck on this level.” She wanted to feel the satisfaction of advancing to the next level of the game.  

We all want to do that! Whether it is a video game or real life: It may be a challenge you are facing on your job, a bully in school, a relationship issue, an emotional struggle, a financial trial, or a physical test with your health. Whatever you are dealing with, try the following:

1. Give yourself a head start - read all you can about what you are attempting to accomplish.
2. Focus on your task. Don’t allow your surroundings to distract you.
3. Don’t stop trying. Keep plugging away. Your experience is what will prepare you for the next level.
4. Connect with someone who can help you.  Community is so helpful when you are burdened. People can comfort and encourage you. They can also offer you helpful tips that you may not have thought of previously.

Many times, in real life, we keep ourselves up at night; we get frustrated; we fuss and cuss because we have spent SO much time on this level, when we know we should be at the next level by now.  

Try the tips above and see if they help you become successful this week in whatever you are facing.

Share your positive story with us below. The more we share, the more we help each other!

Is The Rain Impacting Your Progress?

It's raining today in Syracuse, NY. There is no sunshine and I don’t see anyone outside enjoying themselves. Everyone I see seems to be on a mission to get to their destination. 

Many people living in Syracuse love the snowy weather, but I haven't seen the same sentiment expressed about the rain. 

The rain is interesting. It falls on everything in its path. It makes us uncomfortable, to the point that we rush to get out of it. Visual beauty seems to disappear in the rain. Everything absorbent becomes wet and soggy. Dirt becomes mud. Rain brings about dangers to our modern society. Roads become slippery, electricity becomes more of a hazard. Too much rain may cause flooding in certain areas, which can bring about drownings, disease and other safety issues. I have also noticed that people tend to smile less in the rain. 

The rain is interesting. Even though it seems to bring so much depression, it is actually the miracle we all rely on. It sustains life on our planet. It is the source of our drinking water. It causes our food sources to be plentiful. I read somewhere that work productivity increases when it rains. Finally, someone told me that its great to make out in the rain 😚.

No matter how much we may be hindered by the rain; no matter how much chaos it may bring to our immediacy; no matter how much it may delay us from reaching our destinations; no matter the dangers that it my present; no matter the obstacles it may create for us, we have to keep in mind that eventually it will work out for our benefit. 

If you are experiencing trouble in your life right now, know that your greatest blessing will come out of that challenge, if you endure it.  You have what it takes to overcome it or you would not be trusted with it. God is working something out within you to make you stronger, wiser, and better equipped for the plans He has for your future.  When it rains on you today, put up your umbrella and stand tall in the midst of the storm. Keep progressing to your destination.  You will make it.  The rain is only temporary. The sun will eventually shine. 

Until you get to that great moment, focus on your progress; work diligently to conquer your challenges and keep in mind that your victory is on the way! You have the strength to make it, you just have to believe that God has given you everything you need to endure and advance.  Continue progressing.

Can we learn from a buoy?

Buoy - an anchored float serving as a navigation mark, to show reefs or other hazards, or for mooring.

Even though it has an anchor connected to it, it never sinks. Sometimes our problems and circumstances feel like the weight of the world is on our shoulders.  Sometimes it feels like we are being pulled down and we are all alone in this ocean of life. When we make that our focus or our priority of thought, we lose focus on what we were created for. Or we never realize how we are being used in our situations. You see, a buoy was created to sit alone in an ocean.  Without its weight, it would be tossed in whatever direction the current of life moved it. A buoy was designed to be a navigation mark which warns of hazards. It actually serves others. It helps others know when danger is ahead, because it lives in the open water.  It sees danger every day. It battles the current of the ocean everyday. It is hit with waves that try to drown it and sink it daily. 

You see, you are a buoy. You have been placed in the world for a specific purpose that serves others.  You have been placed where you are,  at this very moment, for the purpose of the creator; a purpose to serve others, to help others.  That may be in seeing the dangers that you have already been through; warning of troubling circumstances; or standing still to allow others to see how you deal with adversity, troubles and trials, or actively pursuing what is right in an environment of wrong. 

The buoy is weighted. It has been anchored so that it won’t be carried away whenever it is pushed, battered or bruised.  It will move, but it will not alter. It will stand for what it was created for, no matter what it faces. And when the waves of life beat it up, it doesn’t give up!  

Don’t give up!  No matter what you have gone through, are going through or will go through, pursue your purpose, stand firm against adversity; stand firm against what you know is wrong, not just for yourself, but for everyone who crosses your path. 

God has created you for a purpose.  He has placed you where you are, right now, to accomplish what He has destined you to do or to learn and be prepared for what he is planning for your future. 

I have been called to live as an example to break down the still present walls of segregation, discrimination, misunderstanding and hate in our world. That’s so hard! God has positioned me in a situation that is not comfortable. I never intended to live in the ninth most segregated city in the United States. I didn’t know that statistic before moving here. I also am a pastor at a predominantly white church. I am black and that population is less than two percent at this church. Convincing people to move out of their comfort zone and embrace what makes them uncomfortable is a challenge, but a necessary one to make this a better world. 

What is your calling, mission or purpose?  What challenges are you facing? What are you doing, in the midst of your circumstances to serve others?  

Leave a comment and let's start a discussion that will change this world!