I didn't think someone could be so cocky

Confidence is great, arrogance not so much. There are people that think they know all. Cockiness flows from them like sweat on a hot day. There was a guy I used to play hockey with, we will call him Troy. Troy was a guy who grew up playing hockey and thought he was going to be drafted and destined for the NHL. He was a very good player, made me look like a fool a couple of times in net. Every time we stepped on the ice, there was only one speed, fast.

It didn’t matter if it was a pickup game or a playoff game, he went all out. My brother Zach and I were playing drop in hockey and Troy was playing like a jerk. In drop in there are people of all different skills yet most people are laid back. Troy was not one of them. Zach and I were just getting into ice hockey more that summer and this was about the fifth time Zach ever played ice hockey. So early in the session Troy came up to Zach with the puck did a sweet move and went right by him. It was a great move.

What Troy didn’t know was Zach was a little bit of a natural, it never looked like he only skated five times. So a little later Zach with natural ability did the same move to Troy and blew past. Troy was ticked and tried to slash Zach all the way down the ice. A little bit of info, Zach was 6-2ish 200 pounds, Troy was 5-9, 155-160 pounds. Zach didn’t put up with crap though and after getting hooked all the way down the ice, he took him into the boards. Needless to say, Zach laughed, Troy was ticked and as he tried to get up to get in Zach’s face twisted his knee and fell to the ice. Troy then hobbled to the bench. Zach didn’t want to be a complete jerk and went to the bench to check on him. Troy responded, “Get out of my face before I blast you.” Zach tried to be nice, but upon Troy being a jerk to him Zach said, “Man, this is my fifth time playing ice hockey and I went by you like nothing, try harder next time.”

We can all be nice or be jerks. Romans 12:3…

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”

We live life the way we want. We can be humble, respecting others or we can live like jerks. There is something about humble people that I just love. People who don’t think of themselves as all powerful. Paul shares with us the point of humbleness. We shouldn’t value ourselves above others. When we look at what we do compared to what God has done we are a bug on a windshield, we can’t compare.

Yet even in our small statue, we can still think highly of ourselves. We are not called to be conceited or big-headed but rather modest and simple.

What are ways you can be humble today? Who can you show that you are respectful? Can you put yourself in their place and show more respect? There is beauty in humbleness.

Have a great day.

If your friends suck, maybe it’s you that sucks and they’re all awesome

Having friends can make all the difference in the world.

There have been scientific facts of what having friends in our lives can do for us.  Lower blood pressure, higher happiness in life and other things you can find out if you go to the Mayo Clinic website.  It’s nice to have great friends.

Friends came through for Paul in Acts 27:3…

“The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for  his needs.”

As Paul was sailing as a jailed prisoner, he was able to go see his friends to meet for his needs.  Friends can meet a need in our lives.  Friends can make a huge difference in the lives of others.  Sometimes though, we are not the best friends.  We think of our own thoughts and wants above others.

There was a time I thought I was really good friends with someone else.  We were talking online one time and I noticed the conversation was all about him (This isn’t always a bad thing). So I kept talking and saw if he would swing the conversation around, her never did. We were decent friends, but I realized the majority of the time we just talked about what he wanted to do.

Finally I decided to stop calling him and saw if he contacted me back. He never did. As a result, we went our separate ways. There are times I have not been a good friend and need to work on it. A good friend can make all the difference in the world.

I am glad to be surrounded by so many loving people.  There are things I need to do to be a better friend. What are something’s you like in a friend? What are things you can improve on to be a better friend? Are you a friend that can meet other’s needs? If not, you can improve and help someone out in a tough time. Try to work on being a better friend today.

Have a great day.

The Bloomin Onion burger = eating over a full dozen of glazed dounts….NO WAY

Something so good could be so bad.

I am a fan of Outback steakhouse.

They are a little on the pricey side so we can’t go there all the time, but if Hailee and I were going on a hot date and money wasn’t an issue, most likely we could end up at Outback.

About 1-2 years ago they added a burger to their menu.

The Bloomin Onion burger.

It’s the Bloomin Onion appetizer on top of a cheeseburger.

It is amazing!

My second favorite burger next to the bonzi burger from Red Robin.

It is amazing.

On top of that I have them make the fries into outback cheese fries.

This is an amazing meal.

I love the taste and I enjoy every bite.

Until I see the health content….

1,221 Calories

77g fat
30g of saturated fat
249 mg cholesterol
2831 mg sodium
76g carbs

BUT

There are 7g of fiber and 56g of protein so I have that going for me.

Take it I do switch mustard with the bloomin onion sauce, so I think that lowers everything about 50 percent right?

Then the killer is the cheese fries.

The cheese fries at outback are amazing.

We usually order them and I eat about 75 percent of them.

Health content for cheese fries with ranch (We eat without ranch)…

2,900 calories182g fat and 240g carbs

Wow.

On top of it all, Men’s Health listed the cheese fries at outback the Number 1 worst food to eat in America.

How do I live when I eat this meal?

How could something that taste so good, be so bad for you?

This can happen so many times in life.

Something we enjoy especially for a quick fix can be so bad for us.

Sometimes its food, sometimes it’s something we get caught up in and other times it could be people.

Could something that is good for us, we hate?

A lot of people could say vegetables in here, but what about people?

Listen to how they describe Stephen and what opposition he faced in Acts 6:8-10…

“Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.  Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called) – Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia.  These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.”

Stephen was known for doing amazing things and yet people didn’t like him.

How could someone known for doing amazing things, be a bad person to the people?

Sometimes we are very hard on other people.

I have seen this happen in schools a lot where the people that are really nice and respectful are treated like dirt by other people.

Why is this?

What makes us be bad to good people?

Stephen was a great man and yet people didn’t like him.

They tried to speak against him but he was wise beyond them.

Stephen was a great person.

Some things like that burger are very bad even though they taste very good.

People treated Stephen very bad even though he was very good.

Bad vs. Good.

How does this happen?

Why do we sometimes treat good people so bad?

Think about one person you are not nice too.

Why are you mad at that person?

Could the relationship be saved?

Things can change in life.

Attitudes can change.

We don’t have to make the same mistakes and can repair relationships.

We don’t have to treat other people bad when they honestly could be very nice people.

How can you be nice to someone you have been mean to today?

Have a great day!