toni lagaras

Make a whip…

Have you ever made anything? I mean anything. It could be a meal or a batch of cookies. It could be crocheting a blanket or making a birdhouse. All of these things have one thing in common… a list of materials. Anytime you start a project, you generally start with a list of materials you’ll need to make your project. Unless you’re MacGyver, then you can just look around the room and make a radio from a pocket knife, a paperclip, and some string! (And I just lost everyone who grew up after the ’80’s! LOL) Jesus made something, and we need to make something too…

Choices, choices, choices…

All diets start with a choice. And not just start….there are a continual array of choices. Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight can attest to it. And…it’s not always easy. I lost a ton of weight a few years ago, and a couple months after I started, we had a birthday party for one of our kids complete with cake and ice cream. I did great during the party…didn’t eat a bite, but then it started. I could swear the ice cream was calling my name from the freezer. “Just one little taste. C’mon! A little bite won’t hurt!” Then the fight began. You know the fight…the one in your head where you know you shouldn’t, but you really really want to, but you firmly decide not to, and you try to think of anything else besides that ice cream, but it keeps calling your name, and you resist and resist and resist…..and then you fail. Miserably. And eat the ice cream. Ugh! To reach our potential, we are going to have to make some though choices…

Good things come to those who wait…or do they?

When I was little, I loved gymnastics. Nadia Comaneci was my role model, and I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast. I did gymnastics at the YWCA for a couple years and tried out for the team….and I made it. The first backhandspring of my first practice, I broke both bones of my forearm in half, and that was the end of my career. So, I did the next best thing. I tried out for cheerleading for 8th grade. And I didn’t make it. I tried out for cheerleading for 9th grade, and I didn’t make it. I tried out for cheerleading for 10th grade……and FINALLY….I made the team. I kept practicing. I kept trying. And finally, it all paid off. Good things don’t just come to those who wait….sometimes you have to work for it while you wait….sometimes you have to fight for it….

Play all 4!

My oldest son plays football. He plays receiver and corner back. And the first couple games of the season last year, they would be winning up until the 4th quarter. In the 4th quarter, they would just stop playing, and they would lose it. The mantra at practice became Play All 4! They would chant it. Coach would say it over and over, and the next game, sure enough, they played tough to the end. And they won. Abraham can show us a lot about persevering…about playing all 4…

The “What If” Game

Have you ever been facing a struggle about something and had trouble sleeping and you play the “What If” game? “What if…I can’t find a job?” “What if…I keep getting sicker?” “How am I going to get that money that I need?” Maybe it’s a situation with someone close to you and you keep playing out scenarios in your mind. “If they say this, I’ll answer with this. Then they’ll get it!” “I know I prayed and I know God can…but what if?” There is a fight going on between your head and your heart…you trust God, but what if? Ever been there? I sure have…

Category: faith (page 15)

Make a whip…

Choices, choices, choices…

Good things come to those who wait…or do they?

Play all 4!

The “What If” Game

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