You Are a Leader

Good leadership reflects the character of the leader. People are aways impressed if the results of a project are good. If not so good it may lead to heated arguments.

The goal of any leader is to motivate  a person, group, or organization for the common good. We, the hard working people that we are, will know them by the fruits of their labor. Like you, I can easily identify with many good and not so good things that will make my blood boil, figuratively speaking. 

Many years ago when I was young and good looking if you believe that,   I worked at McDonald's our local hamburger joint. Everybody wanted to turn over the burgers on the grill or serve customers at the counter. It was fun to operate the cash register. No body wanted to wash dishes or empty the garbage cans.

Whenever I saw garbage cans overflow it reflected poor management. In addition workers liked to bully their peers or manipulate the boss and it showed. 

It doesn't work that way in baseball. Baseball is a team sport and all the players must do their best if they expect to win ball games. The manager must use his players according to their skills and talent. The win/lost record will tell the rest of the story. 

I like to think that 'teaching' goes along with 'leadership.' Both have the capability of influencing people. When I was in Bible school we were assigned to read Jesus, The Master Teacher. It was a good story about the life of Jesus.

Jesus came to earth at Christmas time with one goal in mine. The goal was to teach people about their sinful nature and encourage them to change their way of life. (John 3:16). 

So you are a leader. Whether you admit it or not and your actions will influence other people. Use them wisely. More and surprising opportunities await you just around the corner.

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Are You In Control?

Everybody likes to be in control of their own desires and actions. Freedom is the name of the game in life.

I grew up in a German family. Even though I encountered a lot of criticism my mom wanted the best for me. It was a rough life. 

When I was a kid many years ago I loved baseball. There wasn't anything I wouldn't do to listen to a baseball game on my radio. TV in those days was a big box, small screen, and a snowy black and white picture. Baseball wasn't fun to watch on the old RCA TV set.

To satisfy my baseball appetite I made a board game. First, I purchased  some plastic baseball players off a cereal box top. Then I made a spinner and labeled it with all the basics-single, double, triple, out, double play, and home run. You know what I mean. The same baseball rules have been around for a long time. 

The field that was covered with green and gray construction paper and clued to cardboard measured three feet square and was surrounded with a two inch wall. No baseball field would be complete without a dugout along the first and third base foul line. 

The teams I chose were the Chicago Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers. It could be any team. The choice is yours. Fifteen players kept the dugout bench warm when they weren't on the field.

Just a piece of scratch paper, draw lines to represent nine innings, spin that dial, and play ball. With friends or alone I could play baseball all day. I was in my second heaven and guess what? I was in complete control to have the freedom to win or lose a game. The fun just began.

Freedom is your choice. Choose a career, care for your family, worship God, and more. You are the boss. Can you walk and chew gum at the same time?

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Will The Real Chicken Please Stand Up?

 

I like things that are authentic. The real thing. But now we have fake news and rigged elections. What else could go wrong?

Do you like chicken? I know, immediately Boston Market, Panda Express, and KFC enters your mind. But what about this picture? Will the real chicken please stand up?

For the most part medicine along with healthcare is real. The right treatment plan from the right doctor is a good thing if we are sick. Thank goodness for a good healthcare system that works. Insurance is another issue that we will share with you at a latter date.

What about baseball? No way you say, but there is. Thanks to the replay camera, often the umpire makes the wrong call at the plate and gets away with it. For example, a baseball sails away from home plate and the man in the black suit calls it a strike. Such is life in a baseball game. We must learn to live with it.

My wife likes to knit. It is a hobby of perfection. Drop a stitch or two and watch out because it shows. Many times the lady has to stop, go back, and start a row all over again. Authenticity in knitting that sweater, scarf, hat, or whatever will pay off. Patience is a virtue. 

There is no doubt about it, we have to feed our soul. Because we can't see it many of us take it for granted, but it's there. The solution to a good life is reading the Bible. 

The Bible is a good hand book. "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (II Tim. 2:15 NIV) I feel good and life is so much better.  

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Is It a Mission Impossible?

 

The dictionary says a mission is an important assignment carried out for political, religious, or commercial purposes. Like the old TV program asked, "Is it impossible?" It depends on your point of view.

As a kid growing up in a local church we thought missions pertained to missionaries in some faraway dark place like Africa, Asia, or South America. At missionary conferences we saw pictures of grass huts, primitive dress attire, and natives carrying a bucket of water on their head and walking long distances to the closest village. 

What is your mission in life? Everybody has a mission. The main point is how you go about accomplishing it and how long it takes. No wonder some people get discouraged. 

Not too long ago we started a FREE newsletter about baseball and/or life and are happy to see the interest that it gets. Nothing is impossible. Our mission is to help good hard working people learn how to cope with life in a messed up world. 

While making money is foremost in people's minds our first priority is to help people. Could there be anything more important than having a job and maintaining good health?  

Our lists is endless and we hope you share it with your friends. Life is tough and doesn't appear to be getting any easier. But there is hope if only we look for it.

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Honesty Is The Best Policy

 The world is falling apart. The moral fabric of this country just went out the window and people are confused. What is right and what is wrong? What happened to honesty?

Recently I watched the impeachment hearings about former president Donald Trump. The Republicans presented a good scenario that lacked evidence to prove that Trump incited a riot. While the Democrats disagreed they shared one scenario after another insisting without evidence that he was guilty. 

There was a small group of agitators among the crowd in Washington D.C. on January 6th that insisted, thanks to the help of the media, that all supporters of Trump are guilty and this is false.

In a recent radio program I heard a Bible scholar say that the norm in our society has been turned upside down. Now-a-days it's whatever pleases you. The Truth is accepted as False and whatever is False is accepted as Truth. What else could go wrong?

Today's society is getting progressively worse. We compromise so we don't offend anybody. If we agree with a lie it's as good as if we were the provider of the lie. When does it end?

In my book titled "On the Road Again," Pop, a retired janitor, helped a group of teenage boys start a baseball team. Over time they got a lot of attention. At a time when youth baseball wasn't popular they were invited to play the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. 

Following the big day the boys just won the popularity contest. Every town's baseball team wanted to play the boys from the Gold Coast, a Chicago neighborhood. Large crowd gatherings made the town fathers and police go crazy. Eventually a teenage girl was hurt while crossing the street in a hit-and-run accident. Ultimately Pop was falsely accused in a vicious court battle. 

But there is hope. The solution is to be honest and establish a new norm. Are you an honest person? Sign up for our newsletter and learn how to cope  with life in a messed up world at https://bit.ly/38jnZnG. 

Light at the End of the Tunnel

 

Often most people are afraid of the dark. Unless it serves to some advantage, they'd prefer to live in the light. A child wakes up in the middle of the night scared and crying.  On Halloween the preference is to wear a scary costume at night.

While groping through life in the dark like walking through a tunnel, suddenly there is light. The end of a difficult situation is finally over. 

Remember the old western movies you saw on TV? The cowboy walks into a dark room, strikes a match, and lights a candle? Suddenly the whole room lights up. Wow! Hollywood performs miracles. 

As many of you know I am a Chicago Cub baseball fan. For many years we sacrificed not being able to see night games. The late Jack Brickhouse insisted that baseball was intended to be played during the day. That was a farce. Through commercial pressure we got lights and it changed the whole perspective about night baseball at Wrigley Field.  Baseball fans like to be entertained. 

In my previous newsletter I shared something about character building.  From a Biblical perspective, because I was born in sin like a lot of other people, I needed some help. I felt like I was living in a dark tunnel. Fortunately, for me and others, the Bible shared the solution to our problem. Today there is hope and I hope you feel the same way that I do. 

So there is light at the end of the tunnel. If you are experiencing some misery in your life don't give up. It doesn't matter what it is. Career, family, church, or whatever, keep moving forward because you may be surprised at what life has to offer.

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Building Blocks Toward a Better Future

 

The child sat on the living room floor staring at all the blocks. His or her imagination went wild with a lot of creativity. They could build anything they wanted and yes, tear it down and start over again. It was fun. Starting with small things they could build bigger and better things.  Nothing stayed the same.

The job market is a good example of building blocks for a better future. First we start out with an entry level position. Then, over time, we move into middle management before, if we're lucky, into top management and a CEO position. Through experience, education, and hard work, we may have a brighter future. Perhaps knowing people in high places might help.

Another good example is about the teenager who saw a pretty dress she liked. It was a navy blue dress that hugged her legs just above the knees, with a black belt, and went nice with her red hair and tan complexion. 

The problem was that it cost money that she didn't have. Raised in a poor family often made life difficult, but she was bound and determined to let nothing stand in her way. Odd jobs like baby sitting, shoveling snow, delivering newspapers, and more, was the answer. It was a proud day in her life when she got to share it with her mom and friends. 

Does money grow on trees? I wish it did, but that's another story. Over the years in my younger days I learned to fill an Apple cider jar with my loose change at the end of each day. Now, today many years later my wife Judy and I have an investment portfolio well over a quarter of a million dollars. The Lord is good. As life changes through the years we didn't have the opportunity early on in life to start an investment through our employer, but again thanks to the good Lord we were able to build some financial security.

Baseball is another good example about building blocks. Professional baseball players didn't just join a team over night. They had to work at developing their skills. Practice! Practice! Practice! Hitting a speeding fastball traveling over home plate required muscles and maintaining a mentally keen attitude. As a result baseball fans all over the world love to be entertained. 

Perhaps we don't think about building blocks as a major term in our life. But unless we're Superman and born on a strange planet with abilities far beyond most normal men and women, we have to start somewhere.

The thing I like best about life is building my faith and character. Reading my Bible and applying it's teaching to everything I do and say is my biggest goal in life. In the long run I am a better person and I hope you are too.

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