john brown hind parts

I think that's where I pulled a muscle playing softball last night. It's a very strange place to pull a muscle and to be quite honest, it's extremely uncomfortable.

The game was still a lot of fun though. We didn't win, but it was a good time hanging with everyone anyway.

Yesterday we talked about what it means to be a "good and faithful servant" in the kingdom of God. It's not exactly what you would think. It has a whole lot more to do with what you're doing with your life and what risks your willing to take than you would think.

The risk of loving others and maybe not being loved in return.
The risk of trying something and failing.
The risk of going out on a limb and the limb breaking. (metaphorically)

But none of those risks are as dangerous as the risk of digging a hole and hiding it for the rest of your life.

What risks are you taking to love God and love others?

peace,
glo

a good Friday

I'm sitting on my red carpet (not that kind)

in my living room, hanging with my daughter (Hailey Gwynn)
listening to Miles Davis...
on www.pandora.com and studying about Heraclitus...it's a good day.

I think too often I don't take time to just enjoy life for what it is. I was recently talking with a friend about how if we're not careful, we'll always find something to worry or complain about.

Whatever you're doing.
Whatever you're experiencing.
Wherever you're at.

Don't let it take the joy out of your life. There will be hard times, there will be difficulties in this life, but you don't have to let them dictate your life. You live in the greatest nation to ever exist.

Enjoy the now.

peace,
glo

commandments vs. promises

Promises always win.

What do you think of when you think of the ten commandments from the Bible? If you're anything like me you instantly get mental images like this...
I think this is very unfortunate. I realized a few years back that the ten commandments are really better understood if they are seen as ten promises from God. When He "commands" us to not forsake Him, what He's really trying to communicate is a promise from His heart to us that He will never forsake us. It's the same with all the other commandments as well.

It's the same with the "great commandment" in the gospels. Jesus said to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. That's because it's exactly how God loves us, with everything He has. If we genuinely understand His love for us then if frees us to love Him in the way He wants us to...from a liberated heart. Don't love God because He told you to. Love God when you figure out how much He first loved you...only then will it really be the love that He is talking about.

Forced love isn't love at all. It's dictatorship.

God loves you. Not because He has to, but because He wants to.
If we truly get ahold of that we can't help but love Him in return.

Promises always beat commandments.

peace,
glo

Are Hybrids really worth it?

This is an article a friend sent me, it was written by "frugalTrader"
The article in it's entirety can be read here.
It's quite an eye-opener.

With record high gas prices due to the price of oil, I’m sure that most car owners out there have major concerns over their gas usage. Over the past 10 years, the cost of gasoline has grown 250%!

This got me thinking, with the newer “gas friendly” hybrid cars/SUV’s out there now, do the premiums attached to their price tags justify to extra mileage that you get? I did a little digging around the various car manufacturer websites to see the pricing of hybrids vs their gasoline versions and whether or not the gas savings added up.

From my research, this is the information that I dug up. Below is a table comparing some popular hybrids with their gasoline counterparts. The table calculates how long it would take the gas savings of a hybrid to pay for the difference in purchase price from their gasoline sibling.

Some notes about the data:

• The costs are the purchase price after taxes/levies/fees and with the ecoRebate applied if applicable.
• The comparison does not account for the extra maintenance cost (or depreciation) of the hybrids.
• Assumes the gasoline price of $1.30/L or around $4.91/gallon.
• The comparison is based on financial differences only and does not evaluate the “green” benefits.

Hybrid vs. Gasoline Vehicle Comparison

Car	Cost	yrs to payback
Civic LX	$25,170	–
Civic Hybrid	$29,200	6.33
Corolla LE	$24,665	–
Prius	$32,866	13.14
Ford Escape (fwd)	$30,226	–
Escape Hybrid	$35,119	6.72
Camry LE	$30798	–
Camry Hybrid	$36191	9.65

It seems that the best “value” out of the bunch is the Honda Civic Hybrid which would take over 6 years for the gas savings to make up for the difference in cost. Even though the Prius claims the best fuel mileage, it’s the worst value of the bunch. The Prius would take over 13 years to pay for it’s premium, that’s 13 years too long for me. With all the extra electronics involved with a Hybrid, it’s also bound to have extra maintenance costs also, which is not accounted for.

Out of the vehicles compared, the price premium attached to the hybrid vehicles are just too great to be considered a cost savings relative to purchasing their gasoline counterpart.

lost thoughts

It happens to me more often than I'd like to admit. I'll be reading a book and will have read three pages but not comprehended any of it because my mind went somewhere else. Or I'll have the radio on in the car and not notice that a horrible song has been playing for the last 2 minutes because my mind was somewhere else.

Well, this happened on Thursday of last week and it actually ended up being a cool thing. I was driving home from work with the radio on when I realized the song that was playing was not the style of music that I would typically be listening to, but I realized it right as the chorus of the song was starting and when I listened to the lyrics I couldn't help but hear the truth. The name of the song is "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. The chorus lyrics are...

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

The thing that caught my attention was the 4th, 5th and 6th lines. Feel the rain on your skin, no one else can feel it for you, only you can let it in.

We need to learn again how to genuinely "experience" life. We spend so much time hoping and waiting for the elusive "there" that we never actually get to enjoy the life we are living today.

Enjoy your life.

If you don't learn how to enjoy it today, no matter what your circumstances are, you will never enjoy your life. Genuine joy and satisfaction do NOT come from exterior circumstances and situations, they are attitudes of the heart. And you are the only person that can control them for yourself.

Enjoy
the
now.

peace,
glo