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Tougher Than Nails

January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The term “tougher than nails” usually depicts a person who can face any type of circumstance and come out winning in the end.  The circumstances that occur that leave a person with such a reputation usually stem from some feat of great physical or mental strength or even a combination of the two.

Early in my career, I worked with a Fire Captain who had the reputation of being “tougher than nails”.  He was about 5’ 10” tall and carried approximately 225 lbs. of solid muscle.  He was the human version of a pit bull. This man was raised in “Hell’s Kitchen” in New York, lived through active duty as a WWII Marine, survived life threatening circumstances that the job of firefighting threw his way, and hung drywall as a second job away from the fire station for over 30 years.  This man was intimidated by nothing and every man that ever walked into his presence knew he was in charge.  Yet, he was a very humble, God-fearing man.

Years later something sparked my memory of him and during my reminiscing I realized a major reason he could carry that reputation was because of his relationship with Christ.  Most people think of Jesus as a pacifist, teaching and preaching peace throughout the regions.  I won’t argue against that view point because He did come to us out of love.  But let’s not forget, anyone who could go through what Jesus went through during His last 12 hours on this earth is without a doubt, the toughest man to ever walk this planet. 

There have been plenty of people that have gone through hard times, but Jesus did this while being innocent and having the ability to change His circumstances at any moment…yet He endured.  Not only did He endure the nails that were heinously driven into His wrists and feet, but He endured the mocking while on the cross, yet, He never did anything wrong.  You want to talk about someone being “tougher than nails”?  Jesus Christ was “tougher than nails” and He has the scares to prove it…       

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Available In Paperback

January 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I walked into the bookstore at church the other day and saw my fiction book, Donovan’s Law, being displayed in paperback form on the bookshelf for all to see.  At first I was shocked! I then had to walk closer due to my 50 year old eyes and all, to see if that was really my book.  My next feeling was fear, because now everyone on campus is going to know I wrote a book…could be good or bad.  Finally, I became overwhelmed with a humbled feeling and the first two emotions evaporated.

I was humbled because I quickly realized that once again, this book is on the shelf not because of anything I did or said, but something God placed in someone’s heart.  My entire book writing journey has been that way. From the time I conceived the idea for the book to this most recent honor, God has truly guided this process.

Most importantly, I would like to use this blog to say, “Thank You!” to all my family and friends who have taken the time to support this experience.  I would also like to use this blog to say, “Thank You!” to all of the readers who have emailed me your comments at rickmayhew@hotmail.com and left reviews with Amazon.com or Christianbook.com after you read the book.  If my publisher at www.oaktara.com decide they want to publish a sequel, your feedback will come in handy as I finalize the development of the storyline and characters.  So once again allow me to thank each of you for your kindness and support…Colossians 3:23.

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Health Care Reform

January 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The relationship between insurance companies and doctors may be one of the motivating factors behind the push for health care reform.  What causes a doctor or medical group to accept one insurance company over another is beyond my pay scale.  I’ve heard the discussions that some insurance companies take a lesser percentage thus giving the doctor more in his/her pocket.  Then there are those insurance companies who may not pay as much but they always pay on time.

All I know is that when I changed jobs three years ago, my new job did not offer an insurance company that was accepted by my optometrist.  Now this is an optometrist that I have been going to for at least 15 years. He not only knew everything about my vision and where it had been and where it is going, but he knew everything about my family’s eyes as well.  So when I had to leave him because I was no longer covered, I was devastated.

I gave the new optometrist the “old college try” but I was never comfortable with him.  I’m sure he is a fine doctor, but he didn’t know I liked to surf or the fact that my wife enjoys working with flowers.  Worse yet, he never even asked.  It was business as usual every time I went into his office.  Then it happened…

A review of all insurance policies by the “powers that be” determined that the current eye insurance company may not be providing the best service for the money.  Long story short, “I’m back with the best optometrist this side of the Rocky Mountains” (my words…not his).  Perhaps this is just another case where patience or maybe it should be “patients”, paid off…

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Paying The Bills

January 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I think I speak for most Americans when I say bill paying has to be near the top of our “What we hate to do” list.  The others on the list would probably vary, but I’m guessing most of us would round out our top three with cleaning toilets and doing taxes.

My wife, as wise as she is, knows I hate paying bills. In fact, when we moved into our home 15 years ago, she would not let me set up my office in our bedroom.  She said the bedroom should be a place of sanctuary and not discontent.  How could I argue with such a sound observation?  However, her comment did make me realize I needed to set up my office with a pleasant and happy atmosphere.  If nothing else, it would help dull the pain while I write and click my accounts into oblivion on a monthly basis.

As a result, my office was painted sky blue with a mural of a wave on one wall and a couple palm trees on the other.  I chose a room on the second floor with a window view of the mountains nestled majestically behind us.  When the time comes for me to pay bills, I put in a favorite CD, sit behind the skyscraper pile of bills on my desk, and give my money away while I listen to Jack Johnson play his guitar underneath a coconut tree somewhere in the tropics…and you wonder how I wrote a book.

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Tebow Time

January 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Photo by Elise Amendola/AP

With the next round of the NFL playoffs starting up again tomorrow, I felt it would only be appropriate to give Tim Tebow one last acknowledgement.  Say what you want about Tim Tebow’s ability as a quarterback in the National Football League.  Say what you want about the man’s acknowledgement of Jesus Christ at the beginning of every press conference.  Say what you want about his partially grown beard…which in all honesty should probably be shaved.

Tim Tebow is a good example not only for our youth but for each of us.  Any of us who have publicly confessed Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior know he is now being watched much closer than someone who would have remained silent about his personal religious beliefs.  This is a brave man.

Just look at the picture.  This picture may have been taken right after the humiliating shellacking he and his Denver teammates received from the New England Patriots.  In this picture Mr. Tebow is bowing and acknowledging God despite the ridicule he is taking by the crowd behind him, his critics in the media, and what some would think was an embarrassing performance at center stage.  Yet, he is holding steadfast to his walk with God.  In this picture he is living the example of 1Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 18, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  Way to go Tebow…see you next season.

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Gift Return

January 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Now that the holiday madness is over, I figure most of us have completed the gift returns for those items that did not quite work out the way the giver intended.  Interestingly enough, God expects us to do the same thing with the gifts (blessings) He gives us when we begin to give them more importance than they deserve.  It is true.  A blessing or gift from God can become an idol if we are not careful.  Here is what the author of “Walk With God”, Chris Tiegreen, wrote regarding the blessings from God and how we are to handle them:

“…The Christian life is to be a joyful life; the Bible makes that clear.  Rather than always seeing what’s wrong in our lives, what’s wrong in the world and what God wants to do to fill in the gaps, we are to frequently look at what God has given us, how He has blessed us with His gifts, and what He has already done to fill in the gaps.  Thankfulness is to dominate over discontentment in our thinking.”

Then the author addresses what must occur if we give God’s blessings too much attention:

“…People, places, possessions, pastimes are wonderful gifts from our Father, but they are not our treasures.  God is.  Only He can be.  No other treasure is appropriate, and no other treasure will fulfill.  That’s the conviction of biblical faith.  God is worth everything…when one of our gifts from God begins to compete for His place in our life, we must dethrone it.”

It’s crazy to think that a gift from God can actually become a problem in our life, but it happens all the time.  How do you know this is occurring in your life?  One way is to stop and meditate on the question, “Do you think more about the gift or the giver?” 

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Martin Luther King Jr.

January 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  It became a national holiday in 1986, two decades after the man came into the public arena with the “dream”.  The “dream” that one day, all men and women would be treated equal in the same fashion that we were created.  It was then President Ronald Reagan that signed the document declaring the third Monday in January to be “Martin Luther King Jr. Day”, thus making Reverend King, the third person to receive such an honor.  Only two other men have national holidays honoring them specifically, George Washington and Christopher Columbus.

Yes, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a floating holiday and always falls on a Monday, giving Americans that coveted three day weekend.  But let’s not forget that this man accomplished enough in his short-lived life that one of the most popular President’s of the United States felt compelled to honor his memory by giving him his own day.

Just like George Washington and Christopher Columbus before him, as a society we have benefited greatly from what these men accomplished. Christopher Columbus has been credited with finding the land that would eventually provide for freedom from religious oppression.   George Washington helped lead the charge to win America its equality with other nations and then served as our first President in honor of his accomplishment.  Martin Luther King Jr. appears to have combined the two speculative achievements of Washington and Columbus to bring awareness of freedom and equal rights to all mankind.

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Alternative Fuel Vehicles

January 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

With everyone attempting to make a conscientious effort to becoming more “green” these days, alternative fuel vehicles are definitely gaining ground with consumer popularity.  I notice this new trend mainly because these vehicles are the vehicles passing me in the carpool lane as I inch along in the so called “Fast lane” during rush hour traffic.  I see electric vehicles and I notice hybrid vehicles that combine both gasoline and electricity.  I think this is great, but it does create a question.  What ever happened to hydrogen as an alternative fuel?

Hydrogen seems to make sense to me as an alternative fuel.  Oh sure, hydrogen has the stigma of being the culprit behind the destruction of the Hindenburg, but let’s be fair.  Investigations have shown that the Hindenburg ignited due to static electricity, not hydrogen.  Did Hydrogen fuel the fire? Of course, but so does gasoline when a vehicle ignites.

Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical element in the universe.  As an example, Hydrogen is already in our water.  Remember basic chemistry when they taught us that water is H2O?  That means one of the components of water is hydrogen.  All we have to do is extract the hydrogen from the water and presto…hydrogen becomes a fuel. 

Wait a minute, isn’t that what steam is?  Isn’t steam, hydrogen removed from liquid water?  So all we have to do is capture the steam from power plants, industrial plants, teapots (ok ,maybe not teapots).  Still, that doesn’t seem too expensive to capture steam that is already being produced and released into the air.  But what do I know? The only thing I know for certain about water is when you put the wet stuff on the red stuff…the fire goes out.

 

 

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Laptop Computers

January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In the age where social media has become the mainstay for daily communications, I have decided to begin my search for the perfect laptop computer.  I’m looking for a laptop that is powerful, easy to use, and not too expensive.  Is that going to be too much to ask for? I know there are iPhones and Smartphones out there that can take the place of a laptop, but I like my laptop.  I use my laptop for writing, checking emails and Facebook, and running my website.  I truly don’t need anything too elaborate.  I am just looking for a dependable laptop.

My current laptop is a Dell Inspiron 1501 and is about six years old so I feel I have definitely got my monies worth from this investment.  However, it is finally on its last micro-chip.  Between computer freezing, hourglass spins, and the fact it really hates Facebook operations, tasks that should take me five minutes to complete can now take up to 20 or even 30 minutes if I can complete them at all.

So, I’ve decided to pull in the wisdom of my IT friends and colleagues in hopes that they will direct me down the proper path to laptop utopia. I know you all are on pins and needles over this new drama in my life so I will keep you informed as the saga unfolds.  By the way, in case you were wondering, I used the word “laptop” nine times in three paragraphs…I just like the word “laptop”…make that 10.    

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…And The Pursuit of Happiness

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

With most of us wanting to start the New Year off either equal or better than last year, we should first examine our motivation behind that goal.  If our motivation is pure, then we have a greater chance of success.  If our motivation is riddled with selfish reasons alone, then the chances are that 2012 may be a repeat of 2011…or even worse.

I think it is safe to say that the reason we set a goal like the one listed above is our innate desire for happiness. But will the pursuit of happiness lead to true fulfillment and joy?  There is no denying that when we are happy, the sky seems to be bluer, the flowers are more vibrant, the sun is warmer, the world looks like a better place to live. 

Some mental health experts believe the desire for happiness is a need for personal fulfillment.  If that is the case and personal fulfillment is the driving force, then we must be preoccupied with our own needs.  If we are preoccupied with our own needs, then the happiness we achieve will be short lived.  For mankind seems to always find a way to allow this happiness to be replaced with worry and the ever-consuming pace of life.

Author Randy Alcorn said it best in his book Deadline, “For those who pursue holiness can find both holiness and happiness, while those who pursue happiness can find neither”.

 

 

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