How do you see yourself?

I think 8th grade

Now, this may seem somewhat obvious but, 

How you see yourself matters.

1st or 2nd grade

I really shouldn't speak for anyone else so I won't, but I don't consider myself at all unusual or different than anyone else really. Having said that, this may sound familiar.
When I was a kid, I remember thinking of myself as having a problem with my weight.
Now as I look back through pictures, I don't honestly know why I would have ever thought that about my self.
But I did. and it affected the way I lived.

Like most other kids back then, I played basketball constantly! We had a neighbor who had a basketball goal and a concrete driveway!! It was a big deal to us! I was actually pretty good underneath because I was the tallest kid in the neighborhood, but I was killer from the foul line!!

We had a grade school team. I never even tried out. I really didn't think I would make the team but I was at least as good as anyone else there. From MY vantage point, I couldn't see it.
The way I see myself influences how I live my life.
My best friend was Joe. Joe was quite athletic but I had no problem keeping up with him! On bikes or  playing basketball we were dead even. I remember him asking me once why I didn't try out for the team. I said I just didn't think I was good enough. From his perspective I was fine but he wasn't the one who needed to be convinced.
Many years later, after getting out of the Air Force I did put on weight which soon got out of control.

Me with my grandson

A couple of years ago I attended The Encounter in Nashville, TN at the insistence of a close friend.
This is a life changing 4 day event. (Straight from the website; "Through a number of activities, you will have the opportunity to explore, understand, and move beyond what keeps you from experiencing the life you desire."
One of these activities is called "Feedback"  (I experience you as...)
I gave feedback to everyone and I receive from everyone. I was sweating this out. I knew some of the things I was going to hear would be things like "you don't take care of yourself" or "Lazy"...
Well, nobody said anything even remotely like that! I was shocked!!
One girl, with whom I became close friends, Krystal, who sat beside me throughout the event said to me "You're like a starving baker, you feed encouragement to everyone else and you yourself forget to eat"
That brought me to tears. It was typical of the feedback I got that day...from total strangers.
It was really surprising how people I never met outside that training room experienced me. I really would have never imagined that people see me this way. Pretty unanimous too!
What if they were right? What if my perception of myself is flawed?
I began trying to be more conscious of the way viewed myself.
After a while, at a bible study I began a journey to find out how God sees us!!
We are the joy set before Jesus...Hebrews 12:2
He rejoices over us with singing!!... Zephaniah 3:17

This is only 2 verses!!! I could go on all day!!!!!

Today, I saw a very special commercial for Dove soap.

I was moved to tears as I saw women (true of men too) awakened to the possibility that they are beautiful

and I remembered my experience in "Feedback".

 I want to share it with you here. Please watch and enjoy!!

So, how do you see yourself?

J.O.Y.

There is an acronym for Joy that I want to share
J- Jesus
O-Others
Y- You

But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.                                                                                                                              Matthew 23:11-12

It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”                                                                                                                              Matthew 20:26-28

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;Philippians 2:3

Proverbs 28:29...really?

It's so easy to get caught up in religious themes without realizing it.
I used to post a scripture every morning. Usually it was something that spoke to me during my morning bible/coffee time. There would sometimes be 20 or 30 people either "like" or "comment" on the verse each day.
One day as I read some of the comments, I wondered if people are actually reading them or just responding to a bible theme.
So I posted something like Proverbs 28:29 God will not give you more than you can handle.
If you would like to look up Proverbs 28:29 you will see that it doesn't exist. Verse 28 is the last verse in that  chapter.
Yup, it's a lie! It's a misquote of 1 Corinthians 10:13 and I hear people say that ALL THE TIME!!!!  DOZENS of people just fell right in with comments like "Oh, Danny, Thank you so much for posting this, I needed to hear this today!!!"
Finally someone popped in saying "Danny Parkhill you know good and well that's not in the bible!!!!" Hahaha!!! BUSTED!!!

It happens all the time! They just jump right in without bothering to think about it.
For example, would you quote such nonsense to the parents of a dying child? No you wouldn't.
But people use stuff like this all the time because they just don't know the person of Christ Jesus
In a lost, broken and hurting world, religion doesn't cut it. Never has, Never will. But Love Never Fails!

In my life, I have found real and lasting peace comes from a relationship with Jesus as I allow Him to use me to effect the lives of OTHER PEOPLE.
It's not about ME!!!
How can I help you get to know Jesus?

My little Ford Festiva!!

And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

So it's my wife's birthday 1997. I'm stoked because we had a date!

I was working in a brand new job in Mt Vernon, IL and was just feeling blessed!

It was payday so I filled up the car and headed home. I was excited because I got out of there a little early and was really needing some Tammy time.

I was doing drug and alcohol testing for a hospital and everything about that job was new to me. I had been a medic for several years at that point but this paid much better. Tammy and I hadn't been married long and had just bought a house (it was a fixer-upper) so the extra money was good!

So I get home and went inside to change clothes and I hear a noise in the driveway. AWESOME!!! Tammy got off early too!!! So I go ahead and change and notice she doesn't come in. She was probably letting a song on the radio finish...A few minutes later...Hmmm...Long song! I go to the window and pull back the blinds and....WHAT!!!! The noise I heard was the car catching on FIRE!!!!

I wish I was making this up but I'm not. My Ford Tempo was fully aflame! We found out later that the fuel pump was prone to spark and that it had been recalled. I had inherited it from my mother after my dad died.

Mom told me there was a recall but didn't remember what it was on at the time but thought it was for a faulty door lock or something...

Just to sweeten the pot, we had just switched our insurance to liability only like 2-3 weeks earlier to save a few bucks. Well, you live and learn or you don't live long right?

On the upside, If it were any other day, I would have still been in the car but with the kids as well and If I hadn't just filled the tank, it would likely have blown the car and the front of the house up! A half full sealed gas tank full of gas vapor can do a lot of damage! God was definitely looking out for us!

 So I pick up the phone and call 911. The dispatcher says she already knows and that 4-5 of our brand new neighbors had already called YAY!!!…great way to meet the neighbors!

So they show up and put what’s left of my car out. I’m a little panicky at this point because I NEED a car to make the 40 minute drive to work. Tammy works 15 minutes away but in the opposite direction.

I’ve got a pickup truck that quit running about a year before but nobody could ever figure out what was wrong with it. We only knew it had to do with the computer and electrical system and that it would be very expensive to fix.

Tammy made it home and we had a good cry and decided we would go out anyway.

The Tempo was our second car. I drove it to work so we wouldn’t put as many miles on her Camry. We had a pretty decent date even in light of our little disaster.

The next weekend we’re at church. I’m really nervous and edgy and I still haven’t figured out what we’re gonna do when my friend Andy walks up. The conversation goes something like this:

Andy: Hey Danny, you remember that little Ford Festiva of mine?

Me:  Umm…yes…

Andy: You like it?

Me: Umm…ya, it’s ok

Andy: It gets really great gas mileage you know…like 30 miles to a gallon!

Me: (slightly agitated) Ya, good to know Andy

Andy: So, you like it, right??… because God told me to give it to you.

Me: (extremely embarrassed) Andy stop it! Look I’ll figure something out!

He looks puzzled and asked what I meant by that.

The FIRE Andy, the FIRE!!

Andy: what fire?

Me: Come on Andy, quit playing!

~Our little disaster made the newspapers so SURELY everyone knew by now~

Andy: “For the last 2 weeks or so, in my daily prayer time, God kept calling you out by name and telling me to give you my car. So I want to give you my car. Now, what fire?”

Andy knew NOTHING of the fire!!

Well, we both just sat there and thought about what God had done.

I got the little Festiva at about 150,000 miles and drove it to well over 250,000 miles!!

It was extremely reliable and VERY good on gas! It’s EXACTLY what I needed!

God had been in the process of meeting my need at least a week and a half BEFORE I had a need.

This isn't my car but looked a lot like it