jeff noel.org » Mother

President Obama Sobriety

jeff noel — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:00:59 +0000

Rarely watching TV, I was captivated the other night when Charlie Gibson was interviewing United States President, Barack Obama, on the ABC Evening News.

The one word that really made me put things into perspective, was a word the President Obama used to describe how the decision to send US troops to Afghanistan was different from other critical US policy decisions.

Sobriety.

President Obama spoke of a certain level of sobriety that was needed on that particular decision. He said it was the one decision that was different from all the others. I paraphrase here, to illustrate the magnitude:

“Bailing out the auto industry or the financial system is one thing. But picturing Arlington Cemetery, with a mother, sitting in the rain, in front of a tombstone…..”

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I Don’t Know How to Start

jeff noel — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:26:18 +0000

A lifetime of learned behaviors. Life is hard. And mostly difficult. And busy. And distracting.

Some days, maybe while watching a movie or TV show, we see a Family that seems to have it all together and wonder why we can’t live like that.

It’s a movie, okay? It’s not real. Yet perhaps there’s some compromise between what’s portrayed in books and movies, and what is our current reality.

Maybe. maybe not.

I’d like to find out.

Carpe diem, jeff

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Failing?

jeff noel — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:10:38 +0000

Failing? Probably. It weighs heavy on my soul and heart. I’d really like to be a better:

Son
Brother
Nephew
Uncle

Yet after decades of learned behavior, there’s a struggle deep down inside that seems overwhelming.

Overwhelming, yes. Impossible, no.

The people involved in this are going to have to want this too. It takes two. This is not a one-sided challenge, nor a one-sided opportunity. Is it me, or is that ticking sound the clock?

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Stuck?

jeff noel — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 11:20:57 +0000

Stuck? Sort of. A lot has happened this past week. Some incredibly awesome stuff. Some horrific stuff.

I work hard to focus on the positive side, without sacrificing what the horrible stuff is telling me.

Love and hate. Heaven and hell. God and the devil. Faith and unbelief. Mysteries and facts.

So what is surfacing as I type this (and I trusted something would), is that we all have a choice to make.

In fact we have lots of choices. Each day. All day. Everyday.

It takes practice and discipline to increase our “batting average”.

Make today a great day. Go in there swinging and keep your eye on the ball.

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I Hate Hearing From My Friends

jeff noel — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:52:18 +0000

What I mean is I hate hearing when tragedy happens. Two days ago an email shared the news that one of our college buddies had a tragedy. His teenage son died of a drug overdose.

Can you even fathom this? I can not.

For our friend, this probably makes 9/11 look like a picnic.

May I simply ask anyone reading this to try to absorb some of his pain?

Tragedy strikes us all. None of is immune from this. Perhaps this is the time when we are tempted to believe God doesn’t exist.

God never said life would be easy, He simply promises we will not walk alone. Our big challenge is to actually believe this when horrific tragedy is our shadow.

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