Shooting the Breeze

Favourite Links Friday: 6 awesome posts to check out!

Kevin Martineau — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:56:10 +0000

This is my way of saying “Thank-you” to all my fellow bloggers by sharing some of their wonderful posts that I have read during the week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

6 of my favourite posts from the past week:

1. Poisonous Root by Pete Wilson
2. Disconnect to Reconnect Your Family by Carey Nieuwhof
3. Is It an Obstacle or an Opportunity? by Michael Hyatt
4. The Difference Between Trust and Fear by Justin and Trisha
5. Color Outside The Lines by Michael Perkins
6. Separate But Equal by Scott

Go and check out these great posts!

Also, make sure you check out Jason’s Light Friday Hit List over at Connecting to Impact for some more great posts!

Now it’s your turn to share some love!

What were some of your favourite posts from the past week? I would love to check them out!

Show your love for God by giving to Him

Kevin Martineau — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:51:21 +0000

Giving, at its core, is the essence of love. You spell “love” G-I-V-E because that’s what love is all about.

When you love someone you want to give to them.

“You can give without loving but you cannot love without giving.” Amy Carmichael

Showing our love for God

If we say we love God, then it’s going to show up in our generous lifestyle.

We can claim to be a Christian. We can claim to be a follower of Christ. We can claim to love God. But the Bible says there is one way to really test the sincerity of our love.

“But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.” 2 Corinthians 8:7-8

God tests the sincerity of our love by looking at our giving.

Why does He do that?

God doesn’t need our time.

He doesn’t need our money.

What does He need?

He wants our heart.

He wants what our giving represents.

There are 2 types of givers

I have discovered that there are really basically two kinds of people in life – cheerful givers and fearful givers.

Cheerful givers say,

“I’m going to give. It all belongs to God anyway. He gave it all to me. I wouldn’t have anything without God so I’m going to give it all to Him and He can take care of all my needs.”

Fearful givers say,

“I can’t afford to do this. I can’t afford to give. I’ve got to hoard. I’ve got to watch what’s for me. I’ve got to protect my selfish interests.”

Cheerful or fearful – you make the decision.

Are you a cheerful giver or a fearful giver?

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This post is part of a 4 part series on showing our love for God:

Part 1 God made you so He could love you
Part 2 Show your love for God by talking to Him
Part 3 Show your love for God by listening to Him.
Part 4 Show your love for God by giving to Him.

Show your love for God by listening to Him

Kevin Martineau — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:58:45 +0000

Listening is one of the greatest gifts we can give to another person. We all want to be understood. We all want to be listened to.

When we listen to someone, we’re saying, “You matter to me.”

When I listen to my children, when I listen to my wife, when I listen to anybody, I’m saying, “I value what you have to say. I value your opinion. You’re important to me.”

When I don’t listen to somebody I’m basically saying, “You don’t matter to me. You’re not important to me. What you have to say I don’t value.”

One of the ways we express love to anybody is by listening to them.

The same is true with God.

Every time we listen to God we’re saying, “God, You matter to me. I value what You have to say.”

Listening is the most misunderstood and left off part of prayer.

Most of us think that prayer is just talking to God. That’s only fifty-percent of prayer.

The other fifty-percent of prayer is shutting up and being quiet and letting God speak to us.

Usually we’re in too much of a hurry to do this. When we talk to God most of us do something like this, “Hi, God, it’s me. I’ve got ten things I need from You. Thank You. Over and out. Good bye.”

We don’t stop.

We don’t wait.

We don’t listen.

We don’t say, “God, do You have a few things to say to me?”

One of the most important steps we can take in listening to God is to set aside time for God.

All of us have pressure packed, deadline-filled schedules. Our days and our souls are filled with noise.

Perhaps the reason some of us can’t hear God is that our lives are so fast and so full and so noisy, that there is no room for God.

The reality is that God is speaking to us all the time. At least He’s trying to speak to us all the time.

Why don’t we ever hear Him?

Well, it’s because we’re not listening.

We don’t ever take the time.

We don’t ever get quiet.

We never pause in the middle of the day and say, “God, do You have anything to say to me right now?”

We need to not just take time to talk to God. We need to take time to listen to God.

We need to stop and pause because God is speaking.

Do you find it hard to listen to God?

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This post is part of a 4 part series on showing our love for God:

Part 1 God made you so He could love you
Part 2 Show your love for God by talking to Him
Part 3 Show your love for God by listening to Him.
Part 4 Show your love for God by giving to Him.

Show your love for God by talking to Him

Kevin Martineau — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:26:17 +0000

It took me a while to figure this out. I admit I’m a slow learner. But I finally figured out that this thing called marriage is about communication.

I have discovered that on the days that I have deep, significant and meaningful communication with Lauren our relationship grows.

And on those days when we have little or none of this type of communication our relationship decays because a relationship is never standing still. It’s either growing or decaying.

The same is true with God.

On the days when we have deep, significant talks with God our relationship grows.

On the days when we have little or no talks with God our relationship decays.

It’s that simple.

When you really love somebody you don’t just want to spend time with them. You want to talk with them!

Remember when you first fell in love as a teenager and your parents got upset because you were always on the phone? It was like you had a phone in your ear. You talked and talked and talked.

You were getting to know that person because the way you get to know someone is through communication.

If your husband or wife never ever talks to you, you have every reason to start wondering, “Do they love me?”

What do we talk to God about if we want to express our love to Him?

Anything that we would talk to our best friend about.

Our hopes, our fears, our dreams, our anxieties, the things we’re embarrassed about, the things we’re proud of, the things we’re ashamed of, our goals, our ambitions, our hurts, our cares, every part of our life – we come to God and we talk to God about these things.

“I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.” Psalm 116:1-2

If you don’t feel close to God and maybe some of you who are reading this don’t. Maybe your Christian life has become routine, dull, joyless, and lifeless. Maybe there’s no real joy and spark any more.

There’s a simple remedy for that: Start talking to God again!

Prayer is not some duty that we have to do. It’s a privilege that we get to do.

We get to talk to the creator of the universe.

He has invited us and He wants to talk with us!

On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate your prayer life right now?

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This post is part of a 4 part series on showing our love for God:

Part 1 God made you so He could love you.
Part 2 Show your love for God by talking to Him.
Part 3 Show your love for God by listening to Him.
Part 4 Show your love for God by giving to Him.

God made you so He could love you

Kevin Martineau — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:57:04 +0000

How would you respond to this question: What does God want from us more than anything else?

Many would say moral devotion.

Others would say ethical behaviour.

Some would say religious ritual.

But these things, even though they may some good attached to them, are not what God wants from us more than anything else.

The essence of the Christian life can be summed up in two words “love affair”.

God wants to have a love affair with us!

The Bible says that we were created as an object of God’s love. God made us to love us. He made us to be an object of His love.

God wants to have a relationship with us.

This means that we are created for the purpose of having a relationship and, as a result, the most important thing we can know in life is that God loves us. And the most important thing that we can do in life is to love Him back.

Jesus said it like this in Matthew 22:37-38

“’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”

Nothing is more important!

If we do this we will fulfill our primary purpose in life.

If we miss this part of our life, our life is a failure because we’ve missed the very reason that God created us and put us on earth – to love and be loved.

Over the next three posts I want to share 3 ways that we can show our love to God:

1. Talk to Him.
2. Listen to Him.
3. Give to Him.

How does it make you feel to know that God wants to have a love affair with you?

No related posts.

How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you!

Kevin Martineau — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:24:01 +0000

I have always been suspicious of cats.

I think they are sly crafty animals with a hidden agenda.

I now have proof!

Drawn by Matthew Inman

You can’t say you haven’t been warned!

What else would you add to this list?

Do you appreciate your spouse?

Kevin Martineau — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0000

My beautiful and wonderful wife Lauren has been away the past two days. As a result, I have been home alone with our three daughter’s playing Mr. Mom.

These past few days have reminded me of all that Lauren does for our family. I appreciate her so much! I need these reminders from time to time.

The thing is, I need to be telling Lauren I appreciate her more often. So here I go, here are a ten things I appreciate about Lauren right now.

Ten things I appreciate about my wife

1. Her friendship.

Lauren is truly my best friend and I can’t even imagine having to do life without her.

2. Her kindness.

Lauren is so kind to me. She puts up with a lot and I love her for it!

3. Her smile.

I love seeing Lauren smile. It gives me goosebumps every time I see it.

4. Her willingness to stretch herself.

This past year she started a new job after being out of the work force for 12 years and she has been active in starting a ministry for pastors wives in our region of churches.

5. Her constant encouragement.

Lauren is always there to encourage me when I need it most.

6. All that she does for our family.

The cooking, the cleaning, the laundry, making kids lunches, washing the dishes, shuttling kids around, making beds, folding clothes and much much more!

7. Her love for God.

I know that Lauren loves God very much.

8. Her servant’s heart.

Lauren is always looking for ways to serve and help people.

9. Her love for our girls.

I love watching Lauren interact and play with our girls.

10. Her sense of humour.

I love being able to make Lauren laugh and to laugh along with her.

Your turn now, what do you appreciate about your spouse/significant other?

Now go tell them because they need to hear it!

3 tips to make a getaway with your spouse possible

Write your hurts in the sand, carve your blessings in stone!

Kevin Martineau — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:47:01 +0000

A story is told of two friends who were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, he wrote in the sand: “Today my best friend slapped me in the face.”

They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but his friend saved him.

After he recovered from the near drowning, he carved on a stone: “Today my best friend saved my life.”

The friend, who had slapped and saved his best friend, asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you carve on a stone, why?”

The other friend replied: “When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand, where the winds of forgiveness can erase it away, but when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone, where no wind can ever erase it.”

Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your blessings in stone!

4 ways to teach your kids to value integrity

Kevin Martineau — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:34:06 +0000

As a parent I want to raise my daughter’s to not only tell the truth but I want them to value integrity also. I want them to be people of integrity.

To be a person of integrity means to be someone who is completely honest, trustworthy, reliable and dependable, whether others are watching or not.

Unfortunately today’s culture does not value integrity. Our culture teaches that it’s okay to do whatever we want as long as no one gets hurt and we don’t get caught.

We are living in a day when success has become more important than honesty. You don’t have to read too many newspapers or watch the news for very long to see examples of this in our world.

So how do we inspire our children to live with integrity in a culture that winks at dishonesty and elevates success?

4 ways to teach our kids to value integrity

(from Susan A. Yates article “Shades of Deception” in “Thriving Family“)

1. Grow in integrity.

As parents, we need to ask ourselves: “Do we value integrity more than success?” Because if we value integrity, we will be modeling it in our lives.

We have to be vigilant in this because of our culture’s warped values. The desire for success can subtly influence our decisions and ultimately erode our character if we are not careful.

2. Initiate conversations.

Talk in the car. Talk at the dinner table. Just talk together. Discuss character traits with your child. Be honest about ways you may struggle. Discuss what God’s Word has to say about integrity.

3. Be alert.

Be aware of what is happening in your child’s life. Spend time in their school. Meet their friends. Know what they are watching on TV or reading and talk about how these things are influencing them.

4. Pray for your child.

Pray that your child would have the strength and personal conviction to do the right thing, even when it is difficult. Prayer helps us all as we endeavour to become people of integrity.

Sometimes it is through failure that real growth begins.

We are going to fail and so are our kids. It helps to remember that our children are not looking for perfect parents – they’re looking for honest parents.

Honesty brings credibility to our character and reflects our commitment to model integrity. And that’s true success.

How are you teaching your children integrity?

****** This post was heavily influenced by Susan A. Yates article “Shades of Deception” in “Thriving Family“

Missing opportunities

Kevin Martineau — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:25:00 +0000

Several years ago, one of the world’s finest violinists (Joshua Bell) tried an experiment. He decided to play – unannounced – in a metro station in Washington, DC.

He was warned by experts that a crowd would certainly gather and that he would need extra security because surely many people would flock to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Joshua brought his 1713 Stradivarius violin (which was worth millions of dollars) and began to play the six most beautiful songs in his repertoire.

Picture this scene for a moment: the world’s greatest violinist playing the world’s greatest music on the world’s greatest instrument in a very busy place.

Each passerby in that metro station had a quick choice to make.

Do I stop and listen?

Do I throw in a buck, just to be polite?

Do I have time for beauty?

Check out what happened:

In the 45 minutes that Joshua Bell played only seven people stopped what they were doing to hang around and take in the performance.

Twenty-seven gave money, most of them on the run (for a total of $32 and change).

The most startling statistic of all is this: A thousand people walked by because they were in a hurry, hurrying past Joshua Bell because they had other things to do**.

What opportunities are you missing out on?

Unfortunately, we do the same in our relationship with God.

We get so busy and distracted that we miss hearing His still quiet voice or we miss His presence with us.

We need to slow down.

We need to put aside the distractions.

If we don’t, we are in danger of missing out on some great opportunities!

What do you think you would you have done if you were in the that Metro Station?

** Some of the information used in this post was from Gene Weingarten’s article “Pearl’s Before Breakfast” from the Washington Post.