HAPPY SUMMER!!!

Hey everyone, I want to begin by saying HAPPY SUMMER!!! Some friends of mine and I went out this weekend driving through some neighboring towns and whenever we saw someone outside we would yell out HAPPY SUMMER! You should try it sometime. I know it sounds stupid some might say weird but who cares IT'S FUN!!! For those purists out there let me point out that I know it's not really summer yet. Some woman we wished a happy summer to pointed that out. We have to wait till mid June to be official. But it is "Memorial weekend" and that marks the beginning of summer activities so as far as I'm concerned it's summer.

With summer in the air comes an exciting time. It's when we begin to spend more time outdoors than indoors. We see long lost friends that seemed to disappear from existence once they had to turn on the furnace. People are smiling and laughing more. Really if you think about it summer is a time of second chances a new birth of sorts. I even hear people saying "I'm not going to waste this summer like I did last". I think that has been my mantra for the last 3 summers. 

With all this in mind and knowing it is the time of year that people tend to congregate our next assignment fits the theme beautifully. This is one I've been chompin at the bit to get too but had to wait for the right time. The time is now and it will be a ton o' fun. Yet not something you do this week. Just something you begin planning this week. IT'S PARTY TIME! That's right this week I want you and your friends to put on your calendar and begin planning a very special party. For lack of imagination at the moment we will call it a "Thank you party" The specific details of the party can be whatever you like but the one thing I want you to do is to have an area set - up with everyone's name and a box by each name. As the evening progresses it is every guests job to write out a thank you note for each person at the party. Really the note doesn't have to be a "Thank you" it can be whatever you are led to say. What do you like about him or her, What do you see for them, How have they affected you, What have you observed about them? At some point you should all get together so each person can be publicly affirmed as well. 

One word of warning on this one. I remember being in affirmation circles watching everyone around me being spoken too and wondering if anyone would ever get around to me. This should not be uncomfortable for anyone. We all deserve affirmation so lets set this up so we are all guaranteed to receive it. For this party lets set it up so we are gathered around our close friends. It would be good for a stranger to witness but I'm not so sure he would feel comfortable being there and we may not be as open to each other with a stranger in our presence. We'll reserve that for another party later on. Maybe in the fall?

Alright everyone, Thanks for checkin in lets have a great week and of course lets live it "Upside Down"

Being a face in a sea of the Faceless

So, I've been trying to follow through on the assignment this week and have noticed one small little change in society from the last time I tried this (Which if you recall was college more than one or two years ago.) When I was in college the only people with cell phones were businesses that needed to be able to reach an employee quickly. Most of them used beepers (Did I just date myself a little) Now almost everyone has one. The obvious challenge this presents today is that there are masses of people walking and talking. You wont find them not on the phone (I personally think this is a defense mechanism but that is a different topic for a different day). The other thing I've noticed is that most people seem to be walking with their heads down and if they aren't their heads drop as soon as they notice someone looking at them. I could spend a bit of time commenting on this fairly new posture in american society but we don't have the time and currently I don't have the research to support anything I would say so I'll hold my tongue and move on to what we should do about it. 

You might be asking... "How am I supposed to look someone in the eyes with a smile and say hi if they are locked on the phone or keep looking away from me? My answer, Don't let those obstacles stop you. Now obviously you can't look them in the eye but you can still smile and say hello. In my opinion it even gives us that much more of an opportunity. As an example I'm going to tell you one more story from college. I remember my Jr Year we used to go to this Truck stop to hang out and study. One day this guy walks in with a friend of mine and honestly my first thought was "This guy is kinda weird" His jokes were not so funny but he enjoyed laughing at them anyway (That should have told me we'd be friends), he had this big nerdy smile, and kind of waddled when he walked. While I had gathered my first impression of him he gathered his impression of me. It didn't take him long to come over and say "Larry I can tell we are going to be close friends" To which I did the smile and nod and thought to myself "I don't think so" For the next couple weeks every time I turned around he was there. He thought we were just hanging out as friends do while I was thinking "How do I get rid of this guy?" I remember one day I called him I can't remember why but after hanging up the phone it hit me. "We're friends! When did this happen?" He was persistent (And maybe a little clueless) and a friendship he desired came to be. Why did I tell you this story? I think what we are dealing with is the same thing just wrapped in a different package. I think if we stay persistent and keep saying hello "With a smile" then we will slowly see heads start to rise and maybe even phones begin to lower.

Here's what I would like you to try. Pick one person that you walk by everyday and choose to say hello to them everyday. I think over time you will slowly see their head begin to rise and after awhile a week or two, maybe even a month or two you may even begin to get them to respond with a "hello" at first hesitant but sooner or later with a big smile as well. Once that happens stop, introduce yourself and say "I can tell we are going to be close friends"

I hope your week is going well. Find some time to get outside and enjoy the weather. Of course lets not forget to 

LIVE IT UPSIDE DOWN!

New Assignment (Don't be faceless)

Have you noticed that we seem to live in a faceless society? Sure we recognize our coworkers our family, friends but what about those we walk by everyday? Or how about the person behind us in line at the grocery store? The simple fact of the matter is that as a general rule we don't take the time notice those people and those outside of our circle don't take the time to get to know us. 

So here is what I propose we do this week. Lets become the face in a crowd of faceless people. We can be this by doing one simple thing. This week lets look those we pass in the eye and with a big smile say hello. I mentioned last week how I had tried this experiment in the past. It was amazing to me how many new friends I met. We desire to be recognized, we desire to feel welcome a simple smile and hello can fill that desire. 

Let me go ahead and make one little recommendation. Women say hello to women and men say hello to other men. It keeps things simple that way. Once again, This weeks assignment is to smile and say hello to those you pass by. You can choose one day or do it every day. Either way I have a strange feeling you may just find yourself a new friend.

Here's to a great week! Lets live it Upside Down.

Sphere of influence.

Here is a question for everyone. Please give me your feedback/opinion. This is something I'm (somewhat ashamed to admit) just beginning to process. Facebook recently changed how you can list your friends. (Or I'm just noticing it) You can now put your friends into categories. You decide what to name the category then insert friend that fits description. Compared to some I know I have almost no friends however I am quite proud of the fact that I can lay claim to over 250 friends (At present moment I believe 268). I went about putting my friends into their specific categories. Church, high school, college, work and of course family. After I finished I began to scroll through my friends to see who was left that didn't fit into any of those categories. I had 13 out of 268 left. Out of those 13 I could connect all except 4 to a friend of a friend. To be honest the other 4 are female I'm male you figure it out. I found a way to meet them.

Here is my question. As humans I've always known we are "Pack animals" we hang around others of like mind and look. We rarely venture outside of the pack. IS THIS A GOOD THING? If we don't venture out of the pack how are we to learn (I mean really learn)? How are we to expand our horizons? On the other hand if we have a message how do we expect others to pick it up? Our pack has most likely heard it already. If we have something to teach who are we supposed to teach? 

Maybe I'm the only one here that doesn't stray far from the pack but I don't think so. I'm not saying we need to go to the extreme of hanging out in a strange neighborhood and introducing ourselves to everyone that walks by (Even though that may not be a bad idea). But I am asking what can we do to meet others that we encounter in our day to day? Do you have a coffee shop you go to on a regular basis? a restaurant, bar? Have you met other regulars? How well do you know your server? At work how often do we introduce ourselves to the person walking beside us in and out of the office? I remember my Junior year of college I decided to say hello to everyone walking in and out of the apartment building I was in. I met and became friends with more people in the first two weeks of school than I did the previous two years. Why haven't I continued the pattern? Because it's easier to just walk past someone. How much are we missing by doing that?

I currently have some of the best friends a guy could ever ask for and I thank God for each and every one of them. They lift me up when I need support. They hold me accountable. We've had some great times together and I hope those friendships continue for years to come. But what am I missing by only hanging with-in my pack? Who out there needs what I could share? I will always make sure I'm plugged in with my pack. However don't you think "IT'S TIME TO VENTURE OUTSIDE THE PACK!"

Happy Moms day everyone

Hey gang, I hope we all had a happy Mothers day. For all you moms out there I hope you had an Incredible day. Are we ready for a new week and a new assignment? It seems fitting that this week we tie our efforts to the moms of the world. Since we spent today celebrating our own moms lets spend some time this week recognizing another mom. Choose one, do you have someone that has been like a Mother to you? Do you work with or know a mother who wasn't able to see her kids on mothers day? Or someone whose child has passed away? A single mom struggling to make ends meet? Lets do something for them this week. I'll leave it to you to decide what. Babysit while she goes out, Buy her some groceries, Take her out for dinner or coffee. The possibilities are endless.

Ok gang that's it short and sweet this week. How did we do last week? Did we thank a manager for a job well done?

In the beginning

How long has it been since you’ve read the account of God creating the Heaven’s and the Earth? If it’s been awhile I recommend you pick it up and read it (Genesis 1:1 – 2:3, 2:4 – 2:25. Read each separately the second repeats the first but with more specific detail on “Man”.) The more I read this the more I come to believe that God created the Heavens and the Earth for one reason and one reason only “As a gift to man”. Check out these verses and see if you come to the same conclusion. (Gen 1:26, 27, 28, 29 – 30, read each verse on its own and then all of them together. Now Gen 2:8 – 9, 19 - 20) If you don’t believe he made it as a gift to man fine but you can’t argue that he put man in charge of it (Gen 1:26). The other undeniable fact is that God wanted to and did commune with man. In Gen 1:28,29 we see God giving creation to Adam & Eve in Gen 2:18 we hear God stating it was not good for Adam to be alone. In 2:19 we see God bringing the animals to Adam and waiting to see what Adam would name them (Kind of reminds me of Christmas morning) Then after the infamous eating of the fruit we see God seeking them out as they were hiding (Gen 3:8,9) The groundwork has been laid God created us to be in communion with him. We were created to focus on God and his creation.

 

Then something terrible happens! Eve doing what came natural as a human developed a friendship with a serpent. (It seems clear to me that this was the norm hanging with and chatting with the animals. If not I think scripture would have read. The serpent after calming eve down from the heart attack she incurred when realizing a serpent could talk said “Did God really say?”) This serpent talks Eve into ignoring God and eating from the tree she was told not to. How does he do it? By convincing her that she would be like God afterwards (Gen 3:1 – 6) then she goes and gives some to Adam helping him to realize he would be like God as well. Now lets forget the magic of what happened with the taste of the fruit (That’s a whole different topic that I may get to in a different blog) I want to focus on before the bite. You see the moment Adam and Eve chose to ignore God and look out for themselves is the second sin entered the human race. In that second our eyes were permanently turned backwards and we became a people focused on what is good for us rather than God and his creation. Read Gen 3:8 – 13 if it were only a temporary lack of focus we wouldn’t have run from God when we heard his foot steps, Adam wouldn’t have put the blame on Eve and Eve wouldn’t have put the blame on the serpent. They would have stood up and admitted they screwed up. But no, instead they tried looking out for #1 by putting Gods focus on #2. It didn’t work yet we have continued to look out for #1 from that day on. Our focus has permanently been turned upside down looking out for “ME” before looking to God. We have continued to hide from God while God has continued to seek us out. We have become so blinded that despite the consequences of living this way we continue to seek #1. Have you ever read Ecclesiastes? It is Solomon’s struggle with this very topic. “I keep looking for fulfillment and it keeps avoiding me”. He finally comes to the conclusion that the only way this is going to happen is to seek it through God. (Ecc 1:1 – 11, Ecc 12:1 – 14, Ecc 12:13) Thankfully we have Solomon to spell it out for us. Can we learn?

 

We know we are a fallen people with the wrong focus. But despite all our efforts we have learned that we can’t refocus on our own. We need to call on God for help and in turn he has given us his Son who died for our sins and shown us how possible it is to refocus. He has also given us his Spirit to reside in us, to guide us, to refocus us. There is one other thing he has given us that we take for granted. He has given us EACH OTHER (Hebrews 10:24 – 25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.) This my friends is where “The Upside Down Group” comes into play. It’s what we are about. We seek to find ways to “Encourage” each other, Lift each other up. Working together we can find ways to keep our focus on God and his creation.

 

Many of you already have heard of us and know what we are about. Many still do not. If you are just beginning to hear about us I encourage you to write to get more information. Everyone else please continue to tell your friends. Think of all we can do when working together as one. John 17: 20 – 24 

Assignment of the week

Hey Gang,  how did the assignment go last week? Did we find that person to pray for? Now are we ready for a new challenge? I hope so because it's a fun one this week. Have you ever noticed when we go out and receive bad service (A bad waiter, customer service ignores us, slow service, etc...) how quick we are to tell others about our bad experience. We complain to the manager, we tell our friends, sometimes we go as far as to call the BBB. What about the norm? What happens when we get good service? If it's a really good server we tell them thank you and sometimes make it a point to tell them how much we enjoyed their service but then we stop there. Why? When the service was bad we made sure the manager and server both knew how dissatisfied we were. This week lets make sure both the manager and server know how happy we are. When you are done with your lunch, dinner, coffee, shopping, whatever ask to speak to the manager. When he or she comes out tell them how great the service was and then thank them for hiring such a good worker. If your food was good ask to speak with the cook and tell them.

This will be a fun assignment to do I promise. If you haven't done any of the others I recommend you do this one. Since no one ever asks for the manager to say good things you will find a worried look on the employee's face. The manager will come over slightly on guard readying himself for the blow. Then when you say something nice you will visibly see their posture change. You will watch relief and joy fill their face. You WILL have fun. So what do ya say. Let get out there this week and have some fun!

Here's to a great week!