This is the season that millions will spend time, money and energy to select gifts for Christmas.  The motives will normally fall into one of these three;
1) Give a gift because you feel you have to: Although we all have done this, as we mature and grow into being who we really are; we will do this less and less because you do not enjoy it and the one receiving knows you do not.  So is that really a gift?
2) Give a gift because you have to: This may sound the same as number one but it truly is not.  This is when you are so full of emotion because of someone else’s impact on your life that you have to invest in something that will some how express thanks, gratefulness and just plain impact on them…if only for a minute.
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Let me start with, I really do not like labels, but I do understand that some times it just makes sense.
As a life long organizer, I fully embrace the labeling practice of labeling things and places, but not people.
The reality of my principal labeling belief became even more real after a trip to my dentist.
While waiting for the dentist I was asked to complete some paperwork. I began to answer the questions, kind of mindlessly, until I came across this question. I was to circle the answer that applied to me, or labeled me.

Status: Married or Single.

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Red, oh I don’t know if I can!  See, I am getting ready to do my first video in a few weeks and I meet with the gentlemen that will be doing the recording this past Saturday.
As we were closing the meeting, he said with a voice of finality…”And wear RED.”  I responded, “Red, why red?”  He said, “Because it will make you pop.”
I wanted to protest, but I could not even respond because he said it with such confidence and I was trying to determine why I had such a strong negative reaction to his seemingly positive suggestion…to wear RED.
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Lord, I need a miracle!

Click the link above to hear an amazing song about waiting on a miracle.
Have you ever thought that?  Have you ever said it out loud?  How did you feel?  Were you full of faith? Or was this just something you said with exasperation.
The miracle is defined as:
A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency. A highly improbable or extraordinary event that brings very welcome consequences. (more…)

 
Keeping company is a wonderfully powerful phase. It is a concept of behavior and unconditional love that many times we overlook.  It is different from just company, or even from the concept of companion.
To “Keep Company” means to support with unconditional love supplying anywhere there is a lack.  WOW!
Think about the power in this concept.
Company means to open ones home to welcome visitors to share and spend time with joy.  Keep Company takes this to a different and more powerful place.  Think about when you have used the concept.
Maybe you are on your way to visit an aging parent and someone asks, “Where are you going?”  And you say, “I am going to keep my Dad company this afternoon.” (more…)

As with many of you growing up, we gathered around the dinner table for the evening meal, that  is just what we did…
We would discuss the days events, that is just what we did…
We talked about what was happening in our country, that is just what we did…
We encouraged each other through the difficulties of life and celebrated milestones accomplished, that is just what we did…
The girls would set the table, that is just what we did…
We all took our same seat at the table each night, that is just what we did…
Mom would say “Grace” as we took in the wonderful smells of the food that awaited, that is just what we did…
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This is the final Life Legacy Impacting Concepts. Friendship!
I saved Friendship to the last because it is the most powerful, intimate and impacting of the three concepts; and it is the only one in which we have 100% opportunity to choose. The other 2 concepts, Association, and Relationship can just happen; but Friendship is a choice by both people involved.  Friendship should be a choice because it requires the most work with the greatest reward. Before we go into a deeper look at Friendships, let’s learn 3 more things about Life Legacy:
1) Life Legacy should affect our Professional and Genealogical Legacy; whereas it does not work in the other direction. Example: How we gain our income should not change who we are, but our Life Legacy choices can change how we gain our income.
2) Life Legacy is forgiving. We can mess up really bad due to immaturity or lack of knowledge, and as we learn from our experiences our Life Legacy is rewritten. Example: Choices we make in our early adult life, like the wrong job or mate; seem like it will negatively impact our legacy; but as we go on and make wiser choices; the past is just that the past and although it is part of the legacy, it’s impact or influence in our legacy is rewritten. (more…)

Over the last few weeks, we looked at 3 Concepts that impact our Life Legacy. In the last post on Association, I shared some points about Life Legacy, let’s look at some more:
1) Our Life Legacy is about fulfillment. Unlike Professional Legacy and Genealogical Legacy which are about accomplishment and completion; our life legacy is what fulfills us as an individual. (more…)

In a previous post, I did a quick peak at 3 Concepts that impact your life legacy.
Friendship – Association – Relationship
Today we are going to go a little deeper on the concept of Association. But before we do that, let me share these 3 foundational concepts about Life legacy. Note we are talking about life legacy, rather than professional or genealogical legacy. (more…)