How Real is Jesus?

Think about the word 'real' for a moment in a way that describes yourself. You're real. You can feel your surrounds and you're alive. The screen you're reading this on is real. The clothes your wearing are real. They all exist. Now, answer this question:​

​Have you ever thought about Who Jesus Christ really is in your mind, and do you believe He's real?

I have, and I do, but often times when I do, I almost think about Him in an imaginary way. ​Think about it, when you picture Jesus, do you picture Someone that used to live a really, really long time ago in a place, time and way that almost seems almost make believe? Do you picture a white man with long hair and a beard smiling all the time and walking around the countryside with lots of sheep? Or do you picture a man who was and is fully God that just happened to make His human appearance some 2,000 years ago, but that is still literally just as real and alive today as He's always been? For me, I usually picture the almost make believe Jesus. Not on purpose, but because that's almost how my mind has been trained to think. 

Ever since I was little, I've always been taught Who Jesus was and what Jesus has done. Not as much Who He is and what He does. ​I've almost always been taught in a past-tense form. Sure, I've been taught God is love and Jesus does save, but what about that Jesus didn't just feed 5,000 but that He currently feeds millions? What about that Jesus didn't just heal the blind, but that He heals the blind?

Personally, I've just had a hard time connecting Jesus with reality in actual life. It's so easy to say it and say I believe, but to actually believe it and actually live, pray and know that He's ​REAL opens up a whole new realm, life and way of thinking. Realness changes things. 

I can say I believe I'll make a million dollars one day, but that may or may not really believe that to be true. If I ​really, honestly believed in the realness of making a million dollars one day, my life would totally change. I would live completely differently because I'd had full faith in that idea. 

Shouldn't that be the case with Jesus too?​

If we really believe in that fact that He's actually real, shouldn't we actually live in a real way that supports that? Not just a way that says, 'I believe?'​

It's some food for thought. I've been eating on it for a while, so I thought I'd share some leftovers. ​Enjoy.

-Cliff​

Cliff's Note: If Jesus is real, we should really treat Him like He is. ​

When Working Over the Holidays Gets You Down

This year, I feel a lot like Santa. This isn't because it's been nearly two months since I hit the gym or because I've been eating two of my mom's Christmas cookies before bed every night; it's because for the first time in my life, I'm having to work over the holidays.  

At first (and still at times) it seemed like a major downer having to work over the holidays. Knowing that while all my friends and family would be enjoying their time on vacation I'd be sitting at work bummed me out, as it would most people. All I could think about were the things I would be missing out on: the time with family, binge watching the Harry Potter series or ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas and sitting in front of the fire place late into the night in my PJs. These are the things I've done on my Christmas holidays for years, but not this year. This year is different. 

What a downer; however, while most of my thoughts about working over the holidays were on the negative side of things and the things I'd be missing out on, my thoughts should've instead been on the things I'm getting to do, things like feel like Santa.

The job that I'm having to work is rather 'North Pole-ish.' I'm not giving toys away to thousands of children or riding in a sleigh anywhere, but I do get to help bring the spirit of Christmas to tons of children, couples and families. Essentially, I'm helping manage an event in Tulsa called 'Winterfest.' What's more North Pole-ish than that? I'm helping run a Christmas festival full of lights, hot chocolate, horse & carriage rides, and ice skating. These are all things that do nothing but fill people with the holiday spirit and put smiles on their faces, just like Santa. 

You see, the interesting thing about Santa is that he has to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas too. Weird, huh? The one guy you'd think should get some time off on Christmas has to work. He doesn't get to sit around with Mrs. Clause by the fireplace watching Harry Potter either. Instead, he spends his holiday working and bringing joy to others.   

Maybe you feel a little bit like Santa this year too. Maybe you got stuck working a shift at the hospital, or it's your first year at a company so you don't have any vacation time. Whatever the situation is, you've found yourself working throughout the holidays, and so far, you've had no reason to smile about it. Until now. I want to give you a reason to smile about it. 

If you're working through the holidays this season and start to cry every time, "I'll be Home for Christmas" comes on the radio, I've got good news for you. You're not alone; you're just like Santa, and just like Santa does, you get to have the opportunity to spread some Christmas joy with people on a day when everyone deserves to be filled with some Christmas joy. It's a pretty sweet opportunity when you think about it. Yes, there will always be the things you're missing out on, but there are also things you're getting to be a part of that not everyone gets to do. One of the coolest parts of the Christmas season is having the opportunity to serve others, and you'll have just that. So, if you're working this holiday season, take heart and know you're not alone, and that you're getting to play Santa Clause for someone who probably needs it.  

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Even Santa won't be home for Christmas.  

Pressure: Stop the Bleeding

There's one, basic thing everyone needs to know when it comes to stopping a cut from bleeding: apply pressure. This is the one medical thing I can remember learning from a young age, whether it was dealing with a cut I got from playing outside or a bloody nose. I was always taught to put a bandage of some sort on it and apply lots of pressure. 

Tonight, this is exactly what I did. It's become a natural instinct now. I was hanging up some metal signs on my wall when I caught the edge of one on my hand and seared a nice gash on my left ring finger. It was one of those cuts that was deep enough to fold the skin over and watch blood poor out (sorry for the graphic detail). Anyway, my point is that it was one of those cuts that needed pressure to stop bleeding, and it needed a lot of it. I had to hold a paper towel on it for at least 20 minutes and then bandage it after that, and it still wasn't done bleeding; however, the pressure eventually did the trick, and it stopped. After minutes of pressure and bleeding, it finally cauterized.

Wounds and pressure are funny like that- they ultimately take force, weight and pressure, to begin to healing. The pressure is good for the wound.

This made me think about how applying pressure to some sinful or life wound can also do the trick sometimes. Whether it's dealing with some sort of struggle or issue or dealing with tough decisions, there's something about applying pressure to those situations that begins healing. I'm not talking about an intense, peer kind of pressure that forces bad decision making, but instead I'm talking about a pressure that comes from mentors or teachers that's applied in order to make us think, make us respond and make us begin to deal with the wounds we're currently dealing with. It's a pressure that comes from caring, and a gentle pressure that's supposed to stop the bleeding.

There is something to be said for a healthy amount of pressure and constrictive criticism coming from people who care about you. It's that kind of pressure that will, not only begin a healing process, but also identify where the bleeding is coming from. It's not peer pressure; it's productive pressure.  

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Pressure is needed to cauterize any wound, whether it be physical, spiritual or emotional. 

When God Sat in Mary's Womb

Yesterday, I asked and prayed for some rest, encouragement and creativity, and today I received all three. Basically, it's amazing what hearing from friends and going to church can do for you. Realization: there's something about hearing from your Creator that sparks creativity. 

Today's message at church was one of the most creative messages I've ever heard. It was a Christmas message, but it was unlike any other Christmas message I'd heard before. It was unique. It was a message not just about Jesus being born, but also about the obstacles that God Himself had to overcome to be born.  

Essentially, the pastor talked about what it must've been like for the God of the universe be in Mary's womb.  He talked about the vulnerability, the humbleness, the sacrifice and the complete transformation Jesus went through to go from the super-natural realm to the natural realm. This blew my mind because it was something I'd never thought of before. The pastor had some great points.

For Jesus, being fully God, to come to earth, be mortal, be vulnerable and become fully dependent on humans to take care of Him sounds completely ludicrous. He literally went from speaking galaxies into being into having to cry in order for His mother to know when He was hungry. He went from having all authority over all nature to shivering and having to be wrapped in a blanket. Jesus went from being in a place where He was completely understood and worshiped as God for Who He truly is to a place where He was completely misunderstood and hardly treated or worshiped as God. This blows my mind.

To have my mind blown today was exactly what I needed. It was just the boost of creativity and thought I needed to get my mind centered on what it should be centered on.  After all, what better boost of creativity is there then to know and think about the Creator of the entire world becoming a baby and living as a human? 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: There has been no greater obstacle overcome than the one that God overcame when He went from sitting on His throne to sitting in Mary's womb. 

When Joys Start to Feel Like Jobs

I'm really tired.

You know that feeling you get when you just don't want to do anything? That feeling that that makes you feel useless, uncreative and flat out lazy? Well, that's me lately, and let me tell  you; it's a struggle. 

I don't want to work.
I don't want to be intentional with people.
And I definitely don't want to write.

It's not really a sleepy tired; it's more of a mindless tiredness that makes me feel all used up. It's like I need a burst of something new and a refresher, but I'm just not sure what of.

Lately, life feels like it's just been wearing on me. I'm having a hard time finding the motivation and creative sparks I need to do what I love to do both at work and in my free time. This is extremely frustrating because, at times, it takes away the joy I have from creating the things I love to create: community and writing. These things feel more like jobs lately, rather than joys.

When joys start to feel like jobs, it might be a symbol of tiredness. Joys should be just that, joyful. Granted, not every day is going to be easy and not everything you love is always going to come without any effort, but sometimes life just begins to wear on you and the things that should be making you happy just seem to become something you 'have to do.' (Yes, I'm subliminally speaking of blogging right now, which is my example).

I'm not sure, but I believe that just like being tired and overly sleepy isn't healthy, neither is being creatively tired and sleepy. Lately, that's how I've felt. I've felt like I'm on my last drops of creativity, and I'm in need of a refill.

So, I'm asking for one. If anyone has any creativity overflowing from them and wants to lend some my way or help me refill my own, I'm bone dry and I'd love you're help. My joys have started to feel like jobs.

Thanks in advance.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Don't overflow so much that you forget to get refilled. 

What's Stealing Your Time?

I check social media a lot. I check it for blogging feedback, for likes and comments and I check it for work. It's something I'm constantly connected to, whether it's my Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. I'm always checking it, even when I have nothing to check, It's kinda sad, really.

Do you have anything in your life that you wish you didn't really have? It may be a good thing, but slowly and surely it just seems to take over your life. For me, this thing is social media and the idea of always having to feel connected. Part of it is because it's my job to reply in a timely manner to inquiries we have regarding events at work, but the other part is just out of pure habit. If there's nothing to do, I check social media; If I'm walking down the hall, I check social media; If I'm trying to think of what to blog about next, I check social media (hence, this blog). It's become such an idol in my life, and I hate that. I hate that it's so hard for me to disconnect.

Social media has become the thing in my life that I wish I didn't really have because it's the thing in my life that steals away from so many other things in my life. It steals away from special moments because instead of just enjoying the moment, I become more interested in getting cool pictures to get more 'likes,' it steals away from my work because it's at such easy access while working at a desk job, and ultimately, it just steals away from my time. I spend valuable seconds, minutes, and in total, hours looking at it when I could instead be doing so many more productive things. Social media has made me anti-social.

If we're honest, I think we all have one of these things in our life that we wish we didn't have because it steals away our attention from more important things in life. Maybe it's a job, maybe it's a hobby or maybe it's even a relationship. Whatever it is, it's a thief, and it might be stealing from you. I'm being pick-pocketed by it day in and day out, but I pray that changes soon. I don't want my time here stolen from me, and neither should you.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: We all have a thief in our life, but before we can catch it, we have to identify it. 

The Secret Behind 'Happy Holidays'

You don't need me to tell you that Christmas time is a special time of year. There's so much going on, so many parties and so much joy, it's no wonder that it's every other person's favorite holiday. Why is it so special though? There are other holidays out there like St. Patrick's Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving, so what is it about Christmas that makes it so special?

Today was my company's 'Holiday Party.' Yes, like most of the culture around us, we have to be 'careful' and 'politically correct' when it comes to Christmas terminology. We have to be careful to say 'Happy Holidays' in our signage, our media and most of our content, but still, there's something about 'Happy Holidays' that has a lot more joy behind it than 'Happy Columbus Day,' and I think it's because we all know that 'Happy Holidays' really means 'Merry Christmas.'

At work, we may have had a holiday party, but, secretly, I really think it was a Christmas party. There was too much joy for it to just be a holiday party. Everyone was stoked. It didn't really matter what dirty Santa gift they got (minus the girl who got the $10 pizza I wrapped from Pizza Hut), if they won a raffle prize or not or how much vacation time they would be getting over the next couple of weeks. Honestly, everyone was just really happy, and that made me happy. It was a kind of special, unnatural happy that you only see around this time of year. It was a Christmas happy.  

Christmas is funny, what it does to people. It shows us something: for one day we can all come together, and somehow, someway, we show the whole world that we all know how to love one another. Every year on Christmas, that special day, the world shows that it knows how to love. People smile at one another, wave at one another and care for one another. There's this other-wordly joy, and I think it's because at the center of all this other-wordly, Christmas joy is Christ.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Christmas has it's miracles, but the biggest one may be the joy and love the whole world seems to experience.  

When God Humbles You

My life currently feels like a mess.

I've spent the past week battling the flu, moving into a new house, working 50+ hours, getting into a car accident and sleeping less than 5 hours a night. This is not my idea of peaceful.  

For a while, it seemed like everything was going great. I was enjoying the transition into a new job in a new city, connecting with lots of friends and zipping all over the place without a care in the world. I felt like I was in the fast lane, and frankly, I was becoming selfish and dependent on myself. It's around about these times that God usually chooses to knock me off my high horse and remind me Who's really in charge.  

God humbles the proud. 

God has this special way of disciplining His children who often forget that they're not the ones controlling everything. As often as I can remember, this is how He's worked in my life; One moment I'm living the dream, without a care in the world or a thought toward my Heavenly Father, and the next minute He knocks me on my butt and reminds me that I'm not in control of anything and that He is.  

When God humbles you, it's for a reason. It's for your own good, and more importantly, His good, whether you like it at the moment or not. He's going to remind His children who they're dependent on, and He's going to remind them that every good and every perfect gift does indeed come from above. 

Whether it's good health, good rest or a functioning car,  all good things come from Him and all good things can be taken by Him just like that. He has a way with teaching His servants how to refocus their eyes on Him, and I'm glad He does. If God Himself didn't humble us and remind us Who's boss, I'm not sure who would. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: "Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights." 

Knowing Co-Workers Outside of Work Makes Work Not Feel Like Work

The workplace environment is a really weird place. It's just kind of awkward, honestly. People tend to be rather surface level in conversations and really conservative with what they choose to share and choose not to share. Honestly, it's just a hard place to get to know people for who they really are and what backgrounds they're coming from.​ Guards are up and work is the focus. 

If you really want to get to know someone, outside the work environment is the place to do it. Work is finally set on the back burner, there isn't as strict of a 'professionalism' code and conversations can last longer than a casual, "Hey, how ya doin?". It's almost a neutral zone the drops people's comfort, work-safe-environment bubble. It's great. 

I'm about two and a half weeks into a job in Tulsa that I just started, and tonight was one of the first nights I really felt like I got to know my co-workers. ​After an evening of hosting clients at a business party, we all got to go out for drinks and get to know one another past the point of, "How was your weekend?". We got to know one another's musical tastes, stories from childhoods past and tales of adventures we'd all been on. Come to find out, we actually all had quite a lot in common. It was a special moment, and honestly, one of the realest, most special moments I've had at this job. 

There's something to be said for knowing who you're working for and who you're working with past the point of, "How are you?". It's important. After all, these are people you spend 8+ hours with a day, five days a week. It's important to actually know the people you're surrounded by and working with because why? Because it's important to be able to know how to love your neighbor. In order to do this, it takes being intentional and getting outside of the work environment to know someone, either that or being extremely intentional with the time you do have in the work environment. 

Maybe this is just coming from someone who's new to a job​. Maybe I'm wrong; maybe you do get to know people on another level after working with them for so long. I don't know, but I do know this- I'm a lot further along getting to know my fellow co-workers tonight than I was 24-hour ago. 

Get to know someone in your work place this week outside of the workplace. See what happens. ​

​-Cliff

Cliff's Note: The workplace is made to be a place of intentional relationship. Intentional relationship produces successful work. ​

Parents: Shout Out To You

There comes a point in life when one realizes just how much parents do. Sometimes it's when you have your first kid, other times it's just after a moment of thinking about it; however, today it just kind of kicked me in the face. Parents do a ton. 

There are a few things that parents do that we all know and love and that we're all greatful for. They were the ones that changed our diapers, drove us all over the place and taught us the basic ins and outs of life, and despite all of these good things, there's more! Today, I took note of a few of the random things I never thanked my parents for and wrote them down. Then, I thanked them for them. Here's a few I came up with:

Family vacations

Planning for my college expenses 18 years in advance

Helping with car insurance and phone bills

Making sure I had a job and work experience

Teaching me about saving money

Giving me a home to always come back to

Now, this is a short list, and I could go on and on, but these things really stuck out to me. Some of these things seemed so small at the time, so small that they were, sadly, unnoticed. But now, I notice. I notice how blessed I am to have the parents that I've had and realize that not everyone does. I notice not only the extreme amounts of money they have supported me with (trust me, you never know how much a family vacation can cost until you try to plan one just for yourself), but also the extreme amounts of time, effort and planning. 

Parents (especially mine) are super heroes in my book.  It's truly amazing the amount of love parents can have for kids, which, to me, amplifies the love that God must have for us. So, shoutout to you, parents. Thank you for being absolutely super, and thank you for every little random thing you've ever done, from teachings of how to properly eat at the dinner table to every single family vacation, birthday party and sporting event you've ever been behind the scenes at. Without you, life literally wouldn't be possible. And as for you, kids, tell your parents, "thank you" sometime this week for something random. They'll light up. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Make saying 'thank you' to your mom and dad a regular thing; they deserve it.  

When Your Hometown Doesn't Feel Like Home Anymore

It's funny how your hometown can cease to feel like your hometown after you've been gone from it for a few years. The question, "Where are you from?" becomes a confusing answer because you may be from such and such town, but that town doesn't feel like where you're from anymore. Your hometown just turns into the town you were born in, the town you were raised in or the town where your parents still live.  

The people have changed and aged, your old friends you grew up with and made memories with have moved away and the restraunts have changed, with your old favorites going out of business and new popular chain restraunts taking their place. The street names can seem to be the only similarity. 

Something funny happens when your hometown doesn't feel like home anymore. It turns from being a town you make memories in into a town that's just full of memories made. Driving down the streets turns into a tour of nostalgia accompanied by a sense of not quite belonging anymore. It's strange. 

Your hometown can become a place of the past and an easy place to look back at where mistakes were made and what could have been done differently; however, when your hometown does become this and becomes a place that doesn't feel like home anymore, it can become a place full of measurement of personal growth. It can become a place of looking at who you once were and who you are now. 

Measuring personal growth is important, as it can reveal both positive and negative changes. Going back to where you were born and raised is a great place to do this because it's a place stacked with who you were. It's a place full of old stomping grounds, and around every corner is a memory and thought of who you used to be and how you used to think. It reveals how you've grown and how you once grew and need to grow again, and there's nothing like a reminder from where you came from. 

Although your hometown may change, so will you. Although your hometown may not feel like home anymore, it always will be, and there's always something to learn from home. When you go home, don't just notice the changes in it, notice the changes in you. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: When you go home, don't just notice the changes within it, but notice the changes within you.  

The (Spoken) Fear That Leads to Anxiety

I'm not sure what it is, but there's just something so much easier about writing than speaking. When I write, I have a chance to think through my thoughts, sort out what I want to say, be honest in a way that sounds pleasing to everyone, and think through every little detail of every sentence. When I'm speaking, I don't have the chance to do that. I have to think on my feet, and it seems like there's always a lot more pressure to impress the people around me. Whether it's them liking the sound of my voice, or whether or not they're actually paying attention to what I'm saying while I'm saying it and being able to see their reactions, it just seems so much more intense. I just don't like it. 

it's harder for me to be honest when I'm speaking, rather than when I'm writing. When I'm writing I'm not scared of what I say, or what people think. However, when I'm speaking, I'm really scared of what people think of what I say. When speaking it seems super easy for me to lie almost every other sentence, probably because I'm a people pleaser her, and I'll say anything to make anyone happy, even if it's the slightest white lie.

I don't like this about myself. I want to be as honest when I'm speaking as I am when I'm writing. Whether it's in casual conversation, or trying to speak truth into somebody. I really wish I could transfer the way I write it into the way I speak. Maybe this comes with practice, or maybe this just comes with having the gift of being a good speaker. I'm not really sure, but I know it's an area that I want to grow in.  

I'm not really sure where this post is going because I'm speaking it, rather than writing it. I'm not thinking so much about my thoughts in a way that wants to please people, I'm just speaking my mind, and hoping that that comes out honestly. The truth is, the fear I have of what people think of what I say or what I write leads to a lot of anxiety for me. But then again, I guess that's always the case. Fear always leads to anxiety. Be fearless, and don't stress. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Fear leads to anxiety, and so does lying. Be honest and be bold. 

Where God Wants Me

It's 2:22 am, and I just got home from a 16 hour work day. I have to be back at 6 a.m. (4 hours from now), but that doesn't matter. I couldn't be happier; today was a day I realized I've landed right where God wants me.

Despite the heavy work load, the abnormally long hours for my current season of work and not having a legitimate place to live until two days ago, I'm beyond content. If you had told me two months ago the number of hours I would be working and the uncertainty of a living situation, I probably wouldn't be where I'm at, but that's not the case. I'm exactly where God wants me for the time being. 

Today was one of those, "Aha!" moments for me when I was able to look back on everything that I've been through and been learning over the past couple of years and say, "Oh, yeah. Now I know why I learned that. Now I know why I experienced that." I'm coming to understand why I was plunged into urban ministry in Seattle, why I've made the friends I've made along the way and why I've been out of the state of Oklahoma for quite some time. Sure, there's still lots to be revealed and lots to learn, but the blind fold is slowly coming off my eyes, and I couldn't be more thankful.

God is faithful, and no matter where He has you, in whatever situation that may look like, it's definitely for a reason. God is intentional, and He definitely doesn't waste time. Ever day and every experience as its purpose; don't miss that. He is faithful, and trust me, the patience pays off in the end when His plan is revealed and begins to take shape. There's nothing like it in the world. 

-Clif

-Cliff's Note: God's plan is living, active and noticeable in the life of a believer. It just takes patience to see it through.

Why the Grass Isn't Always Greener on the Other Side

Do you ever feel like you would have the entire world if you just had that one thing? It's always something super enticing, like a new job, a new outfit or maybe the latest Apple product. Whatever it is, you just have that feeling inside that if you can get that one thing, you won't want anything else. You'll be satisfied. 

I hate that feeling because that feeling is a lie, and not only is a lie, but it's a lie we tell ourselves. It's like our own mind is trying to trick is. It's a feeling that's rooted deep down in the gut, and it's hard to ignore because really, it's a lie we all want to believe. We all want to be satisfied. We all want that one, last thing that will truly make us happy.

This 'grass is always greener on the other side' feelings hits home about every year around this time for me because it's Christmas. It's the time of year where I think to myself, "If I only get that one gift..." Or "This New Year is going to be the last time I want..." It's such a tricky time and such a tricky feeling. It's such an easy lie to believe that after we get all we want, we'll be truly happy.  

But what do you get someone who already has everything, or better yet, what do you do if someone offers you everything? If someone offers you the world at only a small cost?  

I'd probably take everything, wouldn't you? I mean, if someone had everything, why would anyone ever want anything again? Problem solved.  

Except it's not. This one time, 2,000 years ago, Jesus was offered everything. He was offered everything in the world, every Kingdom, all authority and all glory, but He turned it down. Isn't that crazy? Literally everything in the world He could have had, but He said no. He didn't want greener grass. 

Thinking about this, I realized how often when I'm tempted with wanting anything at all, it always seems like if I had that one thing I would literally have everything in the world. The power of want is that strong. The power of desire is that real. It can take over and create a sense of authority and glory that aren't really there. It's a lie, just like the one about your neighbor having greener grass.  

Jesus was offered the entire world if He would only bow down to Satan, much like we feel we would receive the entire world if we would only bow down to our desires; however, what are our desires and will they really give us the world, or will they really just give us a thirst for more of the world? Think about it.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: The grass may be greener on the other side, but what kind of crap are they using to fertilize it with? 

The Lie Behind Happy Plates

photo via Yelp.com

“Make a happy plate!”
“Eat all your food, or you won’t get any dessert.”
“Just three more bites!”

These are three of the most famous parent quotes from pretty much every parent ever. Since the beginning of time, parents have been trying to get their children to eat all of their food. From threats of having to sit at the table until all the green vegetables are gone, to bribes of new toys, trying to get kids to eat goes to all kinds of ludicrous extremes. Watch closely, and you’ll see it all around you, at restaurants and even at your own family’s table.

Now, is it just me, or is it because of this that we have all been brainwashed since day one to not only eat everything in front of us, but to also indulge regardless of how full we may be or what foods we do and don’t like? I think yes.

I’m not picking on parents or hating on how they raise kids. It’s different for every family, and learning to eat and learning to eat right are super important things. It’s how we stay healthy, get the vitamins and nutrients we need and, in reality, how we keep from dying. Eating right is important, but why were we taught to ‘eat it all?’

Gluttony has become a problem. It’s so easy to eat in excess, especially with America’s fast food chains and super-sizing options. It’s become encouraged and easy to “make it a large” at the drive through and at the movies because it’s only $0.40 extra. What could it hurt?

Maybe a lot more than you and I think

.Gluttony steals away from portion, and portion is ‘importiont’ to life.

Portion is a part of a whole amount; it’s a share and a piece of something. A portion is a bit of generosity and a bit of healthy. Having portion sizes, not just in a food context, but also in a life context, is the only way to maintain healthy doses of both good (and not so good) things.

Is it good to eat a portion of fresh green beans? Yes. It is good to eat fresh green beans and fresh green beans only for every meal? Probably not. 

The point is this; portions are what help make life more enjoyable. I love cheeseburgers, but guess what? If I ate one every day, I probably wouldn’t love them as much anymore. Portions keep the exciting things in life from becoming mundane. Portion out your life, not just your food. Eat a salad; eat a burger. Relax some; work some. Watch TV some; read some. Life shouldn’t be all about ‘making a happy plate;’ it should be more about making a healthy one through portions and pieces.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: "Variety is the spice of life." 

This was a guest post I've shared on Cliff Notes that I wrote for my friend, Kelli Tomlinson's blog. You'll love reading her stuff and get lots of knowledge, info and tips from her if you're passionate about fitness, healthy eats or hilarious high school teacher stories. Check her out on www.fitnessandfroyo.blogspot.com.  

5 Things 12-Year-Old Jesus Taught Us

photo via: lampbiblepictures.com

When I was 12 years old, I was your typical sixth grade boy. I played sports, chatted on MSN Messenger and learned what it mean to flirt with girls for the first time. I asked questions a 12-year-old would ask, I said things a 12-year-old would say and I had the wisdom an average 12-year-old would have. There wasn't anything spectacular or peculiar about me; I just did my own thing, while my biggest worries in life were what time practice was, what day the trash needed to be taken out and how to not let my friends see my parents pick me up from the movies.

Life at 12 was easy, for me, but then, there's Jesus. 

Twelve-year-old Jesus is just as interesting as 30-year-old Jesus, in my book. It's the last time we hear of him for something like 18 years. One minute He's ditched His parents in Jerusalem to stay at the Temple for three days straight, and the next minute He's being baptized by John the Baptist, while the Heavens are opened up, and the Holy Spirit is falling on Him like a dove, while God's own voice booms down from Heaven to bless Him. Pretty crazy transition, huh?

Twelve-year-old Jesus was not 30-year-old, turning water into wine Jesus, but at the same time, He was, and we can still learn so much from even His 12-year-old self. Here are a few things He knew at 12 that I'm still learning at 24: 

1) Hang out with people older than you
After Jesus' parents had been looking for him for more than three days after He ditched them at the Passover Feast, where did they find him? Hanging out with old people (teachers to be specific). Jesus hung out with people older than Him, not just kids His own age. If we only hang out with people our age or younger, how will we ever receive the wisdom that only grey hair can bring? If you hang out with 12-year-olds, you'll be as wise as a 12-year-old; If you hang out with 60-year-olds, you may steal some of that 60-year-old wisdom.

2) Ask good questions
Jesus didn't just hang out with people older than Him; He asked them questions. He picked their brains, and it says, "all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers." He was brilliant, mostly because He was God, but also because He asked them good questions. You never know until you ask.

3) Respect your parents
How hard would it be to respect your parents when you're God? Extremely hard. After all, can you imagine knowing literally everything and still having to submit to your parents, even though you may positively know their wrong? I can't. Jesus did it anyway. When His parents said it was time to come home after a three-day stent in Jerusalem, He came home.

4) Go out on your own
At 12-years-old, Jesus was already traveling the country on His own. He pretty much kicked it back in Jerusalem by Himself, while His parents headed home (little did they know). He didn't even need a babysitter. I don't know about you, but I was still scared to stay home alone for an hour when I was 12, much less stay in a different city by myself where I don't know anyone. I'm not encouraging 12-year-olds to run away from home; I'm just saying that at some point, you need to. It's important to travel on your own, meet new people and trust that God will take care of you, even when your parents aren't there.   

5) Grow in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man
Jesus, at 12, was already concentrating on things I didn't even know existed at 12 (I'm still not sure what the word 'stature' means). He knew what was most important in life, and He pursued those things from an extremely young age. Jesus knew that growing in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man were essential to becoming a Man of God. 

At 12, I was definitely nothing but a 12-year-old; however now that I'm a reborn 24-year-old, 12 years later, I just hope I can be someone like 12-year-old Jesus was. I hope my life and the lives of those in my generation can hold as big of a transition as Jesus' life did from 12 to 30.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Be like (12-year-old) Jesus. 

The Loving Reason Behind Reason and Love

People can be some of life's greatest problems, myself included. People can be frustrating, hard to work with, irritating and, frankly, crazy sometimes; however, it's impossible to get through life without working with people and especially without working with yourself (which can be the most difficult at times). Understanding how to work with people and how to have grace in the times when someone makes you want to scream is vital to any social environment.

Thinking about this, I was asked to look at this quote by C.S. Lewis recently. You'll love this golden nugget:

"Can we repent if God helps us? Yes, but what does that mean, 'helping us?' We mean God putting into us a bit of Himself, so to speak. He (God) puts a little of His love into us, and that is how we love one another. We love and reason because God loves and reasons and holds our hand while we do it."

I don't know how familiar you may be with C.S. Lewis, but this quote, like many of his other ones, is packed like a loaded gun. It's got so much power behind it, and it's only a sentence or two long. It's wise, yet simple, profound, yet light and easy to hear.

Think about it; the idea of God actually putting some of His reasoning and His love in our hearts so that we may begin to have the potential to love other people,  reason with them, work with them and begin to understand them, is mind-numbing.  Where would we be without that little gift? 

Without this gift, it would be impossible to love our neighbor as ourselves, impossible to empathize and relate to others and, even more so, impossible to be loved and reasoned with. The only reason we can love and reason is because God loves, reasons and helps us. The only thing in the world that is truly keeping us all from absolutely destroying one another are God's pieces of reasoning and love He has instilled in us.

We love because He loves, we reason because He reasons and we're patient because He's patient. Being reasonable and loving is about thinking through things, looking at them with a fair and eternal perspective and not making decisions based off of emotional, in-the-moment feelings.

In the words of my friend, "To combine love and reason, we must look beyond ourselves." 

I couldn't agree more.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Though a situation may be difficult, find comfort in knowing that God has put His own little nuggets of love and reason within you to share with the world. 

If There Were 100 People in the World . . .

Most jobs don't require you to work until 11 p.m. on Sunday nights; however, most jobs don't get you into free concerts at the same time. 

Tonight is one of those nights; it's a night I'm scheduled to work until 11, and it's also an event night. Tonight's event: a TobyMac concert. 

It's not like I can just sit back, walk into the concert and enjoy it the entire time. I have to sneak in every now and again on breaks and catch bits and pieces. Tonight, I managed to slip in at just the right time. It wasn't the time the headlining artist was on stage; instead, it was the time of intermission in which they had a guest speaker share a quick message. His message was simple and what I needed to hear, and his message was something like this:

There are 7.3 billion people in the world.

If you were to take those 7.3 billion people in the world and shrink them down to a perspective size of 100 people, this is what it would look like:

Only 7 people would have college degrees, 48 people would live on less the $2 a day, 23 people would not have shelter, and 50 people wouldn't have a reliable food source (15 people would be overweight from too much food).

I'm not sure how totally accurate these facts and figures were, and he shared more than I did here, with a little more 'umph' behind them, but it made me realize a few things about myself:

I hate that I'm one of the ones at the front of the line.

I hate that I'm one of the seven with a college degree, one of the 52 people living on more than $2 a day, one of the 77 with shelter and one of the 50 with plenty of food. 

I don't hate it because I have these things; these are definitely all blessings and definitely good things. What I hate is wondering why I got chosen to have them and how they make me numb to the other half of the world. Why not someone else? I'm not that deserving. What difference is there really between myself and one of the refugees trying to get into this country other than that I was born here? I didn't do anything to deserve all that I have, and he/she didn't do anything to deserve all they're having to go through. It makes me sick to my stomach. I want to be grateful for all I have, and I truly am, but I find it hard to grateful sometimes when I think about those who haven't been given much of anything, not even a smile passing by on the street. 

God has taught me a lot, not just tonight, but over this past year. Tonight was just a reminder. I don't want to be comfortable anymore, I don't want to accumulate 'stuff,' and I don't want to build a kingdom here. This world is not my home, and I think I'm finally realizing how homesick I am. I'm realizing how much my heart hurts for the people in the '100' who live completely banking their life on Eternity's Promises, for the people who pray, "give us this day our daily bread," because that's their only hope for any bread at all. 

As for me, it's time to live accordingly. 

Out of the '100,' which one are you?

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: "Still looking for a home in a world where I belong. . . "

What's Your 'Scarlet Letter?'

I wear a maroon hat with the letter 'A' on it. I tell people that it stands for Austin, my name, like Alvin does on Alvin and the Chipmunks, but the more I think about it, maybe that scarlet A is one of my scarlet letters.

In high school, we were required to read the book, "The Scarlet Letter." It's a book many people have read, as it's required by a lot of schools' English classes. If you haven't read it, I'll give you a super short Cliff Notes (ha, see what I did there) version of it: Essentially, a girl is forced to where a scarlet letter 'A' on her chest as a form of punishment so everyone knows she's an adulterer. 

After we read this book in class, as a project, we were told to create a letter for ourselves to wear around our own necks, in order to empathize and relate to the main character. There were lots of letter L's for lying, G's for gossip and S's for stealing. Most of the letters stood for pretty drama-free adjectives, and I, personally, rocked the letter L, myself for 'lust'. It was a really great, humbling class project, but now that I think about it, I feel like I should've worn more than one letter. I feel like I should've been wearing the whole alphabet. 

Do you ever have those days when you're completely floored by just how messed up and in need of grace you are as a person? Today was one of those days for me; I felt like I deserved to wear every letter of the alphabet around my chest just to symbolize how broken I really am. It never fails; Anytime I'm feeling even a little bit self-absorbed, I do something to remind myself that I'm not as 'good' as I think I am. It's humbling.

There's something about being so messed up that you have to be completely dependent on Divine grace to cover your screwups that makes grace overwhelming sometimes. Just knowing how messed up I am (and how messed up the world is), and that there is Someone who has already paid the costs of those mistakes is enough to make me sit down and bury my hands in my face and sob like a new born baby. It's that humbling to me.

I hope it is to you too. 

Anytime you have one of those days when you're really feeling the weight of your sin and it feels like every letter of the alphabet, A-Z, is strapped around your neck weighing you down, remember that you're not the one having to carry those sins. If you believe Jesus Christ is Who He said He is, then you must also believe He has already freed you from those letters around your neck. Remember on the days that you're feeling the weight of your sin, the weight of His grace is greater.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Grace is an ocean- sink in it. 

What Are Your 'Cliff Notes' Critiques?

 "Whoa. We're halfway there." - Bon Jovi

Fifty days ago, I set a goal of posting 100 posts in 100 days on Cliff Notes. Now, we're halfway there. 

This is post 50 out of 100, and I would like to use it is as a post to ask a few questions and re-evaluate what types of Cliff Notes' content readers enjoy most.

The questions I would like to have some feedback on are:

1) What kinds of post are most enjoyable as a reader (ex: posts on life, faith, traveling, application, satire, ___ ways to ____ posts, etc)?

 2) Do you have any recommendation on how Cliff Notes can be improved?

And

3) Have you ever considered contributing to Cliff Notes? As you may have noticed, there have been several guest posts on Cliff Notes. If you've ever wanted to write a blog post, but not keep up with an entire blog yourself,  let me know. I'd love to give you the opportunity to contribute. We'll chat about a topic you are most passionate about.

Any and all feedback would be a huge deal for me to receive, so if you have a minute or two, please take some time and share your opinions with me. Feel free to message me on Facebook, DM me in Twitter or email me at awhstinb@gmail.com. I'll look forward to hearing from you. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Constructive criticism is good criticism.