Law of the Garbage Truck

"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." (John 15:12 NKJV)
The following came to us in an email and it illustrates this Bible verse very well. It is called The Law of the Garbage Truck. How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important in your life. Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened. I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!" This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck." He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around with full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it on you. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You will be happy you did. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. It was the day I decided, I ain't gonna do it anymore. I began to see garbage trucks. Like the movie 'The sixth sense' the little boy said, "I see dead people". Well now, "I see garbage trucks". I see the loads they carry. I see them coming to dump it. And, like my taxi driver, I don't fret. I just smile, wish and wave and move on. Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from Florida State University, found in his extensive research that we remember bad things more often than good things in our life. We store the bad memories more easily, and we recall them more frequently. So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way. But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck™, you take back control of your life. You make room for the good by letting go of the bad. The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting. The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client. And the best parents know that they have to be ready to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day. All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let garbage trucks pass by. "Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't." Love, Beau

Don't Cheat on God!

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" (Matthew 6:25) Be careful where you put God in your life. If we allow other things to doubt our faith in God, He is not where He should be. Not only that, if we doubt God, we are not being faithful to His word. Not being faithful is infidelity. Infdelity creates confusion in our lives. We start to worry that God can't properly provide for us and or handle the little details of our lives, so we start trying to do them on our own. Then things really become a mess and we get even more off balance. The solution is to put God back first in your life, have total obedience to Him and His words, always staying faithful and trusting. In this, you can't go wrong. Love, Beau

Becoming New

"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." (James 4:10) Before God can bring you up to your full potential, you have to strip yourselves of everything that is in the way. You have to rid yourselves of old habits and old ways of doing things, and of thinking. You have to let go of every premise of how you think things should go or be done, and how much time it should take. You have to literally strip yourself bare and become nothing in the eyes of the world. This is so God can take you, mold you, and create in you a new being more wonderful and beautiful than you can ever imagine. He creates in you someone in His own image and that is glorious to behold. Not only that, He gives you the ability to achieve more and do more, if you will totally trust in Him, have patience and faith, and allow Him to mold you into His will for you. Love, Beau

Pray Without Ceasing

"praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:18 NKJV) We ought to pray in all circumstances, all situations, no matter what is going on...bad OR good. We also need to stay alert as there are people and things all around us that could distract us from concentrating on serving God the way we should. God wants us to stay focused on Him, and not the ways of the world. Prayer is a way of communicating with God, and He wants us to constantly be in contact with Him so He can help us and lead us. Prayer can even be a way of expressing our thanksgiving and praise to God, and for things. God loves us and wants us to share with Him what's going on in our world and how we feel about it. He also wants us to be mindful of one another, and praying for one another's needs and wants. I don't know about you, but I can never have enough prayers! Prayer is a powerful force, and it DOES change things for the better. Everywhere we look around us there are people and things we can pray about and for, so "pray without ceasing." Love, Beau

If You Could Turn Back Time

Everyone has times when they wish they could turn back time and erase a mistake they made. Well, the good news is that you can! God gives you that opportunity and that chance. He says,
"Come now, and let us reason together,' Says the LORD, 'Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.'" (Isaiah 1:18) That means if you tell God you're genuinely really, really sorry, repent of your sins, and ask forgiveness, He blots them out and it's as if they never happened! You could be the most horrible person on earth, but if you genuinely ask God's forgiveness and turn your life around you truly are a new person in Christ, including the washing away of past sins! It is by the grace of God you are forgiven. So, don't despair if you keep on making mistakes...no one is perfect. Just try to learn from them, do better in the future, and genuinely ask God to forgive you!
Love, Beau