The Mayo Jar

The Mayonnaise Jar
-Unkown

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle,
when 24 hours a day is not enough;
Remember "The Mayonnaise Jar" and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class
and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly,
he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
and started to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured
it into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls

He then asked the students again
if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand
and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand
filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full. The students
responded with an unanimous 'yes.'
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table
and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively
filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that the jar represents your life.'

The golf balls are the important things - God, family
children, health, friends, and favorite passions.
Things that if everything else was lost
and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --
the small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued,
'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls,
the same goes for life.'

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
you will never have room for the things that are
important to you.

so...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical check ups.
Take your [wife] out to dinner.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap.

Take care of the golf balls first
The things that really matter
Set your priorities, the rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand
and inquired what the coffee represents
The professor smiled.
'I'm glad you asked
It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

How true and refreshing to have this brought to my attention! So many times I incorrectly prioritize my life and put unimportant things at the front of my to-do list. And truely our priorities reflect our heart, and in turn, where our hope comes from! I pray God would guide your heart to self-discovery! May God help reveal in you what are your golf balls, pebbles and sand. Maybe we can all slow down to enjoy a cup of coffee together!

Finishing Old Thoughts

http://straightadg.blogspot.com/2009/04/ministry.html

I just realized I had an old post in need of completion....in case you didn't know.

Refresh

A breathe of fresh air.
A dip in a cool pool of water.
Ice cold water.
Cool AC on a hot summer day.
A word of encouragement on a stressful, over-scheduled day.
An uplifting word in troubling times.
Hope in times of despair.

We all need to be refreshed. We all need that encouragement to press on when all around us we are told we are not good enough. We all need to be cooled when the heat index is over 110. We all need that message of hope in a world where we are surrounded by loss.

Hope.

It seems that I have been very unfocused lately. I have done plenty of dreaming. Yet it is never about what I can do right this moment. I seem to be full of negativity. I seem to be full of despair. Overwhelmed by the challenge of life. I was very far from being refreshed.

Where do we get our refreshment from and what is enough to give us the momentum we need to remove ourselves from the lows? I found my hope this past week. It came from a very interesting source; My wife. Now one may seem to think simply, duh. But it came in the way of a serious talk about where our relationship is going and where it is headed.

Few of us really live life. Few of us really put ourselves fully into the world around us. I have not been one of those few. Sure I have applied myself at work, working hard to become Store Manager. But. Work isn't everything. Having a successful work life does not guarantee having a successful home life.

The importance is honesty. If we are truly going to be refreshed in life we need to have a genuine spirit. Our hearts need to be used and engaged. We need to be connected. If our only source of refreshment comes falsely from the self, we are fooled. A temporary fix to a lifelong problem. A leak that will continue to drain us day to day.

Hope.

I think that I know now why I get frustrated at church. We seek to be fixed by ourselves. We pray selfishly. We pray with our own needs in mind. How often do I pray for others? How often do I stop for that car on the side of the road. How often am I a refreshment for others? How often do I come to the side of a fellow brother or sister? It is amazing how far I fall from His teachings.

Refreshment is found in the process of engaging the communities we are involved in. Refreshment is found in Hope.
Refreshment is found in the Love of Jesus.
Refreshment is found in the Hope of Jesus.
Refreshment = Hope