Hey Blogeroos!  Happy Monday and Happy Birthday to me! That's right - it is actually my birthday today.

Here's what I do every birthday and what I would like to suggest for each of you dear ones out there. Every birthday, I take the day off. Yes, I know I'm writing my blog today but that is something that I love to do! I am now working at home but still have to be firm in saying no to many things. When I worked out of my home, I still booked the day off if it fell on a weekday.

You are special and the day you were born is special. That is the day that God chose to grace this earth with your presence and I, for one, am happy you're here. So, hey, let's celebrate! Take a day to just enjoy you. Be lovely and loungy and do what you love.

Until next time, let the Birthday fun continue!!

Happy Monday morning! A rich blessing to all of you for a wonderful week!

Yesterday, in church, I heard this verse: Phil. 2:3, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves..."

Wow! A lot of wisdom in a tiny verse!! When I look around at our world, I do not see a lot of this behavior. So much of what is done is done to promote oneself. Quotes like "you're worth it" and "if you don't take care of yourself, no one else will" have become common place. What a lonely place the world is if we feel that no one else is looking out for us.

I remember seeing a movie where two soldiers would sit back to back while on watch. They literally 'had each other's backs'. Do we take the time to care for each other, protect each other, promote each other? Where the world would say 'watch out for number one', God's kingdom says 'watch out for one another'. When we have someone's back, we are protecting them. When we truly care about someone else, we are thinking of their well being and our own becomes secondary. God's kingdom has been called the upside down kingdom because it works opposite of the world's system. And yet, if we follow God's kingdom rules, our lives will be prosperous because God will bless those of us who walk in His ways.

He is our creator and knows what's best for us and society as a whole. Let's take a minute to look at an area of our lives where we really want to get a head or be successful in and let's give it to God. Ask Him to show you what your next step should be. God, grant us a heart of true humility and a heart that wants to promote and bless others.

The question I have for you today is: are you a bellhop? What is a bellhop? In the very fine hotels, there are people who will carry your luggage for you. In the past,  the person behind the counter would ring the bell and yes, the bellhops would indeed "hop" to it.

So, why would I ask you, my dear Blog readers, if you are one such person? Well, perhaps not as a profession but how about in life? Some of us have a lot of our own baggage to carry and yet we choose to carry other's baggage as well. Why is this?

I think sometimes it is hard to set healthy boundaries. It is natural that when someone is hurting or having a hard time dealing with something that we want to make it better. That's not a bad thing - it means we care. However, when we start to carry someone else's stuff, a few things happen. First of all, they become reliant on us and because we are not meant to carry someone else's baggage along with our own, we will burnout. Second of all, when we try to carry someone else's contents that they have accumulated over their life time, it makes them weak because they don't have to carry it. And thirdly, we are not respecting them as an adult when we don't allow them to carry their own pack because what we are saying, in essence, is we don't believe that they can handle it.

It's important to care about each other but let's also remember that sometimes loving someone means letting them find their own way. The best way to be a true friend is to allow the other person to carry their own baggage on their journey and to walk beside them.

Hello to all on this great Monday morning! Hope you are all ready to jump into a new week with vim and vigor!!
(what is "vim" besides a cleaning product? Well, it means "with strength; enthusiasm").

So, what does your week hold for you? I have a lot of meetings this week and so I will be coming into contact with a lot of people. Last week, I encountered a lady who really just needed to be heard. Do we really listen? There are a lot of people who need your ear.

How do we really listen? There is the listening in order to fix or to interject our own thoughts and ideas. In that sort of listening, we are really listening to ourselves. Then there is the more focused listening. That is where I sit down with you, face to face, and really listen. I really want to hear what you have to say. But more than that, I want to hear your heart. I'm also watching your body language to catch different signals.

How many of us really take to the time to really hear someone? Think about how good it feels to really be heard and understood and try extending that to someone else. Can I encourage you this week to try really listening to one person? It takes practise but like most things, you will get better and better at it. And I know for a fact that the world could use more good listeners!