1. Observations developed from Woodworking.
>Wood expands and contracts. This is incorporated into most plans (or should be).
>Don’t paint over hardwood. It hides the beauty of the grain.
>You will always make mistakes. As long as you keep your fingers, it is okay.
>For safety’s sake, don’t use power tools or sharp objects when you are tired.
>A good woodworker develops the skill of incorporating mistakes into the design of the piece.
>Most people won’t notice mistakes unless you point them out.
>Interesting design is better than dull design.
>Take a risk to try to make something out of your comfort zone.
>While hand cut dovetails are to be admired, machine cut dovetails are much more practical.
>Some of my best conversations have been working on a project with someone.
>Most people appreciate what you make for them more than what you buy for them.
>Woodworking as a hobby is primarily a gift of time. Don’t underestimate the value of your time.
2. The amount of insight we have (in a particular subject) is proportionate to our appetite in that area.
Proverbs 2:1-5 (ESV) 1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
3. My theory of relativity (don’t run this thought past my sons who are into ‘real’ physics).
>The older I get the faster time goes. This is almost a universal experience for people.
The big question is “WHY?” I think it has to do with how each succeeding year is a progressively smaller percentage of our life. If you are 5 years old, going from one Christmas to the next is 20% of your life. If you are 50 years old, going from one Christmas to the next is 2% of your life.
4.Sometimes, just the attempt is worth it.
>Consider the Audi commercial with kid kissing the prom queen and getting a black eye from the prom king and driving away thrilled.
>My youngest son applied to MIT and Caltech 3 years ago. He didn’t get in, but I’m glad he tried. In the long run he has been better off at USU where he has done theoretical physics research with a professor.
5. In considering the effort required to help someone ask yourself,
>What is the core issue the person is dealing with?
(this can be very difficult to uncover, they may not even know it).
> Is the person just trying to avoid the negative consequences of their bad choices?
(This may likely be a waste of your time).
>Do not put out more effort to help a person than they are willing to put effort out themselves.
That thought came from a counselor speaking at a marriage event several years ago,
when I asked him, ‘when do you know you are wasting your time with some one?’
6. Don’t deny your emotions.
>How are you feeling? is valid, but not the end of a discussion.
>Don’t let your emotions rule your life and use them in an attempt to control others.
>My wife has learned to give me a 3 day warning before she asks me how I feel about something.
7. Learn to ask good questions.
>Good questions enable us to probe an issue more thoroughly.
>The Four Way Test is an excellent example of a good process. Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build good will and better friendship? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
>If we rush to an answer too quickly, we may miss important factors.
>Focusing on a good process will tend to give us a good result.
The best book in the OSU college bookstore was, “Asking the Right Questions?” The professor who assigned this book’s most annoying comment: “The only absolute is there are no absolutes.”
8. Cultivate the art of listening.
How many of us tend to wait for someone to finish talking so we can burst in with our own thoughts without duly considering what another person is saying.
>Listening well to someone is a great gift to another and shows them respect.
Proverbs 20:5 (ESV) The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.
9. Cultivate the value of appropriately encouraging and empowering words.
Proverbs 12:18 (ESV) 18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Proverbs 12:25 (ESV) 25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.
10. How we use our time, our talent, and our treasure speak to what is truly important to us.
When I was a kid my dad liked to say, “do as I say, not as I do.” If something is not important enough for your to act upon, don’t expect someone else will act upon it.
10. When someone says that God led them to do something that is obviously self-serving, I would seriously question the “God led me” part.
There are only about five people I would give the benefit of the doubt to if they said to me, “God led me, or God spoke to me.”
11. “I am for you” means that I want God’s best for you in all the circumstances of your life whether you do or not.
The question that naturally follows is “what is God’s best?”
Ephesians 5:33 (ESV) 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself,
and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
12. Our limited view of God limits our ability to know, love, and serve Him, so expand your limitation by growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
13. God tends not to fix our stupid.
>Rather, He tends to redeem them if we seek Him.
Own your attitudes and behavior.
