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It's Nice Being in Miami Tonight!1/7/2013 Ok, I’m reminiscing… I’m actually in Alabama this week teaching a class for Amridge University. There’s a football game on the TV tonight between the Crimson Tide and Fighting Irish at Sun Life Stadium in Miami. Actually, it’s not much of a game. Alabama just went ahead 35-0, and it’s only the third quarter! All day, though, I’ve been thinking about three years ago when I really was in Miami at Sun Life Stadium. The scenario was much different. It wasn’t the Alabama Crimson Tide on their way to winning their fifteenth national championship. Rather, it was the New Orleans Saints trying to win their first Super Bowl. They were successful that night defeating the Indianapolis Colts 31-17! It took the Saints over forty years to win the Super Bowl!!! My brother-in-law Thomas and I had seats in the lower, corner end zone. When Tracy Porter intercepted Peyton Manning’s pass in the fourth quarter, he was running right towards us! That ultimately sealed the victory for the Saints. After standing and jumping and cheering some more, I can remember sitting down in my seat trying to “live the moment.” This may sound cheesy, but here’s the thought that kept racing through my mind at that moment: “If the New Orleans Saints can win the Super Bowl, there is hope left in the world!” In my work with others, I encourage them to dream about the future. However, people often get stuck from past hurt, and as a result, do not set nor obtain any types of goals for themselves or their families. The past is the past. There’s nothing we can do to change it, but we can learn from it. For the good times, we need to have a sense of gratitude. For the bad times, we need to forgive, move on, and let go. Once we do this, we are then ready to start dreaming about the future. There is hope in the world. People can and do change. It might take someone over forty years to become a Christian. It might take over forty years for a business to become prosperous. It might take over forty years for your children to appreciate you. It might take over forty years for someone to overcome their addiction. Hopefully, your goals won’t take that long to come true. Often, we tend to focus on people and things we cannot control. But, if we start focusing on what we can control, we will likely start making progress towards our goals. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” I’m sure that Crimson Tide fans are already hoping for a sixteenth championship next year. I’m certainly hoping for the Saints to win their second Super Bowl. But none of that compares to the hope that Christians have in the future!
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David
1/8/2013 01:58:28 am
Great blog. Hope and dreams are the avenues through which lives are blessed and value is added. I knew someone once who refused to have any expectations of others so that they would never be dissappointed. They missed the cellebration of helping others to achieve their dreams and succeed. Eric, thanks for sharing and helping us to think about that which makes life more rewarding to live.
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Eric Dishongh
1/10/2013 10:51:11 am
Thanks, David! I do believe that sometimes we have unrealistic expectations of others that result in constant frustration. The solution, of course, is not to remove all expectations. Rather, we can develop more realistic expectations of others realizing that they are human and are not always perfect. Also, we can focus on what we have control over in helping others meet these expectations.
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Eric Dishongh
1/10/2013 10:51:50 am
Dale, I hope you enjoyed your time in Miami!
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