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Thought I would see if blogging can be done holding a 5 month old, it appears it can be done....okay the last book we will talk about (I use we loosely!) is one that has nothing to do with spiritual things. As a matter of fact I try to read at least one book, normally historical in nature, a year, that is not about spiritual things. My favorite book of all time is Issac's Storm. It is a story about the Great Hurricane in Galveston in 1900. It is so well written by Ken Larson you feel as if the wind is blowing through your hair and the rain hitting your face. This book does inspire me since that is the topic of the moment; it reminds me of how a few moments can define a life. We need not take any moment for granted, they are all important......Okay so much for books I am going to move to movies that inspire...feel free if you want to jump in...

Next book would be the most obvious, the Bible...as far as literature goes who can beat it; great stories, wonderful poetry, exciting adventure, it has it all...but we are not talking about great books we are talking about books that inspire. Still the Bible can't be beat. It is filled with stories that inspire me, David facing down the giant in the valley, Daniel standing up for what is right no matter the consequences, Moses going eye to eye with Pharaoh, Jesus not taking any guff from the religious of his day and my all time favorite Elijah on Mt. Carmel...The Bible never ceases to inspire me....

These books will not be in any specific order, there is not a number one etc. The first book that has motivated me for the past 20 years is a book called Holy Sweat written by Tim Hansel. It is filled with great quotes and a system that you can work in order to get the most out of your life. The subtitle on the cover of the books says it all, "The remarkable things ordinary people can do when they let God use them!" It is an easy read and like with all my motivational books, I read it often.....

Number two is Soul Survivor by Phillip Yancy. This is a must read for me every year. Yancy is a writer, of course, but was turned off of church by his experience in a ultra conservative church growing up. He left the church for a while but found his way back. He uses the pages of this book to tell how 12 people influenced his life and in some way helped him in his spiritual walk. Great book and you would be surprised with some of the people he chooses. Keep in mind this is someone who has had the privilege too be around some great folks, but not all of the people in the book are people he knew personally. This book also gives reference books on the people he tells about and has led me to find other good books to read. My favorite books by the way are about real people and their experience.....by the way this book always makes me think of the people who influenced me and thank God for sending them in my life. This is always a good exercise.

Before we get going too far here: Speaking of motivation I have been reading about the Special Olympics of Texas. They are having their big event this weekend in Arlington Texas. The weekend is busy but I am thinking of getting the family over to do some cheering. They say they need some folks to cheer people on. Something tells me that would be a pretty good motivational moment for those of us who supposedly have it all together....It starts tonight and ends on Sunday. No way we can go tonight or tomorrow but with no Sunday night church that might be a good day...okay over to Media Motivators on the next blog I guarantee it...By the way for those who do not know me, my seventh child and youngest was born with Down syndrome four years ago; making things like Special Olympics something I check on. Her name is Gracie and she is like the rest of my children, the greatest. I am thinking we will get some conversation on that some day.

I am going to be sitting at the desk today for the first time all week, doing some writing, making some calls and getting my head together for a huge weekend. So I decided I am going to blog today and if that means talking to myself so let it be, I have been doing that for years!...Today's subject is going to be on things that motivate me and you (if you wish to join in)....For example lets talk about books, movies and music...I believe we will start with the books that best motivate me. If you happen to read this let me know what your media motivators are...Motivating books coming on the next blog.

This is my first blog and is mostly a test. The weather feels good outside, we are about to start a busy day of church. The quite moment is the calm before the storm....Wonder why babies always sleep better on Sunday morning than any other day of the week? I will see you around soon as I get the hang of bloging...we will cover some important stuff and some not so important stuff...