“Your life is yours — an empty stage, a blank screen — with you as the artist. You are free to create what you want.” — Nancy Somers Dougherty

Improvement begins with “I” and that is great news. You and I can improve our lives this very day! (We don’t have to wait for someone else.) Why not read this quick quotavation quota several times today and let it inspire you to create a beautiful day and a beautiful future for yourself?

A recent Nashville headline read: “Mall shooting has sad, scary lesson: It could happen here.” But do mall shootings “happen?”

Storms, earthquakes, rain, snow, sunshine, and other natural events happen. No one causes them.

But how could a mall shooting happen here? I guess a loaded hand gun could fall off a store shelf during an earthquake and shoot and kill six people. No cause for worry there.

Mall shootings are not natural occurrences. They are human actions. Mall shootings don’t happen. They are carried out or committed by human beings.

So what’s the difference? Responsibility! No one is responsible for the things that happen as natural occurrences. But we as individuals and as a society are indeed responsible for our actions and behaviors.

The article I am referring to also said: “Violence can erupt unexpectedly.” Sure, in a volcano. But human violence doesn’t erupt. People can suddenly began to act violently, but their violent behavior is something that they do, not something that happens to them or through them. See the difference?

So why do we use such passive language? People say, “I’m going through a divorce,” which is not true. They are divorcing. But by wording it in a passive way we attempt to shift responsibility form our own action to the cop out phrase “things happen.”

We can’t control or fix things that just happen. But we can control and fix what we think, say, and do. Passive language is an admission of hopelessness. We can only improve our behaviors if we take active responsibility for them.

So could someone shoot up a mall in Nashville? Yes, he or she could. Could a mall shooting happen here? I don’t see how that would be possible.

Someone recently gave me a gift. It is a rubber model of a cute little 12 week old.

The baby’s arms and legs are crossed. It is three inches long and weighs 2 ounces.

Holding this model of a baby who has lived for 12 weeks in his mother’s womb is quite touching. This baby doesn’t look anything like “a piece of tissue.” It is heart-rending to think that three million of these tiny babies are killed every year in America.

If a picture is worth a thousands words, then this little model of this cute little baby is worth more words than I could ever count. I’m speechless.

Motivation Quotation: “Hope revives ideals, renews dreams, revitalizes visions. Hope scales the peak, wrestles the impossible, achieves the highest aim.” –Wilfred A. Peterson

Get Motivated: Hope is the belief that life can be improved, that things can be made better. When there is little hope, people give up their ideals, their dreams, and their visions. They settle for life as it is.

Whitout hope — something positive to look forward to — life can become dull and boring. Hope is a very improtant ingredient in human lifes.

Give a person a reason to hope for something better and he or she gets excited about the possibilities in his life. He dreams again and begins to envision a positive future.

When a person has heart-felt hope, he will climb any mountain, no matter how steep. He will strive to accomplish what others may call ”impossible.” He will never settle for a loss as long as he has hope for a win.

Most of us regularly check the oil in our car, but do we ever check our level of hope? So how high is your hope?

May you and your family and loved ones have a wonderful celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ this Christmas season. As we remember and celebrate His birth, may we also open up to and receive His living Presence. The babe in a manger is now the living God in our midst.

Why not express sincere love, adoration, and obedience to Him? After all, wise men still seek Him!

Merry Christmas everyone and all God’s best to you all!