Yes, Virginia, There is a Savior!

Yes, Virginia, There is a Savior!

Perhaps you've heard the story about the little girl who asked if there was a Santa Claus. The answer was published in the newspaper with the famous line, "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus!" (links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_Virginia,_there_is_a_Santa_Claus and http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia/)

Just like that little girl who had a big concern at Christmas, we have concerns, too!

What are our concerns at Christmas time? Maybe choosing the right gift? Or getting invited to parties (the right parties)? Busyness? Being ready for Christmas?

I know I've had some of these concerns. I know I haven't felt ready. I haven't felt like it's Christmas yet.

In all the hustle and bustle, when will it feel like Christmas? Among all of this crazy preparation, when will Jesus show up? When will I have the "epiphany"?

Talking to someone other day, I asked if they were ready for Christmas. They said they weren't ready for Christmas. What surprised me was that this was a ten-year-old! Even children feel they are not ready for Christmas, let alone us adults!

So, I thought I should write a new headline in the newspaper, for everyone young and old alike, titled:

Yes, Virginia, There is a Savior!

Christmas is not so much about buying gifts, it's about the greatest gift! God loved us all so much that he gave his only Son! That son later died for us to give us eternal life! That's what the true Christmas is all about! (John 3:16)

So, let's be ready! He will show up! He will break through! Listen! He is knocking at the door of your heart now! Let Him in!

(add a comment below and tell us what your concerns are at Christmas and how Jesus broke through for you!)

Are You in Transition?

I know a bunch of people in "transition" at this time. In other words, they're out of a job.
In all cases, it's not due to their lack of productivity, but due to so many companies cutting costs in this economy.

Today I talked with someone and gave him some thoughts about some ideas for job searching. He asked me to send him an email about it. So, I've put my thoughts here so that other can take advantage of these ideas too.


Networking:

Networking is the number one way that people find jobs. Here are some ideas of how to get started.

• International Networking group: Empowering Todays Professionals: etpnetwork.com - Rod Colon, a good friend, mentor, and past career coach founded this group. Look for great articles and if you join the ETP network (nominal fee) you gain access to great networking meetings, newsletter, phone calls, and more!
  
• Jibberjobber.com - Jason Alba (his website has great info too) created this jibberjobber.com website to track your career. In addition to the tracking tool, it has lots of free information in the blog, library and more. Here's a recent article on his blog titled "Where to Find Network Contacts" - he also hosts free

Places to Look for Jobs:

• Follow Job Angels on Twitter
• Build a network for yourself in linkedin.com
  

Books I suggest you read right away:

• "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi - this will teach you how to network with ease. I hear his new book "Who's Got Your Back" is also very good.
  
• "How to Win Friends and Influence People" - This book will teach you principles on how to win a job, win a career, and more than that, how to be a great friend to people. Written by Dale Carnegie decades ago, you can pick the book up for very little money, but you'll find great value in it.
• "Rites of Passage" by John Lucht - This book has great information for the job search, including one great lesson I learned about interviewing: Whenever asked a question, only speak for two minutes.
• Vega Consulting - Kim Shand and Maggie DaRonco have been great help to me personally and others in our PMlessonsLearned.com group. They will be especially helpful to you if you're in I.T., but if you want any general job search or career information they are there to help. They believe, like Zig Ziglar says, that if they keep giving to others it will come back to them.
  

If you're in New Jersey, you can also take advantage of these opportunities:

• The Breakfast Club of New Jersey: I've not been to this group, but have heard great reviews of it.
  
• Dover Professional Services Group (PSG: doverpsg.com): This group is open to all professionals who are in the NJ Unemployment system. I am a past member and found the group very helpful. I highly recommend it.

I hope to add more information in this post soon, so keep stopping back!

Thank God for Glasses!

My friend, Amechi, got me started a few weeks before Thanksgiving this year on posting something that I'm thankful for every day on Facebook. I've continued this practice past Thanksgiving. Who knows when I'll run out of things to be thankful for!

Well, today I decided that I'll post tomorrow about how thankful I am for glasses! I don't see well without glasses, so I'm very thankful for them!

Today I went for a checkup with the eye doctor. We had to dilate my eyes. Well, when I came out of there (I hadn't got my sunglasses out of the car yet), I passed the UPS lady who was going into the building. She was such a bright light in the sun that I couldn't even look at her! And they wear brown uniforms that aren't all that bright!

I can still picture how bright she was. It reminded me of the dazzling brightness of the transfigured Jesus (Luke 9:28-35) and the resurrected Jesus as he appeared to Paul (Acts 9). I can only imagine how bright he was and how difficult it must have been to look at him.

I saw star-bursts coming off every glint of light. There were star-bursts of lights shining off the cars and off the Rockaway River. In a way it was beautiful, yet it made it difficult to see.

I couldn't help but think about the wonder of how God created us. If it were not for the exact functioning of the iris in our eye to regulate how much light comes in, we might see things too brightly (or too dim) all of the time!

So, I'm thankful to the Lord for how I am wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). I'm thankful that he gave someone the idea to invent eyeglasses and he gave all those other people ideas to make so many improvements to eyeglasses! Why, I haven't had to use a paper clip to fix my glasses for years!