If you know us very well, then you know that we are always watching movies:) Last night we watched what we think is one of the most inspirational movies we own! “The Pursuit of Happyness”

This week, we want to encourage you to take what you already have and make it work! We’ve all heard the phrase, “Its not the hand you’re dealt, but its how you play your cards!” In this movie Chris [Will Smith] has been dealt a pretty bad hand. He has no money, no transportation, a ton of bills, and his wife leaves him. On top of his current situation, his childhood was even worse.

How many times have you said, “If only I had [blah blah] I’d be able to do [blah blah.]?” It’s funny, but before we watched the movie we had that exact conversation. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we don’t have that we forget that God has given us everything we need.

The way you deal with your circumstances is what determines the type of person you are. If you’ve seen the movie, then you know that for Chris, being successful was no walk in the park. The same applies to all of us in everyday life.

We have always enjoyed listening to all kinds of music, but lately we’ve really been on an Old School kick. If you follow us on Twitter, you’ve probably seen our tweets about it. For the past week, we’ve tuned in to our Ray Charles Pandora station every where we go -in our office, in our car, in the kitchen doing dishes, even on our walks. At least one of us are always iphone-in-hand. So with our iphones in our pockets, we listened to Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, etc. while we walked around our neighborhood yesterday!
We have the funniest neighbor named Bob (who will always have a new joke to tell you) who we decided to stop by and visit. We knew Bob had a recording studio in the back of his house, but we had no idea how many records he had! Old school, right? Well, of course, the idea of listening to Ray Charles seems Old School, but we wanted to actually listen to his record to get the full Old School effect. So, we asked Bob if he had any Ray Charles, and he just looked at us and said, “Heck, yeah, I have Ray Charles.” So he took us to his “library” of records to search for Ray Charles, and because he had SO many records we had a hard time finding it. However, we now have a promised Ray Charles Date with neighbor Bob as soon as he finds the record!
It’s funny how some music can never get old! Yesterday we were discussing how music’s just not the same as all the Back-In-The-Day people who didn’t have the awesome equipment musicians have today. Some of the older stuff just seems better to us. What do you think? What’s your favorite Ray Charles song or your preferred Old School musician(s)?

Sometimes, you never know what someone is going through. They may look fine on the outside but are really torn on the inside and may have had the worst day of their lives (and you’d never know); and something as small as a hug can change their day …or maybe even their week. Someone once told us that because we had been nice to them for no reason we had changed their week, and encouraged them to do the same to others! If you’ve met us, then I guarantee you’ve probably received a hug from at least one of us. We like to hug everyone we meet because not only does it make people feel better, it makes them feel special. People tend to underestimate the power of general nice-ness. So next time you’re meeting somebody, give them a hug, smile more, give them a heart-felt handshake, or make sure you nod your head when they’re speaking to let them know you really care about what they’re saying. We thought this video below was fun and inspiring, and shows that general nice-ness can go a long way!

We want to share with you one of our favorite verses. A verse that has just helped us through!

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” -Isaiah 41:10

We love this verse! Through ALL of the things we go through in life, God says, “Don’t be afraid because I’m always with you.”; and don’t be discouraged because I (the only God who has made everything that exists) am your God. He promises to give us strength, help us, and sustain us. What a great inspiration for, not only Monday, but for life!