http://figliving.com Sharing the Fruit of a Christ Centered Life! Wed, 12 Jan 2011 19:26:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [caption id="attachment_854" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Thank you...from Me to You!"][/caption] Wow!  When I started Figliving a little over a year ago, I had no idea where it would take me....and it's been quite a journey!  Over the past year figliving has posted over 50 articles and garnered almost 600 subscribers.  I offer ... http://figliving.com/follow-me-over-to-skywardblog-net/ Our church group went Christmas caroling in an apartment complex for retired people last night. As we approached the first set of doors to begin singing, I could visualize joyful old folks opening their doors in delight, then beaming with the Christmas spirit as they stood and listened to us ... http://figliving.com/christmas-caroling-to-closed-doors-serving-others-and-the-one-that-opened/ Gifts are great, and a wonderful way to show those closest to us how much we love them…..but not the only way. Here are some other ways to show our love: 1.  Wake up early and fix everyone breakfast. 2.  Pay a strangers toll 3.  When you ask someone “how ya doing?”…..mean ... http://figliving.com/22-ways-other-than-gifts-to-show-love-this-holiday-season/ [caption id="attachment_817" align="alignleft" width="246" caption="Happiness Comes through holding on to those we love."][/caption] Have you ever been in a public place and had one of your children embarrass the heck out of you? A couple of years ago we decided to take our family of six to the local Christmas parade. ... http://figliving.com/unconditional-love-christmas-parades-and-my-boy%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%98pant%e2%80%99s-on-the-ground%e2%80%99/ [caption id="attachment_805" align="alignleft" width="236" caption="What situations bring our your animal instincts?"][/caption] I’m proud to say that I went on my first Black Friday adventure last week, and to say it was a unique experience is an understatement.  For those of you who’ve not had the honor of experiencing this for yourself, ... http://figliving.com/shedding-greed-and-ego-through-goals-of-goodness/ [caption id="attachment_797" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A picture of me picking my nose."][/caption] I can guarantee that every single person reading this post has experienced both of the following scenarios (if not, be sure and tell me…but I still won’t believe you): 1.  You’re driving down the interstate and notice a car traveling beside ... http://figliving.com/why-it%e2%80%99s-ok-to-pick-my-own-nose-a-lesson-in-double-standards/ We had our first hard frost in Virginia the other morning.  I discovered this shortly after starting my truck and realizing that I was without a windshield scraper. It was before dawn and very brisk….I had a decision to make: Do I sit lazily and wait for the defrost to melt ... http://figliving.com/scraping-our-problems-off-the-windshield-of-life/ Almost 10 years ago, when my partners and I started our pool company, we had zero marketing training or experience.  We knew we needed to sell pools to stay in business, so we did what other “successful” companies were doing and spent money like crazy on radio, yellow pages, print, ... http://figliving.com/how-web-marketing-saved-my-christian-business/ The other day I saw the biggest freaking spider….It was huge, it was hairy, and worst of all it was inside our church. And who discovered it….the youth of course.  Needless to say, there was weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth! It was painfully obvious that I was the one to ... http://figliving.com/seeing-the-divinity-of-a-spider/ Are we raising armies of mindless consumers?I just laid a ground rule in the house (and I never do this):  all toy catalogues go directly into the trash.  For the past several years my kids have adopted the habit, all on their own, of sitting down with the little Toys-R-Us ... http://figliving.com/moment-of-holiday-frustration/