YOUR LIFE A-Z:TEDDY BEAR

I Have Plenty of Hugs for You

TEDDY BEAR

The story of the TEDDY BEAR comes alive through President Teddy Roosevelt who reportedly refused to shoot a tied up bear. Roosevelt was on a bear hunting expedition and the expedition was failing miserably to produce a bear for the President to shoot.  Finally the dogs trapped a poor old fat bear and the hunting party tied it up for our president to shoot.  When the President arrived to the site and found the bear tied up, he refused to kill it because he said killing it would not be honorable sportsmanship.  This story was deemed compassionate and quickly spread from the hunting camp throughout the country.  A female candy shop owner in Brooklyn made the first TEDDY BEAR from a picture that appeared in the Washington Post.  She wrote President Roosevelt and requested permission to name the bear TEDDY BEAR and from that day on TEDDY BEARS have danced into the hearts of children across America, especially appearing under the tree on Christmas morning.  Did you have a TEDDY BEAR as a child?  Do you have a TEDDY BEAR today?  Have you ever seen a TEDDY BEAR that did not make your heart warm up and your whole body smile?  There is something adorable and magical about TEDDY BEARS.  If you are in need of nurturance, a hug, or just some friendly soul to pour your heart out to, then maybe you will benefit by putting a TEDDY BEAR under your tree this Christmas. 

YOUR LIFE A-Z:RUDOLF

RUDOLF THE RED NOSE REINDEER

It is not Christmas without the story of RUDOLF.  The story about how RUDOLF came into existence is equally as heart warming.  Doing right by others is exactly what Montgomery Wards Department Store did for Robert May, the 1939 author of this fascinating story.  May was a copyright employee for Montgomery Wards and was known to have a proclivity to write children’s stories.  They commissioned him to write a story-coloring book to give away at Christmas time and he came up RUDOLF the Red Nosed Reindeer. May was bullied as a child for being small and understood that the underdog was often just the person needed to accomplish important tasks.  In the story, RUDOLF was asleep in his bed when Santa arrived to give out his gifts.  Santa noticed RUDOLF’s flashing nose through RUDOLF’S window and Santa woke RUDOLF up and asked him to guide his sleigh through the foggy night.  May did not own the copyright to this fast growing holiday story and several years later when May was under great financial stress because of his wife’s medical treatment for cancer, Montgomery Ward signed over the copyright of RUDOLF to May.  May was able to provide a comfortable life for himself and his motherless 4-year-old daughter from that time forward.  I invite you to use this story to ask yourself, “Whom do you need to do right by?”  “Whose life can you make easier this holiday season?”  “How can your disability become an asset to others this holiday season?”  RUDOLF was created out of nothing and became a very important figure, what can you create out of nothing to make a difference?” 

YOUR LIFE A-Z RESURRECTION

RESURRECTION:Walk through your defensive walls!

RESURRECTION MAKES LIFE NEW AGAIN

The Twenty Minute Coach thought it would be appropriate to speak about the power of personal RESURRECTION on this Easter Sunday.  Each of you have experienced very personal crucifixion stories in our lives, but have we allowed those stories to debilitate us or create opportunities for personal RESURRECTION?  In the traditional story Jesus appears to look the same, even showing the scares from the crucifixion.   However, he has different abilities than He had previously.  You have different abilities after your own personal crucifixion too.  You have the ability to be wiser and more courageous if you choose to take advantage of your pain and allow it create a new you, a RESURRECTED you.  Your story is just a piece of the tapestry of your life.  It does not define how you “are” but it can help you create a newer improved you.  RESURRECTION would be pointless if we came back the same and the painful stories in your would be useless if you did not use them to RESURRECT ourselves.   One of the things Jesus reportedly was able to do after his RESURRECTION that he could not do before was walk through walls. In our psychological nature, we put up “emotional walls” that keep people out and equally separate us from others.   We do this out of our woundedness and shame.  If we allow the painful stories of our life to RESURRECT us from our repeated past and do things new then we can walk through the walls we set up between us and others.  I invite you to walk through a wall and connect with someone you have separated from and I invite you to use this RESURRECTION Sunday to do that.