Welcome to Positive Life Principles. I’m Karol Ladd, and I want this website to be a source of inspiration and strength to you as you serve and love the people around you. You will find resources to refresh you and help you use your gifts and talents to reach out and touch the lives of others. Sign up for my blog below in order to stay connected and receive an uplifting weekly message from me.
Looking Up This Week
Many Americans are turning their eyes toward the heavens this week as we experience one of the most unique solar eclipses since 1979. This is the perfect opportunity to stop and consider God’s creation and observe His amazing and ordered universe. I marvel at the work of His hands in creating the cosmos. Take some time this week to reflect on His handiwork and thank Him for all He has made. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Psalm 19. It’s a great passage to meditate on and memorize. Allow its truths to permeate your thinking this week.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Here’s some websites to check out if you want to find out more about the eclipse:
https://www.nasa.gov/eclipselive-info
http://time.com/4882923/total-solar-eclipse-map-places-view/
https://www.space.com/33797-total-solar-eclipse-2017-guide.html
Looking for fun space ideas to do with the kids? Check out www.positivemom.com
His Righteousness
God’s righteousness is like the mighty mountains.
Psalm 36:6a
The grandeur of a mighty mountain range makes us seem so small and insignificant in comparison. If we were to stand next to a mountain, we would look like a tiny little speck. This simple verse in Psalms reminds us that there is a vast difference between God’s righteousness and our own. It’s easy to think that our righteousness is good enough to please God and maybe even get us into heaven, but the Bible is clear that all have sinned and come short of God’s glory. Thankfully it’s not our righteousness that saves us – it’s God’s. The Bible says, “God made him who had no sin (Jesus) to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:12
God knows that our righteousness could never be perfect or “good enough,” that’s why He sent His perfect Son to offer His own life on our behalf. It’s amazing to think that the One who created the mountains – the One who is completely righteous – has given us His righteousness through Christ. The apostle Paul, who was a pretty stellar guy, wrote to the Philippians, “Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”
Paul went on to say, “I want to know Him.”
What about you? Do you want to know Him? No matter where you are at right now, His arms are open to you. Seek to get to know the God of the Bible.
I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10
If you want to chat with someone about a relationship with Christ, please go to chataboutJesus.com right now.
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The Power of a Positive Mom, Revised and Updated
By Karol Ladd |
Photo by Adam Patterson on Unsplash
Prayer Risk
There are times when we may feel as thought the riskiest thing we can do is pray and leave the results up to God. Praying is risky in human terms, because it is stepping out in faith and leaning in on God to accomplish far more than we could simply try to accomplish on our own. Prayer is an everyday risk. A person who devotes the early morning hour(s) in prayer is taking a risk – a risk that the hour could have been spent sleeping, working, striving or trying to make things happen on their own. Martin Luther said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Now that’s a risk taker and a praise maker. Luther had such strong faith in a great God who desires to answer prayer, that he risked three hours of his busy day on his knees!
When we look at some of the women in the Old Testament, we find several women who prayed and listened to God’s direction. Take Deborah for instance. You can find her story in Judges 4 & 5. Deborah had an extraordinary faith and ability to lead. Her giftedness seemed to stem from a woman who had an intimate relationship with God. She heard Him. She recognized His voice. God told her to go into battle, and He told her how to do it. We don’t know exactly how God spoke to Deborah, but we do know that she listened to Him. Her risk was not based on her own crazy ideas. The risk she took was based on the very words of God. There’s a lot of crazy opportunities in our world to take big risks, but let us be wise and move on the foundation of God’s word as well as looking to Him for direction.
Recently, a friend of mine struggled with some family members and their unwise choices. She wanted to fix them and change them, but she also realized her limitations to do so. As she prayed about the issues, she began to realize she was powerless to make a difference in her family member’s lives. She also realized that although she was powerless, God was powerful and able to do what she could not do. Instead of trying to fix the broken parts of their lives, she took the risk of pulling her hands off the situation and instead putting her hands together in prayer. She prayed consistently and emphatically that God would do the work and fight the battle.
Where do you need to take the risk of listening to God and praying for His direction instead of trying to fix things on your own?
This is an excerpt from Positive Leadership Principles for Women.
Secrets to a Happy Marriage
This week my husband and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary. While no marriage is perfect, there are a few things that can strengthen the relationship between husband and wife. Here’s my short list of ways to increase the happiness in your marriage and keep the home fires burning.
Positive Practices
- Communicate in a loving tone
- Pray together every day
- Forgive, forgive, forgive – continually
- Maintain hope
- Listen well
- See the best in your spouse
- Smile, laugh, go on dates together
- Build on your common interests and hobbies
- Appreciate the differences
- Overlook the small stuff
- Greet your spouse with joy (take a lesson from your dog on this one)
- Reflect on what brought you together in the first place
- Agree to disagree at times
- Be a content and joyful person
- Find your identity in Christ, not your spouse
Some Don’ts:
- Don’t use the words “always” or “never”
- Don’t demand your own way or think you know it all
- Don’t nab and nit-pick at each other
- Don’t hold on to past offenses or grudges
- Don’t let technology isolate you and diminish your communication
- Don’t depend on your spouse for your own personal happiness
The apostle Paul described love this way, “4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” (I Corinthians 13)
I don’t know about you, but I fall short of that description of love in many ways. The good news is, this description of love gives us a picture of God’s love toward us. How wonderful to know that God genuinely loves us and that we can ask Him to pour His love through us. May His love be very real in your life today.
Truly Positive
Over the last three weeks, we have examined a variety of qualities which positive people exhibit in their lives. These are simple and genuine characteristics of people who tend to look at the brighter side of life and also bring joy into the lives of others.
It’s easy to assume that positive people are insincere or fake, but my hope is that after joining me on this True Positive journey, you will discover that anyone (even the cup-half-empty people) can become sincerely positive. I want to encourage you over the next few months to take each of these 21 qualities and examine them. Choose one or two that you recognize you need to apply to your life, and be deliberate about living it out each day. Below, you will find a list of all the qualities for quick reference. Let me know which ones have impacted you personally. Stay positive my friend!
- Focus
- Being Real
- Hope
- Health
- Thankfulness
- Faith
- Prayer
- Growth
- Courage
- Perseverance
- Purpose
- Work
- Stop complaining
- Laughter
- Happy List
- Helping Others
- Forgiveness
- Patience
- Refreshing Relationships
- Big Picture
- Encouragement
Photo by Luca Upper on Unsplash
