TIME TO UPGRADE!

As an AT&T wireless customer, I can’t tell you how many emails I’ve had over the past years inviting me to UPGRADE my cell phone. It’s as if with every new model that hits the market there is a tempting email which highlights the recent features of the most recent model. I guess I’m from the old school meaning that there must be a valid reason for making a change: no longer working; lost or stolen! But companies like AT&T, Sprint, Digicel and Lime know how to play on our need to always be ahead of our neighbors. And so as soon as your mobile plan has expired, rest assured that they will want you to come in and do an UPGRADE to the latest model. After all, who doesn’t want to be among the first to brag about owning the latest smart phone? Though I’m not working in the advertising business, with the start of a new year, I firmly believe that now is the perfect TIME TO UPGRADE! So that’s our FF for today – TIME TO UPGRADE!

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DON'T JUST HEAR, LISTEN!

A few years ago I taught music at the high school level. Let’s just say that experience taught me some very valuable lessons that will stay with me for a very long time. I came to realize that teaching in the classroom required repeating yourself almost to the point where you wondered if something was wrong with you. Imagine giving a class some instructions to follow, only to have a student who is sitting a few feet right in front of you look at you with that blank quizzical expression asking what are they supposed to do. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wondered if my “teaching” voice was not strong enough. But even after making a greater effort to project my voice more I can’t say that the problem was solved. For only a few minutes later, another student would be asking the exact same question. Like so many other teachers who stand in classrooms at all levels, I came to conclusion that not because children can HEAR you means that they necessarily LISTEN to you. But I believe that this is true not only of children but even adults. And so as we get this New Year going, our FF for today calls us all to DON’T JUST HEAR, LISTEN!

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DON'T GIVE UP NOW!

ThereÂ’s something about the month of January that makes it seem so different than the other months of the year. Although each day that we live is a day to be thankful for, January 1st is more than just another ordinary day. It is after all the start of a whole new year. ThereÂ’s a sudden burst of energy all around. Folks start off going to the gym more regularly. Others will be in Church this upcoming weekend and may continue steadily for the next few weeks. But in the same way that the start of another year can trigger a burst of energy, it can also cause some to feel tired, weary and just totally exhausted. Why? Because the start of another year is a reminder that their lifeÂ’s dreams and expectations have not yet been realized! So they come to the start of another not with any sense of excitement but with an overwhelming sense of feeling defeated and deflated. With that in mind, the first FF for 2014 is DONÂ’T GIVE UP NOW!

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PERMIT AND OMIT!

Since 9/11 travelling whether by air, sea or land, is a whole different experience. Checked bags are now searched more thoroughly. Going through the security check point can be a stressful time. Empty your pockets! No liquids! Take off your shoes! Remove laptop! Take off your belts! You wonder what else you will have to remove before you board that aircraft, train or cruise ship. There are so many regulations now about what is PERMITTED that you realize less is better. So travelling now requires that we decide before hand what we must OMIT because the authorities no longer just PERMIT us to travel with what we want. With this in mind I invite us all to reflect on the final FF for 2013 and it is this PERMIT AND OMIT!

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EACH PART MUST DO ITS PART!

In many Sunday Schools this time of the year is filled with the staging of Christmas pageants and plays. The successful staging of Christmas programs requires lots of planning. Apart from the Sunday School programs, community and church choirs have spent hours in rehearsals trying to get their notes right and making sure that they have the correct dynamic for their Christmas music. In the same way, the musical Christmas programs can be very demanding. But when all of the programs are over and the applause of the audience has died down, those who would have sung or recited have the satisfaction of knowing that they did a great job pronouncing the message of this season. A Christmas play, pageant or concert involves many persons. But each one has a special PART and when each person does his/her PART then all of the other PARTS ultimately benefit. One of the messages of Christmas is simply this: EACH PART MUST DO ITS PART! And thatÂ’s todayÂ’s FF: EACH PART MUST DO ITS PART!

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LIVE IN HOPE!

Last week one of the headlines that grabbed the nationÂ’s attention dealt with the mega million lottery drawing which reached a grand total of $425 million. By the end of the week when there was no winning number the lottery jackpot had climbed to about $550 million. Even here in the Virgin Islands people were lining up to purchase their tickets all with the HOPE of being the lucky winner. ItÂ’s amazing what the possibility of winning such a large sum of money will cause people to do. The same folks who canÂ’t walk to go to the doctor or complained that they canÂ’t stand in church too long will stand up in line at a grocery store to buy lotto tickets. Why? Because they HOPE that they will win. And yet there have been countless stories of persons whose lives did not get better after winning lottery money but instead got worse. People everywhere always HOPE for what they think will cause their lives to improve. But sometimes we lose HOPE because what we HOPE for seems to be taking too long to be realized. Today I invite us all to reexamine what are we HOPING for and in so doing once again adopt an attitude which says that we will LIVE IN HOPE. ThatÂ’s todayÂ’s FF: LIVE IN HOPE!

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LEAVE A REMARKABLE LEGACY!

Nelson Mandela, the father of the modern South Africa, as he has been called died yesterday at the age of 95. Over the past 24 hours the world major media have been recapping the LEGACY of this once in a life time leader. There are some of us who are old enough to remember the day that he was released in 1990 after being in prison for 27 years. It is not only the people and nation of South Africa who are mourning and celebrating MandelaÂ’s life. The whole world is because MandelaÂ’s impact was global. As we think about how different our world is because of MandelaÂ’s life, our FF for today challenges us to all LEAVE A REMARKABLE LEGACY!

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MAKE FAMILY A PRIORITY!

Yesterday was observed as Thanksgiving Day in the USA. Traditionally, itÂ’s the busiest holiday of the year in terms of FAMILY members travelling either by air or land to spend the day together. Central to the Thanksgiving holiday is bringing FAMILIES together to have a meal. That may sound like not that big of a deal but considering just how busy FAMILY life can get and that FAMILIES are nowadays separated by such great distances, coming together at least on Thanksgiving is something not to be taken for granted. There was a time when the stores closed on Thanksgiving Day because it valued the importance of that family tradition. But thereÂ’s been a recent trend where more and more stores are opening up on Thanksgiving Day and having a jump start to the big sales that normally take place the day after Thanksgiving. So instead of waiting until what is known as Black Friday to catch all of the deals, retailers are now starting from the Thursday. But according to news media, many Americans are saying not supporting this move and are pushing back against the new trend in stores opening up on Thanksgiving. The argument is that Thanksgiving is still more about FAMILY and not about spending more money. With all that is out there that can distract from FAMILIES spending quality time together, it is good to see folks pushing back against this new trend. With that in mind our FF for today is to MAKE FAMILY A PRIORITY!

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MAKE ME INVISIBLE!

Have you ever done or said something that you thought was so embarrassing that you just wished you could immediately become INVISIBLE? One of those times when you would have loved to do a disappearing act? They may not happen very often but I’m sure that we all have our moments when being INVISIBLE would have been just perfect. But not everybody wants to be INVISIBLE. In fact the trend these days seems to be people making greater effort to be visible. How else do you explain that just a few days ago the Oxford Dictionaries declaring that ‘selfie’ is the word of the year for 2013? Just in case you have no idea what is a ‘selfie’ it’s using a cell phone or any mobile device to take a picture of yourself. Most persons post their ‘selfie’ on all of the social media sites (Instagram, Face Book, KIK, Twitter etc.). But with the trend to broadcast ourselves becoming more popular these days, then the thought for today’s FF may be a real challenge. It is MAKE ME INVISIBLE!

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WE HAVE IT GOOD!

As a child growing up in Antigua, I always wanted to experience a hurricane. I would often hear my parents talk about a 1950 hurricane and felt as though I was missing out on something. Well on September 17th, 1989 Hurricane Hugo gave me my first taste of what it is like to go through a hurricane. That experience taught me that you must be careful what you wish for and that there are some experiences in life you can do without. Half of the roof on our family house went flying during the storm and water came pouring in wetting just about everything. Living through the storm was scary at times. But it was life afterwards that was the tough part. Basic necessities like electricity and having clean running were things that you now had a better appreciation for. Now when I look at the news and see the overwhelming devastation that Typhoon Haiyan has brought to the people of the Philippines, there’s one thing I can’t help but say to myself – WE HAVE IT GOOD! And that’s our FF for today – WE HAVE IT GOOD!

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