Daniel Skognes

Hope is a funny thing. You have to have it. You can’t live without it. It is the air that our spirit needs to breathe. Hope gives courage, strength, and the will for us to go on.

There was a story about a boy who was playing his first baseball game. His Dad watched as the other team scored run after run. Finally, when the score was 18 to 0, his Dad went over to the bench to console his Son. He asked: “How are you doing Son? I see your team is down 18 runs.” The Son responded: “No problem, Dad. We haven’t been up to bat yet!” LOL. Yes, it may have been delusional, but it was full of hope.

“Where there is no hope for the future, there is no power in the present.” John Maxwell.

How can we expect to live lives of fulfillment and success without hope?

Here are a few things to remember when it comes to living with hope:

• Just because you can’t see a solution does not mean there isn’t one. Find the light switch if you want to see in the dark.
• When we are tested and stretched to our limits, we come face to face with who we really are. Stress reveals our character.
• Hope is contagious. When you are around someone who needs hope, you just have to remind them that there IS hope. It is like giving water to a person dying of thirst.
• There are a couple of things to remember: 1. This too shall pass. That in itself should give you hope. 2. The mountain you see in front of you may not be a mountain at all. In reality, it may just be a molehill. It all depends on how you look at it. From an ant’s perspective, it IS a mountain. From God’s perspective, it is NOTHING He can’t handle.

My hope for you is that whatever you are facing, whatever you are worried about, and whatever you have to decide upon, let hope fill your heart. Let go of the worry, fear, and anxiety you have embraced. Come to know the meaning of the word Shalom! It is not just what is Shalom, but who is Shalom. That too will give you hope!

When you think you have no hope, think again.

Dan Skognes

I got pulled into a 4^th grade class to cover a teacher who was out for the afternoon. One of the assignments was for the kids to get on their Chromebooks and complete a book report they had been working on.

Everything seemed to be going well until I was told that some of the kids were looking at inappropriate things instead of doing their report. When I went back to confront them, the finger pointing immediately began.

I looked at one boy and asked him if he was on an inappropriate site. He said, “They were on it too!” LOL. I just said, “Buddy, I am not talking to them or about them. I am talking to you. If you messed up, fess up. Own your mistakes and make it right.”

He would not look at me in the eyes. It reminded me of my dog when she has made a mess in the house. She goes and crawls under the bed. I am sure he wanted to crawl under the desk, but there was no escape. He just nodded.

One of the biggest lessons a kid can learn is to own their decisions. They will never mature and become responsible adults until they do. The world has too many adults with kid attitudes. I try to model for the kids when I make a mistake: I admit it and let them know I am human too (even though I am Superman). If it is warranted, I apologize.

We have to monitor kids on the internet. Even with the filters they put on them it seems that evil is two clicks away at all times, just waiting for them to see what is waiting behind door number two. The internet has a lot of helpful information, but it also has a great deal of evil to corrupt the minds of kids (and adults for that matter).

I wish someone would invent a kid friendly internet. I know there are sites that are kid friendly, but I mean something that had no back doors to open. Just wishful thinking, but if they did, they would become both rich and famous. Who knows? Maybe someday…

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

Are you a “some day” type of person? You dream about things you want to do, who you want to be, or places you want to go…then say: “Some day.” The problem with some day is that for many people, some day never comes.

Do you remember the movie, The Bucket List? It was a great movie starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. Both men were diagnosed with a terminal illness in the movie. What they did with that information had a great message for everyone: Make a bucket list and do it now.

This is great advice whether you are terminally ill or if you are in perfect health. Why? Because we are not promised tomorrow. Too often we put off the things we would love to do and make excuses like, “I don’t have the time, the money, or anyone to do it with.”

Let’s be honest, if you are looking for an excuse, they are pretty easy to come up with. One of the ladies at work surprised me with the fact that she had recently gone sky diving!  I have no desire to jump out of a perfectly good plane, but I loved the fact that she did something on her bucket list. I asked her if she was going to swim with sharks. She laughed and said, “No, but I am going to bungee jump.” Again…not my cup of tea, but good for her! LOL.

Quit daydreaming about what you want to do, and start the wheels in motion. Your some day is today. Make your bucket list. Take that trip. Get that degree. Ask that girl out. Whatever it is, quit procrastinating and do it. What is the worst that can happen? If you tried and failed, at least you tried, right? That beats getting to the end of your life and saying, “I wish I had done…(whatever it is).”

What is on your bucket list? What are you doing about it? Don’t let woulda, coulda, shoulda be your epitaph. If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

We seem to live in a world where people want to stick their noses where they don’t belong. The other day I was at the grocery store and watched a guy go ballistic on another man because he turned into a parking space going the opposite direction. Apparently in his mind this was a cardinal sin and he should be severely beaten for it.

To his credit, the man who was being verbally assaulted did not react. He remained in his car and ignored the tirade. I watched the angry man stomp away still muttering to himself what a dumb *@#$ this guy was. I just shook my head. One of these days that man is going to have someone clean his clock for him (whip his butt).

The man who remained calm did nothing wrong. He did not cause any traffic problems and was in his legal right to make the turn. If only we could learn to Mind Our Own Business. We are not the police. We are not the judge and jury. We are never right in taking the law into our own hands.

I had a 3^rd grader getting his nose into another kid’s stuff the other day. He loudly denounced the other kid for something he thought he should not be doing. I just looked at the bully and said, “You know what that is? It is noneya.”  He looked blankly at me as if to say, “What?”  I said, “It is noneya business!”  The class roared laughing, but I told them I was serious and that they needed to stop poking their noses in where they don’t belong. I told him, “You got your hands full just dealing with YOU.”

There are times when we do need to speak up if there is a true injustice, bullying, criminal activity, etc., but too often I think we try to take on the role of policemen. Let’s let the professionals do their job. In the long run it will be a lot safer for everyone…especially in Texas.

Just my thoughts….and I know what some of you are already saying to me: “It’s noneya!”  LOL.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

It is funny to watch adults interact and see the similarities in children. Apparently some adults never grow up. There is a wonder in being childlike. You find joy in the simple things of life. You love to laugh, play, and have fun. You are a learning sponge and soak up the things you are exposed to. Those are all great things.

The opposite is not so good. It is being childish. It is when adults are selfish, mean-spirited, unforgiving, and judgmental. You expect it in kids, but when adults act that way it is pretty ridiculous, isn’t it?

I am writing this blog because of recent attacks on me, my friends, and our President. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, but I can’t condone people using a public forum to bash people they don’t know and certainly don’t have all the facts.

One of the things I teach kids regularly is that they don’t have to like each other, but they do have to show respect to one another. We don’t allow bullying and name calling in our kids, and yet I see adults doing this on a daily basis. This is childish behavior. If adults don’t set the proper example for the kids, how can we ever expect them to grow up to be responsible adults? The odds are stacked against them if their main role models are basically kids in grownup clothing.

I want to always be childlike. Part of me never wants to grow up, but I hope and pray that I don’t become childish in the process. If I ever do, feel free to call me on it…just do it offline. I don’t mind admitting my mistakes, but nobody wants to be publicly humiliated.

I don’t expect everyone will agree with my stance on this blog. There seems to always be those intent on sowing seeds of discord. The world is full of haters. They would rather debate than discuss things openly. Life is too short to be childish.

Excuse me. I am going to put on my big boy pants. Stay tuned.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

Have you ever heard this phrase: Bloom where you’re planted? It relates to relationships as well as to our work. People have a tendency to think that the grass is always greener on the other side. I am not sure where that came from, but it didn’t originate with God.

Relationships and jobs take work. Work is a four letter word to some people, but so is love, and both are good things. Work does not have to be something that we dread, whether it be our employment or our relationships. It simply means that we are putting effort into something that is worthwhile doing.

Many people give up too quickly on their relationships and jobs. I think the reason this happens is that people have the desire to be served, but resist serving. They also expect things to happen quicker than they actually do. That is a problem for a lot of folks, obviously. Look at the divorce rate and the number of jobs that people go through to find something or someone they truly love.

Here are a few tips to help you avoid becoming another casualty:

• Quit looking for excuses to bail out of a job or relationship before you have given it all you have. Invest your best.
• If you have been through numerous jobs or relationships, look in the mirror and figure out what you are doing wrong. It is not them.
• If you don’t fix the issue, you take it with you. Is that what you really want?
• Taking responsibility means you have to admit the mistakes you have made and the problems you have created as a result. It is necessary if you ever expect to heal and move on.
• Quit looking for the perfect job or perfect person. They don’t exist.
• Find a job and a relationship you truly love. It is not just about status, money, attraction, or filling a void.

If a job or a relationship is worth beginning, it is worth truly investing yourself in it to make it successful. Give it all you have. If you have done that and it still does not work out, you have nothing to apologize for. Just learn the lesson and move on.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

You know what that stand for, right? Garbage in, garbage out. It refers to what we watch, what we listen to, and what we read, or what we do. If our hearts and minds are filled with garbage on a daily basis, what do you expect to see coming out of us?

Change this to: Good in, good out. Read a classic novel instead of trash. Listen to music that is not laced with profanity and hatred. Watch TV that has something of value. I know many people who don’t watch TV anymore. I can’t really blame them. It seems that much of what we see is just a waste of air time. Even the news has become tainted and political.

If you are a parent or a teacher, this becomes even more critical as you think about your impact on future generations. We can’t really expect kids to do things different than what we do, can we? I find it both amusing and sad at the same time the double standard that many adults have when it comes to G.I.G.O. Just because we are adults, does that really give us the freedom to do whatever we want to do?

What used to be X rated is now standard TV. Wow. That is progress? One thing I can say for my parents is that they did set the proper example for us with what they watched, what they read, and what they listened to. They were not perfect by any means, but I have to give them credit for trying to do the right thing by us as their family and setting the proper example.

In this world of technology and the internet, we have access 24/7 to whatever we desire. That is a two-edged sword and it cuts both ways. We can choose good or like Darth Vader said, “Come to the dark side.” I hope and pray that we do the responsible thing and let light, love, and laughter be our guide. Life is too short to waste time collecting garbage.

There is a verse from the Bible that talks about this very thing: Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

• Where there’s a will there’s a lawyer.
• A penny saved makes cents.
• Don’t bite the hand that leads you.
• You miss 100% of the shots eventually.
• The early bird gets shot.
• It’s my way or a higher way.
• He who laughs last didn’t get it.
• It’s like the blind leading the blonde.
• A closed mouth invites no fist.
• A house divided is a duplex.
• A journey of a thousand miles begins with my GPS.
• A lie told often enough is still a lie.
• A man is known by the company he works for.
• A woman’s work is never really appreciated until her man has to do it.
• All codes lead to ROM.
• All things come to him who is waited on.
• All’s fair in love and wrestling.
• Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no alibies.
• Clothes make the MANnequin.
• Don’t beat a dead horse…or a live one, for that matter.
• Don’t put all your eggs in one biscuit.
• Taste makes waist.
• Hair today, gone tomorrow.
• HINDsight is looking in a REARview mirror.
• If at first you don’t succeed, sigh, sigh again.
• If you can’t stand the HEAT , stay out of Miami.
• Into each life a little pain must fall.
• Quit saying, “It is what it is.” It is what we make it.
• It’s always darkest before the dumb.
• It’s not who YOU know, it’s who knows YOU.
• Less is more….more or less.
• Let your conscience be your bride.
• Loose lips sink relationSHIPS.
• Love means you always have to say you’re sorry.
• Nature abhors a vacuum, and vacuums suck.
• Never say never….never.
• No glutes, no glory.
• No news is no news.
• No pain, no pain.
• Nothing is certain except death and Texas.
• One good TURNcoat deserves another.
• People who live in glass houses need Windex.
• Religion and politics don’t mix because you can’t separate them.
• The customer is always right in his own mind.
• Time wounds all heels.
• Two lefts don’t make a right.
• When the going gets tough, you’ve entered Louisiana.
• You catch more flies with honey, but why?

Shalom!

Dan Skognes