In this third part of the "Going to the Movies" series, we talk about the 2009 film "Up In The Air".  The story is centered on a traveling corporate "downsizer" named Ryan Bingham.   His job is to travel the world helping companies essentially lay off people.  His life philosophy is one about disconnecting and detaching, as his whole job is to tell people they’re being cut off.  When thinking about his travels and lifestyle, he realizes that even though he has a city he works out of, he is so transient with his work and life that he really has no home or connections to one place or to people in general.  The film examines the philosophy - what if you decided to live hub to hub, city to city, with nothing and nobody?

This episode focuses on the very thing Ryan didn’t seem to have many of or be very good at - relationships.  Each of us has a variety of relationships with other people in our lives.  Regardless of whether they are casual acquaintances, close friends, or something else, God calls us to have relationships with others.  It's up to us to do what we need to make those relationships meaningful and keep them healthy.  

Why is it so difficult to "live in the moment"?  So often our mind is either in the past, focused on what didn't work out, who did us wrong, mistakes we've made, or in the future, thinking about our goals, what we’re having for dinner later, or something bigger, like worrying about health or finances.  

In this second part of the "Going to the Movies" series, we talk about the 2006 film "Click".  In the film, architect Michael Newman gets a universal remote control that controls a lot more than his TV - it controls time.  He uses it at work to cause light-hearted mischief and skip past minor inconveniences, but then starts missing significant milestones and storylines in his family's lives.  In this episode, I talk about the importance of being FULLY engaged in the present - making the most of each moment, loving your family, appreciating the things God has placed in your life. 

The only way we can be truly present in the moment and not let things steal us from being there is to surrender the past we can't change and trust God with the future that we can't control.  If living in the moment is something you've strived to do better, or if you're looking for ways to be more intentional about living "in the moment", give this week's episode a listen.

And... we're back!  We kick off Season 5 of the Q on Queue podcast with an all-new series, "Going to the Movies".  In this series, we will take the titles and themes of some of the most popular movies through the years and make their plots and lessons very applicable to our daily lives.  

In this first episode of the series and first of our new season, we look at "Groundhog Day".  The 1993 movie, starring Bill Murray, follows the life of Phil Connors, a TV weatherman who keeps reliving the same day over and over as he covers the events of Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA.  Phil quickly realizes that he needs to change his ways and adopt a new perspective if he wants to move to February 3.  In this episode, I'll highlight why changing our perspective is important, as well as how adopting small changes in your habits can make a big difference and go a long way to positive change in the future.

One of our family's favorite summer activities is what we like to call “Destination Unknown” trips.  We take someone to a special event or place and they have very few details about where they're going.  Well, in a very similar way, a lot of the places we are headed in life are really a "destination unknown".  We don't know every step, every result, every outcome.  Sometimes we are hesitant to step out in faith because we don't know what's next.  So, how do we handle, how do we begin to perceive going through life knowing there’s a place and a purpose for us, without knowing exactly where we are going?  How do we take that journey without knowing all of the stops along the way?

This week I'll be sharing a new episode entitled "Destination Unknown".  I won't be reinventing the wheel and I won't be giving any magic solutions.  This week is more of a reassurance about even though we don't know every destination we are headed, we can trust the one who authors our steps as we take each of those steps.

What do your words communicate to those around you?  What do your actions say about how you are feeling or what you're thinking?  Our relationships are directly affected both positively and negatively by what we say and do. 

This week, we talk about why communication doesn't have to be so hard as we make it out to be, the three basic principles for healthy communication, and how to put them into practice to improve your connections with others.

What if things are suddenly changing around you?  What if your relationships are changing, your environment is changing, your finances changing?  There’s no perfect solution, but I believe there are some basics we can apply that will help us deal with, tackle, and adapt to change when necessary.  

In this third episode of our "Back to Basics" series,  we talk about going back to basics in dealing with change in our lives and how approaching and dealing with change really has to do with some basic principles.

Why do we make relationships so complicated?  We add so many rules, expectations, and other things that make some relationships way more difficult or complicated than they need to be.  Some of that is pushed by society, others pushed by the other party in the relationship, but the fact is - relationships are based off of a few basic principles.

In this second episode of our "Back to Basics" series,  we talk about going back to basics with the relationships in our lives.   I'll be sharing about how we can stay focused on four basic principles in relationships and if we’ve strayed too far, how to get back to it.

Every day it seems like there are more and more things in life to pull us off track - things and experiences and people and situations that take us off course and stop us from achieving our objectives and goals.  Some of our lives have SOOO much.  I think about my own responsibilities - as a father, a band director, an educator, a composer, a church musician, a radio news reporter - I have so many things to do for so many people.  These things can only be successful with a plan, and most importantly with boundaries.  

In this first episode of our new "Back to Basics" series,  we talk about going back to basics with boundaries in our lives.  Why are boundaries important and is it really easy to set them and maintain them at the most basic of levels?  

When we know our true identity in Christ, why do we pretend to be something we’re not?  The fact is that all of us wear some type of mask, whether it's to hide something or to fit in or to pretend to be something we're not.  This week, we talk about the dangers of those masks, how masks were a part of the Easter story, and why it's so important to tear them off and break them to be the authentic person God called us to be.

Today we begin our series "Three Images of Easter" with an episode entitled "The Mirror".  When you look in the mirror, what do you see?   For many of us, what we call our self-image is an extremely big deal.  Many of us don’t see our true self, our “God-created” self.  We don’t recognize our true value, not realizing how much we matter, honestly struggling to see ourselves as valuable as God sees us.   

In this episode, we explore the many mirrors that give us a reflection that is not our true self, and how God defines who were our, our calling, and our true identity.