Wondering about 2014

December 30, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
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2014

In all the busyness of this time of year have you managed to set time aside to draft out a few New Year’s resolutions?

Maybe you’ll get some time over the next couple of days. I’m hoping to find time to think about what the brand new year might bring.

While many people don’t believe in making resolutions I reckon that any time that we can sit down and take stock of our lives and make plans for the time ahead is time well spent.

As with every year I’m sure that many will set all the usual resolutions about losing weight, getting fitter, quitting smoking, reducing debt, increasing income and all the rest but I wonder what 2014 would look like if we made resolutions and goals about improving relationships with those close to us and then asked those people, or others, for help in staying accountable to those goals.

I wonder how things would be if we made resolutions about helping those we may not even know but who need a hand up. What if we made 2014 the year that we would seek to more fully understand the deep needs of others and then partner with them in a way that would move us all a little closer to what we were designed to become?

How would 2014 shape up if we determined that family was more important than the demands of work and then structured our schedules accordingly?

What would it be like if we decided that 2014 was the year that we would look beyond the physical and material things of this world to discover deeper spiritual meaning?

I wonder.



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Will you regret 2013?

December 28, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
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regret

As we start pulling down the calendars and getting ready to launch into a brand new year, I’m wondering if 2013 will be a year of regret for you.

No Regrets

Some people say that they have absolutely no regrets in life. I consider that to be foolish. It’s foolish not to learn from our mistakes and while mistakes can help to shape us and move us forward, not to feel some regret when we get it wrong is a waste of opportunity.

Having said that, I’m not a person with huge regrets. I don’t regret my ‘big picture’ life decisions but I do regret some of my actions. I regret sometimes being impatient or showing intolerance towards some people when I should be displaying grace. I regret not achieving a greater level of self-discipline in some areas of life.

Even after over half a lifetime I’m still learning and hopefully I’ll continue to turn my regrets into opportunity for improvement.

Lingering Regret

Unfortunately some people get stuck with their regrets. They let regret hold them down rather than dealing with issues and moving forward. Regrets can be helpful if they trigger change and help us to move on but many people refuse to take the next step and they live a life of regret. That regret becomes more and more toxic and robs them of the joy of everyday life. There needs to be a time to let go of regret.

In the final days of 2013 will you be dealing with the regrets of the past twelve months? Will you be letting them go so that you can start 2014 with a clean slate?

Dealing with Regret

There is a way to deal with the regret we feel. We can allow regret to remind us that we haven’t reached the standard we should have reached and then to push us in the right direction.

For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right. – 2 Corinthians 7:10-11

I love the fact that the story of the gospel is that the past can be over. We can settle the account with God and then move on. Not because it doesn’t matter but because God is always ready to forgive if we’re willing to put our hand up and admit that we got it wrong. Other people might like to remind us of the times we get it wrong but God wants to move on without counting our failures against us.

Big Picture Regrets

Some of the worst regrets are those that come from our ‘big picture’ life choices. Career choices, relationship choices and a variety of other decisions that shape our lives can lead to fulfilment or a deep sense of regret in our later years. You may be many years or even decades away from your autumn years now, but it’s the choices you make now that will shape the way you think back on your life when that time comes. If you want to reflect on memories of a life well lived you need to live well now.

Taking Risks

I love the fact that once we’ve accepted the forgiveness that our creator offers and our regrets are sorted we can feel free to move ahead in confidence. That’s when we can start to take risks. Not silly or reckless risks but the kind of considered risks that come from knowing that the one who put the universe together has got our back.

2013 was the year I stepped away from what was comfortable into a new job. Now I’m looking forward to seeing that risk pay off in 2014 as I play a small part in releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
– Mark Twain

What risks will you take in 2014? Will you dare to explore, dream and discover?

My hope for you in 2014 is that you are able to deal with anything in the past that is holding you back and that you’ll be able to fully launch yourself into a big year with big dreams and live a big life.



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Merry Christmas 2013

December 25, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
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gifts

It might be Christmas Eve 2013 where you are but here in Perth it’s well and truly Christmas Day.

I want to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very happy day as you celebrate Christmas wherever you are in the world. Many will be experiencing a cold or even a white Christmas but here in Perth, Western Australia, we have a hot summer day forecast.

Remember to pace yourself throughout the day so that you don’t regret it all tomorrow and don’t forget to take time out to reflect on what Christmas is truly all about.

Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men. – Luke 2:14

We went to a Christmas Eve service at church last night and we’ll be catching up with both sides of our family throughout the day.

I’d really love to hear how you’ll be celebrating. Please leave a comment or two to let me know.



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The Hardest and Easiest of Times

December 22, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
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compassion

Wednesday the 27th of November, 2013. It was the beginning of something new. It was the beginning of a difficult journey that has been one of the easiest upon which I’ve ever embarked.

I’ve worked in radio for a long time. Over 25 years in all. My most recent time in radio lasted nine and a half years so when I started telling people that I was leaving radio to work for Compassion Australia I had quite a variety of responses. Many talked about it being a huge change and about how courageous it was.

Big change? Courageous? I suppose they were thinking about how big a step it is for a 50 year old man to be changing careers. I have to admit that until friends started drawing my attention to it I hadn’t really considered it to be such a major change. I always knew there’d be a steep learning curve and that I would have to master a range of new skills but it all just seemed so natural and logical to me.

My passion to help those in poverty has been growing over many years so the opportunity to be more closely involved with an organisation that is recognised as being a world leader in poverty relief was an easy step to take. It just makes perfect sense.

Compassion works to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. The photo above is one I took while visiting some of the children Compassion was releasing from poverty in Dominican Republic back in 2008.

Over the last few weeks my brain has been spinning with everything I’ve been learning. My new job is indeed very different to my last job but as someone who has simply wanted to be where I believe God wants me, it’s just another step on the pathway.

So … in some ways this change has been the hardest of times, and there is still plenty of learning and adjustments to come, but it’s also been one of the most natural and easy things I’ve ever done.



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What does the spleen do?

December 22, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
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Forget about asking what the fox says. These Harvard medical students want to know what the spleen does.

I’m guessing that part of their training is still coming.

(via 22 Words)



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