Focus your life Part 1 don’t overcommit

Focus your life Part 1For the next few weeks we want to look at an important topic “how to Focus our life”. Being focused helps us to achieve the things God called us to do, so it’s really important to step into that. But it’s not easy with everything that always goes on.

Wow I really want to help out at the youth group. Wow I really want to work with the prayer team. Wow I really want to invest in friendship with my neighbors. I really want to play more music. Many of us feel that way many times in our life with probably different situations. We have so many opportunities to do special things. But then we often commit to too many of them and we are not able to really invest quality in any of them.

When we spend our lives unfocused and overcommitted we will have a hard time to get things done. Let me compare it to the life of Jesus. In his ministry years, his main focus was ministry and doing what the father called him to do. He didn’t do things that were not related to what he was doing. He also didn’t fill every second of his time, and he knew when he needed rest. But He was focused. So when people look at our life, what would they say about us? Would they see that all we do is working towards a focused goal and being committed to that?

Jen and I had to make adjustments in our life over the years to have a clear focus. To adjust means to say no at times and it means saying yes at others. So we had to learn ourselves not to overcommit. Sometimes I had situations where I committed to 3 things in a short amount of time but ended up not having a lot of time at either of them. Now we just commit to one thing at a time, but then we are really committed and invested in it. The result of doing that was that we saw growths and better friendships. Was it hard at times to say no? Yes, it was. But looking at the long term it was a blessing.

So how can we get started? We have to assess our life and see where we are overcommitted. The next step is to learn to say no. When you learn that, you will be able to not overcommit. So start very simple by looking at all your activities and things you do. Then assess which of those lead towards the things you want to focus on. After you found the ones that don’t start to cut them out. Of course when you do that always be in prayer and let god guide you.

Hey our friend

We hope you had a wonderful week!! We are in Germany right now and don’t have time on the computer so we prewrote some blogs for the next few weeks. Please pray for San Francisco while we are gone that people experience more the love of God and start understanding the meaning of the gospel for there life.

So don’t forget this week to look at your life and the overcommitted areas and start working on them!

God bless you

Markus and Jen

Les Miserables part 2 Life under Grace or Law

This blog is Part 2 about the story of Les Miserables  and this week its about Grace or Law. May it speak to you!

Hey our friend

Remember today that you are amazing and loved!!! Jen and I made it safely to Germany and we are excited to spend some time with family and share about Love your neighbor with churches, groups and individuals. Please keep us in your Prayers that God will give us the right words to share and that each person feels inspired.

Have a blessed week and don’t forget to see where you are at with grace or law in your own life!

God bless you

Markus and Jen

Les Miserables or second chances

This blog is about the story of Les Miserables and Second Chances. Be encouraged!

Hey our friend

We hope your week was great! In a few days we are leaving for Germany and we are excited to see family and friends over there!! But we also had a great week here in San Francisco. Jen had her book club and she encourages and feels encouraged by the women there. We also had our North Beach Christians small group, a place to inspire and be inspired by others to love our neighbor and neighborhood more. We meet once a month but each time we are encouraged. Do the same in your neighborhood. Exchange ideas with other Christians and encourage each other in loving your neighbor!

Have a blessed week and don’t forget to give someone a second chance!!

God bless you

Markus and Jen

You don’t need everyone to love you just…

Find out what this blog is about by watching the video. We hope it inspires you!

Hey our friend

We hope your week was great. If I would need to title our last week it would be the week of Goodbyes and on the other hand celebration. We had a memorial service for a friend from the neighborhood who we knew for a long time. IItwas good to remember him with all his friends. And then we also said a Goodbye to Bethany on her way to Italy. Pray for her while she is starting with YWAM there for 1 year. But then we also had happy moments with a birthday party of our neighbor friends and we got to see the San Francisco Symphony. Of course, we also had all the usual things going on which was awesome too!!

With that looking back the last week was a great example for life, happiness and sadness so close together. But both together make out life and everything in between. So if you are in a sad time right now just know it will pass.

God bless you

Markus and Jen

Ready for an Adventure?

Right in front of me on top of my desk is a wedding invitation for my brother and his future wife with the words “Our Adventure begins”. I love that way of looking at life. When we think of Adventure we think of new experiences, exploring something, but also taking risks. With a great adventure, you never know what comes next. But most of the time we would have some kind of guide who can lead us on this adventure. As an example, if you go White River rafting you probably will go with someone who is experienced and not just by yourself in your own little rubber boat.

Life as a follower of Jesus is an Adventure, but the great thing about that is that we also have a guide with us. God leads us along the way and is always with us. He knows totally what’s best for us along the way of that adventure. I was recently reading through the books of 1. Kings and you can see different outcomes when the kings went on their Adventure with God or without him. When they went with him He was guiding them along the way, gave them the right perspective and also the courage to do the right thing. If they walked by themselves, usually things didn’t work out well for them.

So going on an adventure always requires a good guide and God wants to be that guide for each one of us. Yes, Adventures can be challenging and sometimes scary, but with the right guide at your side things will work out better. Because you know He’s got things! Going down that White River and seeing the waves left and right can really bring fear, but with the guide in the front of the boat giving instructions and leading, it can be a lot of fun.

We want to encourage you to let God guide you in your Adventure. You will have an exciting journey ahead, but also someone who is with you when things don’t look as good.

Hey our friend

Labor Day is here and also the time of our last big barbecue for this year. Its sad that it is the last one for this season, but in the same way we are really excited to spend time with our neighbor friends. Make sure to invite some new people to your barbecue it is always exciting!!

But sadly life can’t be just barbecues; sometimes we also have to do office work. But we got a lot of stuff done this week. And it feels good too when you can see immediate results.

We hope you had a good week too and want to wish you an amazing one for this coming one! Let God guide you into your own Adventure with Him!!

God bless you

Markus and Jen