Make a Joyful Noise!

This design has a lot of history behind it. I love to sing and crank the music in my car. Music has always been part of my life - my mom played the piano and my dad played the ukelele and both sing well. My nine-year-old son has been composing music on the piano and keyboard for a couple of years and is fabulously talented! My mother-in-law is a great singer and piano player and my father-in-law...well...he can't carry a tune in a bucket but he still makes a joyful noise.

I love the music at our church. The first time we attended, our older son commented on how much he liked the music and asked if we could come back. That was tremendous progress for him to be excited about church. And it's so much fun to hear the same worship music on my favorite radio station KNWI 107.1. It helps me keep focused as I drive to and from work; it reminds me of what is the most important part of my life and what I want to concentrate on throughout the day.

This was originally designed for my sister-in-law Jean and nieces Tracy and Sarah. They are all fabulous singers! I was planning to make a Christmas ornament for them with this design but our family system got changed up a bit and we ended up with different people. But those three certainly inspired me on this one.

Psalm 98 paints such a vivid picture of worship being joy-filled and loud! It doesn't say "make a perfect noise" so don't worry about your pitch - just sing with a worshipful heart!

Right and Wrong

Most of the time the right thing to do is also the toughest thing to do. It usually makes for an interesting battle inside my soul.

As I've grown to be a stronger follower of Christ, I see multiple examples of this in the Bible. But nothing is more evident than when God gave his only son to die on the cross for our sins. Now that wasn't easy! But it was the right thing to do. Jesus died on the cross to save us because we were incapable of saving ourselves due to our sinful nature. Jesus set the ultimate example.

I am challenged to do the right thing everyday. In my job... in my parenting... as a husband.

Why has it become so easy to lie and cover the truth today? If given the choice I'm tempted many times to not do the right thing. I need a constant reminder. I need to go to church. I need to read my Bible. I need to surround myself with good friends that will hold me accountable for my actions.

Most of all, I need to realize that I will not always to the right thing but I need to want to do the right thing. When I don't do the right thing I need to beg for forgiveness and call on the the mercy of family, friends or the person I've wronged but ultimately beg for God's grace and do everything in my power to learn from my mistake so that I don't do it again.

It is said we should learn from our mistakes. I agree completely. What do you think? Where would we be if we didn't? Do the right thing even though it's likely not the easiest choice. See where the world ends up. See how you turn out.

Buy this design on many items at http://www.i-cubedpromotional.com/ to serve as your reminder

Reading, Writing, and 'Rithmetic

It's back to school time! I find it to be an exciting time; I always loved school! My kids aren't so thrilled... But I love fall, sweatshirts and jeans, the changing colors of the leaves, football (better yet, the marching band!)

This design started percolating around the 4th of July. I had wanted to have a new patriotic shirt to wear for the 4th and started thinking about what I would want that to look like. The pledge of allegiance popped into my head and I started wondering what I could do with those words. The flag was a natural - easily patriotic - and provides a great backdrop for the text. I didn't get the design done in time to have my shirt for the 4th, but I'm planning on wearing my new red shirt for casual Friday at work this week. And with school starting across the country (my niece and nephews started yesterday!) this is a perfect design to talk about!

I don't know what the policies are in school these days. My son says they still say the pledge each morning. I found an online map that indicates that some schools have a law that states kids have the option of saying the pledge or not. I can see pros and cons about that. Mostly I feel that as a citizen of the U.S. we should all be proud and thankful to live here and the freedoms that we have! I'm thankful to the people serving in the military willing to lose their lives if necessary to defend our rights and freedoms and protect our country.

Our country was founded by great, God-fearing men who set up a wonderful democratic system. It is my hope and prayer that we can move closer to their vision for our country.

Self Discipline

This is a tough one for me. I think I designed this as much for myself than for my family or others.

I started my own business back in 1994 and found that becuz it was a one person business I was basically a full-commission salesperson. Someone had to sell my products and services and that someone has to be me. Uh-oh... no more goofing off on the 8 to 5 job. I had to become DISCIPLINED!

Well, like any full-time commission scenario there are the usual ups and downs. Some checks were very good and some weren't so good. If only I could stay consistent all the time (read: disciplined) I would have a great check all the time. Sounds easy...

Well, I shut my business down in 2000 and you don't shut down a business becuz you're making too much money. We weren't! I was working 80 hours a week but living in the poverty level. I grew tired of working for my employee's paycheck and although I thought I was disciplined, I wasn't. Things were inconsistent and run by the seat of my pants. I was robbing Peter to pay Paul and just barely hanging on financially. It was time to pull the plug.

The decision hurt. When I look back on it I question what happened? I was a hard working, caring boss who wanted what was best for my clients and my employees. But, I think what I wanted most was what was best for me. I was disciplined and determined to show the world how I could make it and my discipline was geared toward everyone else.

I never took the time to look inward to see what my true motivation was. Proverbs 16:2 says that all a man's ways seem innocent to him but the Lord weighs his motivation. What was my motivation? I started asking why I do the things I do and found that my discipline was a self problem and I needed to stop blaming everybody else and accept the fact that it was up to me to change things... Lord willing. Once this became clear to me I started looking at my kids and wife and found that we all had a similar problem. Taking it further if all of us in this world would just practice discipline of the self rather than point and poke at others what a difference this would make.

So... how about we all take responsibility for our own actions and keep our discipline to our self. Watch what happens!

This design can be found in our I-cubed brand at http://www.i-cubedpromotional.com/. Take care and have a great weekend!

To Boldly Go...

We've been going through the book of Matthew at church. I am really impressed by the calling of the disciples. In each case, Jesus invited them to follow and they did. No questions asked. I especially like Matthew 4:20, "At once they left their nets and followed him." But later, a rich, young ruler approaches Jesus to find out what he can do to get eternal life. Jesus tells him to sell his possessions, then follow Jesus. The man went away sad, unwilling to follow.

I find myself questioning why I need to follow. I tend to be more of a leader than a follower and find that role hard to give up. Recently I felt God calling me to follow him and give up some things in my life. I was willing, but not able. Today I find that every day I'm in prayer asking God to show me what I can do THAT DAY to follow. I see that I'm interested in a big change; a drastic change. I see that God is interested in daily, sometimes minor, but consistent change.

I am following my leader. It's not easy and I'm not like the disciples - I ask questions. But I'm learning, and I'm changing.

This design is set up to declare boldly to those who see you that you are following the leader - that Jesus is the leader in your life. And on the reverse, an invitation to follow too.

Who are you following?

What's in a Name? (part 2)

A couple days ago I explained the rationale behind our Inspirational/Motivational line of apparel and merchandise - I-cubed. You'll have to read earlier to learn about that.

I don't want to leave out the other line/brand that we call FoG Apparel and Merchandise. FoG stands for Fear, Fan, Friend and/or Follower of God. Hopefully, you're at least one of these and we pray that you're all four.

Note the importance of the capital G in FoG. We do this out of respect to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. His name is always worth of capitalization and nothing less. The tagline is "Our Choice is Clear" meaning if we're wearing or using a FoG item than we are Christ followers. These items serve as reminders to act in a way that shows our commitment to Christ. Hopefully, they will also serve as possible motivators to others who see them and God will use them in unique ways to lead others to him.

If we are fans of the Iowa State Cyclones or the Chicago Cubs we wear their logos, messages, and color proudly. Most of us work for a business or organization and have several items with that logo. My question is this... if we are fans of God and want to work God than shouldn't we do the same for him? Let me know what you think?

This is why FoG is our clear choice.

What's in a Name?

First of all I want to thank all of you out there who have visited this blog. I'm super excited about how many people have taken time to read our posts. I would like to encourage you to respond if you'd like to. We'd love to hear from you!

Keep coming back and keep sharing with your family and friends! Together we will improve the way the world thinks!

Our first post talked about the story behind the stores but I'd like to explain the thinking behind the name of our inspirational/motivational line of apparel and merchandise. We call it I-cubed. Our goal with I-cubed designs is to Impress, Impact, and Improve.

We want our 100% original designs to impress upon people to do the right thing. Most are based on common sense and things we may have learned a long time ago but forgotten. Maybe we chose to and maybe we didn't.

We want our I-cubed designs to impact people in a positive way with the ultimate goal of improving the way the world thinks! I-cubed designs will serve as a reminder to both the person who is using or wearing the item or perhaps serve as an inspiration to someone who sees the messages and cause them to act in the right way and/or do the right thing.

Who knows, anything can happen! How do you improve yourself? Use our I-cubed designs to remind you to do the right thing or give them as a gift to a friend that could use some encouragement.