J D Canter E Books

9/27–Can You Spare A Minute?

The Right Perspective

 A landscape artist does not always stand at an arm’s length from his canvas. He must not limit his attention to the isolated details of what he is doing. Occasionally he steps back to view his work from a distance. He needs to see how his thousands of small brushstrokes fit together to produce an overall result.

 Likewise, our perspective on life is much improved if sometime we can step back and see it whole. We can become so occupied with its daily brushstrokes that we have no real perception of the whole scene we are painting on the canvas of the ongoing years. Our attentions can be so consumed by the requirements of daily living that we have little awareness of the dimensions and directions of life itself. 

Step back from the canvas a little, and try to see the picture whole. Look beyond the varied episodes of our daily doings and see the glory of it all. Look beyond the brushstrokes to see the art which the brushstrokes have made-and are making. “But we all… beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2Co 3:18).

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We live in a world that wants everything instantly. Fast food, instant messages, same-day delivery. Yet some of the most meaningful things in life—character, wisdom, relationships, spiritual growth—cannot be rushed. They require patience.

“But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” — James 1:4

Patience Builds Strength

Patience is not weakness; it’s quiet strength. It’s the ability to wait without complaining, to endure without giving up, and to trust that the process has a purpose. While impatience drains us, patience develops us.

Think of a seed. You can’t rush it to grow by pulling on the stem—it must be watered, nurtured, and given time. In the same way, our goals and dreams unfold in seasons.

The Waiting Room of Life

Sometimes God places us in the “waiting room.” Not because He’s forgotten us, but because He’s preparing us. Waiting builds faith muscles, sharpens our focus, and teaches us to rely on Him rather than our own timetable.

Patience with ourselves helps us keep moving forward, even after mistakes. Patience with others builds stronger relationships. Patience with God’s timing leads to blessings we could never have imagined.

A Short Story

A man once grew frustrated because his bamboo plant seemed lifeless for years. No matter how much he watered and cared for it, nothing showed above ground. But in the fifth year, the bamboo suddenly shot up more than 80 feet in just weeks! All that time, it had been growing strong roots unseen. Likewise, your patience today is preparing unseen roots for tomorrow’s breakthrough.

Reflection Questions

Where in your life do you need to replace impatience with trust? How can you remind yourself that growth is happening, even if you can’t see it yet?

Prayer

“Lord, give me the strength to wait well. Help me trust that every delay is not denial, but preparation. Teach me to be patient with myself, with others, and with Your perfect timing. Amen.”

✅ Takeaway: Patience is not passive—it’s powerful. Wait with faith, work with diligence, and trust that in due season, your harvest will come.

Life moves fast, and before we know it, another day is gone. One of the greatest lessons we can learn is that time is a gift, not a guarantee. Too often we put things off until “tomorrow,” forgetting that tomorrow is never promised.

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” — Psalm 90:12

The Power of Today

Every dream, every goal, every relationship is built on what you choose to do today. Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is uncertain—but today is in your hands. Waiting for the perfect time is a trap. The perfect time is now.

Think about it: one small decision today can shift the entire direction of your life. One phone call can heal a relationship. One choice to forgive can free your heart. One step toward your dream can set momentum in motion.

Small Steps, Big Results

Don’t underestimate the power of small actions.

Five minutes of reading adds up to wisdom. A short prayer adds peace to your spirit. A kind word to a stranger may brighten their whole day.

The harvest is in the daily planting, not in waiting for the “someday” season.

A Story to Remember

There was once a man who dreamed of writing a book but always delayed it until life was “less busy.” Ten years passed, and the book never left his heart. Looking back, he said, “If I had just written one page a day, I’d have written several books by now.” The lesson? One page a day is better than one excuse a year.

Reflection

What have you been waiting for the “right time” to do? If you started with just 10 minutes today, where could you be by the end of this month?

A Simple Prayer

“Lord, thank You for the gift of today. Help me use it wisely, not waste it. Show me the small steps I can take right now, and give me courage to act before the day slips away. Amen.”

✅ Takeaway: Stop waiting. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can—today.

Mark 10-21,22. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

9/26-Start Your Day Off Right Series 

Quote:

Conceive of your mind as a surface of a body of water and see how nearly quiet you can make it so that there is not a ripple

Story:

9/26–STATISTICS AND STUFF

The “Coronary and Ulcer Club” lists the following rules for members… 

1. Your job comes first. Forget everything else. 

2. Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays are fine times to be working at the office. There will be nobody else there to bother you. 

3. Always have your briefcase with you when not at your desk. This provides an opportunity to review completely all the troubles and worries of the day. 

4. Never say “no” to a request. Always say “yes.” 

5. Accept all invitations to meetings, banquets, committees, etc. 

6. All forms of recreation are a waste of time. 

7. Never delegate responsibility to others; carry the entire load yourself. 

8. If your work calls for traveling, work all day and travel at night to keep that appointment you made for eight the next morning. 

9. No matter how many jobs you already are doing, remember you always can take on more.  

Bits & Pieces, January 7, 1993, pp. 9-10.

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Building Take Skill, Tearing Down None https://www.amazon.com/dp/1521429154/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_PJ80MHR6SVPBVSNFA9C5

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Scripture:

Matthew 6:28-33

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Humor:

Do Not Ring Doorbell Unless You Are Publishers Clearing House

–9/26–This is something that everyone needs, to be able to navigate the storms of life. Because no matter who you are you will have them. Concerning natural storms, they come up in everyone’s life no matter who you are or where you are at. 

Storms just have a way of finding us no matter where we are at. It does matter if it’s not a good time or if we are ready. There are no exemptions! 

The wise thing to do then, is to be ready. After all storms are always lurking and it is unwise not to prepare for them. 

I have heard that you are either in a storm or you just came from a storm or you’re about to go into a storm. So, that’s all the time. We cannot afford to ignore the storms! 

It is absolutely necessary that we learn to navigate the Storms!! When the media announces the approaching of storms, if you choose to ignore the warnings then you have to suffer the consequences. We would do everything we could to make sure we, along with our family and love ones, would be safe and prepared. 

How many reading this feel as though you still have hope?

Excerpt From “How To Navigate Life’s Storms” By J D Canter Available in Kindle Amazon:

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2 Kings 4:8-10. And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

9/25-Start Your Day Off Right

Quote:

9/25–Don’t give up, don’t take anything personally, and don’t take no for an answer, you never know what you’re going to learn along the way.” 

– Sophia Amoruso

Story:

9/25–Perspective–seasoned by experience, you begin to understand what not to worry about. So that you can put your efforts into that which is productive and not in that which will energize your enemies by focusing on them and what they are trying to do. 

If you start speaking to them you give life to them and make them bigger by focusing on them. You need to ignore what they are doing, and keep on doing what you are called to do. Because whatever you put your attention on you give life to. You make something or somebody important the moment you give it or them attention. 

Whatever you give attention to you make important. If you want to kill something, ignore it. A lot of time Jesus answered them not a word. Let the silence settle.

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Scripture:

James 3:5-8

Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

Humor:

When the preacher’s car broke down on a country road, he walked to a nearby roadhouse to use the phone. After calling for a tow truck, he spotted his old friend, Frank, drunk and shabbily dressed at the bar. “What happened to you, Frank?” asked the good reverend. “You used to be rich.” Frank told a sad tale of bad investments that had led to his downfall. “Go home,” the preacher said. “Open your Bible at random, stick your finger on the page and there will be God’s answer.” 

Some time later, the preacher bumped into Frank, who was wearing a Gucci suit, sporting a Rolex watch and had just stepped our of a Mercedes. “Frank.” said the preacher, “I am glad to see things really turned around for you.” “Yes, preacher, and I owe it all to you,” said Frank. “I opened my| Bible, put my finger down on the page and there was the answer — Chapter 11.”  

9/25–Can You Spare A Minute?

If you can’t find two minutes can you spare just one?

9/25–A young boy while visiting his grandfather in the country, found a small land turtle and promptly attempted to examine it. 

The  turtle promptly closed its shell like a vise. Where upon the boy seized a stick and tried in vain to pry the shell open.

Observing the boys actions, the grandfather quickly interrupted. “That’s not the way,” he said. “Let me show you how.”

Taking the turtle into the house, he set it on the hearth. In a few minutes the creature began to grow warm, stuck out it’s  head and feet and started to crawl. 

Turtles are something like people” said the old man. “Never try to force a fellow into anything—-Just warm him up a little ordinary human kindness, and more than likely he’ll come your way. 

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We don’t usually say, “I’ll never do it.” We say, “I’ll do it later.” But “later” is a slippery word—quiet, polite, and deadly to our goals. Procrastination doesn’t steal entire years at once; it picks our days clean, one small delay at a time.

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” — Karen Lamb

Why We Wait

Perfectionism: If it can’t be perfect, we stall. Overwhelm: The task feels too big to swallow in one bite. Ambiguity: We don’t know the first step, so we take no step. Hidden fear: What if I fail… or succeed and have to keep going?

The good news? Procrastination isn’t a personality trait—it’s a habit. And habits can be changed.

The “Five-Minute Doorway”

When a task feels heavy, don’t try to finish it. Just start it for five minutes. Five minutes is the doorway; once you’re inside, momentum takes over. Tell yourself, “I only owe this five minutes.” Often you’ll keep going—if not, you still broke the delay cycle and proved to yourself that you can start.

The Two-Minute Reset (Faith + Action)

Breathe & Pray (60 seconds): “Lord, order my steps, steady my mind, and bless the work of my hands.” Micro-move (60 seconds): Open the document, lay out your gym clothes, set the appointment, or send the first email. Motion creates emotion.

Scripture spark: “Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.” (Ecclesiastes 11:4)

Also see Proverbs 6:6–8 and James 4:17.

Make It Smaller, Make It Sooner

Chunk it: Break the task into three tiny, visible steps. Time-box it: Work in 15-minute focus blocks with a 3-minute stretch. Park on downhill: Stop each session by writing the very next action so tomorrow is easy to begin. Public promise: Tell one person your start time today. Accountability turns “someday” into a scheduled appointment.

A Short Story: The Two Pain Piles

A friend once showed me his desk with two piles: Pain Now and Pain Later. “Pain Now” had small, doable items—call the dentist, pay the bill, write the intro. “Pain Later” had the same tasks, but each now carried interest: late fees, stress, strained relationships. He said, “I choose my pain. I prefer the kind that ends quickly.” That day, he took one card from “Pain Now,” set a five-minute timer, and started. By lunch, the pile had shrunk—and so had his anxiety. The lesson stuck: do it small, do it now, enjoy it longer.

Your 24-Hour Anti-Procrastination Plan

Pick One Thing you’ve been delaying. Write the First Three Micro-Steps. (Example: open file → outline 3 bullets → write first 100 words.) Set a 15-Minute Timer and begin today. Send a Proof Pic (screenshot, checkmark, calendar snap) to an accountability partner. Close Strong: Park on downhill—note the next action for tomorrow.

Prayer

“Father, thank You for the time You’ve given me today. Help me trade hesitation for humble beginnings, fear for faith, and delay for diligent steps. Order my priorities and strengthen my follow-through. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

Reflection Questions

What one task, if started today, would lighten your spirit the most? What fear hides beneath your delay—and what truth can replace it? Who will you text when you’ve completed your five minutes?

Call to Action: Don’t wait for motivation—let motion create it. Set a five-minute timer right now and take the first step. Then celebrate the start!