Quotes

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day and that you have had an awesome week. Tough getting back into the flow of things after the Holidays, isn't it?!?!

Just wanted to share some quotes with you this week. As I have read them they have really struck me as profound, they have challenged my Spirit and they have caused me to think.

"Personal example carries more weight than preaching." - Chinese Proverb

Another quote we all really wish we could live by is, "Do what I say, not as I do." Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.

"You have no idea the numbers of people that God may want to influence through you." - Andy Stanley

It would be great if we could decide where and when we are going to influence others. Again, we don't. People are always listening, always watching. We are influencing all of them...whether we intend to or not.

The other point I would like to share about this one is a simple truth: your life, your story matters. You have no idea the numbers of lives that will be touched if you will share it.

"The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live." - Flora Whittemore

It is the choices we make, the journey, that decide the lives we will ultimately live. A series of individual choices, piled one upon another, that ultimately decide the quality of our lives and our legacies.

"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." - Frederick Douglass

I once had an assistant coach say, "I struggle knowing when to love them and when to discipline them" in talking about our players. I told him he was looking at it wrong. There is not a time of love and a time of discipline - we discipline them because we love them AND, discipline should be handed down in love...you can't separate the two.

Our children do need to learn appropriate and inappropriate behavior and most importantly, that there are consequences for each. I don't like it when I have to impose discipline on my boys...often times it breaks my heart. At the same time I love them enough to do so and I am keenly aware that their future wives, their children, I could in fact argue that society, is counting on me.

"Be what you want your team to become." - John Wooden

This really goes back to the first quote - words don't mean nearly as much as actions. I also want to point out that while this does certainly apply to our jobs, my most important team is my family. If I want them to love, respect, honor & protect each other - I certainly do! - then I need to live out loving, respecting, honoring & protecting each one of them.

"We never know which lives we influence, or when or why." - Stephen King

Point has already been made. Again, you and I are influencing every single person we come into contact with every single day - the only thing left to be determined is whether that influence will be a positive one or a negative one.

"What you say today is imprinted on the hearts of your children for a lifetime." - Unknown

Our words are so powerful. We get tired, we get frustrated and in a moment say something that can crush a spirit and alter the trajectory of a life. I pray that we will choose them carefully and when we fail - unfortunately, we are all bound to at some point in time - as soon as we realize our error offer a heart-felt apology.

It is interesting to me also that the quote simply talks about "your children." I am assuming that is because for the most part, we care about our children. The reality is the words we speak to anyone are imprinted on their hearts for a lifetime. I pray that our words speak life. I know, so counter to society today and yet, so critically needed.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your families. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.

Have a great day, a truly wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.

Kev