Shine

Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama!

This week I want to share a brief reminder, word of encouragement, and inspiration.

Reminder
Just as we pour out of a glass what has been poured into it, what pours out of you and me is what has been poured into our hearts, minds, and spirits. We would not order a soft drink if we expect to drink water; why do we pour negative things into our hearts, minds, and spirits and expect to be positive in our thoughts, words, and actions? It doesn’t make much sense, does it?

I want to remind us all this morning that what we watch, listen to, and read really does affect us. If we don’t like the way we are thinking, speaking, or acting, we would be wise to assess what is being poured in. Such an easy concept to understand, can be very difficult to live.

What will the influences be in your life? The things we consistently listen to, watch, read, and do will determine the lives we live.

Matthew 12:34 (AMP)
34 You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the [a]superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks.

Luke 6:45 (AMP)
45 The upright (honorable, intrinsically good) man out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart produces what is upright (honorable and intrinsically good), and the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings forth that which is depraved (wicked and intrinsically evil); for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks.

Encouragement
Writing the above, I know why the excerpts below from Pastor Joel Osteen’s message titled Feed Your Faith resonated so strongly with me. You can watch the full message, and I copied the excerpts from the transcript, on the Sermons.love website. You can find it all here: https://sermons.love/joel-osteen/17977-joel-osteen-feed-your-faith.html

What You’re Feeding Is Growing
I want to talk to you today about “Feed Your Faith.” You get to choose what grows in your life. What you’re feeding is getting stronger. If you’re feeding doubt, thinking about what you can’t do, and how the obstacles are too big, and how you’re at a disadvantage, because you’re feeding it, that doubt is getting bigger, just like you’re giving it vitamins, nutrients, helping it to grow.

If you’re feeding fear, “What if I get laid off? What if I come down with that illness,” or “I’m afraid for my children,” that fear is growing; you’re helping it to become a reality. Sometimes we’re feeding insecurity, “I’m not attractive, I don’t have a good personality, I’m not that talented.” We wonder why we don’t have much confidence, why we don’t feel valuable. It’s because we’re feeding the wrong things.

You Become What You Eat—in Your Mind
You’ve heard the saying, “You are what you eat.” It’s the same thing in your mind: if you feed fear, you’re going to live fearful. If you feed discouragement, “Nothing good’s in my future. I have so many problems,” you’re going to live discouraged. If you feed the past, “Look what I’ve been through, they hurt me, I wasn’t raised right,” if you keep dwelling on what didn’t work out, the mistakes you’ve made, even though God has beauty for the ashes, even though there are great things in your future, because you’re feeding the past, you won’t see it. You live bitter, in regrets, with no passion.

Pay attention to what you’re feeding. We all have doubt, fear, insecurity, guilt, but we also have faith, hope, confidence, value, victory. Don’t feed things you don’t want to grow. You have to starve your doubts, and feed your faith. Starve the discouragement and feed your hope. Starve the inferiority and feed your confidence. You’ll be amazed at what happens if you’ll quit giving life to the negative, and start feeding the positive.

Starve Fear, Build Faith
When fear comes, trying to get you to worry, “What about your children, are they safe in school? What about the crime, there’s so much violence, what are you going to do?” Don’t feed that fear, it’s not on your diet. Switch over into faith, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not fear. No weapon formed against me will prosper. A thousand may fall at my side, 10,000 at my right hand, but it will not come near me.”

You keep doing that, and fear is getting weaker and weaker, and your faith is getting stronger and stronger. You’re becoming what you eat, you’ll have a peace and a trust, knowing that God has you in the palm of His hand.

Or when thoughts whisper, “You’re not that valuable. You’re not attractive. Look at how beautiful your cousin is. Look at how talented that coworker is, what happened to you?” Just say, “No, thanks, that’s not on my eating plan. I have a very strict diet. I don’t feed insecurity, I don’t feed inferiority, I don’t feed shame and guilt, not up to par. I feed confidence, I feed value.

Father, you said I am fearfully and wonderfully made, you call me a masterpiece, one of a kind. You’ve crowned me with favor. You put royal blood flowing through my veins. I know I’m not ordinary, I’m a child of the Most High God. You go around thinking like that, and insecurity cannot stay. You’ll have a boldness, a confidence to put your shoulders back, to hold your head up high, knowing that you’re a son, a daughter of Almighty God.

“What you feed grows, what you starve dies.” – Gary Greeno

Galatians 6:7-8 (NIV)
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Inspiration
This song always speaks to me when I hear it on the radio. Please read the lyrics below, and I also want to encourage you to listen to it. Regardless, please never forget “All the darkness in the world can't extinguish one light.” You and I are one, respectively. We have a light. I pray this, and every day we will let it shine!

One Light
Song by Nash Revival
Songwriter: Matthew Soilea

When the day turns to night
When the storm floods in
When you feel the pain and worry within

In the late late hours
When you can't go to sleep
When all the bad thoughts dig deep

Remember, just remember
All the darkness in the world can't extinguish one light
All the bad news swirling can't make us give up the fight
The darkness will retreat if we all raise our light
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine bright
All the darkness in the world can't extinguish one light

When life turns cold
When you shiver in the rain
Don't let that last ray of hope fade away

Remember, just remember
All the darkness in the world can't extinguish one light
All the bad news swirling can't make us give up the fight
The darkness will retreat if we all raise our light
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine bright
All the darkness in the world can't extinguish one light

Seven billion souls on the planet
Let's all light a candle
Build a bridge through the dark
With love in our hearts

Remember, just remember
All the darkness in the world can't extinguish one light
All the bad news swirling can't make us give up the fight
The darkness will retreat if we all raise our light
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine bright
All the darkness in the world can't extinguish one light
All the darkness in the world can't extinguish one light

One light
One light

“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” - St. Francis Of Assisi

Matthew 5:14-16 (ESV)
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious family, please be kind, and please stay well!

Kev

Be a Palm

Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day on this glorious Friday morning in my Sweet Home Alabama!

 

It may be Friday, but Sunday is coming!!!

 

This morning, I want to briefly share a few things.

 

1.      On this Good Friday, I want to share a quote from my morning devotional:

“It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for his Father, to do his Father’s will – and it was his love for sinners like me.” – D. A. Carson

I feel so compelled to share Luke 22: 41 – 44. The next time you and I don’t “feel like” doing something for someone, loving the unlovable, etc., I pray that we will remember this scripture.

Luke 22:41-44

41 He [Jesus] withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

 

2.     Earlier this week, I was listening to a sermon by Pastor Joel Osteen titled, Ready To Rise. A section on the palm tree was so powerful to me. I want to share the excerpt from that portion of the sermon with you. You can listen to the full sermon or read the transcript on the Sermons Love website here: https://sermons.love/joel-osteen/6275-joel-osteen-ready-to-rise.html

 

Like a Palm Tree in the Storm

A few years back we had a big hurricane here in Houston. I noticed all the different kinds of trees that were blown down: huge oak trees that were 3 or 4 feet around; I saw pine trees over a hundred feet tall laying in yard after yard—big trees, small trees; none of them could withstand the hurricane-force winds.

 

There was only one type of tree that wasn’t blown down—it was the palm tree. It’s because God designed the palm to withstand the storm. Unlike most other trees the palm is able to bend, so it doesn’t break.

 

Bend But Don’t Break

A certain kind of palm can bend all the way over to where the top is almost touching the ground. During the hurricane it may stay that way for 3 or 4 hours all bent over; looks like it’s done, but when the wind dies down, when the storm is over it stands right back up to where it was before.

 

All these other trees down on the ground—what’s the difference? God put bounce back in the palm tree. It may get pushed over, but it’s only temporary.

 

Psalm 92:12 says: “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree.” The reason God chose a palm and not oaks or pines is He knew we would go through storms; He knew things would try to push us down and keep us from our destiny. So He said: “I’m gonna make you like a palm tree. I’m going to put bounce back in your spirit”.

 

Stronger After the Storm

And you may go through difficulties: a loss, a disappointment, but at some point the winds will stop; the storms will pass and like that palm tree you’ll come right back up. You may be bent over now; you’re facing challenges; thoughts are telling you: “It’s never going to work out"—get ready to rise; you have bounce back power.

 

When that storm is over you’re not going to be laying down: defeated, beat up—you’re gonna rise up healthy, blessed, prosperous. You’re not going to look like what you’ve been through; nobody is going to be able to tell that you even had that difficulty.

 

The Storm Strengthens You

What I love about God is He doesn’t just bring you through the storm; He makes the enemy pay for bringing the trouble. When the palm tree has been bent over during the hurricane, you would think that’s damaging the tree and making it weaker. But research shows just the opposite—when the tree is being pushed over and stretched by the winds, that’s strengthening the root system and giving it new opportunities for growth.

 

When the palm tree straightens back up after the storm, it’s actually stronger than it was before. When you come out of that storm, when you straighten back up you’re not going to be the same—you’re going to be stronger, healthier, better off, ready for new growth.

 

3.     Last weekend, my Beautiful Bride and I watched I Can Only Imagine 2. It is such a great movie and I strongly recommend it to all of you! I will never listen to the song, Even If, the same again.

 

During the movie, there is a scene where Bart Millard, the lead singer for Mercy Me, is talking to his wife about their son. He says something like, “I didn’t have a Dad who was an example. I don’t know what to do.” His wife said something like, “Don’t quit trying.” I, almost involuntarily, said, “That is my testimony!”

 

To all Dads out there, whether you had a father in your life or not, whether your father was a good or bad example, I pray and I beg you to do two things:

 

a.     Show Up…Every day! Truly, I don’t care if you feel like it or not! It is not about you! It is about the precious soul entrusted to you! More than anything, they want and need you! Fully present. Yes, some days you won’t have your “A Game.” None of us has our “A Game” every day…show up! Whether it is convenient or not, show up!

b.     Fight for your relationship with your child. I promise you, they are not your enemy. They are a great gift from God to love, lead, and care for. And I think we would be wise to be mindful of two things: 1) He is going to take them back someday, and 2) You and I are going to give an account to Him for how well we loved, led, and cared for these great blessings!

 

No, you will not get it right all the time. I truly feel like I got it wrong a whole lot more than I got it right. There were so many mornings when I poured out my heart to the Lord, begging Him to forgive my failures, and anxiously waiting for my little boys to get up so I could apologize to them, ask for their forgiveness, and hug them. The goal was never to be right; it was to love, lead, and care for my boys as God has called me to do. Those little boys are now big, strong men. I still don’t get it right all the time; however, I can state without hesitation that each one of my boys knows that I love them unconditionally, that I am always here for them, and that I would do anything I can to help them.

 

Please, fight for your relationship with your kids. They may act like they don’t care, ignore you, etc. Don’t believe them. Keep showing up. Have tough skin. Love the unlovable – they are the ones that need it the most! The goal is not to be right or to win; it is to have a relationship with your child.

 

Please feel free to contact me at any time if there is ever anything I can do for any of you. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

 

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious family, please be kind, and please stay well!

 

Kev

Held in God’s Hands: A Mother’s Faith through Service and Sacrifice. Embracing an Empty Nest. Leaving a Legacy Marriage.

Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day on this glorious Friday morning in my Sweet Home Alabama!

You all are in for a real treat this morning! My Beautiful Bride, Kathy, shares a beautiful testimony of faith, hope, and love. There are great nuggets of wisdom for all of us throughout this heartfelt message. Enjoy!

BUCKLE UP! I have a lot on my mind.

 

I believe a mom is one of the greatest callings God can give a woman, and I truly believe the most important work you will ever do is within the walls of your home. Being a mother means your heart is no longer your own: it wanders wherever your children are, no matter their age.

 

The past two years have been a time of strength I never knew I had, of praying on my knees, of growth in all areas, of learning about a faith I never knew I had as I became a military mom, not to just one son, but two. I have learned that being in this role sure does carry a unique weight, one that stretches the heart in ways I never could have imagined.

 

As a mom of two sons serving in the military, I live in great pride and quiet surrender.  Pride in the men that have become, and learning to surrender to a mighty God who holds them when I cannot. Truly, I am incredibly proud of my three boys. I am proud of them not for what they do right, or because they earned it. I am proud of them because they are mine. God entrusted them to me, and love is woven into my soul.

 

I know my three boys are a gift from the Lord. I prayed over them as babies, asking God to guide their lives for His purpose, their steps, shape their character, and now I am watching their lives unfold. This is not always easily done, but always faithfully done. To be honest, I struggle. It's part of letting them go and watching their prayers, their hopes, their dreams unfold is the best blessing. 

 

There is something sacred and honoring about watching your children step into a calling that requires courage, discipline, and sacrifice. They have chosen a path that demands much of them, and in turn, it asks much of me, too. There are days when I miss them deeply, when the silence feels louder than it should, and when my heart aches just to hug them again. In those moments, I am reminded that they were never truly mine to keep – they were always His.

 

Being a military mom has also taught me the power of prayer like never before. I pray for their safety, leadership, friendships, families, and faith. I did gain a beautiful daughter-in-love two years ago. I pray they will stand firm in who they are and whose they are. I ask God to surround them with His protection and peace, even in the unknown. This applies to all three of my boys.

 

My faith has become my anchor. I am learning to trust God in a deeper way than ever before, to release my fears into His hands, and to believe that He goes before them wherever they are sent. Boy, that is heavy. When I don’t know the details, I rest in the truth that God does. When I feel helpless, I lean into His strength. Scripture is more than words; it is my lifeline… “The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121:8 I hold tight to that promise. I lay them at the Cross every day, and there are days I want to pick them back up.

 

This journey isn’t always easy, but it is deeply meaningful. It has drawn me closer to God and reminded me that even in the hardest seasons, He is always at work. I am a mom of three boys, a military mom, but more than that, I am a mother held by His faith, trusting the One who holds my boys in His care.

 

I am going to pivot now. Hang tight! After already entrusting my two boys to the Lord as they stepped into military life, I thought my heart had learned what it meant to let go – but this goodbye felt different. My middle son, my last to leave, had moved back home for a year and was now pulling out of the driveway, and I stood there watching him drive away for his new adventure. Going back into the house felt still in a way it never had before. Yet even in the ache, I felt God gently reminding me that this, too, was part of His plan. The same faithful hands that carried his brothers into their calling were now guiding him into his own. As the truck disappeared from sight, I whispered a prayer – not just of protection, but of trust – knowing that while my home was no longer full in the same way, my heart was still anchored in a God who goes with each of my boys wherever they go.

 

While I may not be beside them in their daily lives, I know that God is. He is closer than any distance, stronger than any fear, and faithful beyond measure. As parents, we are in a season that calls for wisdom and courage as we release our children into adulthood. As much as we love them, it is not healthy for our grown children to remain in our home. There is a natural, God-designed transition into independence. Allowing our children to step out, take on responsibility, and build their own lives is part of loving them well. It teaches them to trust God for themselves, to stand firm in their own faith, and to grow into who He has called them to be. As Pastor Josh Lipscomb of Liberty Church in Pensacola said, “Our children need their own revelation of Jesus.” I will add that they also need their own revelation to find their purpose and what it means to become an adult.

 

Now, to my marriage: as the days and years unfold, and the house grows quieter, I begin to realize that what we have been building was never just a family – it was also a marriage meant to last beyond the raising of our children. This, my friends, I believe, is the best gift we can give to our children. What remains now is the covenant that Kevin and I made before God. A good marriage in this season just doesn’t happen. We have had storms, but we continually choose each other and lay each other at the Cross every day. We have forgiven when we are hurt, been patient when we are tired, and shown grace when we didn’t always get it right. God never intended for our marriage to revolve solely around our children. They are a gift, a calling, and a season. Our spouse is always meant to be our lifelong partner and calling. When Christ remains at the center, even in the transition of an empty nest, the bond only strengthens. Kevin and I continue to keep God the center. Our faith-filled marriage after our children are gone is a testimony. It shows them that love rooted in Christ endures, that commitment is not seasonal. We lean in, hand in hand, trusting the same God who walked us through the chaos of raising three boys will walk us into this next chapter with purpose, joy, and a renewed love for one another. This new season is not a loss; it's an invitation to rediscover one another. My prayer is to embrace who we are now and our new journey. Do we get this right all the time?  Heck no, but we are Christians under construction until we take our last breath. As Kevin has always taught me, I will strive to fight for our marriage and to love unconditionally, even when I struggle.

 

Our lives look different now, our family looks different now, but I am determined to love and embrace every season. I encourage you all to do the same because I promise you the days are long, but the years are short. Your children are going to leave you; you want them to, but embrace every season and keep your marriage strong.

 

In closing, my door and my heart will always be open. My role has shifted as a mom. I am now an encourager, a prayer warrior, and a safe place to land when needed, rather than the center of their daily lives. You too, Dad. To my three boys, turn to Him always, and return with Honor.

 

I love you all until the day I take my last breath-

Mom/Kathy

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will alway help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, be kind, cherish your precious family, and please stay well!

Kev