This Day

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you having a great day on this beautiful, beautiful Friday morning! It is Good Friday, a day of great love, sacrifice (ever notice how sacrifice & love are always connected?!?!), hope, mercy, grace...Yes indeed Friends, this is a great day!

Earlier this week I was wallking back from my morning workout - a time I use to listen to and talk to God. I had poured out my heart to Him - sharing my thoughts, my worries, my fears, my hopes, my dreams, intenionally laying my cares & burdens at His feet and desparately fighting with myself to leave them there. There is a lot of "stuff" going on in my life right now - when isn't there?!?! - and I was talking with God about when there would be closure on some of this "stuff" and most importantly from my perspective, would things work out the way I hope. Suddenly my Spirit spoke strongly to me; "You have this day."

You have this day...That might not be a profound thought to you however for me, at that moment, it was a very profound thought. I can't do anything about yesterday and I don't know if I will have tomorrow. The only thing I know, right now in this moment, is I have this day. I can choose to do whatever I want with this day. There is great hope, great opportunity in this day. My past failures don't matter today because, well, they are in the past. I don't need to worry about tomorrow because I don't even know if I will have tomorrow. I do know however that I have this day, this moment, to be fully alive, to be fully present and to grow to become all that God has created and called me to become today.

Today I choose to pursue and serve the Lord, to submit my life to Him fully. Today I choose to love, protect, honor, respect & guide my Beautiful Bride. Today I choose to love, protect, honor, respect & guide my Tender Warriors . Today I choose to do the very best I can in everything I do. Today I will look at all of my friends (please don't forget last weeks message...everyone is a friend) with love, compassion, mery & grace - I will serve them where I can. Today I will live fully in each and every moment - not letting the thiefs of thoughts of the past or worries of the future steal my joy. Today I will be fully alive because the Lord has blessed me with this day.

If you are reading this message guess what? You were given this day! You have tons of choices to make. Please thoughtfully consider them. Please guard your hearts. There is so much hope, opportunity and promise in this day...we simply have to choose to seaze it.

I would like to end with a scripture and a quote:

"Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you." - I Peter 5:7

"Nothing is easier than saying words;

Nothing is harder than living them day after day.

What you decide today and commit to today,

You must redecide and recommit to tomorrow and each day that stretches out before you."

Arthur Gordon

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 wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families. Happy Easter Friends!

Kev

A Friend

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day on this absolutely beautiful Saturday morning (at least it is in Arizona)!

Before diving into what I want to share with you today I want to briefly address a couple of things. If you regularly read this blog you may have noticed that in the past 7 months "Happy Friday" doesn't always come out on Friday and, as was the case last week, there have been a couple of weeks when I did not write "Happy Friday."

• My job changed dramatically in July causing me to travel to the Great Northwest about half the time - sometimes more, never less. I love the Northwest, my life has been so blessed and enriched by the wonderful people I have met however it does require me to spend a great deal of time away from my family. When I come home, while I often have a thought to share, my priority is to spend time with my Beautiful Bride and my 3 boys. With this, I write "Happy Friday" when I can, after loving, spending time with and taking care of my wife and sons. Sometimes this means I can still write "Happy Friday" on Friday and sometimes it means I don't get to write it until Saturday, Sunday or Monday.
• One of the things I have done from the very first time I wrote a "Happy Friday" message more than two years ago was to follow the Spirits leading in writing "Happy Friday." I don't want this message to ever be about me but rather the message that God wants to share through me. There have been times when I thought I was going to write about one thing or another and then suddenly I find myself being compelled - my Spirit convicting me - to write about something else. While I don't necessarily understand it, I follow this leading because the only thing I truly fear is not following God's leading. I don't want this to be in Kevin's power, knowledge or wisdom for then it will surely fail. If it is lead by God, it is His words, His power, His knowledge, His wisdom, then it cannot fail...it will always achieve the purposes He intended. Sometimes, like last week, I have nothing to offer to you. As I type this I know that God is there, He is moving, He is working it's just that I can't get out of the way. Does that make sense? When I can't get out of the way so God can lead through me I am going to remain silent instead of trying to elevate myself to say something profound and in the process step outside His covering, His leading.

So, I am going to get "Happy Friday" out as soon as I can after taking care of my first priorities - the incredible family that He has given me the honor & privilege of leading - and I not going to send out a message that I do not feel is led/inspired by the Holy Spirit. Deal?

On Tuesday I got a great lesson from my 7-year old Little Preacher. I was in Portland and I called to tell my family good night. As I was talking to the Little Preacher he was telling me how a local TV station was coming to his school on Wednesday to do a story about one of his classmates. This precious little boy got a severe infection last summer that cost him an eye, a foot, some fingers and he is currently in need of a kidney transplant. This boy sits behind the Little Preacher. The Little Preacher and I were talking about how he helps this little boy with school work, on the playground, etc. I said, "you guys are buddies aren't you?" He immediately shot back, "no, we are friends." I don't know how describe the tone to you. It was a mix of, "geez Dad, are you really this clueless?" and, "this is what we are supposed to do."

I have thought a lot about that conversation. You see, I was thinking like a 45-year old man. If you are helping him you guys must be buddies right? The Little Preacher quickly set me straight. We are all people on this wonderful journey called life. We are all broken, flawed, have challenges, have struggles. We all need help sometimes. We all need a friend. We all do...We need friends often. Maybe it is something simple that we need such as directions or maybe it is something more personal like prayer. The point is, we all need friends. We need someone to see our need for help - whatever the need might be - and, just because we are friends (I think the Little Preacher would define this as any human being walking the face of the earth...I know Someone else who would define a friend the same way) we help them. They don't have to be our buddy, be in our group, be in our family, be in our church, etc., they simply need to be a person and they have some need. AND, the need does not have to be some great, life saving act. There are a lot of friends who simply need a smile. There are a lot of friends who simply need someone to tell them they believe in them. There are a lot of friends who simply need to know that someone, anyone is there for them even if they do not say or do a thing. By the way, smiles have saved lives and simply saying "I believe in you" has changed the legacy of countless families.

My challenge for all of us this week is will we be a friend? Not just to our "friends" or to the people we know but will we really be a friend? Will we look at all people a little different - recognizing that every life has value, meaning & purpose - and recognize their needs? And, this is the part that will make us different, will we do something about it? Will we stop walking by people in need and actually help them? They after all are our friends.

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

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

Kev

A Walk

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day, that you had an awesome week and that you are enjoying a great weekend with your family.

On Monday my Beautiful Bride and I celebrated our 24th Anniversary. I came home from work early to spend some time with her. We walked up to my 7-year old sons school to pick him up after school. We thought it would be fun to walk home with him and we wanted to look for a pen he had lost the previous Friday. You see, my Little Tender Warrior loves to write and draw and he had bought himself a red gel pen. Well, he put the pen in his pocket on the way home last Friday and by the time he got home it was no longer there. For him this was a big deal and he was very upset that he had lost his special pen.

As My Girl and I walked to his school holding hands and talking about life both of us were scanning our respective side of the sidewalk looking for the red pen. While we found a lot of trash and came to the realization that a lot of dog owners do not pick up after their pets, we found no pen.

We met our Little Dude by the gate where I told him I would be after school. He was so excited that we were going to walk home together. As we were leaving the school grounds he says, "you know I was thinkin', what is an Anniversary?" I asked him what he thought it meant. He said, "the day you met or something." I explained that it was the day that his Mom and I got married. He said, "Oh, you got married on March 1st." Monday was March 4th...I love 2nd graders!!

So as we were crossing the street we explained that as we walked down the sidewalk to the school we had scanned each side and, "we are sorry Buddy but we couldn't find your pen." You know that look of disbelief that a precious, innocent little child can give? You know, that incredulous look of "huh?!?!" Yeah, he gave us that look. And then, as if completely disappointed in us he say, "I don't walk on the sidewalk!" Stupid us! What were we thinking?!?!

Our fearless Tender Warrior then says he will lead us on the path he took on Friday. He begins singing as we set out and explains that he loves to sing. I am wondering what in the world I have gotten myself into. We walk behind bushes, under trees, backtrack because he is pretty sure he didn't go that way on Friday, we go over a bench, down a hill, walk on river rocks...I didn't go through that one bush though! My Little Man at one point says, "I love going on adventures!" I look to the street & sidewalk less than 10 yards away and think, "I had no idea there was such an adventure over here!" In all honesty I am having fun.

Our walk home probably took twice as long as our walk to the school. It was clearly not the most efficient route nor the most comfortable. I am so thankful for that walk and I learned a few things I would like to share:

1) If you have a song in your heart, sing it. Who cares if you sound good to someone else or what anyone else thinks? It's your heart, it's your song...sing it.

2) Anything can be a wonderful adventure if we choose to see it that way. This walk is less than half a mile. How in the world my Little Tender Warrior crammed so much into it I will never know. Then it hits me; I have to have the heart of a 7-year old to truly see the wonderful adventure in all things.

3) You know the expression "Success is about the journey." Yeah, we found the pen. Probably a little more than half way through the walk. There was this brief moment of excitement, checking to make sure it was o.k., securing it in the backpack, etc. And then we continued our walk/climb/hike home. It was no better or worse now because we had found the pen. It was about the journey, the adventure and it was still awesome because we were on it together.

Friends, I want to challenge all of us to sing the song in our hearts, embrace each day as the incredible adventure that it can be (the potential for adventure is in each day...we have to choose to seize it) and that we truly enjoy the journey. If you don't think you have a song to sing, if you think your life is dull & boring or if you dread the day to day, do me a favor. Go for a walk with a young child. Let them dictate the walk - when you stop (bugs & others "lost treasures" actually are interesting), when you go, where you go (forget about looking good, getting dirty, etc.) and just be fully present in the walk. If you will do this in a pure-hearted manner, if you will have a teachable spirit, you will get it.

Please let me know 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 wonderful weekend and cherish your precious families.

Kev

My Heart

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you having a great day, that you have had a wonderful weekend and that you feel rested, ready for a week filled with hope, opportunity and promise. They are all there...if we will only seize them.

This week I want to just pour out my heart to you for a few minutes. To share my beliefs, my thoughts and hopefully in all of this, encourage you to pursue the greatness that I believe lies within you. This - the greatness that lies inside inside each one of us - is something that has been on my heart all week. Here are a few of the quotes I shared on Facebook this week:

"No matter what age you are, or what your circumstances might be, you are special, and you still have something unique to offer. Your life, because of who you are, has meaning."

Barbara de Angelis

"Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want."

Margaret Young

"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."

C.G. Jung

There are two key points that I would like to make with this message.

1. I truly believe with all of my heart that everyone's life has value, meaning & purpose. I also believe that each of us has the ability within us to learn, to grow & to develop to fulfill our purpose. It is in this time, when we are pursuing the purpose for which God has created and equipped us - please don't read over that too quickly; He created and equipped (meaning you lack nothing) you...if only we would walk in that truth! - that we are truly alive.

Please allow me to unpack those two sentences for a moment. Do you know that your life has value, meaning & purpose? Do you believe that your life has value, meaning & purpose? Here is maybe the most important question; are you living as though your life has value, meaning & purpose? I realize and respect that there are people in this world who will disagree with me. While I don't agree with them I respect their right to have their opinion just as I expect that they will respect my right to have mine. That's o.k...we can agree to disagree. What I am really not o.k. with is when one person, or a group of people, wants to determine the value, the meaning or the purpose of another's life. Can we do that? Do we really have the right to do that? What person, or group(s) of people, have the knowledge, the wisdom, the right, perhaps the audacity, to determine the value, the meaning, the purpose of another person's life? It's easy to look out the window and be horrified as Americans at what we see happen in other countries - the way different races, women, children are treated. It isn't so comfortable to change our gaze to the mirror and look at what is happening first in our own homes. Are we treating our husbands, our wives and our children as though their lives have value, meaning & purpose? They do and it has nothing to do with me or you. Are we doing everything in our power to help them discover their value, their meaning & their purpose? Let me take you back a few sentences and ask you a question again; do you have the the knowledge, the wisdom, the right, the audacity, to determine the value, the meaning and/or the purpose of your husband/wife/son/daughters life? I would argue that you do not, nor do I. We have the privilege to help them discover the treasures that are within them and we have the opportunity to love them unconditionally as we walk this cherished journey together. They might not choose the path that we would choose for them but then again, it wasn't our choice to make in the first place.

As a husband and Dad and I am given the honor & privilege of leading my household and I believe the Bible says that someday I will be held accountable to God for the leadership that I provided. From what I understand I am called to love, protect, provide for & instruct my wife and my sons. Nowhere in all of scriptures have I found that I am to determine their value, their meaning or their purpose. From what I understand of the Bible those are God's responsibilities, not mine. I really don't have a desire to try to take over God's responsibilities as I desperately need Him to help me fulfill the calling that He has placed on my life as the head of my household.

You, as a person created by God, have value, meaning & purpose. I pray that today you will understand, and accept, this truth to the depths of your soul. That no matter the journey that you have taken that has brought you to this very moment where you are reading these words that today, perhaps for the first time, you will become truly alive, that you will live out the value, the meaning & the purpose of your life. That you will be set free, in this very moment, from whatever lies, bondage, chains...whatever it might be that has kept you from knowing, hearing, seeing this truth in your life. I am telling you Friends, there is a God who loves, who created you and created a very valuable person whose life has great meaning and a purpose when He created you. If you are struggling to accept this truth, please just pray to Him. There is not a right or wrong way to pray Friend, just talk to Him. He is there, He is always there for you.

I also want to unpack the part about you and I having a purpose and us being equipped. There is something within you that you love, that you love to do, that brings you great joy. How do I know? Because I have yet to meet a single person for whom this is not true. For some it is singing, others dancing. For some it is art and for some it is playing a sport. Whatever this thing is, this thing within you that brings you great joy, please pursue it with everything that is within you. Yes, yes, I know that there are people that have told you it is no use, or your passion is dumb or some other thing that keeps you from pursuing this thing. We all have those people in our lives. They however are not what's most important. You see, if you in fact believe that you were created by God, that you were fearfully & wonderfully made as the Bible says you are, who do you think put this passion, this joy, this purpose in your heart? Yes Friend, this too would be God. And, to tie this all together, if He has given you this purpose don't you think He would also equip you to fulfill the purpose? Pretty easy to understand when you unpack it that way isn't it? No this doesn't mean there will not be struggles, this does not mean that the road will be smooth...it simply means that you choose to believe that you were created by God, that you were created for a purpose, that you are equipped by God to fulfill your purpose and that you are going to walk this out each and every day of your life - the good one's and that bad one's.

2. The other point I want to make sure is clear is that when I talk about our life having value, meaning & purpose; when I talk about us being perfectly equipped to fulfill our purpose; when I talk about loving & accepting our lives; I am not saying that you and I are perfect, that we have nothing to work on, that we can do whatever we want to do. We live in a fallen, broken world and we are fallen, broken people. This does not mean that your life doesn't have value, meaning & purpose or that you are not perfectly equipped to fulfill your purpose. You are and the Bible says these things are true. The Bible also says that you and I are born with a sin nature, that we are selfish by nature and that we want to do things for ourselves. The thing is, we can't save ourselves and we can't find our value, our meaning, our purpose and we won't become fully equipped to fulfill our purpose by ourselves. We must first surrender to God, allow Him to work through the Holy Spirit living within us to help us grow to maturity in Him. This is a daily choice, a daily decision to die to ourselves and live for the Lord. When we do these things we will grow to become all we were created and called to become.

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

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

Kev