The In Between

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope & trust this post finds you having a great day on this beautiful Friday morning! Additionally, I hope you have had a great week - personally & professionally.

So what do you do when life is just the "status quo?" You are in neither a valley nor on a peak. There is neither nothing big coming up that you are looking forward to nor something big that you are dreading. It is just life...it is just another day. What do you do then?

When we are in valley's, when there is something that we dread, we tend to read our Bible's, pray, seek God's guidance...really strain for our faith, to walk with hope. When we are on a peak, or when there is something that we are really looking forward to, we tend to live on the high, we overlook offenses & struggles because, hey, things are going really good or we are looking forward to something special to us. I realize these are generalizations and, as the case with EVERY generalization, there are times when you are going to be wrong. As I have walked my life journey however I have found these things to be true more often than not.

The space I am talking about today is the space in between the peak & the valley. Your daily life, your daily living, what are you doing on those days? This morning I would like to share a couple of thoughts about those days.

1. Please thoughtfully consider where you turn for your strength, courage, knowledge & wisdom. You see Friends, for all of us the tests are coming. It might happen in 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 months or 5 years but be sure of this, it is coming. At that moment, when the test arrives, what you have inside of you will be revealed. What you have done in the quiet - Who & Where you went for your strength, courage, knowledge & wisdom - will be all that you have. As Pastor Ken Whitten once said, "What's in the well will always comes up in the bucket." We all want to be great in the moment, we all want to "ace" the test however the only one's who will are the one's who have prepared for it. There are so many great analogies & metaphors for this life truth. Please cherish & carefully guard this time - the in between - and use it wisely. There will be days that you will wish you were again there. For me I have chosen to pursue God daily - through the reading of my Bible, through prayer, through listening to gospel music. I have chosen to strive to grow as a leader every day - to become a better man, husband, father through reading books, reading articles & watching videos. Do I "feel" like doing these things every single day? No, honestly I don't. There are days I have to fight for my relationship with God, for my personal growth & development. I will tell you however, I have never once regretted one of those days.

I can't tell you what to do or what you should do in your life daily. I can only testify to what I have found to be true in my life. I respectfully ask you to thoughtfully consider your source. It will be too late once the test arrives...prepare now, in the in between.

2. If you are privileged to have anyone in your life who you are doing life with - spouse, child, friend, co-workers, friends - you can't just check out, especially husbands & fathers (I am blessed to be each so I can pick on us!). We have to "show up" every day...there is no off day. We are going to influence every single life we encounter every single day...even on the in between days. While you or I may be in the in between others are fighting fierce battles or standing on glorious peaks...we need to be there with them and for them. Indifference is a terrible thing! Let us not be indifferent. Let us be passionately alive, living fully in each and every moment. Let us choose carefully the influence we will have and I pray it will be intentional & positive.

Again, I can't tell you what your influence should be, how you should be influencing, etc. - though I can & will pray for intentional, positive influence! :) This is your choice and your choice alone...a choice you will make, even if it is indifference (Yuck!). Please know this also Friends, while we are free to choose the type of influence we will have we are not free from the consequences of our influence. You and I are building & crafting our relationships, our legacies, each and every day...even on days in the in between. The relationship you have with your spouse, your children, your friends, co-workers, etc. will be a direct result of what you have done. If you don't like the direction that this is headed, you are free to choose to do things differently...it is a new day, a new opportunity.

As this Memorial Day weekend approaches I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, all the service men & women - past & present - as well as their families, for the lives you live, for the sacrifices you make. It is so hard to comprehend - the selfless service, the sacrifice - and "thank you" seems so shallow & hollow. How do you adequately thank people who lay down their lives for you, who fight for your freedom every single day? Perhaps the answer is to pure heartedly honor them every day - in words & actions - and by living our lives to the fullest, pursuing the greatness that is within each one of us. They after all sacrifice so much so we can.

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.

Kev