Hope...Go Ahead!

Happy Friday Friends!!!

I hope & trust this post finds you having a great day as a beautiful new day dawns! I am truly awestruck by the glorious beauty as the sun begins to slowly rise each morning...so inspiring!

This morning I want to share a few things with you.

1. This one is probably more for me than it is for you as God placed it on my heart this morning; today is a new day. It is up to us as to what we do with this day. Faults, failures, disappointments, etc., they all belong to yesterday. They are gone. They are in the past. You  & I can no longer influence those moments and those moments do not define us. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." whatchristianswanttoknow.com says it beautifully, "You know that God loves you, but still [you] struggle every day with feeling unworthy. Every morning the love and mercy of God hovers over you waiting for the first moment of wakefulness. Trust in his faithfulness to restore every hurtful word and action in your life." Drink deeply from the truth of God's word Friends...every morning the love and mercy of God hovers over you.

2. My Beautiful Bride gave me Joyce Meyer's new book Get Your Hopes Up! Expect Something Good to Happen to You Every Day for Father's day. I want to a) encourage you to get this book...it is awesome! and b) I want to share some excerpts with you.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God, and those who come to Him must believe that He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (see Hebrews 11:6).

...hope precedes and is connected with faith. We cannot have one without the other.

...a man or woman of faith does more than trust that God is alive; they also believe that He is good, and that He rewards those who seek Him. They wait for and expect the goodness of God, not because they deserve it, but because God promises to give it.

Hope is only as strong as its source. That's why the foundation of our hope must be God and the promises found in His word.

The believer's hope is in the unshakable, all-powerful, all-knowing and ever-present one true God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

...get your hopes up! Do it on purpose...grab hold passionately and refuse to live without hope!

Experience tells you that nothing is ever going to change, but God's Word tells us something better. It say that all things are possible with God!

In John 10:10, Jesus said, "I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."

It's the catalyst that sparks ideas and imagination (see Proverbs 24;14), the anchor that steadies us when the storms of life rage (see Hebrews 6:19), the confidence that dares us to build a better life (see Proverbs 23:18), and the comfort of knowing we're never alone (see Romans 5:5).

While it is true that we should always be content and satisfied with what we have, that certainly doesn't mean that desiring more of the right things is wrong as long as we desire them for the right reasons.

I actually believe those who are content with anything less than all God can do for them are hindering God's greatness. He wants to show Himself strong in each of our lives. He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all that we could ever dare to ask or think, infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams (see Ephesians 3:20).

...but for many people, low expectations keep them from enjoying their lives.

...any degree of hopelessness has a devastating effect on our lives. Why not believe the best and open the door to see what God will do?

...hope in God and positive expectations are very closely related to faith.

...the level of your expectation is the level of your faith. Show me a person with low expectations, and I'll show you a person using very little faith. But show me a person with big expectations, and I'll show you a person acting with bold faith.

If you don't expect God to do anything great in your life, He won't. But if you dare to raise your level of expectation and begin anticipating that God wants t do something great in your life, you'll begin to dream, believe, ask, and act with a confident boldness, knowing God is for you and has a great plan for your life.

And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]! - Isaiah 30:18

Your life will go only as high as the level of your expectations. It's not that your expectations immediately change the environment or the circumstances around you, but your expectations change the way you react to that environment and those circumstances. Your expectations change you. They cause you to be able to wait for a change in your circumstances with a happy attitude. They cause you to be a bold, confident, joy-filled believer who trusts that God has a great plan for your life.

It doesn't matter what the situation looks like around you; God is greater than any obstacle you may be facing.

3. I was greatly saddened to hear of the shooting last week at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. As politicians and the media began chiming in with their thoughts, ideas, etc. about what is the cause, what should be done, etc., my thoughts went to something different. We, as a society, keep reacting to the fruit and we are not addressing the root. The fruit is the outcome, the root is the cause. What is the cause? I would offer it is the failure of men, of father's to be specific, to lead, guide & direct those we have been given the honor & privilege of being responsible for. We have a society, a world, full of men refusing to accept responsibility for the precious souls they father and yet we wonder why we now have a society of irresponsible people. Racism, like any other -ism, is a learned belief. Who is called, called by God, to be the teacher of their children? Fathers. As long as men fail to be men, to be fathers, we will have a society filled with hurt, broken, misguided individuals who hurt, break and mislead others. Why don't we talk about that? Why don't we hold men accountable? There are both sins of commission and of omission. Sins of commission are the things we do - what we teach our children. Sins of omission are the things we allow - what or who are we allowing to fill their hearts & minds? Father's are responsible for both.

I know there are many men out there who are striving daily to be a good father to their children. I celebrate & praise. To the boys who want the privileges of manhood without the responsibility, I encourage you to rise up and be the man you were created to become. If we want to begin to repair the problems we face nationally, globally, we must begin there...with men.

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

Things to Consider

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope & trust this post finds you having a great day as a beautiful new day - though incredibly hot & humid on the Gulf Coast! - dawns! It is such an awesome time of day...new, fresh, untouched - truly inspiring.

Recently the Haslam 5 spent the day at the beach. It was a truly wonderful day - no cell phones, very little arguing or fighting. Just spent the day together swimming, playing, building a sand castle - just enjoying the beach and enjoying each other.

While building the sand castle - long after my Beautiful Bride and 2 youngest Tender Warriors had lost interest and were out splashing in the water - Payton and I were still busily working away on our masterpiece. We were chatting about all kinds of different things when suddenly Payton said, "Dad, do you think if I was born a long time ago I would have been an abolitionist?" You see, since he was a very little boy, Payton has had no tolerance for discrimination or when he thinks someone is being treated unfairly. I have seen him go from happy, cool, calm & collected to his blood boiling hot in an instant when perceives someone is being discriminated against or treated unfairly...it's just the way he is wired. I replied, "I would hope so however we really don't know how we would respond in a situation until we are in the situation?" This spurred great conversation - when you are born into a family they pass their views, values & beliefs onto you. How do you know if something is wrong if your family is telling you it is right? How do you break the chain of something wrong? It was deep, it was thoughtful and it was reflective.

I have thought a lot about that conversation. There are two distinct points I would like to make this morning.

1. If you have the privilege of being a Mom or Dad please realize, be mindful & thoughtful, that you are passing your views, values & beliefs onto the precious souls who have been given to your care. What they perceive to be right & wrong, how they treat others, there values, beliefs & expectations are all formed by you...at least initially. The question is are you, am I, functioning as a launching pad or a stumbling block? Are we someone that they will eventually have to overcome or are we people that are encouraging, empowering & equipping them to become the best they are capable of becoming, to fulfill the purpose(s) for which they were created? Where are you getting your strength, courage, knowledge & wisdom? How is it all working out for you? There is a lot of truth to the statement, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." So what is the fruit of your tree - is it truthful, life giving or is it deceitful, death producing? Your tree, your fruit...your responsibility.

2. You and I don't know how we would react in a situation until we are actually in that situation. It is really easy to say what we would do, to be critical of another in a situation, however unless we have actually lived it we really don't know. We have great aspirations - thoughts, ideas about how we would react - we like to judge and criticize others, etc. I just want to encourage us all to slow down a little bit this morning. Let's be a little slower to judge and a lot quicker to seek understanding. Let's not have a critical spirit but rather exemplify the grace we all wish we received. Let's carefully, thoughtfully determine regularly our values & beliefs. Let's carefully, thoughtfully determine Who we will believe and where we will seek our knowledge, wisdom & strength. Then, by the grace of God, we may respond as we hope we would in the different situations we encounter on this beautiful journey called life.

Yesterday I read an incredible article. It was so very powerful. I want to share a couple of excerpts from it with you this morning. You can read the full article - and I would strongly encourage you to do so! - at mybestlaidplans.net. The title of the article is "To the Coach That Made my Son Cry." Here are the two excerpts I would like to share:

Belittling women and children does not make you a man.

Throwing tantrums does not make you a grownup.

Threatening physical harm does not make you tough.

And winning does not make you a winner.

 

I taught him that from the deepest wells of a man's heart overfloweth his words. A stagnant well produceth bitter water a  pure well sweet water; therefore by his words is a man's true heart revealed.

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

Being Different...

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope & trust this post finds you all having a great day on this beautiful Sunday evening. Additionally, I hope & trust you have had a great weekend, that your battery is recharged and that you are ready for a great work week!

thefreedictionary.com states this about "different":
adj.
1. Unlike in form, quality, amount or nature; dissimilar: took different approaches to the problem.

The first definition I look up and it hits the nail right on the head - being different, taking different approaches. Let me back up a little bit. Earlier this week I was thinking about someone I am challenged by, at the heart level. They do things different than me, their priorities seem to be vastly different than mine...they challenge me. I am nice & cordial to them yet I struggle...I am challenged. It is so easy to see the differences, to recognize how I think, say & do things differently than they do. I was really pondering this  - our differences - earlier this week and then my Spirit convicted me...STRONGLY. Why are you focusing on the differences? Why don't you try to understand them? Like being hit with a 2 x 4 across my head, I froze in my tracks. I hadn't really thought about the answers to those questions. I was so busy focusing on what I thought, what I would do, how I would handle things, I never paused long enough to make even a feeble attempt at understanding them. With a convicted Spirit and a contrite heart I decided I would seek to understand.

You and me...we are different. We are different from each other and from others. There are not two of us who are exactly the same. We are all shaped by our experiences, our reactions to those experiences, our values, our morals, our ethics...there are so many points of distinction. We will find others similar to us however to find two people who are EXACTLY the same - spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally, experientially, morally, ethically, etc. - is impossible. We would have to have the exact same experiences at the exact same point in time in our lives, make the exact same decisions, have the exact same outcomes, respond to those outcomes in the exact same manner...and on and on it goes. Therefore, we are all different, to some degree or another.

The question then isn't, "are we different?" but rather, "what are we going to do with our differences?" I can choose to take on the adversarial tone of "we are different" and pick apart everyone that is different than me. This is incredibly easy to do because, well, everyone is different than me. Some will be more similar - if this is the path I take these will probably be my friends - however at some level, they are still different. They will not say, think & do everything exactly as I would. Who they are, what they have experienced, what is important to them, etc. will not allow them to do everything exactly as I. Or I can take a different path...I can choose to take on the learning, compassionate, empathetic tone of "we are different, certainly there is something I can learn from them." The differences will still exist, this neither you nor I can change, however the lens at which I look at these differences is completely different. Instead of being friends with those most similar to me I can be friends with everyone. Instead of picking others apart - the easy road - I can do the heavy lifting of learning, growing & becoming a better person because of every person that is in my life. It is the view of not trying to change everyone else but rather to change myself. This I control, others I do not.

I took this conviction of my Spirit seriously this week, I am still pondering the wisdom given me. Accordingly, I put several quotes on Twitter & Facebook this week about understanding, about differences. I thought I would share a few with you as well.

 

"Before you assume, learn. Before you judge, understand. Before you hurt, feel. Before you say, think." - Unknown

 

"Maturity is not when we start speaking big things...it is when we start understanding small things." - Unknown

 

"Never judge someone by the opinion of others." - Unknown

 

"It's a child's gift that will change the world. Not the judgment of others." - Tom Krause

 

"Don't judge someone's choices without first knowing their reasons." - Unknown

 

"Don't compare your life with others, you have no idea what their journey is all about." - Anil Sinha

 

"Your assumptions are your windows to the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or light won't come in." - Isaac Asimov

 

"You must stick to your conviction, but be ready to abandon your assumptions." - Denis Waitley

So the question, the challenge, this week Friends is "What will you do with your differences?"

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, an awesome week and please cherish your precious families.

Kev