Vacation

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope & trust this post finds you having a great day on this absolutely gorgeous Friday morning on the Gulf Coast!

I need to ask for a little grace as I write this Happy Friday. The Haslam 5 are on vacation and I am writing this Happy Friday on my iPad as I sit out on the back porch overlooking the Gulf. There are sure to be typos and challenges with "auto-correct" as well as the mindless gazes into one of God's most beautiful creations as the waves crashing continually call out to me to look up...

This mornings Happy Friday is about our vacation. Not the "we did this" and "we did that" kinda message but rather something much more meaningful. During my prayer time in the days & weeks leading up to this vacation I prayed for our families safety, I prayed that we would have a good time, etc. It was during this prayer time that God pricked my spirit and challenged me to pray differently. To pray that I would have eyes, ears and a heart to see people where they are, to be a light to them, to instead of praying for "fun in the sun" that I would pray to be an intentional, positive influence. Very early in this vacation He reminded me of that prayer and as I have crossed paths with person after person I have been acutely aware that He was showing up. These are a few of the short stories I want to share with you.

I met Lonnie & Danny right away on the first day on the beach. They have boys around Landry's age and we would end up playing a lot of whiffle ball with them on the beach. As we talked I learned Danny is a youth football coach. We talked about philosophies, the purpose of sports. Danny recognizes that he is in a position to be a molder of young men and believes his successes, or failure, is measured by a more critical measuring stick than simply wins & losses. I thanked him for his heart and encouraged him to keep walking this path.

Sam was the server we had the first night we went out to dinner. A very sweet, kind girl she currently attends the local community college. She is working to save money so she can hopefully attend Central Florida where she hopes to major in biology. My one regret is that I did not ask her what she plans to do with that degree though I am highly confident, in watching her incredible work ethic and seeing her clear sense of purpose, that she will in fact accomplish whatever it is that has been placed upon her heart.

Nick was the mate on the fishing boat we went out on. You wanna talk about someone who works their rear end off?!?! Oh my! This guy was non-stop for the nearly 6 hours we were with him. He smiled and was jovial the entire time...his spirit glowed. When I asked him if he wanted to someday be a captain he smiled and told me he had a goal of becoming a captain by the time he turned 20. Well, he turned 20 in May and had become a captain in March or April. I then asked him what he hoped to do with all this. He then described for me, including the name, the charter fishing boat he was going to buy once he had saved up enough money. He hopes his now 13-year old brother, who spends too much time playing video games, will be his mate. Nick knows the size of the boat and exactly how he will run his charter fishing boat service. As we were leaving, after Nick had cleaned everyone's fish, we shook hands and I encouraged Nick to keep chasing that dream. 

Kaveca (not sure if I am spelling his name right though phonetically it is accurate) is one of the beach workers. These guys are amazing. At promptly 6:00 a.m. Every morning they get to work setting up umbrellas & chairs for all of the vacationers. The thing is, they run everywhere - literally. As I sat here and watched them, they would configure 6 chairs around themselves so the are standing within a box, pick it up, run 50 - 60 yards to the shoreline, set them up, run back to the she to get more and repeat. This goes on for an hour straight in the morning as they set up and an hour in the evening as they break it all down. After telling Kath & the boys a couple of different days how hard these guys worked and how impressed I was, I thought I probably should tell them. I walked up to their shed and told them how I had noticed how hard they worked, what a great job they did, etc. it was perfect a special their boss was there as well...he needed to know that others see what great workers they are. Later that day as I was walking up to our building, Kaveca came up to me and thanked me for the compliment that morning. We started talking and I learned that he had been a Division III football player but he had to leave that school because he didn't have enough money. He went on to tell me that his parents were not very involved in the recruitment process and at that point in his life he didn't have clear goals & dreams so it was easy to quit. He now attends the local community college, he is working to save money and he is getting ready to take a test to become a certified personal trainer. He stated he might train people right on the beach we are standing. I encouraged Kaveca to pursue his dreams and told him how proud I was of him for pulling himself up by the bootstraps.

The one I really have a heart for is Corey. I meet Corey standing our by our boats on Crab Island. When Corey tells me what he does he says, "I'm just a freshman football coach." Game on! I immediately cut Corey off and tell him there are no "just a's." I go on to tell him that God has him in that position for a reason and that the work he does is critical. By the time it is all said and done I have given him the "What Will Your Influence Be...?" bracelet I am wearing and explained the significance of it. We talk a few more times throughout the day and I learn that Corey really hasn't a heart for the kids he is privileged to serve. I get his full name and the name of the school where he coaches. I promise to send him a not and to stay in touch which I will do as soon as I get home.

As I was thinking about this Happy Friday this morning I was reminded of Matthew 9:37; "Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.'" There is no vacation when it comes to determining what our influence will be. Whether at home or hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of miles from home God will bring people into our lives if only we will have eyes, ears & hearts to see, hear & feel.

Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time if there is ever anything I can do for you our 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 and please cherish your precious families.

Kev