I hope & trust this post finds you all having a great day and an awesome week coming to a close for you! It is truly a magical morning on the Winter Wonderland known as the Texas Gulf Coast...it's snowing! Truly beautiful!
I came across an awesome quote last week that I want to share with all of you...
"Purpose is an incredible alarm clock." - Unknown
You know what the easiest day of the week for me to wake up? Friday! At this point I have already had 4 days of getting up pretty early, going through my routine of reading, working out, going to work, coming home & spending time with my precious family, falling into bed exhausted only to get up in somewhere between 4 - 7 hours to do it all over again. Then on Friday I get up a little bit earlier so I have time to write Happy Friday and do all of the above all over again. And sometimes, like this morning, it gets a little more challenging...6 1/2 hours ago my flight landed in Houston and about 5 hours ago I was going to bed. You know what nearly never changes? I fly out of bed on Friday morning!
Now the reality is, I fly out of bed most every morning. Equally real however is the reality that I fly out of bed on Friday with even a little bit more excitement...yes, I drive my Beautiful Bride crazy! :) But why? Why do I fly out of bed most every morning and do so even a little more eagerly - yes, I put getting out of bed and eagerly in the same sentence! - on Friday's? I believe the answer is found in this simple little quote. I have shared before, I have absolutely no doubt that my purpose in life is to encourage, empower & equip people to become the best they are capable of becoming. As long as there are people, or even a single person, walking the face of this earth, I have a purpose to fulfill and thus, meet each day with excitement. And Friday's? Well, on those days there is a direct link between my purpose and an action I need to take - writing Happy Friday. I can unequivocally say that it is true, purpose is an incredible alarm clock!
So Sweet Friend, how are you in the morning? Do you fly out of bed? Are you excited for your day? Most every day? If the answer is yes, good for you! Keep striving every day to pursue your purpose...we need you! If the answer is no, perhaps it is time to really sit back and ask yourself a few questions. Why do you do what you do? What is most important to you - look at your actions, not your words...this will tell you the true answer to this question? What difference will it have made that you lived? When you find clarity to your purpose you will greet your morning with much more excitement.
Now, a few things here:
1. I would say it took me about 42 years of life to be able to put my purpose into that nice little one sentence. There were indicators, things that were leading me down my trail however it took 42 years to be able to say it, and feel it to the depths of my soul, to be able to put it into a succinct sentence. Be kind to you Friend...you will figure it out if you intentionally strive to do so.
2. Don't get caught up in trying to determine whether your purpose is "good" or "bad," "important" or "unimportant," etc. There is no good or bad, important or unimportant...every single purpose is important. Rating things as good or bad, important or unimportant is the business of a fallen, broken world. It is not the business of God. Think about that for a minute.
"God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.
A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have." - 1 Corinthians 12: 6 - 11
"In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad." - 1 Corinthians 12: 22 - 26
I told you! :)
3. I also want to share this reading I came across this week. This excerpt comes from Christ-Based Leadership: Applying the Bible and Today's best Leadership Models to Become an Effective Leader by David Stark:
Wayne Cordero, pastor of a large church in Hawaii, challenges the thinking of laypeople around the country. He begins by asking a large audience how may present are full-time ministers. When I heard him speak, I was sitting in a crowd of four thousand people; about four hundred of us raised our hands.
Wayne said, "Thank you." Then he told us that he believes God is up to: "God wants to take a full-time minister and disguise her as a chemical engineer, so we can win chemical engineers to Christ...He wants to take a full-time minister and disguise him as the elementary principal, so we can influence the character and values of countless students...He wants to take a full-time minister and disguise her as a stay-at-home Mom, so we can build the children for the church's next generation."
Though his point became obvious after the first couple of examples, Wayne went on this way for ten minutes. He then paused and asked, "How many full-time ministers do we have with us today?" Four thousand hands shot up.
"That is the church of Jesus Christ," he concluded. "That is our definition of success."
Your life has great value, meaning & purpose. I pray that you will find it and then spend every day of your life striving to fulfill it!
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 and please cherish your precious families!
Kev
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