I hope & trust this post finds you having a great day as a beautiful new day begins to dawn on the Texas Gulf Coast! Is it just me or do days, and weeks, seem to be flying by at a faster rate?!?! School year almost over, high school baseball season over, prom this weekend...oh my! I am reminded at this moment how important it is to live fully present in every moment! :)
This morning I want to share a simple quote with you and expand upon it.
"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." - William James
My hope & prayer is that we will all be thoughtful in our direction and intentional in our actions. Let's break this down a little bit.
The first thing that hits me is, "Act as if..." Isn't it funny how we will act differently based upon what we perceive the outcome of an action to be? If we think something positive or beneficial to us will come out of a specific action we tend to attack it with great effort & enthusiasm, ignoring annoyance, problems & challenges. On the other hand, if we don't see the positive or beneficial outcome, we become aloof, we are irritated by the tiniest pebble and we will often give a half-hearted effort, quit quickly or not even begin at all. The interesting thing is we tend to look at things as events, not processes. Life however is not one singular event but rather a series of events. It can sometimes be hard to see the connection of one singular action to the life we live. What if, however, we lived [acted] as if every single thing we did made a difference? Would you, and I, be living the way we did yesterday? Note to self - this is a new day and I am not bound by the things I did yesterday! :) I can choose to be different, to do different, TODAY! I can recognize, and act, as if what I do does make the difference it does!
So I want to offer a few things to you to consider:
1. What are you pouring into your heart, mind & Spirit? It matters. This is the first step in determining your actions. Are the things you are watching, reading & listening to life giving, and are they leading you to becoming the best version of yourself? What you, and I, pour into our hearts, minds & Spirits determines our thoughts, perspectives, words and ultimately, our actions. I pray we will act as if what we are pouring into our hearts, minds & Spirits makes a difference. It does.
2. What is the quality of our thoughts? Do we think positive, encouraging, uplifting thoughts? About ourselves & others? Do we think thoughts of hope, or despair? Do we fight the battle when the negative thoughts come? Or do we just go down the slippery slope of negative thoughts? About life? About people? About circumstances? Yes Sweet Friends, everyone has this battle in their minds. The negatives come to all of us. Do we rise up as mighty warriors and fight back the negativity of our thoughts or do we sheepishly follow wherever the latest thought or feeling leads us? I pray we will act is if our thoughts make a difference. They do.
3. What are the words we speak? To ourselves and others? Are they life-giving? Do they build up? Or tear down? Are we speaking life into people & situations? Or are we speaking death & negativity? I pray we will act is if the words we speak make a difference. They do.
4. What are the actions we take? Are the things we are doing on a daily basis adding value to others, to society or are we a drain, something to be overcome? Are we even acting when we see the lost? The hurting? The broken? Or do we fearfully, timidly sit by, refusing to act at all? Refusing to actively take part in this life? Waiting to be served, waiting for someone else to be the one to make it better, waiting for someone else to fix the problem? I pray we will act as if what we do makes a difference. It does.
This morning Friends I want to encourage us all to be intentional. I get it, the days fly by and it can be hard to see how I choose to start my day can impact the meeting I have at 4:00 p.m. today - who schedules a meeting at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday?!?! - however it does. Everything we pour into our hearts, minds & Spirits affects our thoughts which affects our words which affects our actions which determines the lives we live. Please don't leave this to chance. Determine, and be determined, to live your life intentionally. The outcomes you & I see in our lives are the fruits of our actions; what we pour in, our thoughts, our words & our actions are the roots. I pray we will water them well.
I also want to share a power excerpt from a talk I heard yesterday morning by Carol Kent on Focus on the Family. She was giving a talk titled, "Trusting God When the Unthinkable Happens." This talk was part 2 of 2 talks. You can listen to Carol's powerful, emotional talk at focusonthefamily.com. As she was wrapping up her talk she shared these powerful words.
"And I began sharing our story. On Christmas Day a year ago, I was in the ladies' room in a stall at the prison. And a woman came in. She was just cussing. She was hyperventilating. She was weeping. She said, "I hate this place! I hate these people! I think I'm having a nervous breakdown!"
The old professional me would have gotten up. I would have put my arm around her. I would have quoted my five best verses on suffering. And I would have prayed over her and said, "Honey, you're gonna be okay."
The "new" me wept with her. I didn't even quote one Bible verse. She wasn't ready for my Scripture. She just needed to know that one other person cared. God is showing me that broken people minister to broken people. So, if you're broken, that's good.
As we continued to live in a very different kind of normal for us, God's reminded us of 2 Corinthians 4:16, "So, we're not giving up! How could we? Even though on the outside, it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace."
Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time 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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