Sharing Our Crowns

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope & trust this post finds you all having a great new day as a glorious new opportunity begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! :)

This week I came across a video of a high school Homecoming. The Homecoming Queen, Trinity Arrington, is crowned and she immediately walks over and gives the crown to her friend, Emily Petty, who has Downs Syndrome. The video goes on to show these two Texas teens sitting together, holding hands. Trinity talks about how Emily is her Queen every day and Emily, smiling with every ounce of her body says, "I love her every day." It is absolutely beautiful! :)

And it got me to thinking a lot this week; am I, do we, share our crowns? No, I am not talking about our crowns as Homecoming Kings or Queens, I am talking about our crowns of life. Most, if not all, of us have them. The blessings we have...do we share them?

I came across a saying a couple of weeks ago that said, "Do you pray to be blessed or to be a blessing?" That will challenge ya! We all want, hope & dream of being successful...however we define that. I am not encouraging any of us to be dishonest and say we don't hope & pray for success. :) And I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with that. I do think there is great wisdom in carefully determining how we will define success, what we are chasing. But what I am talking about, and what God is much more interested in, is the heart behind the pursuit. Is it so I can be blessed or is it so I can be a blessing? The heart behind the pursuit means everything.

And that is the whole point of this Happy Friday; what are you and I doing with the crowns, the blessings, we achieve? Are they simply for us, to make us more comfortable, to build our egos, to fulfill our desires, etc. or do we take these blessings and use them to bless others? You know, Trinity did not become less of a Homecoming Queen because she shared her crown with Emily...in fact, I would argue she became a great Queen in the moment she gave her crown away!

So what are the crowns that you and I have that we can share with others? What are the doors we can open for others through our affluence and/or influence? What platforms can we share with others? What experiences can we share with others that they would not be able to experience on their own? We all have them...are we praying to be blessed or to be a blessing?

Please Sweet Friends, take a moment first to be genuinely grateful for every talent, gift, ability and blessing you have been given. And then look for opportunities to share whatever it is you have to give to love, care for and serve others. Not only will you be blessing the person you are sharing your crowns with, you will also find that you are doubly blessed. It is funny, we are wired to be selfish. We fight so hard to fill the voids in our hearts. Trying to gather enough [fill in the blank] to "make us feel good." And we find that, in fact, what really makes us feel good at a heart level is when we give away our crowns, when we share our blessings. 

Now, a whole lot of people will think I am absolutely crazy, and I am fine with that. I totally get that the concept of sharing our crowns is completely counter-culture. And while I can't change the culture or the world, I can change 2 lives at a time - mine and whoever I choose to share a crown with. And so can you! This is my hope & prayer for all of us on this beautiful, blessed Friday...that we would seek to be a blessing, that we would share our crowns.

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