Grow!

 Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! This day right here…it is going to be a spectacular one! I can feel it!!! 😊

I am going to share a couple of messages that I came across this week… 

I absolutely love Inky Johnson! Most mornings my Beautiful Bride and I listen to his daily messages. I would strongly encourage you all to look up Inky and listen to his messages…so inspiring!!!

Earlier this week Inky was talking about character. In the short, 30 second or so, video he shared several great thoughts. Here are two things he said that I want to use to frame up the first part of this Happy Friday…

“I believe character is when what you do, what you say and how you live your life becomes one.”

“You gotta do your own growing.”

I really like Inky’s definition of character. Merriam-webster.com defines character as “one of the attributes or features that make up and distinguish an individual.” Yeah, let’s stick with Inky’s definition! 😊

And how important is character? Here are a couple of quotes from some great men to bring clarity…

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” – John Wooden

“When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; When health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.” – Billy Graham

“Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.” – Norman Schwarzkopf

In light of Inky’s definition, these quotes make a lot of sense, don’t they?

But what I really want to focus on is Inky’s second quote; “You gotta do your own growing.” We do not inherit character; we grow our own. Where we grew up, our socioeconomic status, the color of our skin, our religion, and our political affiliations do not give us character, the lives we live do. And here is the kicker, it is through the trials and tribulations of life that the great character we aspire to have is forged.

Here are a few more quotes to illustrate this point…

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” – Helen Keller

“Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.” – Heraclitus

“Character isn’t inherited. One builds it daily by the way one thinks and acts, thought by thought, action by action. If one lets fear or hate or anger take possession of the mind, they become self-forged chains.” – Helen Gahagan Douglas

I now want to share a couple of quotes that were in the Bible Study I was doing earlier this week. The Bible Study is titled Breakthrough is in You and it was written by Jeff Scott Smith. He said, in part…

“Being knocked down simply means he is in the battle.”

“Refusing to stay down is actually an expression of faith in the ability of God to restore and strengthen us.”

In my mind, Inky’s comments about character and Jeff’s comments about failure are linked.

Character is developed and that development happens through the trials and tribulations of life. None of us, not one, wins every single time. We make mistakes, we stumble, and sometimes we fall. My hope is that we will all have a perspective shift this morning; “Being knocked down simply means he is in the battle.” Instead of letting a failing moment define us, let it simply be an indicator that our character is not yet fully developed, that it is being worked out! That we are in the battle!

And when we do get knocked down, please get back up! I thought Jeff’s second comment was absolutely beautiful; “Refusing to stay down is actually an expression of faith in the ability of God to restore and strengthen us.” Please, I beg you, don’t be among the timid souls who are alive but quit living years ago – after a failing moment that was meant only to strength and develop them, not define them! Express faith in God by simply getting up and doing the best you can.

We all have to do our own growing, Friends. Life will give us plenty of opportunities to learn, grow, and become all we are capable of becoming. The battle is real! My sincere hope and prayer for each of us is that we will be committed to becoming great men and women of character and that we will absolutely refuse to stay down!

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, please cherish your precious families, and please stay well! 😊

 

Kev

The Greatest Mountain

 Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day has dawned in my Sweet Home Alabama! 😊

The other night my Beautiful Bride and I watched the movie, True Spirit, on Netflix. It is the true story of Jessica Watson’s attempt to become the youngest person to sail around the world – she was 16 years old at the time! It is a powerful, inspiring movie and I strongly encourage you to watch it with your families this weekend!

There were so many great moments in this movie however one was very poignant to me; it was during a dark, discouraging, time in the journey, and Jessica, who did a video blog of her journey, said something like, “Sometimes the toughest mountain we can climb is to be ourselves.” She then went on to explain that we all get scared, discouraged, we feel inadequate, etc., and that is all o.k. Out of the mouths of babes…such wisdom!!!

It is in the process of being scared and moving forward that we find our strength. It is in being discouraged but still pursuing our dreams that we find out what we are capable of becoming. It is when we feel inadequate but choosing to take the next step, and then the next one, that we learn, grow, and become all we are capable of becoming. To accept ourselves fully - the good and bad, the hopes/dreams and fears - to dare to climb this great mountain is to have fully lived!

(Spoiler Alert!!! 😊) We all want to be on the little sailboat that pulls into Sydney Harbour with 80,000+ people celebrating our accomplishment however there are not many volunteers to live 210 days all alone – the movie does it’s best to help us feel the depth of the loneliness though it is clear that it can only truly be understood fully by actually living it…unimaginable! - on a boat, suffering 7 knockdowns, and facing 70 foot waves! We all want to be the championship athlete, award winning writer, singer, or musician, or the highly successful entrepreneur but are we willing to do what it takes to accomplish these things? Are we willing to climb “The Great Mountain?”

Somehow, inexplicably, we tend to think that these things are accomplished rather effortlessly. We look at the graceful athlete and think that this just comes so naturally to them. We don’t see the countless hours spent to be graceful in the moment. We don’t see the injuries overcome, the failures endured, or the sacrifices made, and all that comes with those things to arrive at that moment.

I want to challenge you and I this morning to simply climb The Great Mountain. To fully, and perhaps finally, accept ourselves for who we were created to be, who we are, and relentlessly pursue all we are capable of becoming. Instead of hiding and running from the difficult moments – fear, doubt, discouragement, etc. – lean into them, learn from them, and then – and this is the most important part!!! – keep pursuing the dreams that are in your heart! You have doubters and critics? So did Jessica! You have doubts and fears? So did Jessica! You stumbled or fell? So did Jessica! You feel an indescribable loneliness or depression? So did Jessica! The only difference, perhaps, between you/me, and Jessica is that she intentionally chose to continue to pursue her dream! And so did every other champion, award winning author, singer, musician, successful entrepreneur, etc.!!! 😊

I want to end this Happy Friday with a few quotes from Jessica:

“You don’t have to be someone special to achieve something amazing. You’ve just got to have a dream, believe in it, and work hard.” – Jessica Watson

“You can’t change conditions – just the way you deal with them.” – Jessica Watson

“You are only as big as the dreams you dare to live.” – Jessica Watson

“I’m an ordinary girl who believed in her dream.” – Jessica Watson

“For me…it was always about the challenge of making this voyage…It was always a calculated risk, but life is a risk.” – Jessica Watson

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, please cherish your precious families, and please stay well!

Kev

We Have TODAY!

 Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! This beautiful new gift – TODAY! – is ours to do with it whatever we choose…let’s choose wisely! 😊

This morning I am simply going to share my heart. This falls into the category of things I wish someone had told me years ago…

We have TODAY! We don’t know if we will have tomorrow, and we can’t do anything about yesterday, but we have this day. Our power is found in living this day fully, to the best of our abilities, and then we will have/get to make the same choice when the next day arrives.

Have you ever spent so much time thinking about what you want, where you want to go, what you hope happens, etc., that you don’t do what you can do today? Me too!!! The thing is, if we will live each day fully as they come, we are putting ourselves in position to receive what we want, to go where we want to go, and to fulfill the hopes, goals, and dreams that we cherish in our hearts!

So that is it, this is our challenge; to live this day fully to the very best of your ability. Yes, we can have goals and dreams that we are pursuing, however it is the intentional, focused, consistent efforts that we take daily – each one as they arrive – that are in alignment with the goals and dreams that we aspire to achieve that to a large degree will determine if we fulfill them. Fairly easy to understand – live each day fully, one at a time – however it can be very difficult to actually walk it out.

I want to share a quote and a scripture with you in wrapping this up…

“The key is this: Meet today’s problems with today’s strength. Don’t start tackling tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow’s strength yet. You simply have enough for today.” – Max Lucado

Matthew 6:34

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

We have today, Friends! Let’s run into it with grateful hearts, hopeful expectations, teachable spirits, and servants hearts! Let’s focus fully on each moment as it comes! Let’s give the very best of ourselves to whatever it is we are doing, and then let’s lay our heads on our pillows tonight in perfect peace, knowing that we gave all that we had to become all we were capable of becoming TODAY!

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, please cherish your precious families, and please stay well! 😊

Kev

We All Need A Friend

 Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! I am genuinely looking forward to living this day – a day we will never see again! It is full of hope, opportunity, and promise! It is full of potential! I plan to empty this day of all it has to offer and to create a masterpiece…I hope you do the same! 😊

Have you ever had the experience where you learn or hear something, and it almost immediately comes flying back at you in real life? I had that experience earlier this week…

I joke with my family that I go to church every day! Earlier this week I was listening to a Life.Church with Craig Groeschel message. It originally aired on May 15, 2016 and it is titled How to Neighbor, Part 3: Empowering The Poor. It is a powerful message and I want to strongly encourage you all to go listen to it.

I am a huge note taker! I was taking notes on this message and there was a section where Pastor Groeschel said, “We are ALL (emphasis is mine) called to empower the poor.” He then asked, “How do we live this out?” and offered 3 points. Here are my notes from this section:

Reach out, we never reach down.

We reach out because we care, we don’t reach down because we think we are better.

The world is divided into those who need help and those who offer help…we are both!!!

That last sentence, when I wrote it, struck me as profound. I am to help others when and where I can – God give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to care…that is from Pastor Groeschel also! 😊 – and I will need help at times. Earlier this week, I needed help…

I had a situation at work. Now please hear me, nobody was going to die or anything of that severity however the issue was a big deal to me. I was on the phone with a colleague, talking through the situation, and I expressed my anxiety over the situation. This colleague and friend is one I have walked many difficult roads with…sometimes being the one offering help and sometimes being the one receiving it.

As soon as I expressed my concern she said something like, “O.K., let’s get to the root of this. Are we going to walk by faith or not?” It was like a bolt of lightning to me! I immediately knew she was right. I accepted the word she spoke to me and I made a choice…to walk by faith. I said a prayer and then determined what the right thing to do was in this situation. I then professed another message I have heard from Pastor Groeschel – “I believe God can. I believe God will. Regardless of whether He does or not, my faith is in Him.” I then acted on what the right thing to do was for this situation.

The situation did end well. As soon as it was over I, 1) thanked God for the wisdom, discernment, strength, and courage He gave me – I needed every one! And 2) I called my friend, thanked her, told her how powerfully her words had impacted me, and then I let her know the favorable outcome. I then called one of my sons and told him about a friend that had given me a wise word when I needed it and I testified how I had chosen to walk out my faith in God. And when I got home, I told my Beautiful Bride the same! It was a blessed day and I recognized and felt it immediately.

As I sit back and reflect on this day – which started with a message that struck me as profound at 5:00 a.m. and ended with a heart of great gratitude, having actually walked out the lesson I learned, at 5:00 p.m., there are a couple of key take-aways I want to share.

The first really goes back to the “Eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to care.” You see, when I expressed my anxiety, my friend could have just blown that off and gone on to the other things that were important to her. But that is not what she did. She not only listened but she cared. She cared enough to remind me that we are people of faith and that we must walk out that faith…Please think about this one; we don’t need faith in the peaceful, serene days/moments of life. We need it during the challenges and struggles that we all face. I sincerely hope and pray that every one of you will have a friend that has eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to care when you are in your moment of need. And I hope we will all be one! And going back to the issue; as I stated, it wasn’t a matter of life or death however it was important to me and for my friend, for a real friend, that is enough. So thankful! So grateful! So Blessed! 😊

The second point is when we are in the position where we need help…

This was interesting to me; Pastor Groeschel cited research, I believe it was from Harvard, that looked to define poverty. He went on to explain that the researchers had found that most Americans who do not live in poverty define it as the absence of something material. The same study asked people around the world who are actually living in poverty – I can’t remember the exact number, but it was in the 10’s of thousands – how they would define poverty and they said, “it is a mindset,” “a deep sense of shame, ongoing feeling of worthlessness” and they used words like “fear,” “shame,” and “hopelessness.” And then he said this, “We don’t just give what they need, we help change the mindset.”

So, what did my friend do? She listened, we talked through the issue, and then she changed my mindset. Here is the thing; I had to choose to receive the word she spoke into my life, and then I had to choose to actually walk it out in faith. If she says nothing, nothing happens. If she says something and I don’t do anything, nothing happens. It is only when she says something – meeting my immediate need (talking through the issue and caring) and changing my mindset (are we going to walk out our faith or not?) – and my receiving her words and walking by faith – Believing God can. Believing God will. Regardless, putting my faith in God – that everything changes!

Two points to end this Happy Friday:

I sincerely hope and pray you have at least one friend like mine – if you do, you are blessed beyond measure!

Let us never forget; The world is divided into those who need help and those who offer help…we are both! May we always have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to care, and may we always have the faith to believe God can, God will, and even if He doesn’t, we will still place our faith in Him. 😊

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your families. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious families, and please stay well! 😊

Kev