Notice & Appreciate

Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day on this glorious Friday morning in my Sweet Home Alabama!

 

This morning's Happy Friday is going to be short, sweet, and to the point.

 

Earlier this week, I was reading something and thought, “This is really good.” I then felt a strong conviction to reach out to the person who wrote it, tell them how good I thought it was, and thank them. So, I did. Now, I wish I could tell you that every time I had a conviction like this, I followed it…that would be dishonest. As I have grown older, however, I have become more attuned to those promptings of the Spirit.

 

How about you? Do you notice when someone does something well, or perhaps they are very kind? The way a person treats you can significantly impact your entire shopping or dining experience. If it's negative, most of us will make sure to share our feedback; why not when it's good or great?

 

This is my simple encouragement to all of us this week, Friends. Let's take a moment to notice when someone does something well, good, and/or kind, and then let’s take the step of telling them we've noticed and thank them. It won’t take but a minute; however, it can have a significant impact on the person you take the time to notice and appreciate.

 

“How do you know if someone needs encouragement? If they are breathing!” - S. Truett Cathy

 

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 family, and please stay well!

 

Kev

Who Is Waiting For You?

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! Today is such a great gift; let’s honor it by choosing to live it fully, bringing out its full potential!

 

Who is waiting for you?

 

Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 

1 Peter 4:10 - -11

10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Who, in the future, is waiting for you to do the good works that were prepared for you to do or to use the gifts that you received? Neither you nor any other human walking the face of the earth is a mistake or was born without a purpose – not one! Many choose not to walk in their giftings or fail to answer the cry of the heart to make the difference they were created to make. However, that does not alter who they truly are or what they were created to be. Perhaps that is why so many people are discontent and don’t find joy in their daily lives. They are choosing not to honor who they were created to be or the gifts they were given.

 

What passion within you calls out, but you do not answer? What have you always wanted to do but haven’t? What are the gifts you have that you are not working to develop or use to serve others?

 

I want you to know that you are not a mistake; you matter, and what you do or don’t do matters! There are people in your life, now and in the future, who need exactly who you were created to be. You could be an integral part of their story by honoring the call on your life and the gifts you have been given.

 

Do you know what the crazy thing to me is? Our callings and gifts are so natural to us that we often tend to undervalue and overlook their importance. No, everyone is not passionate about the same things as you, they don’t care about the things you care about, and they can’t do the things you can do. Whether you want to admit it or not, whether you believe it or not, you are a masterpiece!

 

So, Friends, I want to encourage you this morning to sing your song, dance your dance, write your book, pursue your degree, start a non-profit or business, or do whatever it is that is calling out to you from your soul. God will utilize them in a powerful way to impact the lives of others. And if you don’t? Well, it will be you, Friend, that loses, not the people in your life. We aren’t powerful enough to stop the plans and purposes of God; if you aren’t the one He is able to use in the life of another, He will send someone else. However, the gnawing you felt in your stomach when I asked about your passions and the things you care about will remain. They won’t go away because God places them within us to inspire us to fulfill our purposes. However, God loves us enough to let us choose what we do, including the choice not to honor our calling or gifts.

 

My sincere hope and prayer for each of us is that we will honor the calling of our lives and develop our gifts to the best of our abilities.

 

 “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'” - Erma Bombeck

 

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

Developing & Living Convictions

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 is going to be special…I can feel it!

Merriam-Webster defines conviction (not the criminal kind!) as:

A: a strong persuasion or belief

B: the state of being convinced

I have had a week when conviction reared its head a couple of times. In a meeting yesterday, I stated something passionately…just as I had the day before—and it was at that moment that I realized it was a conviction that I was feeling and that others were hearing and seeing. And where were these convictions purified? In challenging moments, days, and seasons of life.

In my life, I have found that the things I am most passionate about, the things that are convictions, have been crystalized and purified in the crucible of life. I can hope, think, or say I believe something or that I would do something in a given situation; however, when the fiery trials of life burn white hot, there is no more hoping, thinking, and saying what I believe or what I would do; it is only actions that matter.

I have a few thoughts:

1.      Be fully present in the trials of life, lean in, and honor your spirit. I have made decisions that I thought could or would cost me my job. It was hard, painful, and scary. As I sit on the other side of those storms, I am grateful for what they proved to me. They clarified my values and principles. I know without a doubt what I believe, what I am willing to sacrifice, and what I am not.

2.      Be slow to judge others. We are all in different places and different phases of life. I have experienced things you have not, and you have experienced things I have not. While I might think I know what I would do if I were in your situation, I really don’t. Unless I am living and experiencing everything you are, what basis do I have for making any sort of judgment?

3.     There is wisdom in listening to others. Again, each of us has experienced things that the other has not. A wealth of wisdom, knowledge, and perspective is walking around in truly remarkable women and men who have experienced different trials in life. If we only listen, we can glean wisdom, knowledge, and perspective without having to experience the trial ourselves. And maybe, just maybe, we will have a deep appreciation for another precious soul.

I sit here and smile as I think about the talks I have given. Many times, my boys have told me, “You speak so passionately; it’s kind of scary.” And what have they heard me speak about most? My deepest passion is men being the Godly men, husbands, and dads they were created to become. And where was that born? Let me respectfully say it this way; that is not what I experienced as a little boy. I know pain, I survived that fire, and I have made significant sacrifices to be the Godly man, husband, and dad God has called and created me to be. I am not wondering what I would choose or do; I decided, and I did! Are the trials and tests over? Absolutely not, and I don’t believe they will until I hear the sweet words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

I want to encourage all of us to live life fully present, honor the convictions of our spirit when we face the various trials of life, and reach back and share our wisdom, knowledge, and perspective as those who have been purified by the fire with those who follow in our footsteps. 

I have to share a few quotes to end this Happy Friday:

“He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.” - Louisa May Alcott

“Convictions are the mainsprings of action, the driving powers of life. What a man lives are his convictions.” - Francis Kelley

“Protect your vision. Prevail over adversity. Persevere in the midst of turmoil. Passionately act upon your convictions. Purposely walk into the day.” - Mary Anne Radmacher

“We need men with moral courage to speak and write their real thoughts, and to stand by their convictions, even to the very death.” - Robert Green Ingersoll

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 in any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day and a wonderful weekend; please cherish your precious family and stay well!

Kev

Know & See

Happy Friday, Friends!

 

I hope and trust this post finds you having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama!

 

What do you see? Or, perhaps I should say, “What do you know?” This week I was really made aware that what we know dramatically impacts what we see.

 

My Beautiful Bride and I were on a date last Friday night, and we had a wonderful conversation over dinner. I explained that once we had children, I suddenly saw the mom with the young kids at the grocery store, struggling to open the door, maneuver through the store, etc. Because we now had kids, I knew the struggle, and suddenly, I could see others in their struggle. Because I had learned, now I saw and had great compassion for and a desire to help others.

 

Kath immediately told about how walking her dad to Heaven had made her aware of the challenges and struggles of the elderly and, more specifically, their need for advocates. Because she has lived it, she now sees it and can’t help but be moved to love, care for, and serve the elderly.

 

I have thought about that conversation and have become more aware of those around me so many times this week. I believe we would be wise to realize how much we really don’t know, Friends. People face so many problems, challenges, issues, etc., that I have absolutely no idea what it is like. I know what it is like to be exactly one person in this world – me! That view and perspective are extremely limited! And yet, have you ever noticed how so many of us feel compelled to tell others what they should do, be, or say?

 

I pray, Friends, that we will have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to care about the lives, journeys, and struggles of others. We would be wise to ask questions with a pure heart to understand rather than speak authoritatively to something we know nothing about; to seek to understand before trying to be understood; to be aware – such a great word! – to awake to others, their lives, their challenges, their struggles; and to expand our view, care, and concern beyond simply ourselves.

 

All of us have strengths and weaknesses, blessings and challenges. Let’s allow our minds, hearts, and spirits to be enlightened, and let’s do what we can to encourage, empower, and equip others on their journey. We will be blessed in blessing others, and I believe we will find our lives more purposeful, meaningful, and fulfilling.

 

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 family, and please stay well!

Kev