Friday, November 15, 2024

I Am Just Going to Leave This Right Here

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 so excited to live THIS day…it will surely be a great one!

This week’s Happy Friday is going to be short and sweet. I am going to share a quote and poem, place them right here for you to read, and let them speak to you however they will.

The quote:

“It is possible to be honest every day. It is possible to live so that others can trust us - can trust our words, our motives, and our actions. Our examples are vital to those who sit at our feet as well as those who watch from a distance. Our own constant self-improvement will become as a polar star to those within our individual spheres of influence. They will remember longer what they saw in us than what they heard from us. Our attitude, our point of view, can make a tremendous difference.” - Gordon B. Hinckley

And the poem:

Anyway

“People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway. 

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;

It was never between you and them anyway.” ― Mother Teresa

Inscribed on the wall of Mother Teresa's children's home in Calcutta.

A couple of quick notes:

1.      With regards to the quote, What will YOUR influence be?

2.     With regards to the poem, I pray we will never forget that in the final analysis, it is between us and our God.

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

Friday, November 8, 2024

Keep Living

Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as this very special day begins to dawn! Let’s choose to live this day fully – being grateful for it, cherishing every moment of it, and emptying it of every last drop of potential that it contains within it!

I have two things in my heart this morning that I believe I will be able to summarize rather succinctly.

On Tuesday I took a trip to Memphis. As I was driving along, listening to Christian radio, a song came on that I have written a Happy Friday about before. It is titled Dream Small, and it was sung by Josh Wilson. Here are the lyrics to the song.

Dream Small

Song by

Josh Wilson

It's a mama singin' songs about the Lord

It's a daddy spendin' family time, the world says he cannot afford

These simple moments change the world

It's a pastor at a tiny little church

40 years of lovin' on the broken and the hurt

These simple moments change the world

Dream small

Don't buy the lie, you've got to do it all

Just let Jesus use you where you are

One day at a time

Live well

Lovin' God and others as yourself

Find little ways where only you can help

With His great love

A tiny rock can make a giant fall

Dream small

It's visiting the widow down the street

Or dancin' on a Friday with your friend with special needs

These simple moments change the world

Of course, there's nothin' wrong with bigger dreams

Just don't miss the minutes on your way to bigger things, no

'Cause these simple moments change the world

So dream small

Don't buy the lie, you've got to do it all

Just let Jesus use you where you are

One day at a time

Live well

Lovin' God and others as yourself

Find little ways where only you can help

With His great love

A tiny rock can make a giant fall

So dream small

Keep lovin', keep servin', keep listenin', keep learnin'

Keep prayin', keep hopin', keep seekin', keep searchin'

Add up the small things and watch them grow bigger

The God who does all things makes oceans from rivers

So dream small

Don't buy the lie, you've got to do it all

Just let Jesus use you where you are

One day at a time

Live well

Lovin' God and others as yourself (others as yourself)

Find little ways where only you can help (only you can help)

With His great love (his great love)

A tiny rock can make a giant fall

Yeah, five loaves and two fish can feed them all

So dream small

Dream small

Mm-mm

It is that part that I put in bold that really hit me; what if, no matter the day, situation, or circumstance, we really did that? What if you and I kept loving, serving, listening, praying, hoping, seeking, and searching no matter what? As I listened to those words my spirit convicted me strongly; these are the orders. This is how life is to be lived! Yes, we may have goals, dreams, hopes, and desires – and there is absolutely nothing wrong with pursuing them! – however these are the principles, the foundation, upon which all else is to be built…at least that is the way I understand it and how I am determined to live my life! How about you?

The other thing that is on my mind this morning is time…such a precious thing. It is all any of us really have, the most valuable of all our resources.

My oldest Tender Warrior, Payton, has been going through a pretty intense season of life for the last 13+ weeks. It has been so interesting to me to hear so many people say, “That went fast” or “It doesn’t seem that long.” I would offer that they are both right and wrong – just depends on what seat you were sitting in.

The thing I want to point out to all of us this morning however is this; God willing, time is going to pass. The question each of us must answer is what will we do with that time? Some never pursue goals or dreams because it will take too long…the time will pass anyway. Some choose to have a bad attitude because they have a busy day or a hectic week…the time will pass anyway. The only thing any of us have is this moment, this time…what are we going to do with it?

So, in an effort to put a perfect bow on this Happy Friday, I am going to say it this way; I intend to spend every day, the rest of my life loving, serving, listening, praying, hoping, seeking, and searching as I courageously and relentlessly pursue all that that the Lord created me to be. I don’t want to get to the end of this blessed journey called life and have anything left in the tank. I don’t want to have just been alive for a long time, I want to be fully alive and living every day! How about you, Friend?

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

Friday, November 1, 2024

What Do You Say to Yourself?

Happy Friday, Friends!