Anchor

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope & trust this post finds you all having a great day, that you had a wonderful week and that your weekend is off to an amazing start!

I had a truly amazing week. I traveled to the beautiful state of Kansas for work. On my flight from Houston to Dallas and then from Dallas to Kansas City I sat next to a woman who wanted to talk about raising teenagers, the challenges, the hopes, etc. It was definitely a God-ordained meeting. I left inspired, and challenged. On Wednesday morning I ordered breakfast at my hotel, turned around and walking directly toward me is one of the young men I was once privileged to coach. I had not seen him in more than 20 years. We hugged and then talked for a couple of hours. My heart was happy, full. He, like all of us, has his struggles & challenges, however he is determined to pursue the Lord and to be the man, husband & father that God created him to be. Thursday & Friday I was privileged to meet with some truly amazing people, champions in their fields. It is such an honor & privilege to do what I do. Then last night I got to come home to my amazing family. I am blessed, truly blessed, beyond measure.

Today I hope to provoke thought. I am currently reading "Get Your Hopes Up! Expect Something Good to Happen to You Every Day" by Joyce Meyer. Earlier this week I turned the page and written on page 128, Chapter 13, it says, "Hope Is Our Anchor." Something within my moved when I read those words..."Hope Is Our Anchor." I couldn't wait to begin reading the chapter. And at the same time I found myself asking, "What is your anchor?" And I wasn't looking to give myself the Sunday School answer here either! What really is the anchor of my life, demonstrated in my thoughts, words & actions.

Merriam-Webster.com defines anchor (at least the type I am referring to here) as: a person or thing that provides strength and support; a reliable or principle support; something that serves to hold an object firmly. So there it is Friends, the thought(s) or question(s) to ask ourselves. Who or what provides you & me with strength & support? Is it reliable, always (which is measurable) there for us? Does it hold you & I firmly so we are not blown away by the seasons of life?

Something that keeps banging around in my head is this; we so often associate the need for an anchor during the storms of life. A ship is in a storm so it drops its anchor to hold it in place. We certainly need an anchor for that don't we? We get news we don't want or something happens that shakes us to the core...we definitely need to be anchored at that moment, or perhaps better said is, we find out what we are anchored to at that moment. I would argue that the anchor is just as needed during the seasons of fruitfulness & prosperity. It is really easy for our little ship to drift away to a place we never intended to go during those seasons of life when everything seems to be going well. We might not stay as attentive as we should be, we let things slide or go that we shouldn't and then suddenly we find ourselves in dark, desperate places. Lost. Hopeless. I would propose that anchors aren't just for storms...they are for all parts of life. To keep us grounded in who & what we are, regardless of the situations, circumstances or seasons of life.

My hope today is not to make anyone feel bad or to condemn anyone...including myself! :) I simply want to ask you a few questions...and by the way, I am challenging myself with the same ones. What is your anchor? What is holding you in place? Are you being held in place...and I am talking at the principle, foundational level here, not physically? Do you find yourself getting blown off course by the challenges & adversities that we all face in life? Do you find yourself getting blown off course by the fruitfulness & prosperity that we all face in life? Our circumstances do not define us and our life purposes are greater than any challenge, fruit, adversity or prosperity we may encounter. Understanding this, are we staying the course regardless of what is happening in life? If not, perhaps we might want to check our anchor. It sounds like it is not doing it's job.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.

Kev

Refresh

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope & trust this post finds you all having a great day on this absolutely beautiful Friday afternoon! It is hot & steamy on the Gulf Coast however beautiful none the less.

My goodness, it has been quite a while since my last Happy Friday! It has been good though. While I felt the pull in my heart of writing Happy Friday, I knew - in the deepest recesses of my heart - that the best thing I could be doing is...nothing. This is my message for us today.

The last 13 months have been kinda crazy, busy...I don't know of the proper adjective to capture it. During this time:

• I made the decision to leave a place my family & I love for a new adventure.
• I packed our house in Arizona, had a garage sale, loaded two moving trucks (we still have too much stuff!), drove 1,200 miles to our new home pulling a Tahoe, unpacked half of our stuff into our apartment and the other half into a storage unit. All that by the way was my "vacation" last year.
• 6 weeks later we drove our oldest Tender Warrior 23 hours to college, got him unpacked and then drove back.
• My father-in-law had a heart attack.
• My mother-in-law had triple bypass surgery.
• On January 1st my Mom's husband passed away.
• In the middle of February we moved out of our apartment into our beautiful home.
• On April 2nd my Mom passed away.
• And amongst all of this stuff, I took somewhere between 12 - 14, week long business trips for my job.

I do have to tell you, as I type this list I see & feel God's love, mercy & grace all over the place. At the same time, by the time July 3rd - my 1st official day off - rolled around, I felt tired...physically, mentally, spiritually.

So the Haslam's went on vacation...a real, honest to goodness, vacation. We drove from our home to San Antonio where we went to the Alamo (fascinating), Sea World (loved it all - opened & closed the place down!) & Six Flags (Kev can hang with the Fellas on all the roller coasters!). We then drove a day to El Paso and that evening went and watched a Triple A baseball game...the El Paso Chihuahuas vs. the Albuquerque Isotopes (brought back great memories of attending Tucson Toro's games with my Grandpa). The next day we drove the rest of the way to Arizona, checked into our resort and then, for the next 7 days, did nothing but float in the lazy river, play volleyball & basketball in the pool, went down some amazing water slides and spent time together, with family & friends. Oh yeah, and we golfed one day too! I also had the privilege of taking my Beautiful Bride on a date one night...we went out to dinner, walked around a mall for a couple of hours and then sat & visited for a few  more hours...it was glorious!

A few things to share from the heart:
1. Driving with your spouse/partner and kids in a car for 16 hours each way is awesome! I read something, somewhere - how is that for specific! - that attributed the breakdown in the American family to less vacations by car. Did we have fights? Yes. Did we argue? Sure. Was it long and monotonous? Yep. But here is the thing; we were together, we talked and we all reconnected. Sure we have disagreements, we get tired & some (Kath & the boys but certainly not me! :) ) get grumpy but that's life. When you are stuck in a car together you don't really have much choice but to get it all worked out. What are you gonna do? Not talk for the next 15, 14 or 13 hours? Nope, you are going to figure a way to make it all work together...you have no choice, and that is awesome.

2. Be present. This is, in part, why I did not take the time over the course of the past few weeks to write Happy Friday. I would really have liked to however I chose to spend time with Kath & the boys, to be fully present. I would have really liked to check & get caught up on my work emails - I took my work computer on the trip, however I chose to spend time with Kath & the boys, to be fully present. When we went to my in-laws each night, I chose to be there, fully present. When we went to dinner with friends, I chose to be there, fully present. When I played volleyball with Landry in the pool for hours on end (trust me, I am not exaggerating!), I chose to be there, fully present. When I was getting ready for a date with the most beautiful woman in the world to me I got an unpleasant phone call - I chose, and with some help...o.k., a lot of help, from God, I chose to be there, fully present with my Bride. And as I chose, in each and every moment of each and every day, to be fully present I felt strength returning - to me, to my relationships and I saw those I am called to love, protect & lead grow & flourish too. It is a blessing, not only to you but to those with whom you are with, to be fully present.

3. You know what is funny? We were busy, I mean really busy. When we got to San Antonio we drove straight down to the River Walk, ate dinner, walked to the Alamo and then walked up & down the full length of the River Walk. When we went to Sea World we were literally there when the gates opened and we left after the last Shamu show of the night, when Sea World closed. When we were at the resort, I woke up, read, went and did a workout, came back to the room to get my Beautiful Bride & Tender Warriors and then played at the pool all day, until it was time for dinner. You know how many naps I took while on vacation? Zero! I was not tired, I was energized. I loved and cherished each and every moment. It was so refreshing and I felt so very blessed.

So Friends, I share this all with you to encourage you to take a moment - however long that might mean to you - and get your battery recharged. Life can be hard, it comes at us fast. Sometimes we are so busy we feel we barely have time to breath however that is exactly what we need to do...breath & relax. And I am serious, if you have a family I really want to encourage you to get in a car with them and drive somewhere, anywhere. It really isn't about the destination, it is about the journey. Please don't plug in some movie to "keep the kids busy," keep them busy by talking to them. Make time, choose, to be fully present. I promise you it will not only bless your life but also the lives of those you are privileged to do life with.

I am not sure I am going to write Happy Friday's on Friday any more, it is one of the things I have really thought about over the past few weeks. I think I am going to write it on Saturday's, when I have more time, when it doesn't all have to be a grind. I also decided this week to sleep for an extra 30 minutes per night...might not sound like much however it is an extra 2 1/2 hours of sleep per week. See, another advantage to recharging; you have the time to reflect, make adjustments. Life is a journey Friends...let's make sure we are enjoying it!

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for any of you. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.

Kev

Hope...Go Ahead!

Happy Friday Friends!!!

I hope & trust this post finds you having a great day as a beautiful new day dawns! I am truly awestruck by the glorious beauty as the sun begins to slowly rise each morning...so inspiring!

This morning I want to share a few things with you.

1. This one is probably more for me than it is for you as God placed it on my heart this morning; today is a new day. It is up to us as to what we do with this day. Faults, failures, disappointments, etc., they all belong to yesterday. They are gone. They are in the past. You  & I can no longer influence those moments and those moments do not define us. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." whatchristianswanttoknow.com says it beautifully, "You know that God loves you, but still [you] struggle every day with feeling unworthy. Every morning the love and mercy of God hovers over you waiting for the first moment of wakefulness. Trust in his faithfulness to restore every hurtful word and action in your life." Drink deeply from the truth of God's word Friends...every morning the love and mercy of God hovers over you.

2. My Beautiful Bride gave me Joyce Meyer's new book Get Your Hopes Up! Expect Something Good to Happen to You Every Day for Father's day. I want to a) encourage you to get this book...it is awesome! and b) I want to share some excerpts with you.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God, and those who come to Him must believe that He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (see Hebrews 11:6).

...hope precedes and is connected with faith. We cannot have one without the other.

...a man or woman of faith does more than trust that God is alive; they also believe that He is good, and that He rewards those who seek Him. They wait for and expect the goodness of God, not because they deserve it, but because God promises to give it.

Hope is only as strong as its source. That's why the foundation of our hope must be God and the promises found in His word.

The believer's hope is in the unshakable, all-powerful, all-knowing and ever-present one true God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

...get your hopes up! Do it on purpose...grab hold passionately and refuse to live without hope!

Experience tells you that nothing is ever going to change, but God's Word tells us something better. It say that all things are possible with God!

In John 10:10, Jesus said, "I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."

It's the catalyst that sparks ideas and imagination (see Proverbs 24;14), the anchor that steadies us when the storms of life rage (see Hebrews 6:19), the confidence that dares us to build a better life (see Proverbs 23:18), and the comfort of knowing we're never alone (see Romans 5:5).

While it is true that we should always be content and satisfied with what we have, that certainly doesn't mean that desiring more of the right things is wrong as long as we desire them for the right reasons.

I actually believe those who are content with anything less than all God can do for them are hindering God's greatness. He wants to show Himself strong in each of our lives. He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all that we could ever dare to ask or think, infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams (see Ephesians 3:20).

...but for many people, low expectations keep them from enjoying their lives.

...any degree of hopelessness has a devastating effect on our lives. Why not believe the best and open the door to see what God will do?

...hope in God and positive expectations are very closely related to faith.

...the level of your expectation is the level of your faith. Show me a person with low expectations, and I'll show you a person using very little faith. But show me a person with big expectations, and I'll show you a person acting with bold faith.

If you don't expect God to do anything great in your life, He won't. But if you dare to raise your level of expectation and begin anticipating that God wants t do something great in your life, you'll begin to dream, believe, ask, and act with a confident boldness, knowing God is for you and has a great plan for your life.

And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]! - Isaiah 30:18

Your life will go only as high as the level of your expectations. It's not that your expectations immediately change the environment or the circumstances around you, but your expectations change the way you react to that environment and those circumstances. Your expectations change you. They cause you to be able to wait for a change in your circumstances with a happy attitude. They cause you to be a bold, confident, joy-filled believer who trusts that God has a great plan for your life.

It doesn't matter what the situation looks like around you; God is greater than any obstacle you may be facing.

3. I was greatly saddened to hear of the shooting last week at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. As politicians and the media began chiming in with their thoughts, ideas, etc. about what is the cause, what should be done, etc., my thoughts went to something different. We, as a society, keep reacting to the fruit and we are not addressing the root. The fruit is the outcome, the root is the cause. What is the cause? I would offer it is the failure of men, of father's to be specific, to lead, guide & direct those we have been given the honor & privilege of being responsible for. We have a society, a world, full of men refusing to accept responsibility for the precious souls they father and yet we wonder why we now have a society of irresponsible people. Racism, like any other -ism, is a learned belief. Who is called, called by God, to be the teacher of their children? Fathers. As long as men fail to be men, to be fathers, we will have a society filled with hurt, broken, misguided individuals who hurt, break and mislead others. Why don't we talk about that? Why don't we hold men accountable? There are both sins of commission and of omission. Sins of commission are the things we do - what we teach our children. Sins of omission are the things we allow - what or who are we allowing to fill their hearts & minds? Father's are responsible for both.

I know there are many men out there who are striving daily to be a good father to their children. I celebrate & praise. To the boys who want the privileges of manhood without the responsibility, I encourage you to rise up and be the man you were created to become. If we want to begin to repair the problems we face nationally, globally, we must begin there...with men.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your families. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.

Kev