Defining Moments

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-22T05:04:00.000-05:00

The Elephant In The Room

2012-02-16T21:06:00.001-05:00

Countless hours in a meeting room. Everyone's thinking it, but no one dare say a word. Awe, come on . . . you think to yourself . . . are you kidding me? Meeting adjourned. Folks solemnly leave in dismal contemplation. Rumors fly. Sound familiar?

Not many people feel at ease speaking truth to power. Either for fear of retaliation, rejection, or perhaps not seeing the value of sticking your neck out only to get it chopped off. And if you're one of the brave few who will, you tire of always being the one to speak up or designated as the one by others who are staring back at you.

But here's a thought . . . Life is too short to live it with regrets. Seldom will we really know when a moment is ripe for change, but progress cannot be made while resting on our laurels. We just have to go for it, take a risk and hope for the best. It's better to have tried and failed than to have not tried at all. There is something gratifying in knowing that you did your best and pushed the envelop because it was the right thing to do!

Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his speech in support of the striking sanitation workers at Mason Temple in Memphis, TN, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." With that said, we should live for more than just ourselves.

So the next time you're presented with an opportunity to state the obvious, think about the possibilities and benefits that could be gained, formulate your thoughts for a resolution, and

Go For It!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-15T04:10:00.000-05:00

My One True Love

2012-02-14T00:31:00.000-05:00

Soul Mates . . . Remember the days when couples cherished moments of holding hands together, walks in the park, getting love letters, or talking on the phone for hours? Even better, how about roller skating coupled underneath the disco ball's sparkling light while listening to love songs all through the night? These are the ingredients that cultivate relationships and help you recognize your one true mate.

A soul mate is a person who is truly fitted and fully suited to another. In other words, they are "just right" for that person. This is impossible to know for sure at first sight. Only through continued communication, spending time together, and learning about one another can this become clear. My husband and I are complete opposites. He's a night owl, slow to change, and very spur-of-the-moment. I, on the other hand, am up at the crack of dawn, always looking to change or improve, and very calculated in my movements. Together we make the perfect pair! What I lack he supplies and what he lacks, I supply. Are there times when we want to choke each other? Absolutely! This goes with the territory. All in all, we find ways to work through things because we truly love each other and really enjoy each other. Together, we share over 28 years of marriage.

We recognize there will always be others who are better looking, better built, or better something. But we've made our choice. He chose me - I chose him and its for keeps. Besides, why throw away all that training? He's just like I like him and I'm just like he likes me!

Never Underestimate the Power of One

2012-02-09T07:12:00.000-05:00

One salesman and Sunday school teacher, Edward Kimball, led a young man named Dwight to Christ. Dwight Moody became a blazing evangelist who it is said, led one million souls to Christ in his short lifetime. Wilbur Chapman received the assurance of his salvation after talking with Moody and went on to become a noted evangelist himself.

The drunken baseball player Billy Sunday was an assistant to Chapman before becoming the most famous evangelist of his day. One of the fruits of Sunday's ministry was the forming of a group of Christian businessmen in Charlotte, North Carolina. This group brought the evangelist Mordecai Ham to Charlotte in 1934. A tall awkward youth named Billy Graham was converted during those meetings.

According to his staff, as of 1993, more than 2.5 million people had "stepped forward at his crusades to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior." Millions of souls trace their spiritual lineage back to the influence of one man, a simple Sunday school teacher, Edward Kimball

Someone said, "To the world you may just be one person, but to one person you may be the world." Never underestimate the power of one multiplied. You can make a difference in your family, community, city, state, . . . the world. Decide today to become a "change agent" of great influence for Christ. Someone's life depends on it!

~Evangelism Is ... How to Share Jesus with Passion and Confidence
Dave Earley and David Wheeler

The Heart Matters

2011-08-12T14:45:00.001-04:00

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

-Proverbs 4:23

Ever find yourself wrestling with a decision where your mind is struggling to guide your heart, but your heart won't listen - deeming prudence as the enemy to desire? Think about it. How many times have we knowingly understood something to not be good for us, but struggled to turn away from it, let it go, or just simply STOP ourselves?

Let’s be real! It happens to all of us and usually centers around relationships or things that we've allowed to entangle us, later causing us grief. Entanglements can be imperceptible or blatantly obvious. Either way, they generally commence after we've allowed our senses – what we hear, see, taste, touch, and smell – to become joined with our heart – the seat of emotions, feelings, and reasoning.

Together, the conception produces an emotional entanglement or stronghold that is sustained through yearnings, cravings, longings, and the like. For this reason, we grapple with saying "No" to things we knowingly don't need and shouldn't have, such as that second brownie; the shoes we must have, but really don’t need; or that person we know we shouldn't get involve with.

Regardless of how an entanglement is established, rarely is it combed out easily. Disentanglements generally require time coupled with dedication, effort, diligence and prayer when changing a bad habit or unweaving your heart from another. To this resolve, comes a principle "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."-Proverbs 4:23. Guarding your heart involves setting a constant watch over what you allow to penetrate and reside in your heart. It requires constant surveillance – keeping what is good and beneficial while discarding what is bad and detrimental.

If you're finding yourself struggling to make the right decision when presented with temptation, examine what's in your heart and start the process of discarding. Take notice of what you spend time thinking about and ask yourself why. Employ the principle of guarding your heart – your mind, will, and emotions – paying close attention to things you tend to easily gravitate toward. And remember, we are the watchmen of our own heart and should guard against the many influences in our environment that compete for our time and attention. Our course in life truly depends on it!

ENDURANCE

2011-07-13T07:03:00.004-04:00

“A capable, intelligent and virtuous woman, who is he who can find her . . . Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure. She rejoices over the future – the latter day or time to come knowing that she and her family are in readiness for it!”

Proverbs 31:10 & 25 AMP

Whew, Life! What Joy, Pain, Sunshine, and Rain – Experienced it lately? If not, as my grandmother use to say, “Just Keep Livin’.”

As I reminisce over my personal experiences and accomplishments, I am reminded of the numerous challenges I have encountered. Whether it was college, my career, dating, marriage, parenting, or ministry; each event came with its own set of challenges, more or less. Even so, through each circumstance I acquired something wonderful – Endurance. Endurance is the glue that gives you that stick-to-it-ness. Each time you persevere through a challenging situation, you gain the stamina that facilitates your success through the next ordeal.

Take for example running a marathon. Running a marathon is not an easy venture as it requires a great deal of discipline and physical aptitude as marathons can be rigorous. Conditioning your mind and body unwearyingly over a period of time will build your endurance and help you avoid potential problems that can occur while running a marathon.

Muscle cramps, exhaustion, and lack of mental focus are all impediments to being able to finish a marathon. However, one of the major impediments is not the lack of ability, but getting injured by training too quickly. A slow and steady pace wins the race – conditioning with this notion will increase your chance of success. This is true in most instances when confronting many of life’s challenges.

There is a principle in scripture that I often read when I need encouragement: James 1:2-4 (New Living Translations), “Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. 3 For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.”

Put differently, Character – courage, determination, patience, vigor, resilience, integrity, to name a few – is produced after it has been put to the test. Perhaps you are going through a troubled marriage; or your children are going awry. Maybe you’ve been laid off from work and you’re challenged with how to make ends meet. These are real life experiences that test the very core of our being.

Let me encourage you – STAND. This is your opportunity to allow the Lord to press out of you potential, new ideas, new perspective, hope and courage. For at the greatest moment of pressure, we truly discover who we are and what we’re made of. Troubles and difficulties help to refine and purify our faith, which in turn produces patience and endurance.

Life is filled with hill and valley experiences. It’s what we do in those moments that define us. So dig your heels in and don’t call it quits! Begin to examine your situation. Determine where change or improvement is needed. Seek counsel and begin again. Make a commitment to do what it takes to redefine and realign yourself for success. Last, stay motivated by finding inspiration that comes from scripture, journaling, and reflecting on the simple things in life that we take for granted.

And remember, Jeremiah 29:11 says that “the Lord knows the thoughts that He thinks toward you; Thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” When we begin to understand that everything is working for our good, we’ll find peace in knowing that the Lord is pressing out our potential and pushing us to greatness with a character that will keep us there. Selah!