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September is a month of beginnings! It is the start of the school year, churches begin their new ministry year, football season begins with every team being optimistic about their chances to win the Super Bowl this year. I love this season as the trees begin to change color, the temperatures cool down, bugs start to become less active and being outdoors is beautiful.

This September has added excitement for us as this is the first September in our new adventure. We begin this fall with the excitement and anticipation of what God will bring for us to do and experience in this coming year.
The past year has been filled with many twist and turns. When we started last fall we would never have anticipated where we would be at now. God had plans for us, but we had no way of knowing what those plans would be, but yet we know that God is in control and His plans are always better than our plans.
As I have been thinking about our future and waiting for approval of our non-profit application, I read the following devotional from Jesus Calling for Sep 2, 2017:

LIVING IN DEPENDENCE ON ME is a glorious adventure. Most people scurry around busily, trying to accomplish things through their own strength and ability. Some succeed enormously; others fail miserably. But both groups miss what life is meant to be: living and working in collaboration with Me.

When you depend on Me continually, your whole perspective changes. You see miracles happening all around, while others see only natural occurrences and “coincidences.” You begin each day with joyful expectation, watching to see what I will do. You accept weakness as a gift from Me, knowing that My Power plugs in most readily to consecrated weakness. You keep your plans tentative, knowing that My plans are far superior. You consciously live, move, and have your being in Me, desiring that I live in you. I in you and you in Me. This is the intimate adventure I offer you.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. . . . For when I am weak, then I am strong.
—2 Corinthians 12:9–10

For in him we live and move and have our being.
—Acts 17:28

I love the line where it says: “When you depend on Me continually, your whole perspective changes. You see miracles happening all around, while others see only natural occurrences and “coincidences.” You begin each day with joyful expectation, watching to see what I will do.” I have so often taken God for granted and failed to recognize how He is working all around me. I have missed miracles because I was too busy moving on to the next task.
As you begin this season of new beginnings, my encouragement to you is to slow down and look for the miracles that are happening all around you. Look for those things that in the past you may have thought of as “coincidences” and stop to thank God for being active and present in your life.

Over the past six months, there have been many times that I have been discouraged by things not moving in the direction I wanted or expected and in how slow the government can move at times, but when I have stopped to reflect and listen, time and time again God has shown He is present and in control. His interactions let me know that He is with me and I need to remember to TRUST HIM!

Specifically, I want to challenge each of you to do the following:

Start each morning by asking God to show up in your life today
Take time each evening to reflect on your day and write down all the ways that God showed up
Take the time to thank God for being part of your life
God is always with us, but so often we fill our minds and hearts with other things that keep us from seeing God.  When we can see God working around us, it helps us to relax and be filled with the knowledge that He will guide us, He will protect us and He will provide for our needs!

Last week I attended the Global Leadership Summit.  The summit never disappoints with its amazing speakers and leadership material.  Whether you attended this conference or any training conference, the challenge is always the same:  How do you take the vast amount of material and actually do something with it?  When I leave, I often think I am going to take what I learned and change the world.  But then I get back to my routine and I forget about all the things I learned.

To help you, here are 4 steps that I try to apply to see results after a training:

1. Don’t try to apply all of your learnings at once.

While you may be motivated to change, remember the key to leading, is making improvements your team is excited about as well.  Trying to change too much as soon as you get back from a training session sets you and your team up for potential frustration.

2. Identify one or two things that you want to apply to your own leadership.

By applying the changes to yourself, you get an opportunity to make an impact and allow those around you to see your growth and improvements.

3. Set some measurable goals around what you want to change.

Spend some time thinking about what success would look like for you and your team.  Write those down and determine how you will measure the results of what you want to change in yourself and team.

4. Set up reminders on your calendar to review your progress.

The main reason why you may not get the results you want is you fail to follow-through on the changes.  You leave a training event all excited about what you learned.  You are going to change everything to be a better person and leader, but then you get back to your routine and forget about what you learned.  You have a hard time following through on the changes you want to make.  Schedule time on your calendar each month, this could be one hour or one day, to review progress.  This is time where you will set aside your daily tasks and focus on your development.  Review what you have learned and the progress you have made.  Set some new goals on what you want to see improved by the next time you review your progress.

I hope these steps help you see the results that you want from the time you invested in learning from the training event you have attended.

For me, the two biggest takeaways that I had from the Global Leadership Summit were:

• Andy Stanley: He challenged us to find ways to create organizational cultures that will recognize rather than resist uniquely better.  Specifically, from two points he made – be a student and not a critic and replace How? With Wow!  Too often in my past I have focused on what is wrong with an idea and not enough on how to learn from an idea and allow it to develop.
• Marcus Buckingham: He made a statement – People want attention, not feedback!  This is such an important lesson to remember.  I want to strive to be a leader that pays attention to people.  I want to be someone who helps people become the person that God made them to be.  I want to see potential in people and pay attention to them so that they feel valued, known and cared for.  This is a great way to make an impact on others!

As I am writing this, my mother is in the final stage of her life.  I don’t know how long we have left with her, but all the signs are indicating that it will sooner rather than later.  Dealing with death and dying is always hard.  We have to say goodbye to someone we love.  I have had to say goodbye to my father, to close friends, and relatives of friends, but there is something different about having to say goodbye to your mother.  For me, this was the person who got me up each morning, made meals for me, washed my clothes, and bandaged every wound.  This was the person who sat with me when I was sick and taught me how to cook, clean, wash clothes, fold clothes and make my bed.

My mother was a selfless person who never ate meals until the family was full, who sacrificed buying things for herself so that we could have new clothes, and always put the needs of the family before her own.  When my dad was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in his 40’s, my mother remained by his side and prepared every meal for him. She never traveled or went anywhere for herself because she was the care provider.

As we got older and had families of our own, mom always loved having us over to her home to prepare our favorite meal and make our favorite treats.  When my dad died over 11 years ago, mom never remarried. She filled her life with church and friends.  During this time, I did not visit as often as I should have, but she appreciated any time she could spend with her family.

As she aged, her short-term memory started to go and she would tell us the same stories over and over again, but she never lost the Bible verses she had memorized and she never lost her smile or sense of humor.  Even now as she is in a care facility and is a shadow of her former self, she can still remember those verses and quote them to you, she can still sing the old Hymns, she still smiles, never complains, and is always able to tell me that she does not like my beard.

This season of life is so hard, as I am sure anyone who has gone through this before me knows.  You hate to see a loved one become a shell of who they were.  You hate to see them lose their independence, their ability to do basic things, and need help for everything.  You hate to see that blank stare from their eyes as they lose their memory and ability to think and process.  You see their memories floating away and you wonder why God keeps them on this earth.  Why do they have to suffer the effects of aging?  I know that my mom loves God and is excited to join my dad and her parents in heaven, but yet her days have not ended.  Each moment and day goes by so painstakingly slow.  You watch the body and mind go, but she is still with us.  It is not that I want her to go, I will miss her incredibly, but I hate to see her slip away in this way.

I know that she will be gone soon and I will only have memories.  I will no longer be able to hug her, kiss her and see her smile, but I do not want to prolong her life for my selfish needs.  Being her power of attorney and decision maker for medical decisions, it is so hard to write on paperwork DNR (do not resuscitate).  It is hard making end of life decisions and not always knowing what might be extending her life but also may be extending her misery.

During this hard time, I am reminded of a book that we read to our kids when they were young, “Love you Forever”.  It is a story of a mom who raised her kids and rocked them to sleep and then in the end her son rocked her in her dying years.

The book had this song throughout:

I’ll love you forever,

I’ll like you for always,

As long as I’m living

My baby you’ll be

And the last page, as the son rocked his mother, the song ended with

I’ll love you forever,

I’ll like you for always,

As long as I’m living

My mommy you’ll be

That is what I find myself doing each time I visit my mom as I say goodbye, wondering if it will be for the last time on this earth.

My challenge to anyone who has read this far into this blog, tell your mother today how much you love her and how special she is to you!  You never know when it will be your time to say goodbye to your mom and don’t wait until she is too old to remember it!

I love you mom!!

Encouragement!

Why is encouragement so important?

Encouragement is the fuel that pushes us forward to higher levels of achievement, accomplishment or fulfillment.  Without encouragement, we are forced to motivate ourselves, which is possible for a while, but will ultimately fizzle out without someone coming along side you to motivate, appreciate and notice you!

Encouragement can take many forms.  It can be the card of appreciation for something you worked hard on, it could be a text remembering an important date or just that someone was thinking about you, it could be words of affirmation when you see someone doing something great or it may be just recognizing how hard someone is trying and appreciating them for the effort.

It doesn’t really matter the form or format of the appreciation, it really comes down to the following:

• You noticed
• You cared
• You took the time to tell them
• You remembered

Those seem so easy, but they can be so hard to do.  We get busy and we are concerned about our own priorities so we forget to notice, we forget to send the note, we think it is not really that important, but in reality, we are missing the opportunity to make an impact in the life of someone else.

Isn’t that what loving others is all about?  Helping them become who God made them to be by encouraging and supporting others?

Next time someone comes to your mind, send them a note telling them you were thinking about them!  A little attention can make an impact in someone’s life.  It can be in a text, email, note, facebook message or social media tool of your choice, but never underestimate the power that a little encouragement can have in someone else’s life!  Show someone that you believe in them and watch them blossom!

I end with this verse:

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

(I Thessalonians 5:11 NLT)

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been doing a lot of reflecting about where God has me right now.  A lot has happened over the past five months since leaving my last job.  We have started a non-profit, formed a board and filed paper work for our tax-exempt status.  We have put together a business plan of what we think the next 3 years could look like and we dream, pray, and wait for God to open doors and reveal the next step in our journey.

Waiting is really hard for me!  I want answers now.  I want to know where God wants us to use our gifts and help others.  I want to make an impact now and yet God keeps saying to be patient, wait and trust Me!

This week we had to take a step of faith to purchase tickets for a trip to Ukraine in October.  We felt that this was what God wanted us to do and He had opened doors for a plan on what we could accomplish, but we still don’t have our approval from the IRS, and we are not able to raise funds to pay for this trip, but we hear from God – trust Me!

I have been struggling with writer’s block since returning from Colorado.  I have sat down numerous times to write a blog or edit my book and nothing comes and I begin to have doubts and wonder who will ever be interested in reading what I write or having us help them?  Who would ever want to be mentored and coached by us?  I know these thoughts are coming from Satan, who wants to distract us and take us off our calling, but they are still real and hard!  Discouragement is so easy to experience when you are in the waiting stage.

This morning I went back and read through my journal since last November.  I could see all of the ways that God was preparing us for where we are today.  I found encouragement that we are on the right path.  On March 1^st, the day after my job ended, this was the devotional from Jesus Calling:

YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT PATH. Listen more to Me and less to your doubts. I am leading you along the way I designed just for you. Therefore, it is a lonely way, humanly speaking. But I go before you as well as alongside you, so you are never alone. Do not expect anyone to understand fully My ways with you, any more than you can comprehend My dealings with others. I am revealing to you the path of Life, day by day and moment by moment. As I said to My disciple Peter, so I repeat to you: Follow Me.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. —PSALM 119:105

Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” —JOHN 21:22

Wow – just what I needed to be reminded of!  In reality, my doubts and fears get louder when I take my eyes off God and think about myself!  God is in control.  God knows what is ahead and promises to be with me, I just have to do my part, which is to follow Him and TRUST!

Maybe you are in a season of waiting and feeling discouraged because things are not moving at the pace you want it to be at.  I want to encourage you to read Psalm 139.  For me this is one of my favorite passages of scripture and a reminder that God knows and is with us and He has a plan for our lives!  A couple of verses from this chapter:

“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
Psalms 139:16, 23-24 NLT

We just got back from a family vacation to Colorado with all of our kids and Beth’s siblings and parents.  We were in one of the most beautiful cities I have visited in the continental US – Telluride, Colorado.  This town had three of the most majestic things – mountains, waterfalls, and streams.

When I experience these three things together, it has a spiritual impact on me.  You see the majesty of God’s creation and the beauty that it displays day after day.  There is something about the breathtaking awe of being on a mountain, the powerful impact of a crashing waterfall and the peaceful relaxation of a flowing mountain stream running through the valley.

In the Bible, mountain top experiences were often used as places where God would communicate with people – Moses receiving the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34), Jesus at His transfiguration (Matthew 17), Elijah on the mountain after his battle with Ahab (I Kings 19).  I think God used mountains as a place to talk with people because they represent the highest points of earth that are closest to the heavens and because when you are on a mountain, you can see the vastness of the world around you.  It helps to keep things in perspective – how little we are and how big God is!

The waterfall to me represents the power of God!  Looking at a waterfall you see the top of the mountain or cliff that looks so peaceful, but then you see the force of the water falling off the edge and watching how it hits the ground below with amazing force!   God is like that waterfall.  You do not see His power around you, but when you learn to recognize it, it is more powerful than anything you have experienced.

The valley stream reminds me of Psalm 23 – “He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me besides peaceful streams.  He renews my strength.  He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to His name.”  Psalm 23: 2,3 NLT.  Listening to the water run by is that peaceful, refreshing experience described in Psalms for me.

Experiencing the mountains and valleys reminds me that God has created this amazing world we live in and its beauty reminds me what a wonderful and generous God we have – He created all of this for us to experience and enjoy!

Social media has changed our lives.  We have become “Facebook” people.  We will share all of the good stuff, but we often hide what is really going on or the hard things we are dealing with in our lives.  We often don’t feel comfortable sharing what we are really dealing with – either because we don’t think   anyone will care or we don’t want to burden others with our challenges.

Have you ever listened to someone’s conversation?  It goes like this: “How are you doing?”  “Great, how about yourself?”  And then they move on to the next thing.  When you ask someone how they are doing, do you expect a response?  What would you do if they said, “I’m doing terrible?”  Now you are stuck – how do you respond to act like you wanted to hear it, but maybe you really didn’t.  Or when you meet with someone at a social gathering, you ask about their family, work, etc. and most of the time the response is everything with them is going great?  Work is going great, family is awesome, their marriage couldn’t be better and life is good.  But, if you change the conversation by asking “How can I pray for you?”, things start to change.  All of sudden you learn that the job is frustrating, the kids are going off the deep end and they are struggling in their marriage.

Why is asking someone if you can pray for them so impactful that it can change conversations?  I think there are three reasons:

• Prayer is a spiritual language that brings God into the conversation, which makes people be more honest in what they will share.
• Prayer shows a willingness to listen and listening is a commitment of time.
• Prayer shows you care about them. When you bring God into the conversation and give people freely of your time, you demonstrate that you really care about them and make them a higher priority than yourself.

Now before you ask this question, be sure you are committed to doing the following:

• Listen – Take the time to listen and understand their need.
• Pray – Pray with them in the moment and then commit to praying for the prayer request until it is answered.
• Remember – Write the prayer request down. This will help you to remember to keep praying.  Remember to ask about their prayer request the next time you see them or send them a message or text to let them know you are thinking about them.

If we all take a little bit more time to invest in others and show them we genuinely care by being willing to ask about their prayer requests, commit to pray for them regularly and remember, I believe we can make an impact on becoming a more loving and caring world!  It is also an amazing way to see God working.  You get to be part of watching God answer prayers in the lives of others.

Since the beginning of time, a camp fire has been a part of society.  In history, it was the place of heating, cooking and community.  Today it is more for recreational value, but it is still a magical place.  There is something special that happens when you look into the fire and watch the dancing of the flames.

In Exodus, God used a burning bush to communicate with Moses when he was called to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.  Some of my greatest connection times with God have come when I have been looking into a fire and asking God to speak to me.

Have you ever noticed when you sit around a fire with friends, your protectiveness drops and you start to share your dreams, your hurts, your ambitions and the inner nature of your soul?  What is it about a fire that causes you to drop your masks and often reveal who you really are?

Having a camp fire takes time and work.  You have to gather the wood, prepare the fire, build it to the right intensity and then sit back and stare into its beauty.  I often get so busy that I fail to slow down and allow community with others to happen around the fire.

When Moses met God in the burning bush, God revealed that He was “I AM” and Moses shared his fears and insecurities.  But God wanted Moses just as he was and promised to be with him.  Having a camp fire, whether by yourself or with friends, allows you to share your dreams, insecurities and doubts with God and each other.  Remember that God loves you as you are and promises to be with you each step of the way.

My challenge for you today is to find an opportunity to have a camp fire with God.  Share with Him your dreams, insecurities and doubts and allow Him to love you as you are.  And then, find an opportunity to have a fire with a friend or a group of friends.  Use it as a time to listen, learn and share with each other.  God loves having camp fires with you!

Your dreams help you find what your potential is.  What is potential?  The dictionary definition of POTENTIAL is “having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something in the future”.  Another definition is “latent qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness”.  Another way of saying this is that: “potential is what is possible tomorrow instead of what is actual today”.

What do you have hidden inside of you – your qualities or abilities – that you have not identified or let out?

What are your dreams or passions that you have put off because you don’t have the time right now?

What are the things where you say “I wish I could” but have never taken the initiative to try?

I believe that all of us have inside of us the potential to do more –

More of what we love

More to make an impact

More to help others

More to push ourselves out of our comfort zones

But what holds us back?  Why is it so hard to soar with our dreams and find out what is really possible?  I think there are four things that hold us back, one of them not being time, even though that is often the reason most people give.  They are:

• Fear
  • Fear of failure
  • Fear of ridicule or being made fun of
  • Fear of being successful and having to change your life
• Belief in Ourselves
  • We don’t think we are good enough
• Trust in God
  • God has made each of us with our own unique gifts and skills
  • Our challenge is that we don’t spend enough time with God to listen and learn what those gifts and skills are
  • We have never specifically asked God to reveal to us our gifts
  • We allow other people to define us and what we can or cannot do instead of allowing God to define us
• Encouragement
  • We don’t have someone in our corner who knows our passions and dreams and encourages us to become who God wants us to become

In future blogs, I will talk more about each of these topics, but I want to leave you with three challenges today:

1. Ask God to reveal to you the gifts and passions He has given to you.
2. Write down your dreams.
3. Find someone to share your dreams with that will encourage you along the way.