An Amazing Accomplishment!

My beautiful bride, sensational son and noble nephew were with me when I graduated on June 14 with the doctorate degree. That experience was a miracle!

I am not the scholarly type, but I had to become one during the last three years. My sixth grade teacher and my high school counselor told me to not even try to go to college because I was too stupid and would never make it.

This experience is not about a title or a degree. It is about overcoming many monumental obstacles. When it seemed impossible to keep going, my project mentor and my wife encouraged me with a radical revolution of empowering encouragement.

My beautiful bride had a dream a few months ago and saw me walking across the platform to receive my degree. I hung onto that dream like a cat hanging onto a limb stretched out over a cliff. My mentor told me that I needed to see myself walking across the line.

Several miracles happened for me to cross that line. It was the most difficult and demanding experience in my life. For me, it was like climbing Mount Everest without an oxygen mask and like learning Chinese in Hong Kong without an interpreter.

You may be facing an impossible situation. If I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT! Cry out to the Lord with your whole heart! He will give you faith that He will strengthen you to break through! He will give you people, resources, wisdom and all you need to make it!

Trust God from the bottom of your heart and don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go. He's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all. Run to God. Run from evil. Your body with glow with health. Your very bones will vibrate with life. (Proverb 3:5-8, The Message)

Overload

Most Americans are experiencing overload. There is literally no space or time left in our lives.

We need extra space and time to be refreshed, renewed and restored to live life to the fullest.

Many times we experience discouragements, disappointments and depression because we have no extra space and time to recover from every day stress.

Why not try doing something that you enjoy every day? Prioritize time to recharge your batteries every day. Fifteen minutes, a half hour or an hour of doing something that you enjoy will give you strength to fight the battles in life.

I want to encourage you to receive proper rest and recreation.

You are precious and priceless and you need to treat yourself well!

We All Need a Lift

Let's face it. Every one of us needs encouragement.

We all face many strikes against us. Negative experiences happen to all of us.

The lift happens when we build someone up.

Today you will experience a lift!

We are designed to have our minds filled with these thoughts:

The BEST, not the worst!

The BEAUTIFUL, not the ugly!

Things to PRAISE, not things to curse!

Think about those three statements and begin to speak about the best, the beautiful and praise.

Let me tell you what I'm thinking and saying right now. My wife is my best friend! She is the most beautiful person in the world! She is the wind beneath my wings!

Concentrate and speak out the best, even if you don't feel like it!

You will feel the lift!

Then lift someone else up!

You Are Special

You're the only one of your kind. You have a body and a bright healthy mind.

Only you can be you. Why would you want to be someone else?

I want you to know that you can make it! You have the ability to overcome any obstacle!

Any disappointment or discouragement that you are facing is subject to change.

You can change it with your perspective. How you view the setback is up to you.

You can transform a mountain into a mole hill!

Call upon the One who made you! Call upon the One who loves you!

Ask Him to fill you with His joy as you rejoice in Him!

See Him as Your Encourager!

Success

We all have the same needs.

Each one of us needs to feel valued.

As we value ourselves and value others, we receive hope, encouragement and success!

Someone is looking for YOU right now! Will you be the gift with a lift?

Success is not something that you get. Success is a person!

You are the success that you don't have to chase!

In the Western world, we have been lulled into a deception that success is about money and power. We have become a detached "thing-a-fied" nation with more addictions than any nation in the world.

Was Mother Teresa successful? Did she lift and encourage the sick, the weak and the poor?

It's not about getting. It's about responding to giving!

If you desire success, BE SUCCESS!

Encourage, lift and help others and you will experience SUCCESS!

Extra Movement

I recently started exercising on an elliptical machine we have in our back room at home. What a difference I have felt in my life!

I started out at pedaling for 15 minutes, then worked up to 20 the next day. The third day I made it to 25 minutes. On this, my eighth day, I just burned 404 calories in 34 minutes!

Now, I want you to know that I'm not an exercise fanatic, but I have noticed a deep healing in my mind, emotions, body and relationships through extra movement. I feel more hopeful and encouraged!

If you need hope and encouragement, why not try something different?

Start out by taking a walk around the block or go up and down some stairs. Start out slowly and then increase it a minute a day with a goal of working up to 30 or 35 minutes each day.

I heard a medical doctor once say that if you walk 20 minutes a day, you will lose a half a pound a week.

When you move, think about the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse!

Extra movement has worked for me! I encourage you to try it. Little victories add up!

New Ideas

I have taken action on some creative risk-taking ideas during the last week. They have really improved my emotional health. Let me me share them with you.

I visited a spring open house for our homeowners association last Sunday afternoon. I met three people who inspired me. One of them asked me to run for the board of directors. I did it and got elected.

Then I applied for the volunteer academy at our local police station from a flyer I found at our association open house. The volunteer coordinator was very kind and encouraging.

I asked if the police department had a chaplain and the volunteer coordinator told me no, but they would be interested in a proposal from me.

Three ideas and three steps of faith. I had never thought about or done any of those three things. I had been in an irritable mood right be before I acted on those ideas. My wife noticed my improved mood since I took action on those three new ideas.

None of these new adventures pay me any money. I am not really overflowing with money right now, but I know that opportunities will come as I serve and give my time, energy and ideas and learn new things on my new teams.

Why not try something new? What do you enjoy? What comes naturally to you? Think of some ideas and take some daring action. Keep trying different things until the doors start opening and you find yourself with safe people at the right time.

Sometimes the the way we receive the hope and encouragement we need is to give ourselves to a cause that is larger than we are. I have discovered that our Creator has a perfect plan for you and me. All we have to do is start knocking on doors that interest us.

We will always find fulfillment, hope and encouragement as we give ourselves away to bring hope and encouragement to others! Dare to step out of your boat and walk on the water. It's fun and exciting!

Being

I can't do it on my own. Every "do it yourself kit" I have ever tried left me frustrated, disappointed and discouraged. You can't do it on your own. Our American culture has been influenced by the Greek and Roman cultures. Those cultures function out of fear, individualism and control. Nearly all of our American churches have been influenced by our culture. It's all about performance. We measure success by how rich we are, how strong we are and how smart we are.

Survival of the fittest works in the animal kingdom, but we are not animals. We are created in the image of the One who created us. We have created an individualistic, external, thing-a-fied culture in America. We are designed to live from a state of being with an internal, interpersonal community with Who before the what. You are a person. You were created for community. You can't hug a TV.

One of the main reasons I have created this blog is restore people into the image of the One who created them. We are created for community with the Safe One and safe people who will give you hope and encouragement. That means you or anyone who reads this post. Are you disappointed? Are you discouraged? Have your expectations not been fulfilled? Are your circumstances painful?

I have good news for you! You are deeply loved. You are completely accepted. You are highly valued. If you are tired of measuring up and unable to reach the bar that gets higher and higher, listen to the Voice of the Person who will fill you with Hope and Encouragement. He is your Hope. He is your Encourager.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message)

"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." (Philippians 4:6-7, The Message)

Abba, I ask that you heal and bless my friend through Christ our Healer this day. Let Him Lift You and Encourage you today!

Pain Transformed into Peace

Pain indicates a problem. Sometimes the pain we experience is so intense that we either destroy ourselves or we destroy others. Murder is the ultimate expression of the pain of rebellion. Suicide is the ultimate expression of the pain of rejection.

Most of us experience pain on a sliding scale somewhere into between those extremes. But if you are reading this post and your anger has boiled over to the point of wanting to murder someone please listen to me. There is a way out. Abba, our Father in heaven sent Christ to take your anger, violence and murder and give you His peace. Christ was rejected so you can be completely accepted. He took the anger and violence that led to His murder so you can have His peace. He was killed as an innocent victim, but He was raised from the dead and is ALIVE right now.

Your anger is a result of being abused. Christ was abused to bring healing to you. All you need to do is come to Abba, our Father in heaven through the person of Christ. Say, "Abba, I come to You. You sent Your Son, Jesus Christ, to be sacrificed for me. He was killed, but He was raised from the dead. You are alive, Lord Jesus. I believe that You love me and I want to be Yours. Walk into my life. Be my life. Be the One who will reconnect me with my Creator, my Father. I now experience the greatest exchange that ever happened. Take my life and and I receive Your life. Place me with the right people in the right place at the right time to experience the fullness of life in Christ."

The same transaction will occur for anyone contemplating suicide. Jesus told us, "I came so that they (you) may have and enjoy life and have it in abundance to the full, 'till it overflows." (John 10:10 Amplified Bible)

All of us have disappointment and discouragement. The only way I know how to deal with those two challenges is to come face to face with Christ. God reveals Himself with a gift.That gift is wrapped in the person of Christ.

Listen to The Message Bible in Matthew 11:28-30 where Christ Jesus is speaking:

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

This morning I was experiencing a heavy weight of disappointment and discouragement. I came with my wife and son through Jesus to Abba. We poured out our hearts to Him and heard His voice through the Matthew 11:28-30 passage. I now feel free and light.

He is our Strength. He is our Hope. He is our Life. He is everything we need Him to be.

Friend, receive Hope and Encouragement from Him today! He is your Hope. He is your Encourager. Abba is your Father. He loves you!

Failure: Your Best Friend or Your Worst Enemy

Failure. What do you think of when you read or hear the word? I used to feel it was something that I was to avoid at all costs. Looking good was my goal.

Now I see failure as my best friend. If I never make a mistake, I can't learn or grow.

It's not what happens to me, but how I reflect on it.

I am learning to enjoy how to fail well. After all, I can either enjoy the process or be destroyed by it.

I choose life. I'm tired and worn out with performance as the barometer of my state of being. I'm burned out with religion. I am learning to live out of my state of being.

The who before the what. I love my wife my son and my friends with the who first.

Our Creator made me and He deeply loves me, completely accepts me and fully values me. He feels the same way about you!

Failure. Your best friend or your worst enemy. How do you deal with failure?