Living in the now...living in the present is very difficult for many people including me. So many of us are looking in the rearview mirror, wondering about what could have been. When we live with regret in the past we relinquish the opportunities in the here and now. How many things can you actually change by spending your time on the past? The answer is not much, it is a poor use of time and little return on that investment.
The other end of the spectrum is living with worry about the future. The future can be planned for but if we live too much for the future again we let slip away all of the time in the present.
Many people have told me I have the character trait of perseverance and it's true...I do. That gifting can be focussed so much that the whole journey through the present to get through circumstances is entirely missed. The struggle today hurts and many times I'd rather put my focus further ahead to a better day.
There is a reason it's called the present...it's a gift. Embrace that gift.
Take the next step and stay present and conscious in the here and now.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Sunday, April 13, 2014
the Funeral that changed my life
A few years back on a Monday evening in early Fall...a stagnant night without breeze...I was headed to a funeral. I'm not sure I would call him a friend, but certainly someone I had known well for some time.
There were many other men I knew and recognized. They had come to pay their respects as well.
As I stood over the covered body I thought about all of the many things this man had meant to me and my life over time....the time he stepped in when as an eight year old I could not yet stand up for myself...beaten badly and not knowing where to turn.
The times I was alone and feeling forgotten...this man was the only person who believed in me and stood courageously between myself and the world. The times I was repeatedly sent to my room without dinner--he fed me with thoughts I took as courage...
Oh there were so many times and situations where he showed up and put forth a brave face--a face of no emotion, set like a flint in a direction--strong and unyielding. Always looking at the end goal and making sure I stayed on task..not letting any others--or distractions in to help or hurt--and definitely not to feel.
The problem with this man was eventually never learning to forgive and let things go, without learning true forgiveness and the power it gave me by releasing someone else--letting things go....it began to create a log jam in my life. Eventually that man loomed larger and larger in the scope of my life and everything else began to be smaller and distant memories. All of the hurt, the pain and the desire for what I saw as righteous justice became my life's false compass--and true North was facing someplace completely in the wrong direction.
As the evening progressed I found myself in front of the body of that man...it was time for me to say some words about him. "He was a protector, someone who never backed down from a challenge...a man who stepped in the gap--even the gaps in my life. I hold no anger towards this man--for although he became so looming and large where he was not asked to take a lead.....there was a time when he protected and helped when nothing else worked or made sense. His time had passed."
"There are many faces to a man, and few men that I have met who are true to who they really are...that they know how they are designed by their creator and use those gifts and identity without wearing a mask. We all wear many masks--created by agreements made in the battles of our lives--battles for our hearts--battles against an enemy desiring to wipe us out BEFORE we become who we were meant to be. These masks work for a time--yes-if they didn't work, we wouldn't continue to use them. Most men act oblivious to the masks they wear as a false identity. They continue to use each mask because life works for them when they have used it. I knew I was certainly not who I was meant to be."
"This man was needed at one time to protect the young boy who couldn't speak for himself and protect himself in a dangerous world. In the absence of a family to protect and nurture he invited in the persona of protection and thus an agreement--that carried on and on."
"There was a time when he was so needed but now we are here tonight to say goodbye to him. Without his moving on and stepping aside, the boy would never grow up and become who he was intended to be. We find him admirable for his strengths and mourn his weaknesses that kept him stuck with his limited vision in who he was. All told, he was who he stated to be--nothing more, nothing less...but it is time to move on."
A funny thing about death---we almost certainly need some things to pass away in order to bring a birth of newness or new life, even new direction.
Sometimes I stop to remember him every now and then, mostly as a reminder of where I was and where I am headed. That funeral released me to move on...I stopped when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror later that night...surprised to see a face that showed emotion, but no worry lines, no stone face...just a man who was free.
There were many other men I knew and recognized. They had come to pay their respects as well.
As I stood over the covered body I thought about all of the many things this man had meant to me and my life over time....the time he stepped in when as an eight year old I could not yet stand up for myself...beaten badly and not knowing where to turn.
The times I was alone and feeling forgotten...this man was the only person who believed in me and stood courageously between myself and the world. The times I was repeatedly sent to my room without dinner--he fed me with thoughts I took as courage...
Oh there were so many times and situations where he showed up and put forth a brave face--a face of no emotion, set like a flint in a direction--strong and unyielding. Always looking at the end goal and making sure I stayed on task..not letting any others--or distractions in to help or hurt--and definitely not to feel.
The problem with this man was eventually never learning to forgive and let things go, without learning true forgiveness and the power it gave me by releasing someone else--letting things go....it began to create a log jam in my life. Eventually that man loomed larger and larger in the scope of my life and everything else began to be smaller and distant memories. All of the hurt, the pain and the desire for what I saw as righteous justice became my life's false compass--and true North was facing someplace completely in the wrong direction.
As the evening progressed I found myself in front of the body of that man...it was time for me to say some words about him. "He was a protector, someone who never backed down from a challenge...a man who stepped in the gap--even the gaps in my life. I hold no anger towards this man--for although he became so looming and large where he was not asked to take a lead.....there was a time when he protected and helped when nothing else worked or made sense. His time had passed."
"There are many faces to a man, and few men that I have met who are true to who they really are...that they know how they are designed by their creator and use those gifts and identity without wearing a mask. We all wear many masks--created by agreements made in the battles of our lives--battles for our hearts--battles against an enemy desiring to wipe us out BEFORE we become who we were meant to be. These masks work for a time--yes-if they didn't work, we wouldn't continue to use them. Most men act oblivious to the masks they wear as a false identity. They continue to use each mask because life works for them when they have used it. I knew I was certainly not who I was meant to be."
"This man was needed at one time to protect the young boy who couldn't speak for himself and protect himself in a dangerous world. In the absence of a family to protect and nurture he invited in the persona of protection and thus an agreement--that carried on and on."
"There was a time when he was so needed but now we are here tonight to say goodbye to him. Without his moving on and stepping aside, the boy would never grow up and become who he was intended to be. We find him admirable for his strengths and mourn his weaknesses that kept him stuck with his limited vision in who he was. All told, he was who he stated to be--nothing more, nothing less...but it is time to move on."
A funny thing about death---we almost certainly need some things to pass away in order to bring a birth of newness or new life, even new direction.
Sometimes I stop to remember him every now and then, mostly as a reminder of where I was and where I am headed. That funeral released me to move on...I stopped when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror later that night...surprised to see a face that showed emotion, but no worry lines, no stone face...just a man who was free.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
FEARLESS
The Fear
I feel the tingling down in my feet
A sick feeling deep in my gut that shakes me to my core
My head tells me I’ve been here before and will be again…and again
My head tells me I have to figure it all out…and that I am alone
My head droops…I walk without purpose…shuffling along without direction, wanting to hide
I hear myself saying I am alone…
The small voice tells me he was always with me—I was never alone
I want to get sick and throw out the poison from somewhere deep
In my chest my heart beats loudly and I am suddenly aware of it
I breathe deeply and look at the parts which add up to something bad
And though the parts don’t add up—I will not fear
Though everything swirls around me like a tornado whipping about—I will not fear
Catastrophe surrounds me at every angle—I cannot fear—it is not courage I am drawing up but something different ---it is different
The sickening poison of fear must come out from my gut…from deep in my soul—from the dreaded past
The sum whole should not equal peace and yet somehow the promise is for peace
Even retelling my very story should raise the fear and invite it all back into that space shaped just for it
Yet retelling my story points to unexplainable joys and treasures in the middle of the pain, snapshot gifts of life
And as I quiet my soul again I think I hear the small voice speak a word—or a name I need to hear….FEARLESS
How I question what I think I've heard
I refute and reject it entirely and try to move on…
Scenes flash before my eyes…scenes from the past but this time viewed through a different paradigm
With the new perspective what I saw were not cowardly scenes but knowing the internal fears those actions looked brave---is that how you see me?
Standing strong in the face of many fears, crippling fear…
My old mate—not a friend but an occupant of my soul that knows me too well---the enemy that drains my heart
You know me all too well and yet you demand everything, all of my space, all of my energy…it is never enough for you…you want everything
I go back to the Well to draw more strength…when I bring up the bucket there is only that word again…FEARLESS.
Really Father? Is that what you think?
Again he shows me evidence of men who are afraid who become bold, men who lie who become a rock of virtue, men who steal from others who become the biggest generous givers…The economy of what is seen does not equal what they became…a new name was given and a trajectory of an incredible destiny
What I was told all of my life…all of the stories—they push back---they try to ground me...but they will not overcome this new foothold of hope
The wave of dread will not envelope me into darkness this time…it roars at me with all of its might—anger and roaring…but deep inside in my soul is an untouchable foothold that feels some type of unexplainable peace
Although outwardly I shake I continue to press forward…one step, then another….My father sends a message through brothers—"take the next step"—and by only focusing on the next step—and that step only---I have less space for the fear to try to rush back in
My name is Light
I was created to reflect a glory of purely connecting with others, helping them while living completely transparent—without fear—and that is who my Father sees when he looks at me and that is who he says that I am….
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
being invisible
Being invisible--this is not some sort of super power...
in fact it's quite the opposite....the ability to disappear or become invisible was a highly valued trait in my family growing up.
in fact it's quite the opposite....the ability to disappear or become invisible was a highly valued trait in my family growing up.
It was a conversation with my different brothers and sisters as an adult that finally had me connecting these dots of my childhood. Most of us had some connection to this same part of our stories...trying to not be noticed or seen, trying to be quiet and not make waves, trying to be invisible and survive.
I found these conversations quite sad...and yet I draw strength and joy from the place where I am now--knowing I have come so far from that place of fear and pain.
It's hard to talk about some of the past and my journey. I find strength and some solace in the fact that we all share some of this same piece in our stories. We were all somehow separated and surviving, some similarly coping, and some barely surviving.
I also am very angry about how we were separated from each other emotionally and disconnected in that we all needed to individually survive. In this environment, we were immersed into corporal punishment as a way of dealing with things as simple and foolish as "where are the scissors?" No one wanted to turn others in and be a snitch, but nobody wanted to be the target of repeated punishment either. I'm ashamed I didn't stand up for my younger brothers and sisters more than I did. It was just wrong. After a while, if I wasn't the target of the day it felt pretty good. Instead of being celebrated for the good and unique individual gifts we all brought to the family....we learned that not being celebrated or noticed was the best thing we could hope for in this twisted economy.
I'm angry and sad for the missed time with some of my brothers and sisters...missing out on some of their true selves.
I have read how God saves and has collected every tear...
Psalm 56:8
I have also read how he redeems the years the locusts have eaten.
Joel Chapter 2
How I need to believe that tonight God...How I need to trust that you have seen everything and you are my strength, my shield.
To my brothers and sisters, I am so sorry for what you have all endured and the lingering effects it has had on each of your lives. I apologize for the times I didn't stand up for you and didn't stop the beatings...stop the insanity. I am sorry for not finding the courage and inner strength to overcome my fears and stand up to injustice. I'm sorry I couldn't see how we all were trying not to be seen---so sorry I was so nearsighted on survival that I couldn't see what each of you were going through.
Today I celebrate that each of us is NOT invisible...that we are all strange and quirky in a wonderful way.
God will redeem those years, he will heal our hearts, and from the ugly scars of this story he will bring hope to someone
I also am very angry about how we were separated from each other emotionally and disconnected in that we all needed to individually survive. In this environment, we were immersed into corporal punishment as a way of dealing with things as simple and foolish as "where are the scissors?" No one wanted to turn others in and be a snitch, but nobody wanted to be the target of repeated punishment either. I'm ashamed I didn't stand up for my younger brothers and sisters more than I did. It was just wrong. After a while, if I wasn't the target of the day it felt pretty good. Instead of being celebrated for the good and unique individual gifts we all brought to the family....we learned that not being celebrated or noticed was the best thing we could hope for in this twisted economy.
I'm angry and sad for the missed time with some of my brothers and sisters...missing out on some of their true selves.
I have read how God saves and has collected every tear...
Psalm 56:8
I have also read how he redeems the years the locusts have eaten.
Joel Chapter 2
How I need to believe that tonight God...How I need to trust that you have seen everything and you are my strength, my shield.
To my brothers and sisters, I am so sorry for what you have all endured and the lingering effects it has had on each of your lives. I apologize for the times I didn't stand up for you and didn't stop the beatings...stop the insanity. I am sorry for not finding the courage and inner strength to overcome my fears and stand up to injustice. I'm sorry I couldn't see how we all were trying not to be seen---so sorry I was so nearsighted on survival that I couldn't see what each of you were going through.
Today I celebrate that each of us is NOT invisible...that we are all strange and quirky in a wonderful way.
God will redeem those years, he will heal our hearts, and from the ugly scars of this story he will bring hope to someone
Saturday, July 27, 2013
the Hezekiah Challenge
All good stories have a conflict--a challenge, a battle to fight or a journey to go on...Back in the book of Isaiah there is a strange and unique story regarding King Hezekiah.
The king receives a letter from his nemesis...a neighboring monarch that is ruthless and cruel...he outlines everything he plans on doing to the king and the people of Israel. You might believe that King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put ashes on his head...he didn't....but he did one thing...he put the letter scrolled out on the altar in the temple in front of the Lord. He gave it over to the only one who could save him.
Sometimes when we have other alternative options it's much easier to count on ourselves.
It's easier when we are dire and desperate to reach out to the only one who can save us.
One other thing I know to be true....when I'm afraid that God might not really be there or worse--that he is silent or indifferent...it's easier for me not to ask for anything--that way my idea that he is there and is all powerful stays in tact. If I ask for something and he is silent or he might not be there--or worse--that I am alone and abandoned becomes more than I can bare. Better that he is all powerful God and I could call on him at any time...if I wish to.
Fast forward to my dilemma...My son wants to go to college. He has a partial scholarship and has been working hard to get the rest together ASAP. It's a race against time that we are losing and hope is eroding quickly.
This past spring I clearly heard a few words from God while driving to work. "I am going before him--I am going before Grant."Now I am not in the habit of hearing words every day...in fact rarely have I heard anything so clearly.
In the moment I felt great...God is going before my son...what more could I ever want to hear? The only problem was what does that exactly mean? With things not really falling into place I began to ask God "what did that statement mean?" I told my son about it who didn't share my enthusiasm and looked a bit more skeptical.
I heard one more word...."wait."
Time was running out...so I pulled a Hezekiah. I wasn't sure if God wanted Grant to go to college at UT or MTSU or community college or something even more different and radical. I simply couldn't sleep, got up and read that story in the book of Isaiah and prayed to God for direction...I left the story of Hezekiah open on the computer table along with a note with the dollar amount Grant is short for qualifying with his finances. It wasn't as dire as someone attacking my kingdom--but I had shared the words I heard with my son and he needed to know that God does show up on our behalf...his words are to be counted on.
2 days passed...48 long hours.
You know what I'm talking about...the kind of quiet long hours that make you wonder what is going on behind the scenes and how will I know what God's will and intentions are?
In actuality--this isn't very long....then I received my answer...
I am happy to tell you that there is an opportunity for him to have the exact amount needed and it's quite unbelievable..an opportunity to work hard and get what he needs. I can't share any more details because I need to protect the participants in the story.
I just want to say...we serve an incredible God.
He CAN and STILL DOES do what he wants to show his power and glory because he can.
If it meant no to college plans I wonder how my feelings would really be towards God...I would love to say I'd be all in and good, but I would be confused and trying to understand. I'm trying to be honest and real.
This was a prayer of a father pleading with God to make himself known in Grant's relationship to give them a history together for future struggles in his own story...and understanding that He does show up in the 11th hour at times....and He is amazing. I want him to know he can lay out the challenges in front of God -- and know he is heard.
Oh and what ever happened with King Hezekiah? His enemy gathered his army together as a formidable force...and strangely all of the men were killed in the middle of the night inexplicably destroyed the army of 185,000 without even a fight....challenge answered.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
It's All Up To Me Now.....
We were talking about how to help my son with his college costs--and how in the world I could offer anything financially....I saw the look in my son's eyes...the face, the fear, the posture....it took me back, back to a time when I realized it was all up to me.
I set out working the only place I could get my foot in the door...fast food.
I worked many hours at night while attending community college during the day. It was a good college for the money and had credible professors teaching. It was a long road through those first two years...it was a lonely road. Almost all of my friends that began attending there had dropped out to stay home and drink and watch cable TV and the new ESPN channel to fill their days (yes-that dates it about right cable was still just beginning). To stay engaged and give my best at school and then work my tail off schlepping burgers and cleaning grills and hoods and filters by night, mopping and scrubbing floors and changing out fryers regularly....it was challenging...but while I was in the middle of it all it never occurred to me that I might not make it...or I might not get to my goal of graduating college and finding a management job.
I worked about 50 hours a week on top of my full course load for those two years. I was focused.
One thing that I can look back with perspective and certainty and know about what happens when that "switch is flipped" and I decide it's all up to me....My emotions disconnect...so I journeyed without my heart. I would gain all of my goals but once I got there I would suddenly look around...like a man trying to gain focus and clarity after a long sleep. I realized there was no one to share in my joy of that goal being attained. What a strange and hollow victory...here I was the first of my family to graduate with my degree....what I would have given for some camaraderie and friends to cheer me on...ones for me to speak to and encourage.
"I must just need a larger goal" I thought....so on to Messiah College to complete my Bachelor degree. But when I got to the goal, again, I looked around and felt empty.
Softball championships--sports...no?
Business successes...no? What is wrong here?
This was a pattern that repeated many times for me because "flipping that switch" that put me into focus mode was something that served me well. If I wasn't successful in some measure with it I wouldn't keep turning back to it.
Yes, it served me well for many goals and just surviving in a chaotic early home life.
The problem is in the initial statement "it's all up to me now...."
Truly, it's not the whole truth.
I have to be a little careful how I say this...in christian circles there is a feeling and belief and statements made about "waiting on the Lord or waiting on God." I observed this at a young age and wrote that group of people off as lazy, making excuses for skipping hard work and probably a few more messages that are along that same thinking.
I have never been good at this waiting thing...
I still believe that many Christians use this as a crutch or excuse to not do the hard work they can do--as doing their part.
The REAL truth is that much of life IS hard and God does want us to do things...no--not everything and certainly not to make the journey without our hearts.
He doesn't want us to rely on ourselves...he is a relational God, and we are designed to be relational. He puts others into our story to gain strength from seeing and hearing our stories...our struggles....
He also puts others into our stories to help us...wow, that was a foreign concept to me...but one that spoke to me deeply about how much God has actually thought about me.
How I wish I could fight the battle my Son is about to...how I wish I can convince him to make the journey WITH his whole heart.
How I want to spread the message about the things that work for us, aren't always the best things for us throughout life.....Instead of flipping the switch next time....pray, scrutinize, evaluate, share with trusted friends and then take action--but realize through good and bad, God is making the journey with you.
= it's NOT ALL up to you
We rarely spoke of money things in our house growing up. With 8 kids and additional foster children and only one bread winner...you just didn't want to rock the boat. Add that Dad was working a second job a few nights each week and was tired...there just wasn't anything in my DNA that knew how to even ask about college money and choices...there was no choice. My Dad's words to me? "it's all up to you now."
I set out working the only place I could get my foot in the door...fast food.
I worked many hours at night while attending community college during the day. It was a good college for the money and had credible professors teaching. It was a long road through those first two years...it was a lonely road. Almost all of my friends that began attending there had dropped out to stay home and drink and watch cable TV and the new ESPN channel to fill their days (yes-that dates it about right cable was still just beginning). To stay engaged and give my best at school and then work my tail off schlepping burgers and cleaning grills and hoods and filters by night, mopping and scrubbing floors and changing out fryers regularly....it was challenging...but while I was in the middle of it all it never occurred to me that I might not make it...or I might not get to my goal of graduating college and finding a management job.
I worked about 50 hours a week on top of my full course load for those two years. I was focused.
One thing that I can look back with perspective and certainty and know about what happens when that "switch is flipped" and I decide it's all up to me....My emotions disconnect...so I journeyed without my heart. I would gain all of my goals but once I got there I would suddenly look around...like a man trying to gain focus and clarity after a long sleep. I realized there was no one to share in my joy of that goal being attained. What a strange and hollow victory...here I was the first of my family to graduate with my degree....what I would have given for some camaraderie and friends to cheer me on...ones for me to speak to and encourage.
"I must just need a larger goal" I thought....so on to Messiah College to complete my Bachelor degree. But when I got to the goal, again, I looked around and felt empty.
Softball championships--sports...no?
Business successes...no? What is wrong here?
This was a pattern that repeated many times for me because "flipping that switch" that put me into focus mode was something that served me well. If I wasn't successful in some measure with it I wouldn't keep turning back to it.
Yes, it served me well for many goals and just surviving in a chaotic early home life.
The problem is in the initial statement "it's all up to me now...."
Truly, it's not the whole truth.
I have to be a little careful how I say this...in christian circles there is a feeling and belief and statements made about "waiting on the Lord or waiting on God." I observed this at a young age and wrote that group of people off as lazy, making excuses for skipping hard work and probably a few more messages that are along that same thinking.
I have never been good at this waiting thing...
I still believe that many Christians use this as a crutch or excuse to not do the hard work they can do--as doing their part.
The REAL truth is that much of life IS hard and God does want us to do things...no--not everything and certainly not to make the journey without our hearts.
He doesn't want us to rely on ourselves...he is a relational God, and we are designed to be relational. He puts others into our story to gain strength from seeing and hearing our stories...our struggles....
He also puts others into our stories to help us...wow, that was a foreign concept to me...but one that spoke to me deeply about how much God has actually thought about me.
How I wish I could fight the battle my Son is about to...how I wish I can convince him to make the journey WITH his whole heart.
How I want to spread the message about the things that work for us, aren't always the best things for us throughout life.....Instead of flipping the switch next time....pray, scrutinize, evaluate, share with trusted friends and then take action--but realize through good and bad, God is making the journey with you.
= it's NOT ALL up to you
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Speak the 10% (SpeakThe10Percent)
What is the 10% that goes unsaid? What do I mean?
Well to know what it is-- it's probably easier to start with what it is not...that's what we usually come across in life.
The 90% we experience every day is normal every day life..coming, going, working, coming home, hanging out at home, going to church, the grocery store, working out...it's all of the activities we do, the hats we wear to do them....and the substance=not so much.
The 90%--it's comfortable, it doesn't rock the boat, it maintains the status quot....it's not challenging, but then again nobody gets hurt. The 90% just feels good so just turn it down a notch and don't get too worked up. It doesn't insult anyone or step on their beliefs. It just sits down after work and turns on the tube and zones out nicely.
It makes me want to jump up and scream....
You see, nobody wants the other 10% and you know what, nobody wants to step up and give it anyways. To go to the 10% requires a lot from a person...to really desire to go there requires much....
Courage--yes it takes courage to speak the 10% nobody speaks. If it were easy; everybody would be doing it.
Listening and empathy--In order to speak that 10% it requires a lot of listening to others, not planning what we will say next. Seek first to understand, then to be understood as the parable says. Invest the pre-time with your heart.
Patience--There is a skill to knowing when. It's all about timing--giving it when needed--not too soon, not too late.
What is an example of speaking into that 10%? How about...
Al Pacino in "Scent of a Woman" where he listens carefully, he knows Charlie well by the time he speaks up to represent him. He listens to Charlie's story and plight. He has patience to listen at first at the trial until he can't take it any more. And then what? The 10% comes out..
Powerfully
He tells everyone what he sees and paints the picture. He speaks the truth that otherwise would have gone unsaid. He stands up for someone because he sees character.
That's a truth about the 10% I've come to know...if we don't step up at certain moments then those moments will pass and our voice will not be heard.
What happens with that 10%...why is it worthwhile???
All of the growing, challenges in life are in that 10%
All statements that challenge us to our core lie there in the 10%.
The inner growth--it's in the 10%...
The uncomfortable--it's in there...
The out of your element...it's in there
The unrehearsed awkwardness...it's in there
The opportunity to ruin a friendship...it's in there
The opportunity to knock down walls...it's in there
The chance to make a fool of yourself...it's in there
The chance to create a defining moment--it's in there
The push to encourage and inspire--it's in there...
It's a great risk for an opportunity of great reward
Anyone can live in the 90%....
It takes someone to be bold, loving and just a bit crazy to cross over to the 10%
I used to think of the 10% as a weapon, a special sword to be wielded skillfully...not so
It is a weapon when wielded in the wrong way without patience and timing--period.
In the right hands -- at the right time...it is more like a surgeon with a knife carefully doing an implant operation or a surgery----realness, encouragement, enlightenment, joy, wonder, hope....or carefully attempting to help carve something for removal. Triage for someone we love and care about.
Everything worthwhile in life happens in that 10%---so why do we all--myself included avoid it?!
To quote Pacino from the movie--"Now I have come to the crossroads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew. But I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard."
Carving out the time, empathy and quality space to do this is hard. And so moments come and pass because we are unwilling to step into that moment and give what we are called to give of ourselves. Here's the bottom line--the 10% changes the world.
It is time to live in that 10%---it's where everything good for me has ever happened...it is why we are given voices to speak into each other's lives...to offer words of hope, love, encouragement...and yes to challenge each other too. Without someone being willing to do that for me, I'd be long gone from this world.
Life and being a believer are not about being a bunch of really nice guys...and boring everyone to death is not the substance of the 10%.
Challenging each other and finding a way to use your voice...encouraging and inspiring...that is the 10% never said.
It's kind of like driving a Ferrari while blind...big risk, big reward----hooooooah
...the 10% changes the world...
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