Looking to the future

Sometimes, when things seem hopeless, it's good to focus on the future. Looking forward to a better time, and better day. I know when I was in the Army I spent 2 years overseas in Europe. I was stationed in Stuttgart Germany, and even though it was wonderful living there and experiencing life in Europe, I also missed home and America. I remember on those days that I was homesick, I would think to myself, this is only temporary and it's not going to last forever, it won't be long before I'm back home and this would always make me feel better and even help me be able to endure whatever I was going through or feeling at the time.

The day before my oldest son Eric was to go into jail for the next 2 and half years of his life, I was riding my motorcycle and thinking about how difficult this was going to be for him. How difficult this was going to be for his Mom, his brother, and myself. I was pained at the thought of this separation for so long. Remembering how it helped me to look forward to the future when I was stationed in Europe I thought to myself, "I need to give Eric something to look forward to in the future when he finally gets out. A carrot "so to speak" that will await him when he gets out in a few years. Eric had always wanted to learn to ride my bike so I went home and had Eric join me on the bike and I spend some time with him his last free day teaching him how to ride. He absolutely loved riding the bike and he did very well. After our short time together I made Eric a promise. I told him to remember how good it felt to ride and never forget it while he's in jail, because when he gets out... the bike is his. I told him I wanted him to have my bike and look forward to once again feeling the freedom you feel when your riding a bike down the road. Of course he was excited about this and as I had hoped, over the next few years while I'd visit him in jail we talk about one day getting to ride again. I believe this helped him more than I ever dreamed. It's in times like these we need something to look forward to, helping to take our mind off of what we're going through at the moment.

Yesterday, Eric got his bike! It's taken a few months since he got out but he practiced riding and took his test to get his motorcycle licence and after getting insurance yesterday he finally got his bike. It's his! I wish that I had planned better, because right now I'm without a bike, but Eric doesn't seem to mind me riding whenever I want until I get another one of my own.

You know, I find it very helpful to look to the future when times get tough. Looking forward can pull you through because you always know there is a better day ahead. Don't let today's problems ruin your hopes for tomorrow. You know when you have Jesus as your Lord and Savior, there's always a better day ahead. This has always helped me through the tough times in my life. I hope you too have Jesus in your life. Because I promise you... when you go through trials, when you go through set backs or struggles, you won't be alone and it doesn't last forever. What you are going through is only temporary and it helps to look to the future and take your mind off of the present. Yes... there is a better day ahead.

John 14:1-3
The Way, the Truth, and the Life

1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Prayer: Dear God, no matter what we go through, we can have the assurance that it's only temporary. You have promised us eternal life in a special place that you have prepared for us! Just as I looked to the day I'd return home and Eric looked to the day he'd ride free again, we can look to the day when we'll live forever with You in paradise! Knowing this can get us through anything we face today. Thank you Lord for your loving kindness and for reminding us that this is not all there is. It's in Jesus name I pray. Amen

Where's your Spark?

It's hard to stay upbeat and energetic when you just don't feel like it. Today I was asked by an associate if I was ok? She says that I'm tired looking and I just don't have that spark the last couple of weeks. She says I'm still professional and friendly and all that, but I just look, well, stressed and tired!

News flash... I am stressed! My job is stressful in nature. Budgets to achieve, along with operational expectations and demands, can take a toll on you. No one really cares that it's stressful either... those above you just want results and after all you are in a position to figure those things out. I accept full responsibility for my career and I hold myself to a very high standard. Basically, I can stress myself out by holding myself accountable, rarely do I need someone else to do it for me. I know if I'm meeting expectations or not, and when I'm not... I'm stressed!

Saying that however I realize that if I appear stressed I can affect the people that I supervise into feeling stressed just because I'm stressed. My stress, my anxiousness, unsettles others around me and I understand the affect this has on others. I appreciate her saying something to me so I can be aware of this. I know she's concerned about me and that means a lot to me. The problem is however, even after she said something to me, I was still stressed!!!! Sure I was more aware of it, but the stress is still there to be contended with and my only hope today was to try and cover it in someway, which honestly I'm lousy at doing. My face always has reflected how I feel. I can't really hide it. So what course should I take now? How do I eliminate my stress so that I once again have that "spark" in my eyes that my co worker misses seeing in me? And quite frankly... needs to see in me as her leader.

I believe most of my stress comes from worry and the bible has a lot to say about worry. There are many verses that help us on the subject of worry and I know in my life, when I miss budget, when I miss sales projections, when I miss the mark on expectations or goals, I worry about the consequences of it. Worry comes from fear and God says we should not be afraid but rather but our faith and trust in him. those of you that know me know I struggle in this area and you know what? I'm not alone. You know how I know I'm not alone in this issue? The bible speaks too much about it for it not to be something all of us are going to struggle with from time to time. The good news is, that this worry, this fear can be overcome and it's something that should not take the spark out of our life. My focus is in the wrong place for me to have lost my spark.

My first plan of action needs to be... "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness."

Jesus teaches about worry... Matthew 6:25-34
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

My job has always had a lot of stress in it, but lately I've been really worried and concerned about my results. I've always believed and know that I must strive to do my best and use my God given mind to think my way into improving my results. But sometimes everything you try just doesn't deliver the results you had planned. What do you do in this situation? I don't know about you but my tendency is to work harder and harder and before I know it, I've left God out of the equation. Not completely of course, but to the point I'm focused more on what I can do rather than what God can do. The points is this, God promises comfort, peace, and security in all situations and circumstances. My problem is to be mindful of that and seek God's kingdom and His righteousness, and God will then meet my needs. he will guide my steps and encourage me on my journey of ups and downs.

Prayer: Dear God, forgive me for forgetting to seek You first. I ask that You give me strength, energy, and the desire to seek Your will in my life and then through my obedience, You will provide. Whether I ever accomplish all the goals and expectations I set for myself at work, one thing I do know, I don't need to worry about my life. Worrying only makes me sick and unhealthy. My hope and prayer is that as I seek You and follow You I will perform as I live for You. May others see a spark in me, and that spark reflect the light of Jesus. It's in Jesus name I pray. Amen

Vegas

Recently I took a vacation trip to Vegas. Yes I know of all places to go, Vegas (sin city) would not have been on the top of your list for vacations but this trip had been planned for a long time. You can see from the picture at Hoover Dam, my son Ryan went with me. This trip was special in that this was a Father/Son trip.

Years ago when Ryan was around 10 or 11 years old, I'd take him to a convenience store and buy him a 20oz. coke. He'd always go for the bottles that had the "You can win" lid's on them. When we'd get in the car he'd take off the cap of the coke bottle and look at the inside of the cap and sure enough! Most times he'd win a free bottle of coke. I can't tell you how many times this happened. Over and over again he'd win those free cokes. One day I told him, "As lucky as you are when you turn 21 I'm going to take you to Vegas." Well Ryan, even at this young age had an Idea of what Vegas was like, because he'd watched the Griswalds (Chevy Chase and family) go to Vegas on their vacation. He loved that movie and of course we joked with each other about only having to buy one way tickets to Vegas because we'd drive back the cars we won (just like they did in the movie.) We'll we had fun for several years joking about this, then as Ryan got a little older he mentioned, "Dad, we really ought to go to Vegas as a Father son trip when I turn 21." I think he may have been 16 maybe when we decided to really do this. So I made a commitment that we'd do the trip when he turned 21. So for many years after that we would occasionally speak of the trip joking again about winning it big. For me the excitement about the trip was different than I suppose Ryan's was. I was excited about spending time with my son.

Well Ryan turned 21 in November of last year and with his school and my work we couldn't arrange to go on vacation until March of this year. Well as you can imagine... were not gamblers, but we did plan all kinds of other fun things to do while we were there for four days. We stayed at the Paris Hotel (pictured above), which I would recommend to anyone wanting to go to Vegas. It's centrally located on the strip and close to many other shows and hotels. We wanted to play golf, but decided against it when we realized just how expensive the courses were there. We went to see Lance Burton the magician. This was a great show and we enjoyed going to his show and then out to eat our first evening. The next day we went to see Terry Fader the ventriloquist. You may have seen him win on the TV show, "America's got Talent." Now this was a great show, lots of fun and he;s so talented, and again we went out to eat. The next day we went on a tour bus out to Hoover Dam and enjoyed our day there. Of course our Dam tour guide enjoyed telling us telling us several Dam jokes as we went on the Dam tour. You can imagine.

The good news is we didn't lose a lot of money, because you have to bet to lose it. Every hotel has a casino and you see many people betting money, and losing it. I didn't see anyone win big, and if they did win and collect a stack of chips, it wouldn't be long before that stack disappeared as they continued to play. Ryan and I played a few slot machines, yes we ventured out with our 10 to 20 dollars here and there, but it was short lived and I was thinking to myself it sure is good that we bought round trip plane tickets, because we certainly were not driving back in new cars that we won playing the slots in Vegas. Save that stuff for the movies!

The reason I even mention this trip however is because I will never forget this trip as long as I live. What began as a joke when he was 10 years old turned into a wonderful Father/Son trip that gave Ryan and myself a chance to spend some quality time together. I was telling someone at work about this trip my son and I took together and he said... "It's great that you have a son at the age that would want to spend time like that with his Dad." I really never thought about it much, but I am so blessed that my boys (both of them) love being with their Mom and Dad. they show great respect for us as their parents and both love spending time with us.

Another thing that I believe is so important is that I made a promise to my son and I kept it. This trip was so important to him and he thought about it constantly throughout the years and now that we've gone and come back we talk about the fun time we had together. It's also kind of fun to watch the expression on my Christian brothers and sisters faces when I tell then I went to Vegas for my vacation. I guess most see the worst in Vegas, the drinking, gambling, and exotic shows, but that's not all there is to do there. There's so much more to see and do. Wonderful restaurants, great shows, and fantastic tours around the area. You don't have to go there with the slogan in your head... "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" you can go and come back and tell everyone what you did. Sin doesn't just abide in a city called Vegas, you can stay at home and find it as well.

I thank the Lord for the time Ryan and I had together.

Rescue, our only hope!

Recently we watched the Television in amazement as the news of "The Miracle on Hudson" played out. We see this plane full of people making a quick detour to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River after hitting a flock of Geese. This plane suddenly lost all engine power and basically became a huge glider that had no where to go but down. The pilot, capt. "Sully" as we've come to know him, stays calm and glides that plane into the Hudson River and the end result is all the passengers and crew survive the crash landing. He's a hero in the eyes of all of us who watch this take place and especially to those that were on board that airplane. Sully", in his humbleness gives the credit to his crew as well. When we hear him speak of the event, he says he doesn't feel like a hero, he was just doing what he's trained to do, and he never forgets to remind us that he could not have done this without his crew. Getting the plane down safely was his responsibility, but after they landed in the river... what next? Fortunately for those on board, a Rescue was on the way. Recent pictures show people standing calmly on the wings of the plane with their feet in the ice cold water, awaiting rescue. Rescue now being their only hope!

You see, just as those folks survived the crash, they still were not out of the water. If they had not been rescued, they would have perished even though they made it through the crash landing. Let me ask you this question... Have you been rescued? You may be asking, "Rescued from what?" The truth is you can live your whole life and survive all the crashes and wrecks you go through, and still perish in the end. God rescues people everyday by offering them the gift of eternal life. God is your Hope. God is your rescuer. To live life without Jesus Christ as your Savior, is to like surviving the crash landing in the River and thinking, whew, that was close, I made it! I'm alive! But even during this time of celebration, the life threatening dangers are still there. The plane is slowly sinking and unless you get rescued you will die in that icy cold water.

Don't live your life surviving events only to drown in the end because you didn't see the danger and refused to call out for help. God will answer your call for help. Once your realize that you need to be rescued, then it's easy to call out for help and accept being rescued. Those refusing to be rescued do not realize the danger around them.

Again, have you been rescued? I have. No matter what happens in my life, I've been rescued from a place called Hell. I will not go there. God gave me eternal life the day I gave my life to him. The day I surrendered to Him and asked Jesus to become Lord of my life. I was saved! I was rescued. I didn't change my lifestyle first, I didn't clean up my act, I didn't try to become someone I wasn't, I simply realized that I was in trouble and that Jesus was the only one that could save me.

Joel 2:32
Acts 2:21
Romans 10:13
Psalm 68:20

Rescue, our only hope!

What will tomorrow bring?

What will tomorrow bring?
I don't know, but God does!

For every question in life that we have... God knows the answer!
For every fear that we face... God is always with us!
For every challenge we endure... God knew we'd make it!
For every friend or loved one we've lost... God helped us through it!
For every time we didn't understand... God did!
For every time we didn't know which way to turn... God showed us the way!
For every time we were in the dark... God gave us light!
For every time we felt hopeless... God gave us hope!
For every sickness we have... God is the cure!
For every sin we commit... God forgives!

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord... God gives eternal life!

What will tomorrow bring?
Put your trust in the One who knows... God.

Stay focused

There is only so much you can do. There is only so much that you can control. If you want to be frustrated beyond belief then try and do everything and control everything. Seems the hardest thing to learn is realizing that you can't fix it all. The next thing that you must learn is that it's not always up to you to fix. You see as a leader that's hard to swallow. Leaders are fixers. We see the problem and then develop a plan to get it fixed. We're used to dealing with action plans, achieving budget goals, and taking the steps necessary to get the results we need. But I think it's important to always remember, some things are under your control or supervision, while others are not. Realizing what is and what isn't can help determine the level of our involvement and focus. Once we know what it is we can fix or control, then stay focused on it and don't get distracted by the things you can't do anything about. Doing this will help you to stay focused to achieve better results and leave behind what's not yours to deal with.

In the movie "Apollo 13" the crew in outer space has very little battery power left to power up the space module. They must determine the exact amount of amperage needed to power it back up and then by flipping switches in a specific order they begin to turn on the equipment. We watch as each piece of equipment powers up and the amperage usage creeps up and up until they come dangerously close to overloading the amount of power supply available to them and risk not being able to start the space module back up. If they go over the amount of amperage they have available to them, nothing will work. Kinda like us isn't it. Sometimes we extend ourselves too thin, we drain ourselves of our energy worrying, concerned about, and even stressing over things we have no control over. Then nothing works! We don't have the energy or stamina to deal with the responsibilities we are accountable for. So we don't perform, we don't achieve, we don't accomplish our goals, and we wonder why life is so hard. We can worry about the news and what we hear on it, yet most of it we have no control over.

Many people today are worried about many things. The news will scare you to death. The economy is in rough shape. We're probably all in for a rougher ride before it gets better. Focus on your life and what you can do to impact your situation. God is with you and believe it or not, He's aware of all that is happening... let Him take care of all the stuff you can't or shouldn't. Focus on what He'd have you do for your family, in your job or career, in your church, with your friends in your community. Be ready to serve wherever God leads you, but remember this... Don't spread yourself so thin that the great gifts that God has given you today become lost because of your lack of focus on what's important to you now. Love your kids, love your spouse, work hard and ethically for your employer and seek God's relationship and direction in your life. God promises not to give us more than we can handle... so if you feel overwhelmed, maybe, just maybe it's not God that piled the plate so full. Think about it.

"Father, forgive them"

The following words were spoken by Jesus at the time of his death on the cross. Luke 23:34 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." Jesus knew the weight of this moment in time. The whole world needed forgiveness of sin even if we didn't realize it at the time. Even though we were crucifying Jesus, even though we were hurling insults at him during his death, even though we turned our back on him, he knew and understood that we had not a clue as to what was going on. We did not know or understand the significance of this event in history. Jesus knowing this... called out to his Father God to forgive us for what we were doing and God in his graciousness forgave us and gave us new life through his son Jesus. God forgave the Jewish leaders, the Roman politicians and soldiers, all the bystanders, and everyone that participated in the murder of his Son because Jesus asked for us to be forgiven. God answered Jesus prayer and opened up the way of salvation through the sacrificial death and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ.

I've always been amazed at God's love for us. The fact that he would sacrifice his son as an atonement or payment for our sin. Even more amazing is even though Jesus was being killed and suffering so greatly during this painful death, he sees past the moment and the pain and asks God to forgive us. I must think that the suffering was so great for both Jesus and God, that a reminder from Jesus to his Father was needed. Seeing the hate from the people, seeing the satisfaction that these people must have had on their faces, would be enough to think... forget it! They don't deserve eternal life, look at them, ungrateful, unappreciative, terrible, evil people! God could have easily poured his wrath out on the world at that moment and said forget it all! But Jesus said... Father forgive them, they don't know what they're doing. A reminder of our ignorance. So God allowed it to happen and raised his son up from the dead three days later and provided a way for us to have eternal life. To live in the presence of almighty God forever forgiven and free of sin.

God does forgive! But we must ask just as Jesus asked for our forgiveness during his crucifixion. You see if we ask for His forgiveness it means that we trust that He can forgive us. You wouldn't ask God for forgiveness unless you truly believed that He had the ability and authority to forgive you. God has proved his unfailing love for us because even in his misery of seeing his Son dying on the cross He forgave us as Jesus prayed for us. We can see another example of God's love and forgiveness during Jesus death on the cross. Luke 23:39-43 shows us again the love and forgiveness of God. As this man, this criminal was dying, he turned to Jesus Christ for forgiveness and Christ accepted him. You see, even in his misery, Jesus had mercy on this criminal who decided to believe in him. It's never too late to turn to God for forgiveness. This also shows us that it's not our works that save us but rather our faith in Christ. It's in our belief that God can forgive us of our sin and it's when we come to Him asking for forgiveness that we see the love of God poured out on us. Instead of getting what we deserve (death and separation from a Holy God) we get eternal life. It's not earned, it's not deserved, it's simply a gift of love because of our faith and belief that God can forgive us if we ask.

So the next time you realize you've sinned against God, take it to Jesus and ask for forgiveness. When we ask for forgiveness we are actually saying, I've wronged you in some way and I know you don't have to forgive me but I'm asking for your forgiveness. Please forgive me. The result is one or the other. Forgiveness or not. When you deal with people... sometimes they choose not to forgive you when you ask. They can't get past the fact that you've hurt them and they refuse forgiveness. But when you ask God for forgiveness remember that he will always forgive you because the ultimate test was during his Sons death on the cross. Even though we drove the nails through Jesus hands and feet, even though we drove the spear through his side, even though we hung him on the cross, and even though we whipped and beat him, God forgave us.

Don't you think that God will forgive you of the sins you committed today? You see there is nothing that you can do that God can't forgive you for? The worst thing we could have ever done, we did already, and He forgave us for it. So don't carry around guilt for your sins of today. Acknowledge those sins and take them to Jesus for forgiveness. Just as Jesus saw the ignorance of the people that were putting him to death... He also sees our weaknesses, our foolishness, and our sinful ways. Just as he did then, he does today... he stands ready to pray on our behalf before almighty God. Again he will pray... "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."

What do you need forgiveness for? Take it to Jesus and be forgiven.