Tag Archives: experience

Uncategorized

Created For So Much More!

Why are you the way you are? If we are honest with ourselves, we all have things we want to be better in our lives, but wanting is not enough. Some where a long the way, we learned that if things are not working the way we want them to, then it must be someone else’s fault. I call this the “BLAME GAME” and we are great at playing it. We’ve gotten so used to doing it, that we don’t even realize we are doing it and this is what so often gets us caught up in a life that is never ever getting any better in the sense that we were created for so much more.

We were created to bless and be blessed. We were created for success, happiness and fulfillment which comes from having a purpose and chasing after it. When we fail to see these things materialize in our own life, then we often shift to our “bad” training and rather than taking responsibility for ourselves, we begin to play the blame game.

The problem with blaming others is that it keeps us from achieving our created purpose and fulfilling the destiny or our soul through this human experience. The fact is: Everyone that is living this human experience is doing what they know how to do, what they’ve been trained to do by their surroundings and upbringing.

I never knew my biological father. My Mom was living in a very unhealthy and dangerous situation, which she eventually found the strength to get out of. Not long after that, my biological father discovered he had leukemia, which in short order took his life. My Mom eventually got back on her feet through hard work and supportive family and friends. She started to do whatever she had to do to make a life for the two of us to survive. It would have been very easy for her to give up, blame others and not take any responsibility, but she had more than herself to take care of, she had a baby boy, so she did what Mom’s do. She got rid of the excuses, didn’t get distracted by blame and did what she had to do to begin building a life and a future for us.

Eventually she would remarry a very kind, humble and decent man. A man who would adopt me as his very own son and raise me as such. They would eventually bless me with a little sister who was ten years younger than me and we would all grow up to be one big happy and often dysfunctional family.

Now what you don’t see, read or understand in that story is that interwoven all through it was a lot of ups and downs. We have had our fair share of mountain tops, but also walked through more valleys than we care to share. Life has been a challenge, but a good challenge as far as any of us are concerned and what hasn’t killed us, most definitely has made us stronger. We have struggled, faced heartache, experienced loss and gone through things that we would rather not talk about, but at the end of the day, it hasn’t been anyone else’s fault, just our experience and we are better, closer and stronger for it.

Life isn’t fair. Sometimes it sucks and many times along the way, it just isn’t any fun at all, but if we choose, we can learn from it all. If we will make sure to not get distracted by playing the blame game and just accept what happens as it happens, then we can learn from it, grow because of it and embrace the challenge that it brings our way, because it’s true – you really were created for so much more…

Advertisement
Uncategorized

Change Your Why To What And Move On!

Sometimes it just seems like it does not matter what you do, the world is just lined up against you. You get up with a good attitude, begin to take all the steps to head your life in a right direction and “BAM” out of nowhere you get blindsided once again with stuff you feel is totally out of your control.

So many of the people I talk to on a daily basis really do want to do better and live a more fulfilled life, but it just seems that no matter how hard they try, carefully they plan or how organized they become, life just seems to find a way of sticking it to them.

You may be one of those folks and trust me when I tell you that I can most definitely relate. I mean, I really do have the best of intentions. I like to think I have a pretty incredible work ethic and a tenacity to stick with it, no matter what, but sometimes life just seems to get too hard, especially when I seem to keep taking blow after blow after blow.

I have learned that when my life gets to this place, the first question, becomes the reoccurring question and before I know it, I have dug myself a grave. The question we tend to ask that gets us into such a mess is: “Why is this happening to me?” and the problem with the question is that it puts all the focus into the wrong place – me!

If you really want to succeed and experience blessings in this life, then you need to not only ask questions, but make sure you are asking the right questions. If we will just change our “why” question into a “what” question, we will be amazingly surprised at what a difference it will begin to make in our attitude and through our attitude with our life and living.

If you are going to ask and answer a question, then make sure it’s the right one. Instead of asking “Why is this happening to me?” Ask – “WHAT IS THIS TRYING TO TEACH ME?” It is the answer to this question that has the potential to set us free to be blessed in incredible ways. This question takes the focus off of me and puts it on the lesson I need to learn and once I learn this lesson, I am on my way to the better I was created for.

So my encouragement for today is to change your “WHY?” into a “WHAT?” and grow on! Trust me, you will be glad you did…

Uncategorized

Don’t Miss The New Thing!

The past is good and tradition is good, as long as we do not get stuck in it! The good thing about the past and tradition is that they can instruct us into a better and more productive future, if we are paying attention and learning for what they are teaching.

It is very easy to get “set in your ways”. We restrict ourselves from the forward progress that God has for us because we get stuck in our personal perspectives.  If we are not careful, we will find yourself in a rut of our own making, because we have gotten stuck in our own thinking!

Remember This! It is very important to remember that our God is a Creator!  As a creator, God is always doing something new.  But God can’t and won’t accomplish something new in and through our lives, if we are not willing to change.  We must be ready to enlarge our vision and expand our thinking – if we are to experience the new creation of our Amazing Creator God!

Don’t Miss It! In Isaiah 43:19  God says: “Behold I am doing a new thing!  Do you not perceive it and know it?” God wants to grow you!  God wants to promote you!  God wants to give you increase!  God wants to do something new, magnificent and unexplainable in and through your life.  God wants to do a new thing in and through you!  Did you notice the question in Isaiah?  It says:  “Can you not perceive it?”  If you can’t from your perspective, see the new thing that God wants to do in and through you, then you need to change your perspective!

Learn And Grow! Learn from the past and appreciate tradition, but don’t get stuck there, because if you do, you will miss the new thing that God is doing!

A Pray To Pray! Thank you God for our past and for helping us to learn from our mistakes and failures!  Thank you for tradition and for how it reminds me of Your faithfulness, goodness and grace!  Help us Lord to appreciate, but not get stuck in these places.  We don’t want to miss the new thing that you are doing.  Please let us be right in the middle of Your perfect will!