What more can HE say?
I begin this article with some measure of trepidation. You see, I'm not sure how you, the reader, will perceive it. I know what I am about to try to communicate, but in all things written, you the reader will read into this article from your own personal perceptions, experiences, and backgrounds. So, let me state from the beginning that it is not my desire to offend, but to inform. It is my hope that some will recognize the truth in this article and enjoy the benefits, while for others more inclined to be offended, I merely hope that you will consider with a thoughtful heart what is written, and to try to understand.
I remember a time, back in my college years, when I thought I would never get married. I was a very outgoing person, but when it came to talking with girls, I seemed to go mute. To put it bluntly, I was socially clumsy when it came to talking with girls. I had little success with dating, and in anguish I prayed for God to give me a wife while secretly thinking there is no way it would ever happen. I opened up my feelings on the matter to a close mentor who simply told me, "When the right girl comes along, you'll know it."
My question was: "But how?!?!?!
Answer: "You just will."
He smiled, gave a few more words of encouragement that I don't remember, and I walked off feeling no more comforted or assured of getting married one day than I did before the conversation.
A few years later, God put me in some very special circumstances. It is a story in itself in which I will not go into here, but suffice it to say my path crossed with a young lady who seemed to light up my world when I first laid eyes on her. Suddenly, I just knew. That very night I walked into my dorm room, and I knew I would marry this girl I had met just this very day. A year later exactly to the day, on August 22nd, she became my wife.
Now, my question to you is this: How does God speak to you?
(For the rest of this article please visit MenRising)
The Secret of Happiness
I once heard someone say, "I'd rather be happy than right." While I can't remember who said it or in what context, it stuck with me. I've seen too many arguments between people who were both equally convinced they were right and the other person was completely wrong. Even if one of them happens to be right, I doubt there would be much happiness in the relationship between the two of them.
If the secret to happiness were a single or several verses in the Bible, then I believe there would be a lot more happy people in this world. However, the opposite is true. I see people from all walks of life, rich and poor alike who are and are not happy. The "secret" isn't the presence or absence of money. We all know that, and so I conclude we've missed something somewhere along the way in the pursuit of happiness.
In truth, I believe the real secret to happiness is no secret at all. Being happy is just plain common sense and so obvious, that I believe there was no need to write it down in the form of instruction. Happiness just happens, if the right elements are in place.
Look at a child playing. Are they happy? Has anyone instructed them in such a way as "First, do this. Second, do that. Third, you must . . ." and so on? Nope. Children play. In case you haven't noticed before, as soon as adults interfere with rules and things, it kind of kills the fun the kids were having. Even without real toys, children find creative ways to play.
Just last week after I unpacked a box, there were these long pieces of styrofoam left over on the floor. Within minutes, these had been commandeered by my two little girls who had placed small toy animals in all the little crevices and were pushing them down the hallway. When I asked what they were doing, they explained to me that the animals were on a cruise. Huh? Styrofoam packing boards as cruise ships? Yet, there they were, playing away, and quite happy. No rules. No instructions. Just living from their hearts and imaginations.
As we grow into adults, we are actually taught to do the opposite of the very thing God programmed into us. We are taught to ignore the pleadings and desires of our hearts, and we are taught to follow rules, be responsible, and above all, ignore the imaginations and pleadings of your heart.
Without Christ in your life, maybe this is actually pretty good advice. However, as Christians, God has said that if we will delight in Him, then He will give us the desires of our HEART. (Psalm 37:4) Problem is, there is too much "Bible teaching" that you must do this and do that, wear this not that, act this way not that way, and then maybe, just maybe, God will be pleased with you and bless you.
That's all backwards! God wants us to delight in Him, recognize our kinship and relationship with Him, and as His children, our hearts desires will be fulfilled.
As a child lives from their heart and finds happiness in the discarded things of life, so we may as Christians find happiness living from our hearts. Not the heart of the old flesh that is "deceitful and desperately wicked" or the "heart of stone" that was part of the old man, but out of our new heart; the new heart God has given us to replace the heart of stone. (Eze 36:26) The heart God gave us when we were born again is not "deceitful and desperately wicked" but rather a new heart. Our new heart is a treasure to be guarded (Prov. 4:23) as something precious and valuable, because out of that new heart we may live a happy life.
The secret to happiness then, is to follow that new heart.
If time and money were no object, what would you do? First, discard the temporal things that may spring to mind like buying a new car, a new house, or traveling somewhere (that's the old heart speaking); for these are temporary. In your new heart, when you were born again, you were given a desire to do something special, something that would make the world a better place, something that would help others. If you could do anything in the world, when your new heart speaks, what is it you hear?
When we listen to the new heart God has given us, and begin to live in a way that fulfills the desires of that new heart, we not only find purpose and meaning in life, we find happiness. As a child finds happiness in discarded things that would be thrown away simply by following their own heart, so we as adults can find happiness in this life by following the desires of our new hearts. What are the desires of your new heart?
The Little Things
"Little things."
These words have been used in such phrases as: "It's the little things that matter"; "Little things mean a lot." We've also heard that "It's the small details that matter"; and "There are no small/little jobs."
While we understand the meaning behind these words because they ring true, most men want to slay the giants of the world while leaving the small details and "little things" to other people. Even though we as men know that "little things" matter, we do not really want to concern ourselves with them if we don't absolutely have to. I've seen some men, and you have probably met or know one or two, who seem to act with the belief that they are above "little things" and their talent is wasted on trivial matters.
The problem with that perception is this:
Someday,
little things,
will become big things.
Think about it.
When I look back on my life, I sincerely appreciate the big things done on my behalf. In reality, there are very few. However, my mind is filled with memory after memory of small things this person or that person may have done that sent my mind thinking in a different direction. Sometimes it was a small kindness of word or deed that turned a bad day into something more bearable, or even put a smile on my face in the midst of some storm.
As a man, I understand the mindset that wants to look for the great challenges. We want to have the determination of a Pioneer or great Explorer, traveling into uncharted places, to find some place no man has ever stood and plant our own feet as we survey some wild, untamed landscape. To be sure, it is this mindset that is fueling a desire to put mankind on Mars some day. It will probably happen in my lifetime, too.
As a father, none of this kind of thinking has changed. I have a family with a wife and two daughters, and still there is the desire to find a purpose and do something really great with my life.
That's when a voice whispered to my heart,
"Little things become big things."
At first I wondered what it meant. My mind recalled all the sayings I mentioned before, but to me, little things were still little things. While important in their own way, they just helped accomplish some greater purpose where someone else eventually claimed credit. I understand little things are still needed in their own way, but I must admit, something within me wanted to know that my life would matter in some greater way, somehow.
Coming home late from work one night this week from my second job, the thought that "little things become big things" was still clanging around in my head. Then I thought of my two daughters. They are growing up fast, and the thought that my oldest is going to turn 10 years old soon brought the realization that my time with her in my home is growing smaller. Then I understood.
I called my wife. Both girls were already headed to bed, they were just waiting up to say goodnight to me. I asked my wife to tell our oldest daughter to get dressed and get ready to go somewhere. When I came home, I changed clothes, and drove off with my oldest daughter. She started asking question after question about where we were going, what we were doing, and why. We stopped at a tiny little restaurant and I said, "Here we are!"
She was a little confused.
We went inside, asked for a small order of fried cheese sticks, and a couple of small sodas, and just talked for a little while.
It was dark outside. It was very late at night. The restaurant was virtually empty. We had the place almost completely to ourselves, but best of all, we just sat and talked. Mostly I just listened.
Then, as we talked she sighed a little bit. I could tell something was bothering her. I decided a little prodding was needed here as I asked, "What is it?" She looked up at me with something of a serious look in hers eyes and replied, "Are you sure you want to hear this?"
The rest of that conversation will remain between us.
It was a little conversation, in a little restaurant, with a little girl, but as we talked I realized that someday, little things really will become big things. Little kids will grow up to be big adults, and with them all their "little things" whether good or bad, will become "big things" in their adult life.
If you really want to do something really big and great with your life, just look to your children.
Those little things, someday, will become big things.
A TON of Bricks
I woke up Friday, still feeling worn out from a very long road trip that saw me crossing into six states outside of Alabama. I started my day like everyone else I suppose, but it was hectic and busy. A news alert crossed my phone. Something about a shooting. I swiped it away and continued working. Dove into the batch of folders that needed my attention and began working on numbers for job quotes. My phone kept buzzing with the same alert. The words I recognized were "Conn." (for Connecticut) and "shooting" as in someone somewhere had apparently shot a gun, probably at someone. I swiped the news alert away again.
Over and over again this same news alert kept popping up. "Shooting" "Conn." were there with each alert that kept coming and I began to get annoyed. I remember thinking to myself "Enough already! I get it! There's been a shooting!" I made a mental note to myself to see if there were some way to reconfigure my phone to somehow reject incoming news alerts that repeated themselves over and over again. Toward the end of my day, still busy trying to get things wrapped up, and laying aside those things that would have to be done later, my mind began to focus on the clock. Soon as work was over I had to grab something quick to eat and leave to my second job.
My wife was out and about, so I called to see where she was and reminded her that I had to leave for my other job soon. She said she'd bring in some fast-food. Soon as she came home I grabbed a couple of the heavier bags of groceries and then began to eat while my wife and the girls unloaded the rest of the car. My phone buzzed again, glancing at it I just saw the two words I've been noticing all day and swiped it away again. I jumped in my car and barely made it to my second job on time. Things there were already hectic, so I jumped right in and began working.
My phone kept buzzing still.
After work that night, I drove home physically and mentally just spent. All I wanted was my nice cozy chair, something warm to eat and drink, and just to be around my family. My wife had allowed the girls to stay up late so I could be there to tuck them in and kiss them goodnight. As I walked in the front door, the girls were in the back room playing and my wife was glued to the news on TV. "Not like her to say nothing when I walk in the door," I thought to myself. "Is she mad at me or something?"
"Hey there! I'm home," I said testing the waters. "Glad you're home safe," my wife replied. "I've just now been able to watch the news about the shooting. I had to send the girls out of the room for a while so I could get the latest details." My response was to simply shrug it off and go to the refrigerator to see if there was anything leftover I could warm up and eat. "So there's been another shooting. Another idiot with a gun in Connecticut. Why is this news? I've been getting the alerts all day!"
That's when my wife unfolded the story for me as I sat next to her to watch the news. The real tragedy was not of another random shooting, but the killing of innocents. The stories of the first responders trained to handle horrific sights walking away shaken to their core. The flurry of activity as parents flooded the scene, some tightly hugging their children close to their chest as they walked away from the school. Some being sent to a volunteer firehouse to get the news they would never hold their children alive again. My daughters are 5 and 9 years old. It hit me like a ton of bricks. For the first time in my life I cried as I watched the news. Putting my children to bed that night was a very sobering, purposeful, and thankful moment.
Now, the story had my attention. All day long it had the attention of most of the nation and even the world. This morning I saw pictures of Pakistani children making a candlelight memorial for the slain children in America, and another of a row of black crosses on a beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The inevitable question of "why" comes to everyone's mind. To others, they will ask the same question of God; some with words of pleading and a desire to understand, some others with hate and disgust that a loving God could allow such a thing, if there was ever such a thing as God.
First, I will not pretend to know the mind of God. Second, I truly believe God could have stopped and intervened if He had chosen to do so. Why this event was allowed to unfold, I do not pretend to know, but there are two things I do know. First, there is evil in this world, and that evil manifests itself in the hearts of men with the free will to choose to do good or evil. Second, there was another great tragedy over 2,000 years ago. One that God in heaven not only allowed to happen, but chose to look away. As Jesus Christ hung on the cross, He too, cried out the word "why" and not just to the wind or the sky, but to his own Father in heaven.
Many people died by Roman crucifixion, but today the world only remembers the name of one of them. It was a horrific act of great torture and suffering, a terrible sacrifice of One who was totally innocent, but it has arrested the attention of the world for over 2,000 years now. Again, I do not pretend to have answers as to why God allowed the slaying of innocents in Connecticut, but I do know that it reminded me of One other innocent who died to save the souls of all mankind, and that we will be celebrating His birth around this time of year. The birth of One, born to die.
Simple Respect
Respect is something we usually understand best when its missing. When its missing, it is obvious because we feel, in our bones, disrespected. You know what I mean. Its usually a comment someone makes or maybe some action. Its not the exact words they say, it is how they say them. Its the attitude. Condescending. Sarcastic. Biting.
On TV disrespect is what makes for good entertainment. In real life, disrespect is what makes for volatile situations, bad morale, and sudden outbursts that can leave others wondering "Where did that come from?" In talking with a business owner the other day about the issue of respect, he said he can hire people to do a job and train them to do it well, but he can't teach them respect. That has to come from their parents. I agree, and not only do I agree, to some degree it concerns me.
For the most part, I know I was raised to be respectful. I say "Sir" and "Ma'am" appropriately to anyone regardless if they are older or younger than me. It was kind of beat into me as a kid. However, when I get that vibe that I've been disrespected, another side of me has been known to show. A side I am sad to say I am less than proud of. Usually afterward, I think to myself, "What if my kid had been here when that happened?" Chances are, I'd have kept them in mind and my own actions and words would have remained guarded. Such testing has happened on other occasions.
After my talk with the business owner about how it is the parent's responsibility to teach their kids, I imagined individuals in my life and how their upbringing might have contributed to the ways they treat others. For some, they overcame huge challenges to become something different than the way they were raised. Others, it seems, always want to use their upbringing as an excuse for their behavior. I started to wonder how I would feel if someone treated my children with disrespect, and to be honest, the feelings that welled up in me just imagining such an event were not pleasant. That is when another idea occurred to me. We teach our kids by our example, yet there is another reason to show respect to others. A bigger, much larger reason than "because you should."
My children are a product of my wife and I, and I know I could become very offended and defensive if I ever saw someone treating my child with disrespect. Now, take that a step further. There is a God in heaven who created us all. While we all have different backgrounds, different parents, and come from various social and economic areas of life, we are all creations of God. Ever wonder how God might feel when we disrespect one of His creations? To show disrespect towards someone, or to show disrespect for some effort they have made, whether we realize it or not, our actions and words in those moments directly offend and disrespect God, and are born out of a thankless heart towards a creation of Almighty God. OUCH!
People are people. Some of them will frustrate us, as we will frustrate others. However, even in frustration we can recognize the individual dignity of others, and show them some simple respect. Not because they may personally deserve it, but because they are a creation of God. As we would admire the beauty of a sunrise or sunset, or sit in wonder at the site of a full moon hanging in space above our earth, so we should understand that the same God that created those wonderful things created the wonder that is all mankind; each and every one of us.
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