Just Come In (Part II)

1989. The sky was growing darker and yet I was blissfully unaware of the storms ahead. The rumblings began with an unexpected late night conversation with my then fiance, which led to her calling off our upcoming wedding two days later, six weeks away from the event. To someone who had led a pretty charmed life until then this was devastating - she was truly the only girl I had ever loved and I couldn't imagine the possibility of life without her. 

To make it worse, we worked together which meant there were constant interactions that neither one of us wanted to endure. I was finally able to honor her request to be transferred to another location, but that didn't stop the pain. I was drinking, way more than I had been, but that wasn't dulling the pain either. Work started to suffer, and my upcoming promotion was threatened if my performance continued to decline. My boss urged me to take a extended vacation, with the stipulation that when I came back everything needed to be back to normal. 

Yet, that was the problem, nothing seemed normal and the prospects of regaining any normalcy in my life seemed slim indeed.

Happy Birthday Mr. President

Ronald Reagan was born one hundred and twelve years ago today. It is my opinion that the world has not seen the likes of him before or since. He was one of the few presidents in all of American history who truly motivated all Americans through his love of this great country. As a country we are far better off for his leadership and beliefs. 

Speaking of his beliefs, one of the many things that made Ronald Reagan such a defining leader was his steadfast belief in God. He famously put this belief into a statement that read, "Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God." 

As the Great Communicator, in his written and spoken words, Ronald Reagan left many clues for us to find and decipher. Some seem as if they were given not only to America and the world but were almost as if he was also describing his own North Star.  Like his motto quoted above - one he lived out both publicly and privately.  Good words for us to adopt and live out too. Simplicity. Love. Generosity. Caring. Kindness. Faith. 

When stated like that maybe he wasn't so elusive after all.

Just Come In (Part I)

1989. Life was good. Making a boat load of money, had a beautiful fiance who I loved more than anything, and my boss had hand-picked me to take-over his position. The benefit package would likely set me up for life, seeing that I would be given the opportunity of accrued ownership of my own Wendy's restaurant in Nashville, TN. My family was doing great, had a awesome apartment, took postcard vacations, my health was excellent, and I had every reason to believe that life would only get better from here.  

And yet, I'll bet you can figure out what's about to happen . . . 

Because under the surface, even to the point that I was unaware, there was a huge portion of my life that wasn't doing great, my relationship with God. Or lack of to be more accurate. I had been giving Him lip service throughout my twenties, while steadily moving further and further away from His influence and presence. I didn't pray on a regular basis, couldn't find my bible if you paid me a thousand dollars, and had not even considered attending a church service since I was seventeen years old. When you have everything (or so you believe) that you need, God can easily become an afterthought. 

The Power of Sharing Information

I love the Greek word "akoe". The word akoe, translated into English, means "the act of hearing" or "the thing heard". In the Bible this word is found in the books of Galatians and Romans where it was used to describe the hearing of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which in my opinion is the greatest story humans have ever heard. 

But even the greatest story known to man still required at least two people to experience its transformation. Telling a story without an audience is like shouting into the wind. So how do we prepare ourselves to choose and then ingest positive stories that bring value into our lives?

I think, like most things in life, that sometimes we tend to make things more complicated than they have to be. For instance, have you ever observed a skilled storyteller captivating a room of young children with his or her words? I loved to watch the face of my daughter as she was being transported to another place, perhaps even another time, through the power of story. Of course there is skill involved, even for the young children listening in the example above. But mostly the choice to immerse oneself into an experience is a natural response, a bent that we all possess. We gravitate toward social interaction, (well, most of us) the sharing of information, and since the beginning of time have been fascinated by the dynamics that such interaction brings into our lives.