Important Lessons

I came a cross an article by By Paula Spencer.  I believe it is something that would do all of us good to reflect on. Here are some of her thoughts.

"Legacy" may not be a word most of us use in everyday conversation, but it's a concept people tend to give considerable thought to once they head north of their 60s and 70s. Shaping and understanding your legacy refers to sorting out what your life has meant, and what kind of memories of you are apt to live on after you die.

What a person learns and leaves is as individual as his fingerprints. But I found some heartening insights into common themes in this new research from Priceless Legacy, a company that turns interviews with older adults into life stories in print or video format. An analysis of its projects shows that the top five life lessons shared by people ages 65 to 104 are:

1. The simple things matter most.
2. Humor and time cure most pains.
3. There's more satisfaction in giving than getting. Service to others is the most satisfying activity.
4. Choose your spouse carefully. It will be your most important decision.
5. Work hard and in a field or role that you enjoy.

Don’t wait until your 65 to learn these lessons.

Yes You Can !

 

Zac Sunderland, 17, became the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe  July17, completing his 13-month journey in Marina del Rey.

He did this without major sponsorship on an older Islander sailboat named Intrepid, as one of seven Sunderland children who live in a modest Thousand Oaks home.

"I think society puts young people in a box -- people 15, 16, 17 -- and does not expect them to do much but go to high school and play football and stuff like that," Sunderland said. "This just shows they can do a lot more with some strong ambition and desire. My [advice] is to get out there and do your thing with all you got."

The voyage spanned three oceans, five seas and twice led him across the equator, once spent 60 hours without sleeping, while trying to fix broken rigging in 15-foot seas and gale-force winds.
He endured brutally long windless periods while bobbing cork-like beneath a blazing sun, eating canned food and drinking nothing but tepid, desalinated water. ( LA Times )

Let’s not under sell our young people.

David, a teenager, killed Goliath while all the adults stood around in fear paralyzed--even the king himself.

Josiah was a king who lead the people of Israel back to God.

Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego stood up against the king and refused to bow to the idol and was thrown in the fiery furnace.

Daniel resolved not to defile himself and became a great influence and leader in a foreign land.

Mary, a teenager, carried “The Christ Child”.

The list could go on and on and on….

Let’s be intentional in calling out the gifts, calling and destiny in the young people who God has brought into our lives. Let’s not under value them.

“Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but  set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”  1 Timothy 4:12

 

Another One Bites the Dust !

For me, class is always in session. I am blessed with four great kids. We have been on vacation, and they are always trying to get one up on their “Pops”.

You know what I mean, don’t you?

Well, Jonathan who is our third child, wanted to bet me on the All Star Game. I told him , he could choose which team he wanted,but that whoever lost would have to have their toe nails painted by Sarah, his sister.

Well , he choose the National League thinking that they were due since they had lost the last 12 games.

Here is what went down.

Curtis Granderson tripled in the eighth inning and trotted home on Adam Jone's sacrifice fly two batters later to help the American League to a 4-3 victory, extending the Junior Circuit's run to 13 unbeaten Midsummer Classics. The game's MVP was Carl Crawford who robbed Brad Hawpe of a homer with the score tied in the seventh.

You know what happens when you lose a bet. You have to pay up.

Enjoying Life

 

I have been on vacation with my family. It has been an incredible time of relaxing, renewing, refreshing, and re-energizing . Typical day… Get up and go for an hour walk on the beach with Patty. It doesn’t get better than that. To hear the ocean waters, to look at the water and to see no land, it is amazing.

Come back to the house, have a cup of coffee, with a muffin with peanut butter and some great red raspberry jam. Wow!

Have some devotions. Read a little. Maybe go for a bike ride, etc….

Watch a movie, play some basketball, go shopping, etc…

Go to the ocean and play in the waves.

Come back have a great supper--pasta, shrimp, subs, etc…

Do it all over again tomorrow.

Leadership Passion

I had a great opportunity recently to spend some time with Mac Lake. He is the pastor of development at Sea Coast Community Church in Charleston, South Carolina. It was great to be able to sit down and talk leadership with someone who is every bit as passionate about it as I am.

He has two blogs that are musts for leaders who want to continue to sharpen themselves and keep the edge in leading people.

www.maclake.com

www.leadingamultisite.com

People are watching You

Last week I was moved to tears at my small group. While meeting at Shoney’s, one of the workers stopped by our table to talk. He has some physical and mental challenges. He shared with us about the surgery his mom had gone through.

You could tell he was concerned about the situation and what it was going to mean for him.

As he finished telling us what was happening, one of the guys said, “Hey, can we pray for you?” He said yes, and my friend prayed for his mother and that God would help him through this time.

I was so proud of my friend. I told him later that what he did was incredible . 

There is no greater joy than to see those you mentor and love begin to make a significant difference in people.

More is caught than taught.

Who wants to be like Mike ?

For the last week, we have heard nothing but Michael Jackson on TV, newspaper, magazines etc…..

It is really a very sad story.

Michael had everything that most people strive for and crave for.

Fame and fortune--but it seems like he lacked the thing he wanted and needed most--friends.

One of the people who is talking these days about Michael Jackson is Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi.

Here is part of an interview with Campbell Brown.

Rabbi Shmuley

“Michael always thought that he had ailments of the body. He always had a neck that hurt, a foot that was twisted. Really, he had an affliction of his soul. He was extremely lonely, he was extremely unhappy. He felt purposeless, he felt lethargic. And the way he dealt with that pain -- and he was especially afraid of evasion-- that perhaps his best years are behind him.

I think Michael lived with a profound fear of rejection. And Michael told me once -- and this is a heartbreaking conversation between us -- ‘Shmuley, I promise I'm not lying to you,’ he said. ‘I'm not lying to you.’ He said that twice. ‘But everything I've done in pursuing fame, in honing my craft,’ to quote his words, ‘was an effort to be loved because I never felt loved.’ And he used to say that to me all the time.

And you can imagine if you're trying to get love from the crowd and you're not sure how they're going to react to you because time is going on, they [call you] ‘wacko-jacko’ -- you've become a tabloid caricature. You live in phenomenal fear. And I think that a lot of this -- the prescription drugs -- was used to address and alleviate the anxiety. And it was just tragic to watch.”

Wow.

That describes a lot of people.

Jesus described them this way in Matthew 9.

“When he (Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

There are a lot of Michaels out there.

They are extremely lonely, extremely unhappy, purposeless in life, lethargic …. 

Ask God to help you see the people around you as He sees them. Then ask Him to help you give His grace, mercy, love and hope to them as you have the opportunity.

“Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” -Martin Luther King

There is a Michael Jackson near you.