Friday’s Theme | Friends

I’ve had an amazing day today.  One could call it a perfect ending to a great week.  Spending time having coffee with friends, chatting, and seeing a friend I didn’t expect to see was such a wonderful surprise.

I sat around a table at a new coffee house talking to my friend Carl and reminiscing about our high school days.  We were a little rowdy at times, but typical for teens.  I’m sure most would consider me very straight laced, but there were a few things I did I’m sure others would be surprised about.

A special treat today was when a young lady walked in that we hadn’t seen for almost 20 years.  Her name is Lona and she sat down and visited with us for a while.  She shared with us her amazing testimony of how God has redeemed her life, rescued her from drug addiction, and how she now has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  She’s traveling now, speaking to youth and women and answering some pretty tough questions about her past, but it’s absolutely a beautiful story about God’s grace and love.

I’m a blessed person today for having the opportunity to sit and talk with Lona.  I pray God that you will use Lona to continue as an active participant in your kingdom restoration.  May you fill her life with love and protect her as she shares your love for your children.  Amen!

Living Outside the Trap

Today I’m reflecting back on my year and I am most thankful for the state of my well being and mind.  Looking back and realizing where I was at physically and mentally in February, I can’t help but give thanks for what God has brought me out of.  I had fallen into a trap and my life was so dark.

 

There are so many people in this world that suffer from depression and I’m one of those people.  I had reached a point in February when the physical pain was more than I could bear.  Life was not good and I didn’t know how to get out of it.  My life was riddled with stress, guilt, and distorted thinking and I had become an empty shell of what I really could be.  Life seemed meaningless and empty, and I was in so much pain both emotionally and physically.  My body just ached and it had become difficult for me to climb out of bed.  I didn’t even want to work or be around people.  Life was just too hard and I wasn’t sure I wanted to live any more.  That’s when I knew I needed to get help.

 

I’m thankful today that good friends kept asking me the tough question about making the phone call to my counselor.  Picking up the phone and scheduling the appointment was such a hard step to take, but it does get easier from there.  There were so many people who prayed for me during such a difficult time in my life and I’m so thankful they did.  I’m grateful for a good medical doctor who was willing to prescribe the right medication and for my family and their patience for allowing me to get through this in whatever time it was going to take.  I’m probably the most thankful for my counselor who cared deeply for me and truly wanted the best for my life.  She took the time to hear me, to understand me, and then offered guidance on how to correct the distorted thinking I had fallen prey to.

 

Traps are dangerous and difficult to get out of on your own.  Most of the time we can’t even see the trap before it ensnares us.  Life seems fine one moment and then before we know it, we’ve fallen into a deep, dark, hole.  Traps can leave us feeling hurt, immobilized, and defenseless, but until we realize how vulnerable our lives have become, I’m not sure we’ll seek help from someone to actually get out of the trap.

 

Today, if you feel like you’ve fallen into a trap, I’m pleading for you to reach up and take my hand.  Can I be the voice you finally hear and realize it’s time to ask for help?  Can you agree with me it will be difficult and painful, but in the end it will be much brighter outside that deep, dark, hole you’ve fallen into?  Life’s not always fair and easy, but you have been given a choice.  Please choose today to start living outside the trap.

Strengths Finder 2.0

A couple of weeks ago, in preparation for the strategic planning meeting my company invited me to be a part of, I had to take an online Strengths Finder quiz.  I’ve taken plenty of Spiritual Gift tests, but I think this is the first time I’ve taken a test specifically designed to discover what my strengths in leadership are.

 

I was actually blown away by the results.  I didn’t have any idea an online test asking 177 pair of questions could end up providing me with five words that would so accurately describe my strengths.

 

My five words:

• Connectedness
• Belief
• Intellection
• Deliberative
• Relator

 

Now let me briefly explain what each of these five strengths mean.  (These are straight from the book Strengths Finder 2.0, by Tom Rath.)

 

Connectedness:  Things happen for a reason.  You are sure of it.  You are sure of it because in your soul you know that we are all connected.

 

Belief:  You have certain core values that are enduring.  Your belief theme causes you to be family-oriented, altruistic, even spiritual, and to value responsibility and high ethics-both in yourself and others.

 

Intellection:  You like to think.  You like mental activity.  You like exercising the “muscles” of your brain, stretching them in multiple directions.

 

Deliberative:  You are careful.  You are vigilant.  You are a private person.  You know that the world is an unpredictable place.

 

Relator:  Describes your attitude toward your relationships.  In simple terms, the Relator theme pulls you toward people you already know.  You do not necessarily shy away from meeting new people—in fact, you may have other themes that cause you to enjoy the thrill of turning strangers into friends—but you do derive a great deal of pleasure and strength from being around your close friends.

 

I took this test two weeks ago today and read about each of my five strengths as I flew home that night from Baton Rouge.  I was actually very moved within my soul as I read each chapter.  It felt like a morning worship service at church and I knew I was having a special moment with God.

 

The real question I’ve struggled with is why?  Why would something like this “move” me?  Why God would choose to use a book about strengths to actually have a moment with one of his children is simply amazing to me.

 

I’m sure my number one strength being Connectedness has a little to do with the moment I had with God, that night on the plane.  I do think things happen for a reason, in fact I’m sure of it, and I know in my soul it’s because we ARE all connected.  God has designed us to be connected with each other and that’s why I love people and life and talking with old friends, seeing family, and having coffee with a buddy.  These are simple things, but because of our connectedness it is something far beyond a casual encounter.  It’s deeper and more enduring and has far reaching eternal value.

 

Learning how to recognize these moments is a challenge and I believe there are daily opportunities like this that we often miss.  So, we must learn to embrace every opportunity as if it’s a gift or special encounter with God, then trust that he will use these times to shape us into the kind of people who are actively involved in restoring his kingdom.

Broken Promises

Are you good at keeping promises?  I’m normally pretty good at doing what I say I’m going to do, because if I know I can’t do something, I won’t make a promise.  But lately I’ve really struggled with keeping my promises.  It’s not due to a lack of trying, or wanting too, but because this traveling has me all out of whack.

 

I’m definitely not used to traveling so much and didn’t expect to make so many trips the last half of this year, but there have been many unforeseen circumstances that have risen during the course of this project.  There’s no way the management at my company could have predicted any of the problems we’ve had.  This past week was my ninth trip since August 13^th and I already know there are more on the horizon.  I’m not sure how many more trips I’ll be taking, but I know I’m ready for them to be over.  It’s the holiday season and I want to be with my family.

 

One of the promises I broke this past week was sharing with the people who read my blog about all the blessings God has shared with me over the past few months.  I really wanted to write about these while they were fresh on my heart, but exhaustion overruled my desire to share.  So, I apologize to everyone for not keeping my promise.  Or maybe I should cut myself some slack and just say the promise will be kept, just delayed.

 

One of the biggest blessings I’ve received was a substancial donation to our non-profit Retread.  It’s an encouragement knowing that in spite of my traveling and disconnectedness, God is still totally engaged and watching out for our little organization.  Over the next couple of months we’ll actually start working on our very first “real” budget.  Having funds makes it easier to plan and also brings bigger responsibility to wisely use the funds that have been given to us.

 

Another great blessing comes as a direct result of all my traveling.  Of course God has had his hand in this as well and I give him thanks for the opportunity to work hard and show the management of the company I work for, what I’m capable of doing.  Recently, the management made a decision to include me as part of the leadership team that will be making decisions about the company’s future.  The first step was a two day strategic planning meeting where a group of leaders decided the direction we want the company to go during 2009 and over the course of the next five years.  I’m excited that I’ll now be a part of this team and look forward to using the skills, talents, and gifts I have in this area to continue to help our small company grow to become profitable and successful for all who work there.

 

I’ll be sharing more about my new opportunity to show leadership and specifically about something I experienced a couple of weeks ago while preparing for the strategic planning meeting.  It felt like one of those burning bush moments and I could feel God close to me.  I can’t wait to share it in a future post.

 

I’m so glad to be part of something so much bigger than “me” or “you” and I’m glad God is the one orchestrating it all.  If we can ever get to a point where we see this evidence daily in our lives, I’m confident the world is going to be a much brighter and beautiful place to live.