There is no getting around it, love is complicated! Many people spend a lifetime spinning their wheels trying to figure it out, and some even try through multiple relationships and marriages only to be left with the same sense of hopelessness. There are more definitions, descriptions, and analogies to try to explain a healthy and loving relationship, yet most still never catch the beauty of it. So many try to move forward, only to find themselves rolling backwards. What they need is to get there ‘as’ in gear to make this...
read moreIt was 3:00 pm on this past Sunday afternoon that word finally made it to me after finishing up some marriage counseling. Those words that every person dreads to hear, ‘There has been a death in the family.’ As my wife set on the couch in my office she explained that my former step father, who was part of my life for fifteen years, passed away in a sudden car accident just a few hours earlier. Dealing with death is such a strange thing that evokes emotions that are difficult to explain. I find it amazing how everyone has...
read moreEvaluate, Re-Evaluate, then DO IT AGAIN!!! I’ve recently taken a two week break from blogging to do exactly what I started out with. Evaluate. I’ve spent the past few weeks re-evaluating my schedule and values which have led me on a humbling journey. Typically people view and plan schedules based on pressing needs versus their schedules being a snapshot of the values. Meaning, take a moment and look at your calendar and look where you spend most of your time. If you don’t have a calendar, get one and get one quick. Fail to...
read moreWe ALL have something really special in common. We all have 24 hours in a day. Some just use their 24 hours more productively than others. I want to end this series of posts on dealing with life when it is overwhelming with some random thoughts: 1. Stop making excuses. People do what they want to do. Life INTENTIONALLY 2. Take care of yourself. You will have more energy to do more when you take care of yourself emotionally, physically, and most importantly, spiritually. 3. Pray. Take your life to God in prayer and ask for wisdom and direction....
read moreSo far we have talked about our evaluating our plate and priorities, as well as the seasons of life, but for this post I want to touch on something very tangible. Take a moment and grab or pull up your personal calendar. If your response is, I don’t have one, then that is the first major problem. A calendar serves two incredible purposes. 1. He keeps things organized so you are not just taking things as they come. Those that fail to plan, plan to fail. Your schedule should have everything important on it. 2. A well kept calendar has the...
read moreMy family and I are originally from Birmingham, Alabama where we have one season that has some basic temperature changes compared to what we have experienced in Michigan, where we live now, and the four distinct seasons that circulate year around. These changes of seasons have solidified a Biblical principle in my spirit that there is a season for everything. We have already discussed the need to evaluate our plate and our priorities, and in part three of this blog series on dealing with chaos and the overwhelming feelings that life brings we...
read moreMonday began with a post on how to deal with the chaos of life with the first step of pulling back and looking at your plate to see what God has placed on it vs what we have put on our plates. The next step is: Second, you should evaluate your priorities. I know it sounds simple, but in reality we assume our priorities are already right and thus never take the time to evaluate. You should constantly re-evaluate your priorities and once you do, do it again and again. Once our priorities are out of whack, life gets out of whack, thus the enemy...
read moreChaos! To Much! Bigger than me! OVERWHELMED!!!! You know what I’m talking about, you’ve felt it, you’ve said it. As of this posting, my life has taken a new step. Today I begin life again as a full time college student, added to being a husband, father, and full time pastor. Side note: Depending on how you view pastors, you may think, ‘heck they don’t do anything anyways so sure he has time for school.’ My response, ‘ok’. There is a silly saying that church people like to tell those who are...
read moreI’m not exactly sure what his title was but it could probably be, ‘Pastor of what-ever needed to be done’. Sounds technical I know! I met Pastor John in youth when he was serving as the right hand to the youth pastor. He was tall, lanky, and a little goofy but he made an impact in major ways. Pastor John taught me two major things. The first being about evangelism and how to share my faith with others. From malls to living rooms, he showed me compassion for others and how to meet that need with the message of...
read moreHis office looked a lot like mine does now, a room with an executive desk, books, and a ton of random things used by a multitude of departments. Armand was the Associate Pastor at Cathedral of the Cross, where I grew up. He was the youth pastor at the retreat where I accepted Christ, but became an even more influential part of my life as the years progressed. Cathedral was a mega church of thousands of people which meant there was always a good bit of things happening at any given moment, and Pastor Armand was right there in the middle...
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