Habits that Build Our LIfe

 I believe our lives are built through our habits.

If your anything like me, most of what you do during the day is done with little thought Hahahaha…no seriously, most of what I do throughout my day is done out of habits.  Little thought is given to the routines we follow in life.  

Sometimes this is good...sometimes this is bad! It just depends on if it is a healthy habit or an unhealthy habit.

Everything from how we spend our time, to how we spend our money is largely decided by our habits.  Even our thoughts are created through habits...have you ever met someone who was positive about EVERYTHING? How about someone who was negative about EVERYTHING? These are habits...sometimes we fall into a habit of fear instead of faith.  When this happens we live a life full of anxiety and worry!

So if you say to me you want to change something in your life?  You want to succeed in an area your currently failing or doing really poorly in?  I would tell you the answer is simple, CHANGE YOUR HABITS!

Do you...

Want to grow spiritually? Are you reading the Word of God?

Want to shrink physically? Are you eating well?

Want a great family life? Are you investing the time into your family they deserve?

Simply put, I believe our habits are the building block of our lives…so WHAT ARE YOU BUILDING YOUR LIFE ON?

teamWORK

There is POWER in TEAMWORK...

I have always believed in the acronym T.E.A.M

Together 

Everyone

Achieves

More

I don’t know that EVERYONE actually achieves more, but together you certainly achiever BETTER!  Perhaps you have an ability to produce GREAT quantities of work…imagine what you could accomplish if you worked together as a team?

Nearly EVERYONE believes teamwork is the way to achieve greatness…

Why then, is it that most organizations, churches, schools, business, marriages, etc. etc. etc. don’t work as ONE cohesive unit or team?

Could it possibly be because we romanticize, and even desire the word TEAM, but we want to forget the work part?  After all it is called, TEAMWORK…right???

Teamwork requires a few things:

Time

Commitment

Communication

Sacrifice

An open mind and heart

Humility

A perhaps above all A HEART FOR THE MISSION the team is on!

Teamwork is not always easy, but if your willing, open, humble, and committed God will do GREAT things through you and the rest of your team…

Vision - Who, What, Where, Why! Planning for Success

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he Proverbs 29:18

Christians:  We are very good at saying we believe God's Word, but sometimes poor with the execution part!!!  Trusting God and placing your faith in Him for your future is key to our Christian faith, however, God wants you to plan, wants you to have vision, and wants you to understand where He is leading you!   
Vision is essential to our personal and professional lives.

When I was a young pastor I didn’t always have clear vision.  I had a good idea of what God was asking our church to become, but I had no action plan!  Without a plan vision is just dreams and many times in reality nightmares…dreams do not equal vision.  (PASTORS: Planning and being PURPOSEFUL with staffing, resources, and ministry time to your churches mission & core values are CRITICAL to become the church God has entrusted you with.  DO NOT wander away from these areas unless you wish to become something God has not called you to be, or do something that is opposite of what God has called you to do)

Once you have figured out the who, what, where, why (Notice, I left off the when, that is a lesson saved for a later time) you must DESIGN and IMPLEMENT the HOW! 

If I know where I want to go, but don’t have a plan on how to get there I am stuck! 

Remember when you were 16 with a drivers license and no car?

Time to get a job…Come up with the plan that gets you where you want/NEED to go.

I believe with all my heart that God is inviting EACH and everyone of us to become the person or church He designed us to be!  There are times I have to dial in my vision and in order to do this I have learned to ask myself three questions.  These questions also help clearly define our vision & goals when working with a team. These three questions can also help you determine the trajectory of your own personal path, your goals, & vision for life:

Where do we want/NEED to go? Or… Where do I want/NEED to go?

How do we get there? Or… How do I get there?

Why do we want/NEED to go there? Or… Why do I want/NEED to go there?

Examine your own life with these questions, what you may find is you need to refocus on your path and dial in your vision to accomplish all your created to do!

Finally I'm a Runner!

Truth be told I've always wanted to be a runner!

 I'd watch those "crazy" people run by and wonder why, after all it looked really REALLY hard???  The only voice louder in my head then why, was HOW?

Yes, I'll admit it, perhaps for the first time publicly...I have always dreamed of being a "runner"!

It is very funny though that even after I started running people would say, "your a runner!", to which I would immediately correct them..."I am not a runner!" After all, I saw who & what runners were, and I would think, "I am not one of those people!"

Truth be told even after I had started running I was afraid to embrace the title "runner" because I thought ultimately I may fail.  Running is difficult, running is what I did while growing up playing sports as a punishment...Many questions, fears, & doubts ran through my head about becoming a "runner".  I learned to use these feelings as fuel for my training.

I finally got to a point where my desire to succeed in becoming a runner was greater then my doubts that I could actually accomplish this seemingly impossible task.  Day after day I labored on until suddenly something strange happened.  I actually began looking forward to the time I would journey out for my daily run.

In the last five years I have grown a lot.  Physically I may have shrunk, but mentally & spiritually running has helped me grow tremendously.  Now I wonder, what if I would have allowed my fears to keep me from taking my first run? What if my thoughts of failure would have discouraged me from taking my first step?

Today I proudly proclaim that I AM A RUNNER, and KNOW that anyone else who wants to make the attempt, will remain faithful, and be dedicated to persevering through seemingly difficult situations can be one to!!!

Remember this...
Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Never Give Up!
Is fear of failure holding you back from accomplishing something you've always dreamed of?
Is self doubt keeping you from doing something you've always dreamed of?

Goodbye 2011, HELLO 2012

2011 bye-bye...Welcoming 2012 FINALLY!

For a number of reasons 2011 seemed like a year of sustainability.  Many storms (family death, injuries, accidents) blew through 2011…through it all God protected us, healed us, and grew us in spite of these storms!

Now here we are two weeks into the year 2012 and I seem to be doing as much looking back on 2011 as I have been looking forward to 2012!  Today I am changing that...

New dreams, news of family additions, & career opportunities filled 2011.  I can only imagine what God has in store for 2012.

For 2012 I am expecting, believing, & asking God to make it the year of GROWTH!

I am not accepting merely getting by…

I am not accepting barely enough…

I am not accepting less then expected…

2011 is gone, and 2012 is upon us.  I am living each day expecting great things:

In 2012 I will complete things I couldn’t do in 2011!

In 2012 I will focus on grasping what / who God has called me to be!

In 2012 I will GROW!

Theme verse for 2012 

Philippians 3:12-14

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

What about you, is it time to release 2011 and move into 2012?  Is there something holding you back from welcoming in what God has in store for you in 2012?  Have you set your goals for the coming year?

Growth is not easy, but only happens when there is resistance.  Growth occurs when you fight the resistance, recover, and become stronger for doing so!