Over the past few years, the idea of becoming a consultant or at least doing some consulting work has come up in conversations I’ve had with friends, coworkers, and even some of my bosses. Every time it had been nothing more than a fleeting thought for me, and I continued on with what I do, sometimes complaining about my vocational status along the way. It’s not that I didn’t think I had the knowledge to do it, I just didn’t know where to start. Beyond that, I was afraid. Nothing is scarier than venturing out into the unknown. Why do you think most kids are afraid of the dark? Continue Reading…

Sometimes it’s hard for me to say thank you. I encourage my children to say thank you at every appropriate time, but I myself fail at it often. I’ve been getting better at this recently, but sometimes the little things that people do for me happen without recognition. To all of you whom I’ve failed to thank, I’m sorry.

While I sometimes forget to say thank you for little things, I would like to think that I don’t miss the big things. I was recently given a check to get my kids the things that they really wanted for Christmas. I was sure to thank that person a few times, and was probably on the verge of becoming annoying. Then there are times when gifts are given anonymously. There was a season when my family would receive anonymous gifts in the form of gift cards to the local grocery store quite often. The timing was almost always perfect in that season, and we were always grateful to God because we had no one else to thank. Continue Reading…

I know there is another month plus before the first day of autumn, but I am thinking about the change of seasons. Maybe it’s the cold front that came through with rain and cooler weather that’s got me thinking about the coming change. One thing is for certain; change is inevitable.

Have you ever noticed how other Christians will try to encourage you when you are going through a difficult time by saying that it’s only for a season. Your troubles won’t last forever and better times are coming. You never hear them on the opposite side when things are going great. Continue Reading…

My team at work is reading through The Life You’ve Always Wanted together and we had a discussion in our meeting the other day about the discipline of celebrating. We asked each other the question, “What can you celebrate right now, or what are you celebrating?” As person after person spoke about what they are celebrating, I noticed that I could be celebrating some of the same things, but I didn’t want to. I could celebrate the health of my family. I could celebrate the fact that I have a job, and on top of that it is a job at a church. I could celebrate that I have close friends who I can confide in. I could celebrate so much, but I said nothing.

It’s not that I don’t like to celebrate. I just didn’t feel like it. I know I had plenty to celebrate, but I was distracted by the other stuff in my life. I was distracted by a pain in my shoulder and my wife not feeling well. I was distracted by the debt I have. I was distracted thinking about the extra people in my house. Are you seeing the pattern? I could have been celebrating a number of things, but I was distracted by another aspect of those things. Continue Reading…

Look out arcade...

Money is a delicate topic of conversation for most people. The family bank account can be the source of heated arguments among spouses. No one really looks forward to bills and collection notices in the mail. Listening to people like Dave Ramsey can be uncomfortable at times and money is one of the top two topics that people dread hearing about in church. It seems to be a necessary evil though. Sure, we can do a lot of wonderful things with money, but often times it just causes us stress. This is especially true if you are young and in the first decade of the real world after school.

Why is money such a taboo topic? Is it because we grow up hearing incorrectly that money is the root of evil?  Is it because we are embarrassed by our debt or just insecure about our financial standing? Money is a part of our life and culture whether we want to talk about it or not. Money is often a big part of our decision-making process, and understanding that can help you make wiser decisions. Continue Reading…

There's more to a painting than brush strokes and colors.

A man who loves to paint has put decades of his life into refining his skills with a brush. He has watched the techniques of the master painters that he looks up to and has poured countless hours as well as a lot of money into his own artwork. Whenever he is finished with a work of art, he puts it on display in the front window of his house so that everyone can see as they pass by, hoping that someone will want to purchase it or at least give him some sort of critique.

Over the years he has seen many people look at his thousands of paintings, but only one person has ever purchased one. As his older paintings began to stack up, he would put them out with the trash to make room in his studio to make more. None his paintings ever made it to the city dump though because they never remained on the curb for very long. A few people who just glanced briefly at the paintings in the window would pick them up from the curb and take them home, but not to display them. They would use them as their own canvases, painting over what the man had worked so hard on. Continue Reading…