Tag Archives: #challenges

Spirituality

Thank The Lord

Most of my prayers are prayers of gratitude. There are so many things in my life to be grateful for. The source of everything good is God.

Please don’t think my life is without challenges. All of us have difficulties. And I thank God for the challenges. He didn’t cause them but He did allow them. God will bring me through them and He will use them for good. We grow through the hard, even painful parts of life. It’s all perspective.

You and I were born in this era for a reason. We are where we are by design. There is nothing random in this life. Recognize it and find your purpose.

You have the power to make a difference. And deep down, don’t we all want to be living with purpose? In your heart you know this to be true.

However you pray or speak to God, remember to give Him thanks. He is good…

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Spirituality

Do This First

Most every day we are presented with some challenges to accomplish along with some areas we can almost coast through. Which do you choose to do first?

Do the hardest things first. You may not like this encouragement. You might want to ease into your day by getting a few easy things done. The hard stuff will still be waiting for you. The sense of accomplishment you might feel by knocking off a few easy tasks is a lie. And you know it is.

When we tackle the things we want to do the least, this is where growth comes from. After we put the hard stuff to bed, the rest will be a breeze.

Try it. If you have been doing the easy stuff first, reverse the order. You will be glad you did…

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Spirituality, Uncategorized

Competition

Football season is back! I love the game, everything about it. The team I am a fan of is the Dallas Cowboys. They break my heart every year. Yet, I remain a loyal, hopeful supporter.

Team sports are wonderful teaching tools. Young people learn accountability, responsibility and the athletes take better care of their bodies. They keep their grades up so they can play when game time comes.

Winning is a wonderful feeling, but it’s not everything. In sports you have to overcome adversity. You encourage your teammates to rise above the challenges together. These are lessons that will serve you well later in life.

Competition is a good thing. It makes us better at our jobs when a deal is on the line. And if we lose, we learned from sports that we will live to fight another day. All is not lost.

Team sports are not the only place kids can compete. There’s band, debate, engineering, literally everything in school.

Compete fairly with yourself, too. Mistakes happen in life. They will only hold us back if we allow them to…

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Spirituality, Uncategorized

Investigation

Do you ever question or challenge your beliefs? If you haven’t engaged in this exercise before, perhaps it’s a good idea to do so. After all, your convictions will either be strengthened or altered. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

There are a handful of beliefs that don’t need to be questioned. If I jump off a 50 story building, gravity will work every single time. There’s no need to test that one! If (when) I break the speed limit (often), I’m going to receive a very expensive ticket.

But what about our spiritual beliefs? According to a 2025 research study conducted by Pew Research Center, 83% of Americans believe in God or a universal power. In fact, 54% of the respondents believe with “absolute certainty” that God is real. The skeptics need proof.

Look around if you want proof. There is a lot of evil in our world, but there’s a lot more good. Bad news gets headlines. “If it bleeds it leads” my friends in media say. The good news gets published, but not as often as the bad. And only God can bring good from the bad news. It’s his specialty!

Change the narrative from “I’ll believe it when I see it” to “I’ll see it when I believe it.” God gives fresh air and sunshine to believers and nonbelievers alike. Treat every moment in life like it’s a miracle because it is.

Challenge your convictions. This applies to everything. Question why you believe what you believe. Is there proof? What do the facts say?

It’s not a threat to question things. Stay curious…

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Spirituality, Uncategorized

Before You Begin

New week, new you, right? People begin changing their lives at the beginning of the week. A large percentage will abandon their goals before they have accomplished what they set out to do. There is a way to place yourself in the minority who succeed.

Before you begin, you must recognize that the battle is in your mind. It doesn’t require physical willpower to effect change. The change you desire can be made when you win the fight over your old ways of thinking.

Your mind is powerful. Really powerful. How we think will determine our outcomes. If you want better health, become health conscious. Keep your thoughts focused on the healthiest version of yourself and put blinders on to anything else. This works with time management, finances, even spiritual growth.

After a while your mind will take over. If you start thinking about going back to old, bad habits, your mind will stop you. When this happens you know you have retrained your brain. Victory!

The fight for the life you want is fought between your ears, not in the physical world. Change your thoughts and change your life…

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Spirituality

Like Minded

Have you noticed how people are always looking for things to agree on? This is rooted in people’s aversion to conflict. Some people will compromise their beliefs just to get along.

Conflict is going to happen in an imperfect world. That’s okay. Conflict doesn’t mean argument. It means disagreement. You can disagree without becoming disagreeable with someone else.

After Jesus’ crucifixion the disciples scattered. They were afraid for their own lives, and they had an internal conflict. Everything they had seen the prior three years wasn’t a lie. So how could this man, the Messiah be put to death when they knew he could stop it? The answer came later.

After the resurrection, the (now)apostles started the new way. It wasn’t called Christianity yet. They went far and wide, telling the world about Jesus. Many of the apostles died horrible deaths. You don’t die for a lie.

Be who you were created to be. Stay open minded, but that doesn’t mean you will be in agreement with everyone. Just stay true to yourself…

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Spirituality

In The Pit

Life isn’t always easy. There will be times in the lives of some people where they get to the breaking point. My encouragement to you if this is where you find yourself, bend but don’t break. You can get through this.

God never promised us a carefree life. In fact, Jesus himself told us “in this world there will be trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” When I think about this statement, it reminds me of how big God is.

Your challenges may be a surprise to you but they aren’t to God. He exists in the past, present and future all at once. Beginning to end. I’m not minimizing what you are experiencing. Not at all. But the God who created the universe and everything good in it can handle your problems. And mine.

You might be at a point in your life where you want to give up. Don’t. You have a great purpose to fulfill.

Place your reliance totally on God. Trust him to see you through. Then give him the glory…

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Spirituality

I Get To

A couple of weeks ago I was having a conversation with a young woman who said something that stuck with me. She said that instead of “having” to do something, she changed the verbiage to “I get to.” This one little word is a game changer.

For the past couple of years I’ve been struggling to write a second book. There’s so much inside my mind and heart that I want to share with the world. Yet, I had become the Mt. Everest of coming up with excuses to avoid writing. It doesn’t matter how impactful my written words might be if I never put them into print. Graveyards are full of unfulfilled dreams.

Changing this one small word in our verbiage makes a huge difference. We approach life’s challenges with a willing attitude instead of one filled with dread.

And remember to thank God along the way. After all, He’s the one who gives us our time and abilities…

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Spirituality, Uncategorized

There’s Always a Critic

Have you noticed how the court of public opinion passes judgment without knowing all the facts? People can look at the world through a lens of biases which cloud clear thinking.

The “Make America Healthy Again” movement has no shortage of uneducated critics. Since it’s associated with the Trump administration, it must be wrong! No, it’s not wrong. Obesity, especially in children, has risen to epidemic levels. Autism has gone from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 31 children. Science is constantly asking why. It’s a good and fair question.

The pharmaceutical lobby is the largest in the world. They certainly have their own share of biases. Keep America fat and unhealthy and they have a customer for life. There is solid research dating back to the 1940’s that demonstrates the efficacy of psychedelics. They remain schedule 1 drugs because the pharmaceutical lobby says they should.

Do your own research. Remove bias from your thinking. If you conclude that your opinion is supported by facts, then stick with it. But if you learn something new that’s different from your prior beliefs, be willing to accept it…

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Spirituality

Sharing Stories

I’m writing this after spending my morning speaking to a group of women who are in prison. At least twice per year I take a week off for volunteer speaking, and some of the stories stick with me. This morning was no exception.

There are a lot of people who are hurting out there. People carry their pain inside. The world around has no idea what horrors some people have experienced. When I open up about my life, sharing the story of growing up in a home filled with fear and violence, it encourages others to open themselves up, too. Never waste your pain.

Tomorrow I will be privileged to speak in two more prisons, both women’s units. I never know what the day will bring, but I believe some good will come from it…

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