fbpx

Category: Personal

Categories
Hope Personal Spiritual

40 Days of Increase: Do I still believe?

It’s been seven years since I created the content that eventually became my book 40 Days of Increase.

So much has happened since then. So, so much. 

We’ve moved—lots (as if that’s a surprise to anyone, given our track record).

We bought a business.

We built and sold our house.

I was forced out of my job.

We’ve dealt with chronic health issues.

We stopped attending church.

We’ve seen marriages blow up, friends abandon their faith and things hoped for not pan out.

And those are just some of the big things we’ve personally navigated the past seven years. Layer on top of them all the things we’ve dealt with as a country and people: nasty politics, racial tensions, pandemics and lockdowns, wars, natural disasters, inflation …

It’s been a lot. 

So where do I stand on the idea of perpetual Kingdom increase I so confidently wrote about now that I’m seven years further down the path—and possibly a bit jaded? 

Does the increase of his government and peace still have no end? 

Do I believe his leaven will still permeate every part of the dough?

Continue reading “40 Days of Increase: Do I still believe?”
Categories
Personal Productivity Quotes

Keeping Agreements With Yourself

I was reading David Allen’s Ready for Anything this morning and the chapter’s opening line fit right in with some ideas I’ve been pondering lately:

Stress comes from unkept agreements with yourself.

Of course, it’s not like this is the only place stress comes from. The world we live in is rife with stressors. But I think it is an often overlooked or entirely unrealized source of stress that is worth noting and mitigating.

Continue reading “Keeping Agreements With Yourself”
Categories
Personal

Fathers: You have permission

This morning perfectly epitomized the struggle I’ve faced to establish better balance in my life. Jacob summoned me at 5 a.m. to attend to a bloody nose. It was a pretty bad one, so all-in-all it took about 30 minutes to get it under control and get him back to bed.

I had intended to sleep in a bit, until around 7 a.m., and then do a workout before enjoying Father’s Day breakfast with the family. But I’m not great at going back to sleep when awoken early morning, so I scrapped that plan and slowly started working through my morning routine.

Continue reading “Fathers: You have permission”
Categories
Personal

Are you taking your gifting and calling seriously?

I posted a quote to Facebook yesterday and I wanted to expound upon it some more. The Facebook post is embedded above, but here’s the quote:

“I am, by calling, a dealer in words; and words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” ― Rudyard Kipling

Where, when or how I came across that quote, I do not remember. But it has stuck with me ever sense. And so I shared it as an inspiring quote on Facebook and tagged some other writers I know.

After I posted it, something activated within me even more. Just the processes of getting it out there and encouraging other writers to take their callings seriously stirred me all the more to take my calling seriously. How much longer would I back-burner what I know is a mandate on my life?

Continue reading “Are you taking your gifting and calling seriously?”
Categories
Personal Productivity Quotes

Living in the Present

One of the things I’ve had a hard time doing since becoming a husband and a father is being fully present in each of life’s moments. Maybe it’s gone on longer than that, but Heather, Jacob and Naylan have certainly helped bring it to my attention—not through words, but by being mirrors that help me see myself more accurately.

Continue reading “Living in the Present”
Categories
Books Personal

TBT: Serving the Best Wine

Is it significant that I’m starting back into blogging 10 years after I first began? Unlikely. But I guess it is novel if nothing else. (Did I use that word right?)

Anyway, in honor of Throwback Thursdays, every other week I’m going to resurface an old post from around 10 years ago. It will give you a look into my humble beginnings as a blogger, drama-filled young adult years, and initial encounters with the charismatic stream I’ve fully embraced. And lots of other stuff.

It’s self serving in some ways, I suppose, because I have over 600 posts I want to review anyway. So I might was well do something with them while I’m at it.

This week I’m serving up a short reflection I had on a book I was reading: Jesus CEO: Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership. What struck me was this:

Jesus loved recklessly and with abandon. He didn’t save himself for some ambiguous time or person in the future… He gave the wine freely to anyone who wanted it. He poured out the best of himself to all he encountered.

Read the full post here:  “Oh bother” or “I could get the hang of this”