The Seed of Hope

Struggling

Today I find myself struggling. You see, today is a day that I’ve feared coming for a long time. Today, I’ve run out of things to say. I’ve been waiting all week long for God to give me something, for Him to drop a nugget of inspiration in my mind that I can share with you. Obviously, I’m still waiting.

So why am I writing at all? I don’t know. I guess I’m hoping and praying that if I make the effort to write, that God will answer my prayer as I go.

What’s the big deal? After all, it’s not that I have to write a post this week. I’m not under contract to do so. Any writing deadlines that I have are self-imposed. I’m not gonna lose any money, because this site doesn’t generate money. I can’t get fired because, well because writing isn’t what I do for a living. So, if I miss a week, what’s the big deal?

The big deal is that The Seed of Hope is one of my passions. It’s on my top five list of things that I am absolutely, wholeheartedly, and unquestioningly devoted to doing in life.

Passion

Three of the definitions of passion offered by Merriam-Webster are:

          a: ardent affection: LOVE

          b: a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept

          c: EMOTION: intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction 

I’ve written many times, and I hope that it’s obvious to those who know me, that I have a passion for God. I can never get enough of Him in my life. My appetite for Him is insatiable. The more I feel His presence, the more I desire His presence. The more I know of Him, the more I want to know of Him. The more that He lifts me up, the higher I want to be lifted.

I, quite simply, have an obsession for God. Nothing that He has helped me to walk away from, not alcohol, or cigarettes, or pot, or cocaine, or the feelings that I got from all of them combined can come close to the unbelievable high that I get from being with the Lord. Nothing.

Passion

Funny thing about passion. It’s not something that you ask for, but something that you wake up with one morning, something that was probably there for who-knows-how-long, perhaps all your life, laying dormant in the recesses of your mind, waiting for just the right moment to boldly, audaciously, and unceremoniously announced its presence in your life.

Passion will not leave you alone. It will not let you rest. It will not let you deny its existence. It won’t even let you forget that it exists. It doesn’t even have to make sense. All it has to do is say “Hey. I’m here.”

As I’ve been sitting here praying, and asking, and waiting for God to lay something on my heart to write about, I’ve come to realize that I have a passion for The Seed of Hope. Oh, the passion doesn’t run as deep as it does for God, but it runs deep; real deep. Deeper than I even knew.

I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s because The Seed of Hope is all about God. Perhaps it’s because I know that my writing is a gift from God. Perhaps it’s because in my humble attempts to plant a seed of hope in you, I find that I’m nurturing the one that God planted in me. Perhaps it’s because God has answered a burning desire that I’ve always had since I was a kid to make a difference in the world; not a huge difference, or a big difference, but just a difference.

Perhaps it was part of God’s plan for me to gripe about sitting in front of this laptop for hours on end. I’d search my heart and my mind for things to say, and then spend even more time trying to convey not just my experiences, but the emotion that went with them. There were things that I really didn’t want to reveal about myself because they were embarrassing, or painful to write about. Perhaps it was part of the plan for me to just take for granted that He’d always give me something to write about, and then to realize that, just like everything else in life, what we receive from Him is a gift.  

The Seed of Hope is one of my passions, and I’ve come to realize that it also falls into the category of what I call…

Joyful Burdens

Would you agree that life is full of burdens? It seems to me that our burdens begin the moment that we step into our classrooms in the first grade. We have to answer to an authority, and it’s not our parents. We have to get up every morning for school. We have homework. Quite often, we’re held more accountable for our actions in school than we are at home. Life begins. Real life. Life with obligations. Life with burdens.

Wouldn’t you agree that the older we get, the bigger those burdens become? With each passing year, the list of burdens that’s heaped upon us grows longer and longer. Well, there are educations, jobs, marriage, children, mortgages, and insurance. Oh, did I forget to mention food? And then there’s the financial responsibility that comes… I think you get the point, right? Burdens.

I like to break my burdens out into three categories.

The first of the three is necessary burdens, like careers, housing, and bills. I mean, we have to live, right? There are no options when it comes to necessary burdens. I’ll even include education on this list, because quite often our level of income is relative to the education that we’ve received.

Next, are joyless burdens. For many of us, joyless burdens would include things that we don’t have to do, but choose to do. Things like making up a bed each morning, or keeping a house clean, or working on an ever-growing waistline! These are things that we do, not out of necessity, but because we hold ourselves accountable for who we are, what we are, what we do, and how we do it. It’s worth mentioning here that more often than not the end result of performing the joy-less burdens is satisfaction.

Last, but not least, is my favorite burden, which I like to call joyful burdens. Joyful burdens are those that we willingly take on in our lives, even though they are at times quite heavy. Joyful burdens include, but aren’t limited to, marriages, children, and pets. (Sorry pet lovers, but I had to include that one! In my defense, we have two dogs, so take no offense.)

The point that I’m trying to make here is that if you have experienced any of the joyful burdens that I’ve listed, you can relate, right? For example, raising our two sons Brian and Christian gave me more headaches than I’d care to remember, but there are few things in this world that have put more joy in my heart than my sons; I couldn’t imagine my life without either of them.

Being a Christian is certainly a joyful burden, but that’s a topic best saved for another day.

Just like serving the Lord, The Seed of Hope is one of my joyful burdens. Finding time to write each week may present a challenge, and I may indeed gripe about it once in awhile, but the thought of it coming to an end was really sobering for me. It’s not something that I want to put down, and I hope that God is reading this, because I treasure it and don’t want Him to take this gift away.

Why not?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The Seed of Hope is not about Sam Maniscalco; it’s about God. It’s about the Holy Spirit. It’s about Jesus. It’s not about what I write; it’s about what He puts on my mind and in my heart. It’s that prayerfully, and hopefully, God is using me to make a difference in your life.

And sometimes I struggle.

God willing, I’ll “see” you next week.      

My Five

MY FIVE

Quick!

Name one thing that’s readily available, yet oh so hard to find. It’s something that never runs out, yet always seems to be in short supply. When you do have it, it seems to be gone in the blink of an eye. Oh, and did I mention that it’s free?

Do you have it yet? Have I given you enough time to figure it out?

The answer, of course, is time!

If you’re laughing, let me ask you a question, and I want you to be completely honest with yourself in answering it.

Do you really have enough time to do all the things that you want to do in life?

REALLY? If your answer is yes, considered yourself blessed, and know that you are among those who are “the exception to the rule.” I consider time management to be one of my assets, yet there are days, and even weeks, when I just don’t have enough time to do all the things that are on my “things to do” list. Come to think of it, my intention was to get this post out four days ago, well before New Year’s Day, and all of the resolutions that come with it. Yet here I sit, on New Year’s Eve (days after my self-imposed deadline) trying to wrap my thoughts up in one neat little bundle to pass along to you.

What happened? It just seems that, as usual, and for a variety of reasons, life got in my way! Well, life, and the reality that the list of things that I want to do is just too long.

Walt

I was having lunch with my friend Walt the other day, and during our conversation he was lamenting that he never seemed to have enough time to do all the things that he wanted to do. “No matter how hard I try to arrange things, I just always run out of time. It’s really frustrating, and I don’t know what to do about it.”

Sound familiar?

I had a suggestion for Walt before he even finished his statement, and it’s one that I’m going to make to you right now. And as I’m writing this, I realize that it’s one that I’m making to myself as well.

The list.

What I what to share with you is something that I stumbled upon when I first had my spiritual awakening some four plus years ago. I was re-evaluating my walk in life and my walk with the Lord, and I was desperately seeking ways to bring some semblance of order to the upheaval that was going on in my mind. I actually mentioned this exercise in one of the very first Seed of Hope posts in 2008, titled You Want to Know What?, and something tells me that it’s worth mentioning again.

Here goes…

You need to be alone when you try this, in a quiet environment where there are no distractions. If absolute silence is a distraction for you, as it is for some, you can put on your favorite music to fill in the background. (Preferably, soft music played at a low level.) Grab a pen and paper, then go have a seat in your favorite chair (if you have one) in your favorite room (again, if you have one). Just get comfortable.

Next, do whatever it is that best clears your mind of its “junk”. Pray. Meditate. Listen to the music. Ask the Lord for help. Ask Him to take you to “that quiet place” in your mind where you can sort things out, where you can get some clarity. Be patient. It’ll come. Take as long as you need.

Five

When you’re there, I want you to reflect on every aspect of your life; all of it. Think about the way it is. Think about the way it could be. Think about what you have. Think about what you want. Think about what’s in your mind. Think about what’s on your heart. Think about who, or what, is important to you. Think about what you want to do.

Now, with pen in hand, I want you to write on that piece of paper the top five things  from the list of all that you’ve thought about. This is about the top five priorities in your life; the five things that are most important to you. There are no rights or wrongs on this list. There are no mandatory inclusions. It’s just about what’s on your heart.

There’s just one thing that you have to remember…

There can only be five. Well, it can certainly be less than five, but definitely no more than that. Why not?

Well, I believe that many of us aspire to do so many things, and in doing so we wind up spreading ourselves too thin. So thin, that quite often that which we hold dearest and are of the most importance in our lives often get neglected, if not forgotten completely. Sadly, the end result is frustration, disillusionment, shattered dreams, failed relationships, and broken hearts.

So go ahead, pick your top five. For you, some of them may be mandatory, such as careers, finances, and family. Consequently, you’re probably only gonna have room for a couple of truly optional ones, so choose wisely when compiling your list.

Even as I write this, I’m a bit saddened by the realization that some of the things that I want to do are gonna have to take a back seat to my top five for a while. Be that as it may, this is something that I not only have to do, but want to do. Look, I’m not going to forget the other things. My commitment, first and foremost, is to my top five. If there’s time for the others, they’ll get what’s left.

I’m reminded of what Church of The Highlands Pastor Chris Hodges shared in a Sunday message just a few weeks ago. “We don’t try to do a lot of different things, but what we do, we do real well.”

Following  Pastor Chris’ lead, for the next several months I’m going to limit the number of things that I really want to do this year, but I’m gonna go all-out to do those things real well.

One thing.

If you make the decision to try this, I’ll remind you once again that there’s no right or wrong choices. Your list consists of whatever is on your mind and in your heart. There is, however, one suggestion that I’d like to make for you; one thing that you should include on your list.

Please, please include at least one thing that brings you joy, that fills your heart with gladness, that puts a smile on your heart, and that, if nothing else, makes you happy.   We get so overwhelmed by our challenges in life that quite often we forget that we can enjoy the journey.

I believe that if you’re willing to give this a shot you’ll find that you’re a lot happier with your life and with yourself. And you’ll find that you have more time than you thought.

My Five.

1.    To love and serve the Lord with all that is in me every day.

2.    My wife Jackie and our family.

3.                                                                                                  

Come on, you didn’t really think that I was gonna give you all of my list, did you? That wouldn’t be any fun. Besides, the rest is between me and God.

In closing, I want to take a moment to thank you allowing me to share my journey with you. It has truly been an incredible year for me, filled with ups and downs, but most important of all, it has been filled with God’s presence.

May your New Year be filled with God’s Blessings and His Abundance!

Alone

This month’s issue of b-metro magazine (a Birmingham-based publication) features an article written by yours truly titled My Seed of Hope, and it’s all about the prayer room that we opened in our salon a few months ago.

A couple of thoughts before I share what’s on my heart today…

I’m grateful to the decision makers at b-metro not only for inviting me to write the article for them, but for actually including it in their publication. Many publishers shy away from matters of faith, especially ones that aren’t so subtle in content or openness. These people put into print exactly what I had written, with no exceptions, and I found that to be quite remarkable. Yeah, I know that we’re in the Bible belt, and because of that, many think that it’s easier to “get away” with a topic as controversial as God and prayer. That may indeed be true, but I have a feeling that this one year old magazine may lose a few readers because of the nature of the article.

Secondly, it is my prayer and my hope that My Seed of Hope will serve as a reminder for others that prayers are helpful, that they’re needed, and that they’re answered. What’s more, I’m hoping that the article will serve notice to other business owners that there is indeed room for faith (yes, even bold faith) and success in the marketplace.

Back to the prayer room…

With the exception of one week, a post has been made on this site every week since The Seed of Hope was launched on October 31, 2008. That “one” was the week of October 12, 2010; just a couple of months ago.

Yes, I had a good topic. As a matter of fact, I knew what I was gonna write about before I had finished the previous week’s post, which was quite remarkable. You see, sometimes God doesn’t lay an idea on my heart until the very last minute (which at times has proven to be very frustrating). The topic was The Seed of Hope room, the prayer room that I’m sitting in at this moment.

Yes, I had plenty of opportunities to write. Some weeks, for a variety of reasons, finding the time to write has been a challenge. During that particular week, it was as if the Red Sea had parted! Our schedule was such that there were several instances when I could have opened this laptop and began writing.

Yes, I had the desire to write. If you’re a regular “visitor” you know that I love sharing my life as a Christian with you. Not because it’s about me, but because we’re told to share the good news about God and His goodness with others; to be a light that shines for all to see.

Yet I never wrote the post. Why not?

Well, along with the topic, and the opportunity, and the desire, I had a lot of pain. Funny that it wasn’t my pain, but the pain of others, which had me hurting…

There have been a lot of visitors in this prayer room since we opened it in our salon this past May. And to tell you the truth, I wasn’t ready for them.

I’m reminded of the scene from Field of Dreams when Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears that voice saying, “If you build it, they will come.”

We built it. They came.

Don’t get me wrong; people aren’t lined up out the door and around the building trying to get in this room. But for me to have two or three opportunities each day to listen to what’s on people’s hearts and to pray for them is a blessing that has been at times a bit overwhelming for me, and especially so when we first opened the room.

Since it was built, and even before it was finished, I referred to this as being a prayer room. Well, it is indeed for prayer, and there have been many prayers offered in this room during the past seven months.

I think, for lack of a better word, we could have called this our share room.

There’s something that’s almost magical about this prayer room. People from all walks of life, including people that I’ve known for years and people that I’ve never met sit in this room and for whatever reason (I believe that it’s God’s presence), share whatever it is that’s troubling them; with me.

You see, I’m not a psychologist, or psychiatrist, or licensed counselor. I wasn’t trained to listen to the problems of others without taking them on myself. I didn’t know how to listen to the hurt on people’s hearts without hurting, or watching them cry without crying, or feeling despair and anguish and frustration without feeling it myself. I found myself asking, “How do trained professionals do this? How do they sit and listen all day long without sinking? Do they disconnect themselves from feeling anything? Do they just get used to it?”

And therein was the problem. I don’t want to disconnect; it’s not who I am. I believe that my purpose in this prayer is to listen to the hearts of others and to allow them to dump their “baggage”; even if it gets dumped on me. And I get to watch God work in the hearts and minds of those willing to let go. It’s quite amazing, and very, very, humbling.

When we’re through talking, I’ll offer to say a prayer for them, and if they’re receptive to the idea, that’s exactly what I do.

Afterwards, when I’m alone, I take a few moments in prayer asking the Lord to take their pain off of my heart. My friend Brooke suggested that I do this every time I’m in the prayer room with someone, and it has really helped.

All of this brings me to the original thought behind today’s message, which is about being…

Alone.

Why is it that we think that we have to carry our crosses, and bear our burdens, and solve our problems, by ourselves? Is it pride that stands in our way? Do we think that we have problems that no one else has had? Do we consider confiding in a friend or family member as a sign of weakness? Why do we let ourselves reach a point of desperation or of being despondent before we’re willing to reach out for help?

Since this is a faith-based site, do you think that I’m just talking about and to people who don’t know God?

I’m not!

God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is our Provider, and our Protector, and our Comforter. He is everything. He is the way, and the truth, and the life. He is, really, all that we need, isn’t He?

I believe that part of God’s provision for us is putting people in our lives to help us in our walk. Oh sure, He can get us through anything and everything by Himself, but there’s something to said about sharing our problems with others. Perhaps sharing adds a dose of humility to our lives. Perhaps there’s a certain strength in knowing that we’re not the only ones with problems, and that our problems aren’t unique. Perhaps the person that we share a problem with has a solution or remedy that will help heal the wounds.

Perhaps God wants us to turn to others because when we do, we come to see that His presence is in all of us.  

Turn to God with all of your needs. Turn to others in time of need.

You never have to be alone.