The Seed of Hope

Reminiscing

Seems like I’ve spent the last few weeks reminiscing about the past…

Two weeks ago I was celebrating my fifty-eighth birthday, so I had a lot to reminisce about. Hey, a lot of water flows over the dam in fifty-eight years, you know? (What are you laughing at? Either you’ve already celebrated fifty-eight, or you’re prayin’ that you’ll make it that long!)

Three days ago I attended the 1970 Senior Class of John Carroll Catholic High School’s 40^th Reunion. Forty Years!  I have to tell you for some reason, celebrating my fifty-eighth birthday didn’t hit me near as much as the realization that it has been forty years since I was a graduating high school Senior with my sights set on conquering the world. Wow.

As it turned out, I had a hard time conquering my own little world, much less the world. But that doesn’t mean that I’ve given up hope. Oh I don’t really want to conquer the world, but I do want achieve whatever it is that God put me here for. It seems as though I’m getting a late start on doing that, but as they say, “It’s better late than never.”…

So we had this small gathering of long-lost friends from various parts of the country. Our planning committee, of which I was a member, had suspected that the turnout might be light for several reasons, including, but not limited to, apathy, the economy, previous commitments, and work schedules.

Out of a graduating class of just over two hundred, around fifty actually made it to the reunion. Spouses, our Principal, and a handful of teachers brought that number to just over seventy in attendance. Sadly, ten of our former classmates weren’t with us because their time in this world had passed.

The facility that we had rented for the evening became filled the sounds of laughter and fellowship; old friends recalling good times from long ago. I can’t tell you how many times I heard stories that began with “Do you remember when….” And I lost count of the hugs and handshakes that I gave, and received.

At one point in the evening I stood alone in the back of the room, surveying the gathering of my old friends. I was looking at them, but I wasn’t really looking at them. You see, I was trying to look deeper than the smiles that were on their faces.  Not that I could see it on their hearts and in their minds, but I was wondering how many of my old friends had achieved their own version of “conquering the world?” I was also wondering how many of them had, much like myself, felt the sting of falling short of making the dreams come true?

In what seemed to be the blink of an eye, the months of planning and anticipation came to an end, and the reunion was over. (In some way, I likened the process to what women go through when they’re planning a wedding.)

During the drive home, I wondered if it would be another ten years before I would see many of my old friends again. And quite frankly, I wondered how many more of us would be added to the list of the “dearly departed."

I also came away with two thoughts that have been with me ever since…

Many of my classmates were eagerly talking about their anticipated retirement, and what they were gonna do when they didn’t have to work. If I recall correctly, a couple of them have already retired.

As I listened to their plans, I was thinking about how far away I am from retirement. It’s not really about money. My wife Jackie and I have always lived fairly “close-to-the-vest”, opting for a moderate approach in what we’ve driven, where we’ve eaten, and where we’ve vacationed. We’ve never felt like we were sacrificing anything in the choices that we made, because what was most important was our relationship.

The result of those choices is that while we’re certainly not wealthy, retirement in a few years isn’t out of the question.

But here’s the thing: I don’t want to retire! Oh, I can see Jackie and me stepping away from our hair salon here in Birmingham one day, or at least having a less active role in the day-to-day operations. Collectively, the two of us have been in the salon industry for over sixty years, Jackie being “behind-the-chair”, and me being everywhere else. As they say, all good things come to an end.

What I cannot envision is stepping away from working for God. Yeah, I know that writing The Seed of Hope, or sharing God’s Word with people, or offering counsel and prayer in the prayer room in our salon isn’t a real job. But you see, I’ve never had the passion or desire to do anything in life the way that I live to serve God, in any way that I can. Every day I ask Him to open doors for me to serve Him. Every day.

It’s been just over four years since I was born again and was filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit. A couple of my friends used to laugh at my child-like exuberance for God, informing me that I was a newborn Christian, and assuring me that the passion for Him that consumed me would die down in time.

Well, guess what? It hasn’t happened yet, and I pray that it never will.

My other thought centered on change.

As I stood in the back of that room surveying the scene, I couldn’t help but notice the physical changes that all of us had gone through. I chuckled to myself as I realized that many of my friends looked exactly as their parents had when we were in school together! I hadn’t seen some of these people since graduation, and to see them again, not as teenagers, but as the next generation to be the oldest, was a bit unsettling.

But it was the inner-change that I sensed in my friends, rather than the change that I saw in their appearance, that impacted me the most. Life, and time, had left their marks. Our circle of friends had, individually, collectively, and for various reasons, changed. We had grown up.

And then, as is so often the case, my thoughts turned to God. And my mind was filled with an explosion of thoughts that I had grown older, and that so had my friends, and that some of us had died, and that we were no longer kids, and that our youthful innocence was but a fading memory, and that some dreams were given up on or forgotten years ago, and that things change, and that we change, and that the world around us changes every day, and that all good things come to an end, and that change is inevitable…

EXCEPT when it comes to God.

I realized that God never changes. It took me years to realize that it was my perception of Him that changed as I grew older, and not Him. He’s the same God that He was when I was a high school senior in 1970 at the tender age of seventeen, and at the not-so-tender age of fifty-eight. He is the same God that created the heavens and the earth, and the same God that spoke to Moses, and the same God that my great-grandparents, and my grandparents, and my parents, and now my children and grand-children, pray to and receive blessings from. The same God then, and the same God now.

In a world that’s constantly changing, that’s in such a state of turmoil and disarray, and that’s so filled with uncertainty, there is one constant that never changes: God. You need stability and hope for tomorrow in your life? Turn to God.

I leave you with the chorus from the song Everlasting God, by Glenn Packiam.

You never change, You’re still the same; You are the everlasting God. You will remain, after the day is gone and the things of earth have passed. Everlasting God.   

Working for the Lord

Working for the Lord

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, as you know you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24

Every once in a while I randomly open my Bible to see if there is a message that’s waiting just for me on that particular day. Quite obviously, this verse from Colossians is the nugget that I found today. Before I get into this, I want to share something that I’ve noticed about myself, and I’m wondering if it’s happened to you as well.

I can read a passage from Scripture today and interpret its meaning as best that I can. (I’ll confess that the meaning of some passages is easily discernable while I have to read others several times to gain some understanding.) I can go back to that same verse the next day, and see it from a totally different perspective, seemingly with a “new set of eyes.” It’s as if I’d never read it at all before! Does that ever happen to you?

That’s exactly what happened to me today!

But first…

I feel lead to tell you that the writings of Paul are among my favorite in the Bible. I don’t know if this is due to the fact that my dad’s name was Paul, or that my grandson’s middle name is Paul, or that as a child I was Baptized in and attended St. Paul’s Church and School here in Birmingham.

Actually, I guess that I connect with Paul largely because of the similarities in our lives. We both had life-altering experiences; Paul was thrown off of a horse, blinded by a white light, and heard the voice of God, whereas I was simply slapped on the head by the Holy Spirit! We both turned our lives over to God, and were filled with a passion to seek Him and to spread the good news of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with no regard as to what others thought of us. And lastly, we both chose the written word to share this news when our voices were silent.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…

Work

The first few times that I read the verse I associated it with work, as in a job. And I’ll be honest with you in saying that it never made sense to me. I worked to make money, which was used to pay bills, to keep a roof over my head, and of course, to eat! Work was something that I had to do, and I just couldn’t bring myself to approach it as if doing it for the Lord. Besides, I never was proud of what I did, so I figured that if I was gonna put my heart in it for Him, then He was gonna have to give me something that I enjoyed doing. By the time that I celebrated my fiftieth birthday I figured that any chance of a career change was out of the question. I had also resigned myself to the fact that I was never gonna do anything career-related that I’d be happy with and/or proud of.

God had other plans.

Only God could have made it possible for the changes that occurred in my life! (If you want to know all the details you can go to the top of the home page and check out the link that reads A Seed Was Planted.) And that’s exactly what He did…

He gave me a shot of courage, and then put us in a new place with the chance to make a fresh start. Then He put just the right people in front of me at just the right time, and the rest, as they say, is history.

It’s kinda funny the way that things unfolded. I had the same job, in the same industry, with many of the same people; yet everything was different. How so?

Well, I made a 100% commitment to change my perspective on everything that I did, not only in our business, but in every walk of my life. And I asked God to help me. Actually, I did more than that; I invited God to take control of my life.

Looking back on that day (and I do remember the precise moment), I realize now that the commitment that I made was, not to myself, but to Him. Of course I didn’t realize what I was doing at the time, but He did, and that’s all it took. It would prove to be not only a life-altering moment, but the life-altering moment.

Since then…

Wow, so much has changed since that moment in time…

Each day I try to give everything that’s in me to everything that I do in every walk of life; my marriage to Jackie, relationships, work, and church. I try to be the best person that I can be each day, not only for me, but for those around me. Many have defined The Seed of Hope and my role in our salon as being a ministry, and both get the best that I have to give.

I quite simply will not allow myself to give less than my very best in everything that I do. Why not?

It took me a long time to realize that you can never get more out of something than you put into it. If we only invest 50% of what’s in us, how can we honestly expect to receive 100% in return? This applies to everything that we do in life. Give a little, receive a little. Give a lot, receive a lot. It’s that simple.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…

So, how does God figure into my plans each day as it pertains to the quote from scripture?

Easy answer. You see, every morning I dedicate my entire day to Him.

Father, I dedicate this day, and all that I do in it, to You. Help me to be the very best that I can be in everything that I do. Give me what I need to walk in Your way. Allow me to be, not just a light that shines for You, but a beacon of light that all may see.

Look, I’m not telling you that you have to commit each day of your life to God. I am suggesting that you invite Him to be a part of everything that you do. If you’re willing to do this, you’ll find that you have an increased awareness of who you are and what you do. You’ll find that you have more accountability for your actions. You’ll find that your life will become richer, fuller, and will have more meaning than ever before. And best of all, you’ll find that your relationship with God will grow deeper and stronger that you can imagine.

If you’re only willing to give 50% of what you have and what you do to God, how can you ever receive 100% of what He has planned for you?

See you next week.

War and Peace

War and Peace

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:13-14

I’ll go ahead and tell you that this week’s post is in some ways a continuation of last week’s, Working Through an Issue.

I’ve been in the midst of a battle, a war, and it’s one that I’ve been in since we opened a prayer room, The Seed of Hope room, in our hair salon a few months ago. There has been nothing but confusion and chaos in the salon since that time. It has weighed on my mind so heavily this week that today’s post was gonna be an announcement that The Seed of Hope was finished for a while. I’m tired of writing about (and you’re probably tired of reading about) my trials and tribulations. Yet I press on, because I believe that for whatever reason, it’s what God has called me to do.

Blindsided

When my wife Jackie agreed with my proposal to add the prayer room, we knew that we’d be met with spiritual resistance. We figured that Satan wouldn’t be very happy about a prayer room being built in the middle of a business, and in an industry that most people consider to be, well, “not very high in moral standards.”

What we didn’t plan on was the amount of resistance that we’d face. Gossip. Lies. Deception. Theft. Unrest. It’s been non-stop; there’s been one thing after the other. So much so that during a recent twenty-one day period of corporate prayer at Church of The Highlands here in Birmingham, my petition to God for our business wasn’t for prosperity, but for His Peace.

My petitions…my pleas to Him for peace in our salon have been answered in part, but we still have a ways to go. I believe that there’s something that I have yet to learn, and the lesson isn’t about the actions of other people, but about my reaction to their actions. I also believe that the key to the peace that I so desperately want for our team is hidden away in that lesson.

The Battle

Curiously enough, the battle that I’ve been in these past few weeks has been, not against others, but against me. It has been an epic battle of Me vs. Me.

There’s the Christian in me, which tells me to forgive those who may have offended me. I look back on all the times that God has forgiven me for things that I’ve done that just weren’t right, and know that I must forgive others. I think about what Jesus endured so that we all may forgiven, and know that I must forgive others. I can’t recount the number of times that I’ve recited The Lord’s Prayer, the first prayer that I learned as a child and the one that is probably the best-known prayer in Christianity. It reads And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. What I’m saying is that as a God-fearing, seeking-His-face, trying-to-walk-the-way-of-Jesus Christian, I know that I must find forgiveness in my heart for others.

Then there’s the “other” side of me, the one that’s just a man, and nothing more. I want to return hurt when I’ve been hurt, lash out in anger when I’m mad, and get even! And quite simply, I’m tired of the crap. I go out of my way not to offend anyone.

Why can’t I get the same in return?

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I didn’t know how to let you know that I was interrupting the flow of this post, which is exactly what I’m doing!

I just took a look at my last statement, Why can’t I get the same in return?

Sounds kind of self-centered, doesn’t it? As a matter of fact, I’m a bit ashamed that I actually wrote it. You see, I’d like to think that I’m an exemplary Christian, that I never do anything wrong, and that I never offend anyone. It’s always my intent to aim for perfection in thought, word, and deed each and every day.

Be that as it may, I’m sure that there are many days that I fall short of those intentions. I think that many of us have a tendency to think that there’s a “severity of the offense” exemption that applies to us in the way that we treat others. For example, that going back on our word isn’t as bad as lying, or that wishing ill upon a person isn’t as bad as hitting them, or that completely ignoring a down-and-out person is somehow more justifiable than offering them help.

Yeah, there are days when I fall short….

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Back to the original subject…

Okay, so here’s the deal: I’ve been in a war for several weeks, and my enemy has been me. And you know what?

Though there seems to be no end in sight, I’m gonna win this war.

You see, I’ve known for quite some time now that I can’t change people, and that I can neither control nor be responsible for what they think, say, or do. That’s a battle that knows no end.

I can however control the way that I react to the actions of other people, and I believe that the key to that control lies in keeping God in my heart at all times. That’s how I’m gonna win this war.

How can I sound so sure that I’m gonna win?

You see, I’ve already made a lot of progress. I’ve come to realize during these past few weeks of chaos that there has been something in me that has been absent in previous battles during my first fifty-six years; God’s Peace. That peace has allowed me to remain calm through the storm that’s been raging around me. I believe with all that’s in me that if I remain still, as we’re instructed to do in Exodus, that the Lord will not only fight for me, but fill me with His Peace.

I want to leave you with a verse from a song, I Will Rise, that’s written and performed by Chris Tomlin:

There’s a peace I’ve come to know, though my heart and flesh may fail; there’s an anchor for my soul; I can sing, It is well.

May God’s Peace be with you and in your heart.

See you next week.