Is Religion a Crutch

 Hello everyone.

Today I want you to know that God loves you. His love is unconditional. There is nothing you can do to earn it and there is nothing you can do to cause Him to stop loving you. Some people may see God’s love as a crutch but it’s actually the most powerful force in the universe. I know this from personal experience.

I am married to a beautiful woman. We were both married to different people before we met. For years, I felt bad for divorcing my first wife because the Bible says that God hates divorce. What I have grown to understand is that His love for me didn’t change because I divorced my first wife. He still had and has a great plan for my life. Now don’t get me wrong, God does hate divorce, but He loves divorced people. His love for you doesn’t change based on what you do. Romans 8:38-39 says, “ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In the first years of my current marriage, we had a very hard relationship with my wife’s ex-husband. He owed her a lot of child support and it seemed like we were always frustrated at each other over something. My wife and I would spend time talking about him and all the ways he frustrated us. One day, I was on a road trip to pick up my youngest daughter from camp. My wife called and said she had a crazy idea. She suggested that we give her ex-husband a car. This seemed like a ridiculous idea at first but it was so crazy and such an act of love that I decided we should do it! She forgave him all the debt he owed and we gave him a car. It changed our whole relationship. God’s love transcended debt and frustration and our family was completely transformed!

I want to challenge you today to engage God’s love. First of all, engage it in your own life and see how much He loves you. After that, release it into someone else’s life and watch what it does. It’s not a crutch, it’s the ultimate power source!

If you don’t know Jesus and would like to have a personal relationship with Him, all you have to do is pray this simple prayer. Say, “Jesus, come into my life. I make you my Lord and Savior.” If you prayed that prayer, I believe you got born into the family of Christ. Congratulations! If you prayed, would you please let us know.

Also, if you are new to the family and would like to learn more about who you are and how God really sees you, please click the link below. We would love to send you study material absolutely free.

http://eepurl.com/gLci8D

That’s Another Opinion of the Minion

Easter

Hello Everyone,

Have you ever wondered why Jesus came to Earth in the first place?  If you had asked me that question a year or two ago, I would have said to defeat the devil.  That’s what He came to do but that’s not why He came.  He came to pay a ransom and get His family back.  The devil held His family hostage and under bondage for years.  I asked the Lord about this one time and He told me that He wanted to come.  Right before the cross, He wanted God to provide a different way but He was longing for all His brothers and sisters.  That means he paid the price for you.  He did it to make a way for you to be in his wonderful perfect family. 

When you accept Him as your Lord and Savior, you are immediately put into The family.  There is consideration of any of your past sins.  Jesus paid the ransom for all of those.  Guess what, there is no consideration for any of your future sins.  Jesus paid the ransom for all of those too.  I know some people may struggle with that and think that being a Christian means being perfect.  Let me set you free – You aren’t perfect and you won’t be until Jesus return.  Jesus knows this.  He’s not waiting with God to hit you with a lightning bolt if you mess up in the future.  He didn’t hit you if you messed up in the past. 

Why did you go through struggles?  Just like there is a real Jesus, a real God and a real Holy Spirit, there is a very real devil and he’s looking for ways to steal from you, kill you and destroy you.  Should you be afraid?  Absolutely not!!  Do you think the devil could overcome Jesus now?  He couldn’t do it before Easter.  Jesus said I am freely giving my life and He could have called more angels than the devil has to take Him off the cross if He wanted to.  Jesus could have defeated the devil for Himself personally before the cross.  After the cross, Jesus said ALL power has been given unto me.

“So if Jesus has the power, what does that have to do with me,” you might ask?  Well I’m glad you did.  Here is where it impacts us.  Jesus’ came from God, His father.  The last recorded time that Satan directly tangled with God, God hit him so hard the devil was travelling at the speed of light when he hit the earth.  That’s more than 186,000 miles per second!  That was some punch.  What does that have to do with us?  When you accept Jesus into your heart, the Bible says that Jesus and God come to live inside you.  That means you have all the power you need inside you right now to stop every attack of the devil.  That’s what happened on the first Easter.

If you are not sure about where you stand with God, just repeat this prayer with me.  Say, Jesus, please come into my heart.  I make you my Lord and Savior.”  That’s it!  You did it!  You are now part of the family.  If you said that prayer, would you please let me know.

That’s another Opinion of the Minion

Love Doesn't Seek It's Own

Hello Everyone,

Today's topic is Narcissism, sort of.  Actually, we are going to talk about another aspect of love.  When we are walking in the God kind of love, we aren't out seeking to get our own.  What does that mean?  In a word, it means we aren't selfish.  Narcissism is a word that's being thrown around a lot these days and it is understandable.  God said that in the last days people will be lovers of themselves or selfish or narcissistic.  Notice again that this is not a feeling.  Selfishness is an action.

What I want us to notice is how that is the exact opposite of Love.  The Bible said that God so loved the world that he gave the most precious person He could to save it.  In fact, Jesus sacrificed Himself in our place to save us.  That's the direct opposite of selfishness.  Something that frustrates me greatly is how the Devil has deceived people into believing that God is some angry person waiting to destroy people.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  God is sitting around looking for ways to be good to us if we let Him.  But we have to cooperate with Him if it's going to work!

So how does this apply to us today?  How do we display Love today?  The answer is simple.  Give!

How do we give?  There are many ways to give.  I was in a position just this morning to give.  It was such a blessing.  The most amazing thing is that I was able to give to the Lord.  I got to give to the One who gave everything for me!  That was such a joy!  I know of a preacher in the local DFW area who goes around and gives out $100 bills!  Now I want to throw an emotion in here because it's a side effect of giving.  That emotion is Joy!  What an amazing side effect!

For many of you who read this, you may not be in a place to give a lot of money to someone else.  Guess what, that's OK!  See God doesn't look at how much money you give.  He looks at you! So what can you do if you don't have a lot of money?  Give your time.  We all have the exact same amount of it.  I heard a slogan one time that said commit a random act of kindness today.  We can certainly do that and what a blessing it is when we do!

Just last week, I was dropping some packages of to FedEx.  While I was there, a random man helped me get my packages into the store.  He blessed me and it only took about 2 minutes of his time.  Now you might even say that you don't have two minutes.  Well do you have 10 seconds?  We can all take the time to pay someone else a compliment (as long as it's sincere).  How long does that take?

To wrap this up, the Bible says that love isn't narcissistic.  God (Love) is the exact opposite.  Instead of being extremely selfish, Love (God) is an extreme giver.  So let me encourage you today, find someone you can bless today.  You will be glad you did!

That's another Opinion of the Minion

Love - Watch Out

Hello Everyone,

Today I want to take a small detour from talking about the attributes of love to issue a warning about our study.  Over the last couple of weeks, I have had more opportunities to be unloving than I can remember in the last year.

For instance, just this morning I was sitting in Starbucks reading and going through my daily routine.  When I got done, I had to take my SUV over to get the air conditioner fixed.  While I was driving through downtown Fort Worth, I turned onto a street and pulled up a little and stopped (I was playing Pokemon Go).  When I did, the lady behind me honked her horn at me for stopping.  Now she couldn't see me so she has no idea I did this but I immediately said something ugly to her.  Why?  Because the devil doesn't want me to learn to really walk in love.

He met someone 2,000 years ago who walked in perfect love all the days of his life, Jesus.  Guess what, the devil couldn't touch him because perfected Love was Jesus' shield and protection.  Love is another name for God and he was walking in perfect God all the days he was here and it protected Him.  Now I am not saying we are going to be perfect because we miss the mark sometime.  But what I am saying is that the more we walk in Love, the more impact we have on this earth.

Jesus walk was so different that it impacted the people around Him long before he ever died on the cross for our sins.  See the devil doesn't want me (or you) to walk in Love because he knows it will drive out his only weapon - fear.  The Bible says that perfect love casts out fear.  It also says that Love never fails.

So are you believing for a loved one to turn to Jesus?  Are you believing for a situation to change at work or at your school?  Are you believing for restoration in a relationship?  Are you believing that you can change something in your life that you don't like?  Are you battling addiction?  The list of questions could go on and on.  But what's the answer to any of these problems?  The answer is perfected love.

I know my love walk is not perfect.  I also know that perfected love lives inside me right now and He is working on my behalf to get me to the right place.  Are you struggling with the whole "God thing?"  Would you like to have perfect love living inside you?  You might say something like, "You don't know what I did.  I did something that nothing can fix.  I did something really bad and God can't love me."  Well have I got news for you.  Jesus' blood was shed for ALL sin.  No matter what you did, Jesus' blood is stronger.  Would you like to start a relationship with Him right now?  All you have to do is say, "Jesus, come into my heart.  I make you my Lord and Savior."  That's it.  If you said that prayer and believed it, something just happened inside you.  You got born again and that Perfect Love now lives inside you.

If you prayed that prayer, would you please let me know.  Also, please find a good Bible based church so you can start to learn more about the Love that has been put into your heart.

That's another Opinion of the Minion.

Love is Patient Part 2

Hello everyone,

I wanted to take moment to tell you about a few things where I have/am learning to love by being patient.  I didn't really understand the power of the force of patience until recently.  See, patience provides room for love to grow.  It's critical.  Let me explain.

Last week, my wife and I were going through the normal things in life.  We were working and raising kids.  Now each of our children is fearful and wonderfully made.  That means sometimes we wonder about them.  Just kidding.  That means they are wonderful and amazing children.  They are God's gift to us and I get excited when we catch glimpses of what's really inside them.  But there are other times where they are challenging.

Parent's have you ever been frustrated because your children don't grow up as fast as you would like?  Have you ever wondered if they would grow up at all?  I can't tell you how many times my wife and I have worried over our children because of their choices or how many times I would ride them about a choice they made over and over.  But what I realized was that in some ways, I wasn't being loving.  Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't correct our children because the Bible says that God corrects those he loves.  But what I am telling you is that in other cases if we will be patient with our children and give God room to grow them up, they will progress so much faster than all our nagging.

The other thing I noticed this week is an area in my personal life where I was not being very loving with someone because I wanted them to do something and they didn't do it.  I got agitated and rolled all sorts of things around in my mind to tell them but in the end, the Lord was telling me to be patient.  See, I was walking in selfishness which is many times the opposite of patience.  What I wanted the other person to do was a good and right thing but I was not giving them time to do it on their own.  I have decided to love them and be patient and wait.

Patience doesn't come across as an action verb.  When you give something to someone, they can see what you give them.  When you do something for someone or say something nice to someone, then they know it immediately.  But with patience, the person you are loving, may never know that you are loving them and waiting.  I think that's what makes it so strong.

How many times do you think the Lord has been patient with us.  How many times has he wanted us to make different choices and we make the same mistakes again and again.  But guess what.  He never walks out of love with us.  It's impossible for God to be anything but Love toward us so I know he is patient with me every day.

Let me leave you with this.  If you are struggling with patience, then ask the Lord to help you stand in faith and pray while you wait.  God is able to do much more that we can ask or think so dare to ask big and then wait.

That's another Opinion of the Minion.

Love Part 1

Hello Everyone,

Today I want to begin a several part blog on love.  This is one topic that I need to know much more about.  See, I love my wife and I love my children.  But what does that really mean?  Does it mean I feel warm inside when I'm with my wife?  Does it mean I really enjoy my children?  The answer to both of those questions is sometimes yes and sometimes no.  But it doesn't change the fact that I love them both.

But, before we get to what love is, I want to take the rest of this blog to talk about what love is not.  For those of you who read this blog inside the United State, we use this word entirely too much and we water down what it really means.  You might hear someone say, "I love my car" or "I love my school" or something else.  But that's not real love.  You can enjoy your car and you can really enjoy your school but real love is reserved for something else.

For all you young ladies let me tell you something else that is not love.  If a guy starts telling you he loves you and then starts pressuring you to have a physical relationship with him, that's not love.  That's lust and selfishness.  See anything someone uses to get something from you, is not love.  When you are dating, you might have heard if you love me, you will do this or that.  But that's not really love, most of the time it's someone trying to con you into getting something they want.

I've even heard Christians say that you are not walking in love if you don't give them the money they need or give them something else they want.  Again, that is not love.  Love does not seek to get it's own stuff.  Now let me ask you this, where are you upset with someone else because you aren't getting what you want from them?  It could be that you need rethink how you love are loving someone.

When we think about love, we often think of a feeling, but that is not love either.  Feelings are great and when I feel really close to my wife and get those warm, gooey feelings about her, I really enjoy them but that doesn't define my love for her.  In fact, I don't think feelings have anything to do with true love at all.

Well, I like to keep these fairly short so we will pick it up here next time with a little more about what love is not.

That's another Opinion of the Minion

Politics or People

Hello Everyone,

In light of the political elections that are coming up in American, I want to take a second to talk about politics but not in the way you might think.

I've noticed that everyone has an opinion about the current political landscape.  Some hate Trump; Some hate Clinton and some hate everyone.  But here's what really doesn't make sense to me.  I see a lot of my friends and family on my personal Facebook page and other places posting about politics.  They all have something to say about what should or shouldn't be done.  They all have something to say about this person's moral character or that person's.  They all have something to say about this person's truthfulness, etc.  Yet not one of the people I have ever talked with has the capability (other than casting 1 vote) to do anything about it.  Furthermore, neither one of the candidates cares about what any of them think on a personal level.  Whoever gets elected is going to do whatever they please regardless of what you and I think.

So I've been asking the Lord what to do about it.  Here's what the Lord showed me.

1.  Whatsoever things are lovely, just, pure and of a good report, mediate on these.  That doesn't mean that you ignore things but it does mean that you shouldn't focus on them.  Focus on God's word.  It will actually make a difference in your life.

2.  Find someone to bless today.  This one is huge.  I can't really influence who gets elected but I can influence the people around me.  Do you know someone who needs encouragement or maybe someone who needs a meal.  The list of needs goes on and on.  Did you know the Bible says that when you give to someone in need, you give to Jesus?  That's really big.

3.  Remove a critical spirit from you.  See I have noticed that before the Lord told me to quit giving the race so much attention that I was getting critical.  Not only was I critical of the people in the election but I started being critical of people around me.  That's no place to live.

So I ask again - Politics or People?  The choice is yours.

That's another Opinion of the Minion.

The Box Revisited

Hello Everyone,

This is one of the first posts I ever created and I think that every once in a while I should repost it because it was so profound to me.



I have given this a lot a of thought and I believe that the Lord showed me something that changed the way I view people.

You see, when God creates a person he gives them abilities, passions, desires, talents and all sorts of wonderful attributes that we seldom ever see.  Then he takes all these things and puts them in a box with silver wrapping paper and very pretty red ribbon tied in a bow around it.  He calls the box - You.  It is a present to the world.  When I saw this for the first time, I looked around at all the people walking by and said to myself, "Merry Christmas!" because all I could see were beautiful boxes waiting to be opened.

The problem is many people don't even know what is in their own box much less have taken the time to look in someone elses box.  This starts when we are in school.  As we grow up, we learn all kinds of new things about ourselves: what we like, what we don't, the changes that our bodies go through, we learn things in school about the world and we learn about social interaction.  But sometimes that social interaction teaches us that the stuff in our box isn't all that important.

Have you ever felt like the stuff inside you doesn't really matter?  Can you look back to a point in your life where you were doing something you really enjoyed and someone else called it or you stupid or worthless?

When you pull the most precious parts of your life out of the box and let other people see them, it is scary because you are definitely vulnerable at that point.  But know this, the Lord put all those wonderful things inside and they are of great price and value.  Don't let someone cheapen what is so precious by their comments.

Everyday, I see people who are alive but aren't living.  I think it is because they have told themselves that the treasures in their box aren't important or worth much so they don't do anything with them.  They may not have done this openly but below the surface it happens.  You have to know that if God took the time to create you and put all those treasures inside you, they are important both to him and to me.

When was the last time you looked in your box and pulled out something you truly enjoyed and used it?  When was the last time you opened the box?  When was the last time you were passionate about anything?  Are you so caught up in the rat race that your box isn't important any more?

Here is another interesting question - When was the last time you opened up someone else's box to see who they really are and celebrate the gifts inside them?  Do you always know what is wrong with your husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, kids, friends, parents, family, coworkers but never look inside the box for what is so awesome about them?

Husbands, what would happen if instead of criticizing your wife, the next time you saw her, you decided to look at something that was so precious to her, so beautiful, so tender, so amazing and something she loved about herself?  What would happen if you nurtured that gift and encouraged it to grow?  What would happen if, after you opened her box, she decided that your box was the most special one on earth and decided to touch the core of who you are?  What if you both decided to go deep in your relationship?

Boyfriends, what if you looked at her and decided that you wanted more than just what was inside her clothes, you wanted what was inside her heart.  Girlfriends, what if you decided that you wanted the same thing?  What if you wanted to explore who they are and make them the best person they could be while they did the same thing to you?  What if you looked at them and asked, "What can I give?" instead of "What can I get?"

Is this a little intense?  Yes.  Is it worth it if just one person decides to open their box or open someone elses?  Yes.  You see, I believe that I got to see a little glimpse of the creation through the creator's eyes when He showed me this.  It was truly an eye opening experience and I can definitely say I will never be the same.  I got to see how He looked at and longs for His creation to be all that we can be and how His love for us goes so deep His heart aches for us.

So I guess the real question is what is in your box?  I want to know.

That's the Opinion of His Minion

To Your Parents

Hello Everyone,

Today I want to talk to all of you that are parents.  If you are a young person, ask your parents to read this.

Let me start by saying that I am a parent/stepparent to five very wonderful and very different children.  Our children are ages 15, 14, 13, 12 and 10 so we are just hitting the teenage years.  We are hitting the age where they become more and more independent.  But let me tell you this parents, we are also hitting the time of their lives where they begin to dream their own dreams and want to go their own paths.

For many parents this is a hard time.  See we think we have the plan for their lives.  We see them going to college and getting a good job out of school then preparing for a family and in many cases following the same track that we went down.  After all, if it was good enough for us, it's good enough for them right?  Wrong.  They have their own dreams and their own desires.

This past weekend, my wife and I had the opportunity to watch our oldest daughter perform in a theater camp in our town.  It was a wonderful experience for her and she truly enjoyed it.  In the second act, I was hit by part of the performance.  The musical is about kids going through school and it's "target audience" is teachers as they are in the classroom and their impact on the kids they teach.  At one point, four different young men and women describe a boy who writes a poem.  The first poem is named Skip after his dog because that's what it's about.  His teacher gives him an A and a gold star and his mom pins it to the wall.  His dad tucks him into bed and he's enjoying life.

The second poem is called Autumn because that's what it's about.  His teacher gave him an A and his mom told him not to pin it to the wall because the wall had just been painted.  That year he noticed that things weren't as rosy around him.  Then he tried another poem called Question (I think) because that what it was about.  His mom didn't say anything about it and his dad got mad at him when he tried to tuck him into bed.  He wrote his last poem on a matchbook and completely checked out of life.  His parents never knew he was unhappy.

The skit is followed by a song called, "I've Come Home."  It's about children coming home and the place of safety, love and warmth they find at home with their family.  This made me start to think about my own children and I began to wonder if my desire to see grow into the adults that I want them to was clouding my ability to see their dreams and desires.  What part of where they thought they wanted to go was I missing.  Since they are teenagers, their dreams are probably going to change several times over the next few years but that doesn't matter.  I started asking myself what was I doing to encourage them to stretch out and work for their dreams.  What was I doing to help them work hard to achieve the things that God put in their life, not the things that I was trying to put in their lives.  Now I am not saying that grades and their upbringing isn't important and as a parent it's definitely are job to make sure our kids work hard and do their best.  It is our job to help them grow into strong men and women.

Let me close with this.  What if Billy Graham's mom had forced him to be a dentist?  What if Albert Einstein's mom had forced him to be a lawyer?  What if Mother Theresa's mom had forced her to be an actress?  It would be like trying to put a size 8 foot in a size 6 shoe.  It just wouldn't fit.  So let me ask you this parents, what are you doing to help your children realize their dreams?

That's Another Opinion of the Minion

What Have You Done Lately?

Words.  We hear them everyday from all sorts of places.  We hear songs on the radio, watch TV shows, talk to other people and we even hear our own words.  I think I heard that the average person speaks 10,000 words a day.  Which means that the average person hears at least that many every day and probably more.  That's a lot.

So today I want to talk about words, indirectly anyway.  See we hear things all the time and we say things all the time.  I tell my girlfriend, D, that I love her regularly.  Those words sound great and they feel great to say.  What's even better is when I hear her tell me the same thing back.  It feels awesome and I know she means them.  But how do I know she means what she says?  Or how does she know that I mean what I say?  The answer is really simple.  It doesn't require a great leap of faith or many hours of prayer and fasting to figure it out.

All D has to do to know if my words are true is watch my actions.  Do they line up with my words?  I tell her that I love her and then I do my best to show her that I love her.  I consciously consider whether or not my actions are lining up with my words.

This same thing applies to other places as well.  If I tell someone that I will do something and I don't then my actions and words don't line up.  I remember several months ago, I promised to take all the kids to a place called Main Event here in Fort Worth.  This place has bowling, laser tag and video games and the kids love it.  Now when the day arrived, I was feeling a little sick and I didn't want to go.  When I told the kids, my daughter said, "But Dad, you gave your word."  I had a choice to make.  I could either go back on my word and do something else or I could go and feel a little sick in the process.  Let me just say that while I didn't feel good, I wasn't completely sick or I would have stayed home.  I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't be smart and weigh the consequences of the situation.  But in this case, I should have taken the kids and we ultimately did.

Let me turn this blog in a slightly different direction and I will get to my point for today.  Many of us say that we are Christians but unfortunately our actions don't line up very well with our words.  I heard a story and whether or not it is true, it illustrates a good point.  A pastor of a church had a friend who ran a restaurant close to the church.  One day he and his friend were talking and the restaurant owner said to the pastor, "You know I have a lot of trouble getting people to work on Sunday."

"Why is that?" the pastor asked.

"Because the people from your church are the worst tippers and treat the wait staff rudely," he said.

I can't tell you how many times I have heard of Christians that I would never want to do business with because of the lack of integrity that I have seen.

So here is the real point.  The bible says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave...."  If we are going to say that we are Christians, it's high time we started giving.  When we go to a place to eat, the waiters ought to fight with each other to see who gets our table because we are such generous people.  When is the last time you gave to someone without expecting anything in return?  I hope the answer is recently.  But if not, it's time to make a change.  Remember God gives to us every day and he does it because he loves us.  If we are telling people that we are Christians, isn't it high time our actions lined up with our words?

That's another Opinion of the Minion

The Box

Hello everyone,

Today I reposted what I believe to be the most significant thing I have ever said.  The post is called, the Box.  Recently my girlfriend and I were discussing homosexuality and I will not discuss whether it is right or wrong.  You have a bible, find out for yourself.  But I do want to stress that hate for people of that lifestyle is totally wrong.  See our job isn't to judge it's to love.  If you look at thing's through the lense of the Box, it will change the way you look at people.  So, here's the Box.




I have given this a lot a of thought and I believe that the Lord showed me something that changed the way I view people.

You see, when God creates a person he gives them abilities, passions, desires, talents and all sorts of wonderful attributes that we seldom ever see. Then he takes all these things and puts them in a box with silver wrapping paper and very pretty red ribbon tied in a bow around it. He calls the box - You. It is a present to the world. When I saw this for the first time, I looked around at all the people walking by and said to myself, "Merry Christmas!" because all I could see were beautiful boxes waiting to be opened.

The problem is many people don't even know what is in their own box much less have taken the time to look in someone elses box. This starts when we are in school. As we grow up, we learn all kinds of new things about ourselves: what we like, what we don't, the changes that our bodies go through, we learn things in school about the world and we learn about social interaction. But sometimes that social interaction teaches us that the stuff in our box isn't all that important.

Have you ever felt like the stuff inside you doesn't really matter? Can you look back to a point in your life where you were doing something you really enjoyed and someone else called it or you stupid or worthless?

When you pull the most precious parts of your life out of the box and let other people see them, it is scary because you are definitely vulnerable at that point. But know this, the Lord put all those wonderful things inside and they are of great price and value. Don't let someone cheapen what is so precious by their comments.

Everyday, I see people who are alive but aren't living. I think it is because they have told themselves that the treasures in their box aren't important or worth much so they don't do anything with them. They may not have done this openly but below the surface it happens. You have to know that if God took the time to create you and put all those treasures inside you, they are important both to him and to me.

When was the last time you looked in your box and pulled out something you truly enjoyed and used it? When was the last time you opened the box? When was the last time you were passionate about anything? Are you so caught up in the rat race that your box isn't important any more?

Here is another interesting question - When was the last time you opened up someone else's box to see who they really are and celebrate the gifts inside them? Do you always know what is wrong with your husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, kids, friends, parents, family, coworkers but never look inside the box for what is so awesome about them?

Husbands, what would happen if instead of criticizing your wife, the next time you saw her, you decided to look at something that was so precious to her, so beautiful, so tender, so amazing and something she loved about herself? What would happen if you nurtured that gift and encouraged it to grow? What would happen if, after you opened her box, she decided that your box was the most special one on earth and decided to touch the core of who you are? What if you both decided to go deep in your relationship?

Boyfriends, what if you looked at her and decided that you wanted more than just what was inside her clothes, you wanted what was inside her heart. Girlfriends, what if you decided that you wanted the same thing? What if you wanted to explore who they are and make them the best person they could be while they did the same thing to you? What if you looked at them and asked, "What can I give?" instead of "What can I get?"

Is this a little intense? Yes. Is it worth it if just one person decides to open their box or open someone elses? Yes. You see, I believe that I got to see a little glimpse of the creation through the creator's eyes when He showed me this. It was truly an eye opening experience and I can definitely say I will never be the same. I got to see how He looked at and longs for His creation to be all that we can be and how His love for us goes so deep His heart aches for us.

So I guess the real question is what is in your box? I want to know.

That's the Opinion of His Minion

What Were You Thinking?

OK, today I want to talk about something that is extremely important - thoughts.  I want to share something that has recently come to light in my life.  My thoughts will dictate where I go for the day. 

Now I have heard people talk about this a lot and the bible even says that we are supposed to cast out bad thoughts but I never really got it until recently.  Now I have tried unsuccessfully to get rid of those bad thoughts for years and for years I thought I wasn't spiritual enough or something because it never worked.  See a bad thought would get in my head and I would start trying to get rid of it but it wouldn't work.

But here's what I recently discovered about those thoughts.  They had a very direct effect on my mood and feelings.  I once had someone tell me that I needed to lead my heart (my emotions) and I can definitely see his point.  Now I am not saying that your emotions are not important or that you shouldn't listen to what you are feeling because that's not true.  But I do want to spend a couple of minutes talking about how your thoughts effect them.

See, if you concentrate on something long enough, it will definitely effect the way you feel.  What's worse is if you meditate on something bad, many times your thoughts will run wild.  You can end up dreading or mentally walking through all kinds of situations that never will actually happen.  Have you ever gotten a piece of bad news and not been in a place where you could do something about it instantly?  When that happens to me, I can get really worked up over nothing. 

I remember just recently I was feeling like things were off.  Now as you may know, dealing with my emotions is a relatively new thing for me as I have only been doing this for a couple of years.  So as I sat there trying to figure out why I was feeling like I was in a funk, I did a mental inventory.  My relationship with my kids was very good.  I was getting them the help they needed.  I was seeing good things happening in my business.  It was growing and I had made several very positive changes that were showing great results on a business that was doing well before we made them.  I was (and still am) dating a great woman.  She is the most amazing person.  I know she loves me deeply because she tells and shows me and I love her very deeply too.

So as I sat there trying to figure out why the funk, I noticed that I felt like something was wrong and it made me feel a little strange.  But when I did a mental inventory, everything was going (and still is) great.  So what was going on?   Here is what I discovered.  When I went to bed at night, if I wasn't careful, I my mind would wander all over the place and most of the time, I was running bad scenarios through my head.  I didn't mean to do this but I didn't stop it from happening either.  Now I know life is full of things that happen that are bad.   The bible even says that we will have trouble.  I also believe that we should plan for certain contingencies in our lives.  That's a smart thing to do.  But I was planning on all kinds of stupid contingencies.  As I planned through each one that was bad, I realized that it had a negative effect on my emotions and thus a negative effect on my mood.

But there is good news!  I figured out how to cast down the thoughts and it was really simple.  You don't make them go away and keep your mind blank.  You fill your mind with good thoughts.  What if I started planning for the good things that God has in store for me?  What if I started thinking about how He wants to bless me and how He has the power to do so?  What if I looked back at some of the sweet texts that my beautiful girlfriend sends me and think about how much she loves me and I love her?  What if I start thinking about all the good things going on at work or with my kids?  I noticed that when I do this, my emotions are good and my spirit lifts.

So what am I telling you?  When you feel your emotions are in a bad place, check yourself.  If there are good reasons for your negative emotions, then don't deny them - deal with them.  But I think you will find that many times we get upset for no good reason.  When that happens make the conscious decision to meditate on good things and not bad ones.

That's another Opinion of the Minion.

Are You Drunk?

Hello everyone,

Today I want to tell you about something I really saw in a different light this week.  But before I get to that, I want to roll the clock back several years and tell you a little story.

When I first started working for company I run today, some of the people from our company had to take a trip to Detroit.  Now I was very new to flying and so I was really excited.  But the truth be told, I was new to almost everything related to business.  I was still a wet behind the ears rookie at our business at it showed.

There were four of us on this particular trip.  We were going to see a company that wanted us to work for them and this was our interview process.  It was a chance for us to interview them and vice versa.  But since we were coming to Detroit on our air fare, they paid for our hotel rooms (remember this fact, you will see it again).  My boss was normally in a good mood when we went on these trips and he needed it for this trip.  As we got to the counter, I was the first one in our line.  Now my boss was in the frequent flier program and he had the ability to upgrade to first class from coach.  The attendant asked if I wanted to upgrade since I was in my bosses party and I said, "Sure! Updgrade the whole group!"  Because I wasn't using my money, being a big spender was no problem.  The funny part was that I didn't know it cost money to do the upgrades.  I thought my boss got to do this just because he had flown so much on that airline.  Well $500 later we got on the airplane in first class.  If he was mad about it, he never mentioned it.  Truth be told, he would probably have done it himself.

So he and another of the more seasoned veterans of our company sat a couple of rows behind us while I and another wet behind the ears salesman sat in the bulkhead row.  It was an evening flight and we all had a good time.  In fact, my companion had a very good time.  He drank a bottle of wine during the flight.  Well we are about to start our decent into Detroit when the flight attendant asks him if he wants to take this other bottle with him when we get off the plane.  When my friend finds out he has 30 minutes until we land, he promptly orders the bottle opened and finishes it before we hit the runway in Detroit.

At this point, he is finished himself.  See two bottles of wine over the course of three hours is a lot of wine even for him.  At that point, he could hold his liquor pretty well.  What he didn't factor into the equation was the altitude and how it makes the alcohol even more potent.  While we were standing in line to get our rental car, he has his arm around the guy behind.  This other guy is wearing the ugliest suit I have ever seen.  It is bright yellow and he is wearing a bright yellow hat like the guy from Curious George.  Being the salesman he is, my friend is trying to convince this stranger to come charter a boat the company owed!  He was totally plastered!

So we get to the hotel and start the check in process.  In case you have never stayed at a hotel, this is a typical check in process.  You walk up to the counter, announce who you are and they start the process.  At this point, the people behind the counter ask for your credit card to pay for the room and any other incidental charges.  Unless someone else has already paid for your room!  At one point in our process and I find my friend in a full on argument about paying for his room.  Now he is attempting to pay for it with his driver's license (not a credit card).  When the lady behind the counter explains that the rooms have been paid for by the company we are visiting, he gets upset because he thinks that this little lady is saying he is in capable of handling his financial responsibilities and tries to pay for his room with his YMCA card.  This whole process goes on for a while before we get him convinced that the room is paid for and he is in right standing with the hotel.

That's sort of a funny story right.  Well what would you say if I told you that you have probably done the same thing in your life?  I can already hear people saying, "Not me!  I've never been drunk!" or something else explaining my ridiculous question.  But hold on there for a minute.

See, I bet there is an area of your life where this is a problem.  Have you ever done something wrong in your life and then regretted it?  Have you ever felt bad about something you did and sort of punished yourself for doing it?  I'm pretty sure you have.  But you see, your forgiveness has already been paid in full.  Jesus did it once and for all.  He took care of your hotel bill for good.  I think we go around a lot trying to pay for our own sins with our driver's license or YMCA card when Jesus has already taken care of it.  So if that's you today, quit trying to pay for something that's already paid with something that wouldn't take care of the bill if there was one.  Just accept God's forgiveness.  When you do something wrong, admit it, quit it and forget it!

That's another Opinion of the Minion.

Be Where You Are

Today I want to talk about being where you are.  That sounds pretty redundant right?  Well the Lord really began to deal with me about this subject a few weeks ago.  As you all know I have this amazing woman in my life, D.  I love her a lot.  She's the right type of person for me because she's different than me in so many ways and I have learned so much from her.  We have had many conversations about this topic but she really brought it home to me a couple of weeks ago.  It was just a passing comment but sometimes the Lord will use those types of comments to speak to you and this was one of those times.

She is a first grade teacher.  Now I believe that God anoints preachers to preach but from what I have seen, I think teachers need more anointing than most preachers.  One day we were talking about school and she said it was a very demanding job because with twenty kids who are only six years old, she has to stay very focused on what is going on around her.  She said that is something she works on in her life - giving whatever you are doing 100% of your energy while you are doing it.  That was very interesting on a couple of levels. 

First of all, it gave me more insight into her as a person and I really enjoy getting to know her.  But it also made me examine my own behavior.  It made me ask the question - Am I giving what I am doing my full attention?

Now I have seen this picture for a long time in a different area of my life.  When I was married, I was not happy so I was always looking forward to the next thing.  I tried to look forward to going to play golf because playing golf was fun and it helped me cope with the unpleasant things going on around me.  It was sort of my way to escape from the real world.  But here's what I noticed.  When I got to the golf course, I would play a few holes and then I started looking forward to going out to dinner or the movies or something after our round of golf.  More importantly, I quit enjoying the round of golf and found my only enjoyment coming from looking forward to the next thing.

I lived that way for a long time.  So when I was with my friends, I was only partially with my friends because the other part of me was on to the next thing on my agenda.  That wasn't fair to anyone.  It certainly wasn't fair to my friends who were hanging out with me because they were giving me their full attention (at least as far as I could tell) but I wasn't doing the same thing.  But it also wasn't fair to me.  The people around me are all gifts from God and I wasn't enjoying the gifts that God put into my life.

Which brings me to another point.  I wasn't being fair to God.  He was placing all these great people and opportunities in front of me and I didn't enjoy them.  To make matters worse, I didn't appreciate them like I should so I didn't value them as high as I should.  That's terrible.  Now the reverse of this can also be true.  You can be so focused on some negative situation that it causes you to act the same way.

Now fast forward to the present.  While I don't really look forward like that anymore, there is another place that is just as bad.  I can be not totally present for no apparent reason.  A person that I work with brought that up to me yesterday.  He mentioned a specific incident where I was disconnected from a situation that I should have really paid attention.  A person needed me to be caring and considerate and I was mentally absent.  That is horrible and I have no excuse for my actions.  But it is something that I want to watch.

So what am I saying today?  Wherever you are, be there completely!  Thank you D for reminding me of this very important issue.  I love you.

That's another Opinion of the Minion 

You're Not Finished

Today I want to talk about something that I have been thinking about for a couple of weeks.  Most of the people who read this blog are young people but there some of us who are a little older.  Regardless of where you are in the journey of life, I want you to know that God's not finished with you yet.

I see people everyday who are not very successful.  Many of them feel like there lot in life is to just maintain whatever their state of life is now.  Maybe they work a 9 to 5 job, come home and watch TV, go to bed and start it all again the next day.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with the scenario I just described because there is not.  But most of the time those same people had dreams and visions when they were younger that they let slip.  Maybe they wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer and when that didn't happen, they just sort of let life slip by without trying to do what they dreamed.  Maybe they got discouraged because of some failure and that caused them to stop trying.  Let me just say, that regardless of your age, God is not finished with you.

We hear a lot in the bible about a guy named Moses.  Now Moses was a member of the royal family of Egypt by adoption and he was an Israelite by birth.  He lived a pretty privileged life for the first part of his life but then he hit a snag and got stuck in the wilderness for about 40 years.  At eighty years of age, he could have just quit on life and coasted in for the remaining years of his life.  He could have said he was too old to do much and it was just his lot in life to work for his father-in-law and watch his kids/grand kids grow up.  There would have been nothing wrong with that except God needed him to lead the whole nation of Israel out of Egypt.  He didn't start into his ministry/calling until he was well past the age at which he could draw social security (they didn't have it back then though) but he decided that God wasn't through with him and he did what God called him to do.

I have a friend who is working on going to medical school.  He is in his mid/late 30s which is past the normal age for people to start medical school.  Some people might say that he is too old.  After all, he will be in his early 40s by the time he gets done with residency, etc., and starts his practice.  But understand this, in a few years he will be in his early 40s regardless of whether or not he goes to medical school so I say he might as well chase his dream.  He is going to be that age regardless.  In a way that is similar to Moses, he decided not to let age stand in the way of accomplishing his dream.

So let me ask you this - what is your dream?  Why aren't you pursuing it regardless of your age?  You are not too old for God to use you.  You are not too old to accomplish your dreams so get busy accomplishing them.  Regardless of how old you are, dare to dream big and chase your dreams.  You might say, "What if I don't accomplish my dream?"  Well I say, "What if you do!"

That's another Opinion of the Minion

You Want to Do Something for Me?

OK everyone, today I want to talk about something that is very difficult for me.  It is hard for me to let other people bless me.  As I have said before, I am divorced and obviously my marriage wasn't a great one or I would still be married.  One thing I learned through the process is that I didn't want my ex-wife to do anything for me.  Now this is probably just my perception but it always seemed like if I let her do something for me, it would come back to me in a negative way.  I really think this was just my perception and in fact she said more than once that I didn't let her do things for me.

I don't want to rehash my divorce but I do want to talk about this whole issue for a few minutes.  I am in a relationship now with a remarkable person.  I have learned much from her and am thankful for her.  One of the things that I struggled with as we started dating was letting her do things for me.  This next part may sound conceited but I don't mean it that way.  I think I am just stating a fact.  I am a good guy and I really like her so it is natural for me to do nice things for her.  But for whatever reason, it was not natural for me to let her do much in return.  Fortunately, I am finding balance now. 

There is one particular instance that really made me understand my problem.  I was at her house one day and she decided that she was going to fix us a meal.  I sat at the table watching her work on our meal and it made me extremely uncomfortable.  To alleviate this, I asked a few times if I could help with something and she very sweetly and politely said no.  She just wanted me to sit there and we talked.  This made me even more uncomfortable.  I really didn't like not helping with some part of the process.  I think I felt that if I did some of the work then I would "earn" my right to enjoy dinner.

Now I have done things for her that I would not let her help me do because I wanted to bless her.  Again, I don't mean this as bragging.  But when the shoe was on the other foot, I was really not interested in just letting her bless me.  That was very selfish on my part.  Fortunately, I didn't say anything and we had a great meal.  How rude would it have been for me to want to bless her but not allow her to bless me back.  She is a very giving person and I wanted to stifle her giving.  Well I am learning to enjoy being blessed as much as I get to be a blessing now.

Before I get to the main point of this blog, let me say this.  We cannot always sit back and "let others bless us" without being a blessing to them.  That's called being lazy and probably a little narcissistic.  I am not saying that I should sit back and do nothing while she "serves" me.  The mere thought of that turns my stomach.  What I am telling you is that we need to be balanced in this area.

So let me get to the main point here.  Just like I was trying to justify enjoying my meal with my girlfriend, many times we do the same thing with God.  Did you know that when you ask God to forgive you, He does it immediately.  He doesn't put a tickler in your personal file and then get around to forgiving you next week.  That's not the way he works.  Here is another thing about forgiveness.  We cannot earn it.  It is a gift.  Yet how many times do we try to earn our forgiveness from the Lord just like I was trying to earn the right to enjoy dinner?  Have you ever decided to feel bad about something for several days as a "punishment" for what you did?  I hear about people doing this type of thing all the time but that's not the way God looks at it.  You should feel sorry when you do something wrong but don't think you can earn your forgiveness.

Here is another thing that I learned.  God wants to bless us all the time.  He prepared a way for us and has a great plan for each of our lives.  And yet we still ignore his plan preferring to do things on our own.  I am not against doctors and if I am sick I will go to see one but what about going to God and receiving the gift he already gave us for healing?  Why do we feel that we should not let God help us and that we need to do things on our own?  God is such a giving God and he loves you very much.  Look around today for his help and when you find it receive it.  You didn't do anything to earn it, yet he gives you gifts and that's not only OK, it's the way he designed things.  So I hope we all can learn from my issue.  It's OK to let people do nice things for you (assuming their motives are good) and it's really OK to let the Lord do nice things for you.  We can't earn them; we can enjoy them.

That's another Opinion of the Minion

The Minion and the Box

My last blog was about the Box.  In the interest of time, I will not go over that post here.  If you haven't read it yet, you might want to read that one before this one.  This one will make more sense if you do.

Last time, I talked about the great gifts that God sends to our planet.  One of them is you and I described what these gifts looked like to me.  The people that God sends to earth look like very pretty presents.  Now over time here on earth, the Boxes get holes and tears in them.  Sometimes stuff gets inside the box that doesn't belong.  Instead of character strengths, there are character flaws.  But know this, God never took the talents and gifts out of any of the Boxes.  In other words, when He placed gifts inside of you, he never took them out again.  Well, you might say, I know this person or that person and they are not nice.  Osama Bin Laden was not a nice person was he?  He is responsible for the deaths of many people.  But did you know that God put great gifts inside him when he sent him to the earth.  Guess what.  Those gifts were still inside him when he left the earth.  Unfortunately, they were never seen like God intended.

Most of us don't know anyone like that.  But many of us know people who just aren't nice.  Guess what.  God put those gifts inside them too and they are permanently there.  No matter how bad the devil would like to get them out of us, he simply doesn't have the power to take them out.  We can choose not to develop them but Satan can't steal them from us.  

Here is another interesting note.  Have you ever noticed that we are quick to point out the holes in the box or the tears in the paper but we typically don't notice the gold on the inside?  Well it seems like that happens regularly.  Take the kid at school who doesn't dress like you do or maybe she is just a little shy.  Maybe she sits by herself at lunch and everyone thinks she is strange.  There is something great inside that person that should be celebrated.  Let me illustrate with a story I once heard.

There was this church that got a new member.  The new member was a very pretty lady who happened to wear shorts that were too short and a shirt that was cut way too low to church every Sunday.  This went on for several weeks and the ladies of the church got more and more upset about the whole thing.  They were calling her all sorts of ugly names.  But right in the middle of it all, someone decided that they were going to buy her a dress and make her clean up her act.  Well when they brought the woman the dress she was overjoyed to have something so beautiful to wear to church.  It turns out that she came from a very bad situation and the short shorts and low cut shirt were the best things she had to wear.  She was very thankful to have something much less revealing to wear to church.  That woman had a very admirable trait.  What was it you ask?  She learned to do her very best even if it wasn't as good as someone else.  Also, she had the courage to go to church when she wasn't able to dress like everyone else.  I like that.

Let me tell you about a boy I know.  Now on the outside, he is not the most athletic.  He is in middle school and he is just like every other sixth grader struggling to cope with this new phase in his life.  I remember my time there and would not want to do it again.  This particular kid loves to build things.  Now it would be easy to push him to do more athletics like football or baseball but instead the right thing for his parents is to encourage him to build things.  See he may never be the captain of the football team but what if he builds the next Golden Gate bridge or what if he invents something that will get us off of oil for fuel?  It would be a waste to try to make him something he is not.  Instead, we need to celebrate the gift for building things that God put inside his Box.

So what am I telling you?  Take a little time to look inside someone's box and celebrate who they are today.

That's another Opinion of the Minion 

The Box

Today I want to revisit a topic that I have talked about several times but it was the real driver that started the Minion so I think it's worth looking at again.  I want to talk to you about the Box.  What is the Box?  Good question.  For me to answer that, I need to step back a several months.

Sometime around the end of May of last year, I was out walking down the Trinity River in Fort Worth.  At that point, I was really hurting because I wanted companionship so bad and I couldn't find it.  I was in the midst of finalizing my divorce which I have said may represent the greatest failure in my life.  My ex-wife and I had not been companions for many years and I really wanted that companionship.  I was lonely and it was not a fun time.  On top of that, I went through an emotional transformation that let all of the emotions I had closed off for many years out of the box at the same time.  I was not a pretty sight.  Well in the midst of this great change in my life, one of the most rewarding things I have ever done was birthed - this blog.  

As I started to write, I found an outlet for many of those emotions that I really didn't understand.  For the most part, I didn't want them and didn't think I needed them.  As I began to write these, the Lord showed me something that has revolutionized my life and I think I need a revival of this in my life.

See, God showed me something about how he does things.  In particular, he takes a box.  Now as I was walking that day, I saw it.  It is silver with a red ribbon around it.  The box and the lid are wrapped separately so that when you take the top of the box off, the ribbon and bow are still on the top while the wrapping paper and ribbon are still on the bottom as well.  It is truly a beautiful looking present.  God takes the lid off of this box and he starts loading it with all sorts of good things.  Once he is finished, he puts the lid back on and sends it to the earth as a present.  So guess what he puts in the box.  He puts in all sorts of wonderful gifts and amazing talents.  He puts kindness, compassion, love, generosity, and all sorts of good things inside this box.  He truly loves the people on the earth and he wants to bless them. 

Now because He loves people so much, He is constantly sending these boxes to the earth.  He takes great care to make each one unique and each one is perfect in his eyes.  Then after he has added His tenderness and joy to this gift, He sends it to the earth.  Do you know what he calls it?  He calls it - YOU!  He cares so much about others that He sent you here and when He did, He made you perfect in His eyes.  There are so many times that other people look at us and we may feel like we are inadequate or inferior in some way but we don't look at ourselves like God looks at us.  The Bible says, He is love.  Now we love people in many different ways.  We love our friends, we love our family, we love our children and we love that special someone in our lives but He is love.  We use love as a verb.  For God, it's a noun.  It's who He is.  And He is incapable of doing anything but loving you.  No matter what you think or others think, the creator of the whole universe thinks you are really special.  He thinks you are amazing and he intended for you to be a gift to the people around you.  He intended for you to be a blessing and He equipped you to do just that.  If you think you are not capable of blessing others, that is a lie from the devil.

So as you look at yourself, know that God made you the perfect Box full of all sorts of talents, abilities and capabilities.  Don't let anyone tell you any different!

Now I want to take this one step farther and leave you with this.  You know that person you don't like very much.  You know who I'm talking about.  The one who annoys you at school or the one at the office that just drives you up a tree.  Yup that's who I'm talking about.  God sent them to earth the same way he sent you and me.  He made them perfect and gave them amazing talents and abilities.  If this person doesn't particularly act right toward you, try to look inside them and see some of the good things that God placed inside them.  How about the person that everyone else calls a loser?  God made them too and He made them unique.  Guess what?  God has never ever made a loser.  He doesn't know how.  So when you see someone struggling, try to look inside their box and see the good things God has placed inside them.

That's another Opinion of the Minion 

Make a Difference

I read somewhere recently that sometime around 40 years old, something happens on the inside of many of men.  They begin to evaluate their life and there is a deep desire to make a difference in the lives of the people around them.  As many of you know, I am 40 years old and I know this is the case in my life.

There comes a time in many lives where we sit back and wonder what mark we have made on earth.  For some that might mean being the best mom they could.  For others it might mean being the best friend they could.  For me?  Well, I don't know the complete answer yet.  Part of what that means to me is being the best dad I can.  As many of you know I have three really great children and they are certainly a blessing.  But yet, I know that with blessing comes responsibility.  It's my responsibility to make sure they have a house to live in, food on the table, and clothes on their back.  It's also my responsibility to make sure they go to school and get a good education.  Now by the grace of God, I have done this so far.  That should make me a good dad and I could sit back and feel like I've made my mark.  But as a dad, I recently got a true revelation of my real responsibility to train them up in the ways of the Lord and to be/do all the intangible things.  Because of that, I have recently read several books on how to be a true Godly man in front of my children.  If I can impart this to them, I will certainly have made a mark on the world because they can carry this forward.

But while being a great dad is very important, it will not be enough to satisfy me.  I want to do something that will say I was here many years after I depart for Heaven.  So what else should I do?  I want to be a great companion.  There is a song by a group called the Crabb Family called Ellsworth.  This particular song is about an elderly woman who has started to mentally slip to the point where she doesn't know a lot about her day to day activities any more.  But if you bring up her husband, she clearly remembers how much she loved him and how much he loved her.  It's similar to a movie called "The Notebook."  Yes, I've seen the movie.  I want to make that type of mark on a woman's life.  I want to be so good to her that 50 years from now, if I'm gone before her she still remembers how much I loved her.  I want to make a difference in her life.  I think I may be at the beginning of that opportunity now and I am really enjoying it.  There is something very special about a good woman.  Did you know Solomon said he looked through 1000 people and found a real man but he had never found a real woman.  Well I guess I am more blessed than Solomon.

Where else can I make a difference?  I can make a difference in the lives of the people who work for me.  On of the greatest privileges in my life is to have the opportunity to be part of God blessing other people with good jobs.  This is certainly a place where I can make my mark in the world.  I can grow my company to the place where I can continue to put people to work and help them feed their families.  Will this make me a lot of money in the process?  Yes.  Is money my motivation for growing a business?  In part I suppose it is but the though of making a difference in some one's life is a bigger motivation.  I recently added a full time employee to our company and I can tell you it was a good feeling knowing that I gave someone else an opportunity to succeed.

I guess I am certainly pleased with the difference I have made so far in the people around me.  And guess what.  Many of them have made a big difference in my life.  In the last several weeks I have become very content and my heart has filled to overflowing because of one person in particular.

But I still want to be able to touch more people's lives in a positive way.  As I am sure most of you know, that's the reason for this blog.  Thank you for reading them and I hope they do make a positive difference in your lives.  Let me stop for a second and say that setting out to make a difference in other people's lives may seem like a strange thing to do.  After all, aren't we supposed to make sure that we are happy?  Well the answer to that question is partially yes but let me tell you what happens when you set out to make a difference in someone else.  You will get happy in the process.  Giving unselfishly to others will produce more happiness in your life than you could have ever imagined.

So let me challenge you with this.  If you are younger than me or older the time to start making a difference is now.  Start with those closest to you and then expand your horizons.  Before you know it, you might be touching people literally around the world.  You can even do it from a small place like Fort Worth, Texas.

That's another Opinion of the Minion 

Is It Real?

Today I want to talk about something that is a little strange to me.  The question is - Is it real?  Is what real, you ask?  When someone tells you something nice is it real?  Several months ago, I wrote a blog about the Box.  It was probably the most significant thing I have written thus far because it meant so much to me.  In this blog, I wrote about how we should look at the stuff that is on the inside of people and not the outside.  I think it is important to see the great things God has put in all of us.  Now it may have been the same blog or maybe not but I also wrote a little about how to take a compliment.

Recently, I have been around someone who has taken the time to take the lid off my box and see what's on the inside of me.  This person has been very complimentary of me and to be honest, it is a little unsettling.  I am not really sure how to take it.  She's used words to describe me like nice, sweet, caring, etc.  She even went as far as to say that I was a good man.  I am extremely grateful for the compliments and I believe that they are from the heart and sincere but they made me a little uncomfortable.  That made me consider my own actions a little.

When I am around someone, I try to be very positive.  I have worked hard to be someone who sees the best in others.  While I am not perfect, I feel like I have come a long way.  Like I have said before, I'm not where I want to be but thank God, I'm not where I used to be.  But I got a lesson today in how it feels to have someone do the same thing back to me.  Now it is unsettling but in a good way. 

I recently told someone that I thought they were a very special person and the response I got was not surprising.  That person basically said she struggled to believe what I was saying but she was working on believing it.  I have had this answer before in a different context and I wasn't shocked.  What surprised me a little was that this person didn't believe me.  Now she didn't think I was lying, she just found the nice thing I said difficult to believe.  At the time, I didn't understand why but now I think understand why she felt this way.

Have you ever been around someone who tells you one thing and then does another?  How about someone who tells you that they love you and then they do hateful things to you?  What message does that send?  Actions speak much louder than words so the actions certainly override the words.  Also, for some reason pain has a much more lasting effect on people than love.  At least on the surface this is the case.  So when we feel pain, the thought of it stays longer than love although love will impact you on a much deeper level.  But after someone hurts us, especially if it's for a long period of time, we really have a difficult time believing someone else when they say something nice.

Let me ask you this.  Has something happened in your life that makes it hard for you to believe things when people say nice things about you?  Maybe your self esteem is so low that it makes it hard for you to believe the nice things that people say about you.  The truth about the matter is that everything God ever made is amazing.  He made you and by definition that makes you an amazing person.  God wrote a whole book about you and how amazing you are.  The book says you were made in his image.  If someone tells you any different, ask yourself who's lying?  Is it them or God?  I choose them.  If someone tells you something good about you, it's probably true.  Now I do believe that we need to watch out for people who say nice things to manipulate us.  However, there are many people who just recognize the amazing gifts that God put in our box.  When that happens, let it soak through your skin like rain into the ground and get to your heart where it can grow into something amazing.

Today as we were walking, this person told me that I was pretty special.  I know what she says is sincere and I should have been able to believe her and just say thank you.  However, this is hard for me because it's hard for me to feel worthy of the compliment. There is a fine line between believing that we are worthy and being arrogant.  For years I have tried to hide behind humility to avoid compliments.  Now true humility is good and I try to be a humble person.  But I would avoid compliments or block them out because I didn't feel worthy of the compliment.  Instead of dealing wih not being worthy, I simply chose to believe that accepting a compliment could make me arrogant.

I am learning to accept these things from people and let them cause a harvest of good things to grow from my heart.  In truth, we all need to learn this lesson.

That's another Opinion of the Minion