Courage

Today I want to talk about courage.  We all know that our military men and women are very courageous and that they have and will lay down their lives in the face of danger.  Policemen and firemen would do the same.  We have stories about people giving their lives for others which is a very courageous thing to do.  As a matter of fact, Jesus did this very thing for us a long time ago.  But today I want to talk about having courage to live life and face problems.

This is a whole different type of courage.  As we enter the Christmas season it is very easy for some people to withdraw emotionally and feel dis-couraged based on their circumstances.  I know that for many years, I didn't have enough money to do the things I wanted for my family at Christmas and it would make me depressed.  I didn't want to go to Christmas parties or watch Christmas movies.  I viewed everything surrounding Christmas as a chore.  Christmas cards went out and gifts were given - the job got done but that wasn't really living.  Do you know what courage is?  Courage is being in a situation that you don't really like and deciding to make the best of it regardless of whether it feels good or not.  Courage is staring at the things in your life that you don't like about yourself or your situation and not letting it stop you from living and enjoying life.

But for years I was unable to face my weight problems or my financial problems.  I was just too afraid to admit that I had them.  Why?  Because then my life wouldn't be so perfect.  And my life was perfect.  it was perfectly wooden.  I was living dead because I didn't have the courage to face my short comings.

Have you ever faced depression?  It takes real courage to recognize it and decide that you are going to do something about it.  See depression is a very serious problem and if your not careful it can kill you.  So what do you call someone who has faced that monster and overcome it?  Courageous.

I knew of a situation where someone was depressed to the point of wanting to commit suicide.  Now the story goes that this person was a young person.  While it's not uncommon, what seemed strange to me about this story was that the person had low self esteem when that person easily could have been just the opposite.  This person was very attractive, smart, caring, funny, had a magnetic personality and extremely gifted but also battling depression.  One thing that caught my attention specifically about this story was that the person in it was strong enough to admit there was a problem and ask for help despite all the fear many fears of doing it.  That person is my hero!  I only hope that I will have that kind of courage when I need it.

That's another Opinion of the Minion

Viva Las Vegas

Hi All,

Most of my posts have a message or some point that I try to illustrate.  And generally, I tell a story about something that happened in my life and what I learned from it.

Well today's lesson is going to be a little different.  I want to take a minute to talk about being grateful and thankful.  As I was sitting last night talking with my beautiful girlfriend, D, she said that she never wanted to take me for granted.  It was so sweet and beautiful and I said the same thing.  I am amazed at how quickly I can get used to things.

See when we first started dating, she would tell me sweet things like how nice a guy I was or how amazing I was and thanked me for something almost everyday.  Those sweet comments always touched my heart.  I noticed recently that I was not thankful in the same way.  Those comments use to make me blush and embarrass me a little even though they were always just between us.  She still makes those statements to me almost every day and she is such a blessing in my life.  We both have a deep appreciation for each other as well as a love that continues to deepen. 

So what does all this have to do with Las Vegas?  Well, I found another reason to be thankful.  This past week, I was in Las Vegas for a trade show for my company.  But I noticed that something was off when I got there.  I wasn't depressed or anything.  I just wasn't excited about being there.  I have been to Las Vegas at least 20 times in my career so I have seen a lot of the city.  In times past I always got excited about going out there even though I am not a big gambler, drinker or womanizer.  At first I thought I was just experiencing burn out on the city.

The morning after I got there, D sent me a text telling me to flee temptation from "sin" city.  Now she was just kidding and I know she trusted that I wouldn't do anything wrong and it was just a little funny quip between us and I love that about her.  My response to her was that I didn't need to resist temptation from sin city because the person I wanted to be with was back in Fort Worth (her).  This was why I was a little off when I got there.  For the first time in a long time, I wasn't running away from Fort Worth to get a break from my problems (we all have them right).  Now I love my children and I love being around them but for many years I was a very lonely guy.  I was around people and married but lonely at the same time.

But this trip to Las Vegas made me understand how much I genuinely love that woman and I was looking forward to getting home to be with her.  So let me say - Thank you D, for making my life so much fun and for loving me the way you do.  You are the most remarkable woman I have ever met and I am so grateful that you are in my life.  Life is definitely better with you in it!

So is there a moral to my post today?  Well I didn't think I had one until now.  What am I telling all of us today?  BE THANKFUL!  Yes, I know that we all face hard times but try to find something to be thankful for today.  I will cheer you up.

That's another Opinion of the Minion

What to Remember

Today I want to talk to you about what to remember.  In my next blog, we will discuss what not to remember but let's talk about what we should remember.

I have read the bible many times and one of my goals for every year is to read the bible from cover to cover.  There are many things that I don't completely understand about the bible but one thing I do love is that God shows me more and more about him every time I read it.

So today, I want to tell you about something that confused me for years.  I would love to tell you that I am one of those guys who doesn't need to be told anything twice, that I retain it all the first time through but that isn't the case.  However, most of the time if you tell me a story, I will remember the whole thing.  Sometimes not in great detail but I generally remember most of it.

Well, the Bible repeats the story of God delivering Israel from Egypt several times.  As a matter of fact in the Psalms, David references it multiple times.  Moses even made the children of Israel learn songs about it.   I know that God wanted the Israelites to teach this to their children and I thought for a long time it was just a history lesson.  I thought that God wanted generation after generation of Israelites to know about him and that's certainly true.  But why did he repeat this story so many times in the Bible.  Was it because He knew many of us wouldn't read our Bible and He just hoped that if we opened it a few times we would stumble onto the truth?  Nope, God doesn't work this way.

Now I can't tell you that this is the only reason that God put that story in the Bible so many times but I can tell you one reason that it shows up over and over and over.  See, when David was retelling this story over and over, I locked onto one reason.  He said that he was stirring himself up by telling this story.  When David got in a hard place and it looked hopeless, he would start thinking about all the times that God delivered him in the past and it would increase his faith.  That is one reason God tells this story so many times.  He wants us to stir up our faith in him.  When we see places where it looks like everything is hopeless, we can go back and say, "Wait a minute.  When I was in a situation that looked hopeless before, God delivered me."  I can tell you that there have been many circumstances in my life when I didn't see a way out.

That feeling of anxiety and hopelessness sucks.  I don't like it.  But I can tell you that if I start looking back at all the times that God has delivered me in the past, I start thinking about the time when I needed gas for my car and God provided it, I start thinking about the time when I needed extra money and a check for a few hundred dollars showed up in my mailbox, I start thinking about the time when it looked like my business might fall apart and God supernaturally changed things in my favor, I start thinking about the time when I felt lonely and God brought someone into my life, I start thinking about when I didn't know what to do with my children and God showed me the way.  It's happened again.  I've blogged myself happy.  When I think about His goodness and what He's done for me, I get happy.  But guess what, there are still situations in my life where I don't know what to do, I sit back and remember all the times that God has brought me through before and those feelings of helplessness and anxiety go away because I know He will do it again.

So I want to encourage you.  If you are facing a situation that you don't know what to do with, start remembering all the times that the Lord delivered you or made a way where there didn't seem to be a way.  Start thinking about how He was always there when you called out.  It will make the situation you face now grow smaller as His provision grows larger in your life.

Now some of you may not have many places to draw on for those types of memories.  Don't worry, read.  The Bible is full of places where God delivered people.  Start reading those and mediating on those.  He promised that if He did it for someone in the Bible, He will do it for you.  Test God.  Remind Him of His word and what He promised.  That's not arrogance, that's faith.  God is looking around all over the earth for people who will have faith in Him and His word.

That's another Opinion of the Minion

Despair Island

This Opinion was birthed out of watching a friend go through a tough time.  So I sat down and thought about how I could be a good friend to this person.  Hopefully it will help them and it will help you too.


I want to be a friend to this friend in need.  How should I do it?


1.  No matter how things feel, you are never alone.  Have you ever noticed that when bad things happen in your life, sometimes you just want to withdraw?  Do you get that feeling that no one has ever went through what you are going through now?  Well that isn't true.  There are people who have been where you are and there are still people who want to help.  You and I should be these people.  My life has felt very lonely at times.  And because of certain circumstances, I have felt like I was all by myself on an island with no one there to help.  I call it Despair Island.  It is one of the worst places on earth to be because you are so alone.  You feel like every part of your body hurts.  You can't eat, you can't sleep and you can't seem to get your mind of the horrible creatures chasing you.  What I didn't see where the boats waiting just off the beach.  These boats are the other people in our lives and God who want to help.  When is the last time you were a boat for someone?  Understand there is a little water between you and the boat so you will have to swim a little.  This isn't your boat.  You didn't put it there, someone else showed up to help you.  A very good friend of mine says, "We are all called to do something great, we just aren't called to do it alone."  His Ivy League English is better than mine but this is the Texas translation.

2.  Then instead of trying to tell them something about me, I will just listen.  I will ask one question and then listen with both ears wide open.  The question is - What are you feeling right now?  We aren't going to find out about my day, or anything about me, we are just going to talk about what you are going through and how it makes you feel.  We aren't going to talk about right and wrong, we are just going to talk about how you feel.  How often have you wanted someone to just listen to what you are going through.  To be a good friend, this is what you should do.  Don't give advice that isn't requested.  Remember, people don't care what you know until they know you care.

3.  I will ask, "Is there anything I can do for you?"  For us Christians, this is a must - Preach the gospel at all times and if absolutely necessary, use words.

4.  I can let this person know how extremely special I think they are.  They have so many good qualities and they deserve the very best.  I don't want them to settle for second best in any area of their life.  As a matter of fact, I have peeked inside this person's box and it is pretty special.  I don't see many similar to it.

5.  I can also tell this person that bad times don't last, good people do.  Because I have seen part of the inside of the box, I can say that this person is a good one and I know this person will last.

6.  Here's what I won't do.  I won't condemn this person.  Do you know why?  Because I have done some not nice things just like we all have.  If it wasn't for the screw ups in my life, Jesus wouldn't have had to be beaten, despised, ridiculed, crucified and sent to Hell for me.  He was tortured so bad that people didn't recognize him as a human because of my screw ups.  Instead of condemning me for stuff I did, instead of giving me what I deserved, He took the punishment for all my bad stuff.  If he took that for me, I can't condemn someone else.  I can't tell them, "I told you so," when things didn't work out.  To this person especially, I won't do that.

There are other ways to be a friend and since I don't know them all, I would like you to share your ideas with me.

So I will leave you with this question - How are you a friend to a friend in need?

That's the Opinion of the Minion