What is your calling?

 Hello Everyone,

Today I want to talk to you about your purpose in life. Why am I here. That is such a huge question. In Jeremiah 29:11 it says that God has a plan for your life. The Bible says He knew you before you were born. That means before you were born, God had a plan for your life and it’s a really good one. As of this writing, I am 49 years old and I know my purpose. My calling in life is to build God’s kingdom on early. My vehicle for my calling is my business. My mission is to use the profits God causes in our life to fulfill the missions He gives us.

Let me ask you this. Do you have a 1 year plan? Do you have a 5 year plan? Many people might answer both of those questions yes. But do you have a 300 year plan? Interesting question right? You will be somewhere in 300 years. It won’t be on the earth as we know it. You will either be in Heaven by then or you will be on the new earth. In 300 years if we are still waiting on Christ to return, I want to know I left something on this earth that is still causing me to see rewards in Heaven.

How do I do that? I leave something on the earth that causes people to get saved and come see me in Heaven. To date, through this blog, I believe 26 people have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I hope many people over the years will be encouraged to accept Jesus through these writings. That’s one of my missions. In my next blog, I am going to talk about dreaming bigger. You won’t want to miss it.

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

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

Letting Go

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post in a long time and for that I apologize again.  I know I need to write more and I hope to in the future.

Today's post is about letting go.  It's a message that has come to me from several different places in the last week which usually means the Lord is trying to tell me something.  I want to start with an illustration from a very good friend of mine, CS.

He recently told me about something that happened to him.  He was visiting with one of his closest friends when several of his friend's family showed up and had a lot of negative things to say about C.  They were very bitter about some "perceived" wrong that he did to them.  Now from our discussions, I don't think he really did anything wrong to them but this perceived transgression was really bothering several of them.  Here's the kicker.  This happened over a decade ago.  They have been harboring this grudge for a long time and guess who wasn't bothered about any of it until recently? - CS.  He didn't even know it was out there.  Pretty crazy stuff.  What's my point?  If you harbor a grudge against someone the only person you are really hurting is yourself.

I think that's a good point but I want to talk for a minute about the definition of letting go that the Lord keeps bringing to my heart.  I have to let go of the past.  In my current life, I don't have as many "things" as I once did.  I don't live in as nice a house as I used to and as a matter of fact, my ex-wife still lives in the nice house where I used to live.  I also don't have a boat like I used to.  And here's something else from my past that I don't like - I can't run as fast or as far as I could five years ago.

I've noticed lately that I have spent some time regretting not having the "things" that I used to enjoy.  What makes it worse is I am facing a couple of struggles.  Lately, it's been easy to be frustrated about the past and not really notice the great things that are going on around me.  So the Lord finally dealt with me to let go of the old house and let go of the boat.  Part of the problem of remembering the "good old days" is that they really weren't all that good.  I was just remembering the best parts of the "old days" and forgetting all the hard stuff that made them not so good at the time.  Another part of the problem is that while I was focusing on how things were, I forgot to focus on the good plan that God has for my future.  I'm on the verge of a couple of very significant breakthroughs in area's of my life that will put my family and I in the best financial place I have ever seen.

This year one of my businesses suffered a pretty big setback but it's still going strong and looks like there are opportunities to grow back some of what we lost.  Another of my businesses is on the verge of taking off in a way I would never have seen back in the good old days.  So what the Lord was finally saying to me is that at this stage of my life it's time for a new beginning not a being bogged down in trying to my recollection of the good old days.  But in order to move higher, I have to let go of some of the things I have held as important.

Something else I noticed was that I was holding on to feeling guilty about some bad choices I have made.  The worst part about that is I can't change any of them.  I can make choices about my future.

So I want to encourage you.  If your are holding on to things that are holding you down, it's time to let go and move up.  It's time for you to move out of your past and move into your future.  Maybe the devil has told you that because of something you did wrong it your past, that your life can't be as great as you would like.  That's just simply a lie.  Did you know that after the prodigal son came home from wasting all the money his father gave him that his father not only took him back but blessed him with fine clothes and a big feast.  God has a great plan for your life and nothing in your past can stop you and God from achieving a bright future. So let go and get going!!

That's another Opinion of the Minion

Give Her a Chance

Today I want to talk about something very cool that I did.  Now it may not be that great to you but it felt great to me.  I also learned that I did the same thing the Lord does for us.  Tonight I put my daughter K in a place where she could eventually make her way to the US Gymnastics Team!  Before anyone says anything, it is not my expectation that the does this.  And I will definitely love her whether she ever makes the team or even stays in gymnastics at all.  Either way I am proud to be her dad and I told her that in no uncertain terms tonight.  She knew that this was a place she could dream and if she worked really hard, she might have an opportunity to live that dream.  Let me tell you, I would be one proud dad if she does (but I am one proud dad now so it really doesn't matter).

As I was talking to the gymnastics people today, I found out that K was in the level two class.  If she does well she will be invited to join the level two team in the spring.  This will mean competitions locally and one national competition at the age of eight.  I think both of these are great opportunities for her to challenge and push herself.  I fully support that.  Now if she stays on track, she can make it up to level 10.  At level 10 she goes to a local competition.  If she wins she moves to regional and then national and then it's on to the Olympics!  Even though a lot of kids start down this track, not many of them become Gabby Douglas.  But one of them just might and why can't it be my daughter K?  The answer is, it most certainly can.

This thing has been bouncing around in my spirit since I figured it out a few hours ago and I can see the reason as I write this.  See God does the same thing for us that I have done for K.  He gives us a chance to achieve our dreams.  Many don't but it's not God's fault, it's ours.  If K doesn't go on to be an Olympian, it won't be my fault, it will be because she either chose to take a different path or she didn't dedicate herself to living that dream.  I think we do this in real life all the time.  God gives us an opportunity and we either don't work at it or we decide to do something else.  Regardless of what we do, the doors to our success are right there.

I hear people that are waiting on God to drop success on them like He dropped manna from Heaven on the Israelites in the desert but he doesn't work that way.  I also hear people that say He will just work everything out for their good regardless of what they do or don't do and this isn't true.  The Bible says He has a good plan for our lives and it also says He blesses the works of our hands.  If there isn't work from our hands, He doesn't have something to bless.  Now K is in the same place.  If she works hard and dedicates herself to gymnastics, she has a chance to be the best.  But if she doesn't work hard and eat right, etc., it won't happen. The choice is hers and I believe that the choice is ours when it comes to how successful we allow God to make us.

So let me leave you with this challenge.  If you are waiting for God to drop success on you, don't wait start doing something He can bless and see how He works.  The other challenge is this - find someone who is attempting to live out their dream and give them a helping hand.  Give them a chance.  You will be glad you did.

That's another Opinion of the 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.

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

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 

Finish What You Start

OK, today I want to talk to you about something I don't see a lot.  Let's talk about finishing what you start. This may not be a real popular blog but I think many times God gives us great ideas and we start on a project.  Then something happens and we can't find the time, energy, etc. to finish the project.  I would love to point a finger at someone else and say that everyone but me is guilty of this but unfortunately if you point one finger at someone there are usually three pointed back at you.

So let's start with a couple of things that I can think of from my own life.

1.  When I was in college at TCU, I was in ROTC.  I thought it was cool to hang out with all these great guys and gals who were in excellent shape and play with guns.  It was like being a kid all over again.  The problem was I couldn't control my weight.  If I had finished the program correctly, I would have been a second lieutenant in the US Army when I graduated.  Pretty cool stuff right.  I think so.  Many of my friends from ROTC did just that and many are still in the Army doing very well.  Who knows what I could have been.  Maybe I could have been the next General Patton.  OK, for all my ROTC buddies, we all know that was probably not going to happen but it could have.  I basically quit the Army ROTC program because I could not control my weight.  Now we will never know what I could have been in the Army because I didn't finish what I started.

2.  I cannot tell you how many times I started to lose weight only to gain it all back plus some within a short time after I started.  Why?  Because I didn't finish changing the way I ate and I went back to where I was or worse.  I could have been much happier but I didn't finish what I started.

3.  I can't tell you how many books I didn't finish reading.  A couple of times I quit reading them because I didn't like the book but many times I simply quit reading them.  I would definitely have been smarter if I had and I need all the smarts I can get.

4.  How many of us have made New Year's resolutions with the best intention of changing something about the way we live only to let things go right back to "normal" within a very short time.  I know I am guilty of this more than once.

5.  Now let me give you a situation that I face right now.  I believe the Lord instructed me to write a book about how He helped me to lose a lot of weight.  This happened several years ago and I did nothing with it for a long time.  Finally in September of last year I started writing the book.  I have a rough draft of the book that I think I finished around November 15th.  Today I e-mailed it to a very special person for her to read.  That was when I noticed the date of the last time I worked on it.  I have let that book lay around for almost two months without ever working on getting an editor, a publisher or anything else.  If I don't do something about this, the book could lay there for ever without me doing anything with it.  That wouldn't be a very good thing.  Why?  Well let me say, I am not sure the book is any good because I wrote it a lot like I write this blog.  But I will tell you this.  The Lord gave me an assignment to write the book and if He gave it to me, He has a reason for it.  What if there is someone who will actually read my book and God uses it to deliver that person from their weight issue?  Let me ask the question a different way.  What if I never do finish the book and someone who God wanted to read it never gets a chance.  What if that person dies because of their weight issue and I could have made a difference in their life?  Let's take it one step farther.  What if that person was not a Christian when they died?  Am I being a little over dramatic?  Maybe but we will never know.  The point is that God gave me an assignment to write a book.  He didn't give me an assignment to start a book.  See God always sees the end of a thing from the beginning.  He is always figuring out how to finish what he starts.  If it's good enough for Him it's more that good enough for me.

Let me begin to wrap this up by telling you about something I used to do at my church.  We used to have a Christian business man's meeting in our church on a regular basis.  Now this organization, the Provision Network, is much more than that but for simplicity sake I will stop there.  At these meetings, I would have any number of people come up to me with great ideas.  They would tell me the Lord told them to do this or that and the vast majority of the ideas sounded like good ones maybe even God ones.  However, these same people would come up to me the next meeting with a completely different idea.  I always wondered why God changed His mind about the first one.  Just so you know, God never changes His mind.  If He told you to do something, He means for you to do it.

I think what happened to them and certainly what happened to me in the examples I gave above is that I came up against a very dirty four letter word - Work.  Remember, the only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary.  I know I should have done a better of job of finishing what I started all those many times and I did not.  I will definitely get back to work on that book.

Let me leave you with this.  Even if you are someone who has never finished anything you thought you should do, one of the coolest things about God is he always has a plan for your life.  So even if you fail at something, don't worry about it, he has another plan.  But in order for us to be successful, we have to actually complete the plan He gives us and it will probably require work but the reward will be well worth it.

That's the Opinion of the Minion

My Oldest Son

In keeping with my theme for this month, I want to send another letter.  This one is to my oldest son.  I am so thankful for him.

Dear David,

As I write this, you are going through a hard transition in life.  Some of this is just part of life and some of it is because of your mom and I.  You are adjusting to 6th grade, changes in your attitude toward girls and unfortunately mom and I's divorce.  It is a lot for one kid to handle and I think you are doing such a good job.

As I look back on my how I have done as your father so far, I am a little sad because I know that I could have done much better.  I was just recently that I realized how little I knew about being a Godly father.  It is my whole heart's desire to teach you to be one in the few years we have left before you step out on your own.  I want to prepare you to be a Godly man.  If I can do that, I have succeeded beyond my wildest imagination for you.  The strange thing is I think in spite of all we have done, you are already becoming a very Godly young man.

I am so very proud of you.  Whether you know it or not, you started school when you were three years old because you had speech issues.  This was due to a hearing problem you had as a little tyke.  Now when I was in school kids in those classes were sort of looked down at and made fun of.  When I was in school, those kids barely made it through.  But not you.  You went from needing help with speech to all honors classes.  You are a really brilliant young man.  I also see things in you that I never could be at your age.  I look at you and see courage.

How?  Well, it took courage to ask that girl to the homecoming dance.  I would never, ever have done it because I would have been too afraid.  When we talked afterwards, you told me that your heart was pounding in your chest pretty hard and that even though when you asked her the dance had already passed, she was nice to you with her reply.  Son, I want you to remember that feeling and what you did.  There will be many more opportunities in life for you to feel that way and make a decision.  You are going to be in places where you risk rejection in your life.  It just happens.  But you possess that special quality called courage.  Don't ever change that.  Take risks because if you don't, you won't have rewards.  I know you didn't see it that way then but that's what you did and I am extremely proud of you.

Son, you are growing up so fast and it seems like it will only accelerate from here.  As you get older, I want you to understand something.  I heard a story about the head of the Salvation Army.  You know those guys who stand ringing the bell at Christmas time asking for donations.  Well they take those and use them to help people who need it.  One year, the head of the Salvation Army was going to send a telegram to all his offices around the world.  He wrote it out and then went to send it.  When he got to the telegraph office, he realized that it was too long and he had to cut it down.  So he trimmed it down to one sentence. Again, it was too expensive to send.  He finally trimmed it down to a single word - others.  Son, that's what our life is all about.  We are to help others.  You have to let the Lord show you who and how but always remember that's what life is about.  As you get older, you will see people who define success by how much education and money you have.  I thought the same way for a long time.  Don't get me wrong, money and education are important but not as important as people.  Think of others and ask the Lord to show you who you can help today.

Lastly, I want to talk to you about what you are going through in school today.  I know some of the kids make fun of you.  That really hurts your feelings and quite frankly, it just plain sucks.  When I was in school, kids did the same thing to me.  Grandma and Grandpa did they very best they could but I didn't wear brand name clothes like the rest of the kids and some people made fun of me a lot.  I also got made fun of because I had big ears and I had a lot of pimples.  It really hurt my feelings.  Son, as you go through these times, know that you were not alone.  Guess who else was made fun of and people talked bad about? - Jesus.  I guess that puts us in pretty good company huh.  You may not see it now but this will pass.  Just keep doing the right thing because it's the right thing.

I cannot begin to express how impressed I am with you.  You are smart, handsome, loyal, you love God, you aren't afraid to share your faith, you know how to build stuff, you always try to help your brother and sister, and you are a really respectful young man.  No matter what you do, know that I will always love you.

Love,

Dad

That's another letter from the Minion

What a Minion Likes To Do

Looking back on the memory of

The dance we shared

Neath the stars above

For a moment

All the world was right....

Some of you will recognize the lyrics to that song some of you will not.  Recently my ballroom dance instructor told me I was stuck musically in the 80s.  That might be a little true because it's when I was a teenager.  That song is "The Dance" by Garth Brooks.  I really liked that song when it first came out.  All the girls liked it too so I thought I could use it to help me get dates or make the dates I had better ones.  So guess what I learned at TCU?  I learned to make a rose out of a paper napkin and learned how to play that song on the piano.  I thought that would be super romantic - a paper rose, singing that song while playing the piano.  How could I go wrong?  The best thing was that every girls dorm had a piano in it while I was at TCU so it was perfect.  I went a little farther and learned a few more songs - Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers (couldn't sing that one), Fur Elise (Beethoven I think), and The Rose by Bette Middler (I did try to sing that one) were the extent of my library.  My friend BL, could play a couple of other songs but I cannot remember what they were.  BL, I know you read this sometimes, call me and refresh my memory please.  

Is there a point to your ramblings Mr. Minion, you ask?  Well yes.  While I was not near as successful at being Michael Buble as I would have hoped, I discovered something while learning these songs.  I actually liked to play the piano.  Now I am never going to win any competitions at it but its fun.  My mom played a lot growing up and she actually got pretty good.  I guess that's where I got it.  Well, a few months ago I picked up the sheet music for "The Dance" again and guess what?  I couldn't play it anymore.  Do you know why?  I hadn't touched the piano in years.  Why is it that I quit doing something that I really enjoyed?  I don't really know but I did.  I don't think I ever sat down and decided I wasn't going to play, life was just life and I didn't do it anymore.

But when I picked up the sheet music and sat down at the keyboard, the next thing I knew it was an hour later.  Did it sound good?  Probably not but I didn't care, I was enjoying myself.  See, that was an interest that God put in my box that I hadn't played with in a while and I missed it.  I wasn't playing because I wanted to be the best or even so other people would enjoy it.  I just was playing.

Obviously, I have written on this topic before but I think it's worth looking at again.  So let me ask you, what things do you enjoy?  Sit for a minute and think hard about it.  You may have to think back several years to find your piano moment but I am sure it's there.  I want to challenge you to take a little time this week and do the thing you enjoy.  It will enrich your life.

That's another Opinion of the Minion

A Midsummer Minion's Dream

Today, I want to talk to you about dreams.  How often do you sit and dream?  I do it all the time.  I day dream about all kinds of situations in my life.  I have visions of what a right relationship would look like and see myself there.  I think dreaming is something important that we have missed in our lives.  I was in church on Sunday and heard this message.  Then I went back to a totally different church and heard the same message about vision and dreams on Sunday night.  Do you think God was trying to tell me something?  In the last couple of weeks I have had two very strong revelations from the bible about dreams.  So here we go.

We all have dreams.  As I have said before, when I was in high school, I dreamed of going to Annapolis and then on to fly F-14s for the US Navy.  Well that one didn't come to pass but that's OK.  Top Gun is still one of my favorite movies of all time.  I love the end because Tom Cruise overcomes tragedy and saves the day.  It's my kind of movie. 

I also dreamed about going to law school one day and becoming Perry Mason.  I was going to argue cases and be the greatest lawyer ever to walk the planet.  Well that partly happened.  I did graduate law school and technically I am a lawyer but I don't practice much.  If you have ever had me as your lawyer, you know I am no Perry Mason.  ;)  But I am happy with me and I am glad I went to school.  When I told people about my dream some of them said I would never make it.  Some said it to my face and some said it behind my back but that's OK.  That dream was working inside me and guess what, I made it.

Now here is a dream that I am going to share with you that I have never made public.  Only a few people know about this one but I want to share it with you now.  For years I dreamed of being the President of the United States.  I could see myself in the Oval Office.  I could see myself making right decisions and governing wisely.  I read scriptures about how when the righteous rule the people rejoice.  Many people say they wouldn't want the job but I wanted to be the go to guy.  I wanted to see if I had what it took.  If you come into my office you will find many books about presidents, the white house and being president.  It was definitely one of my long term goals.  Today, I don't really want to be President anymore.  Why you ask, because it isn't my calling.  I am beginning to wake up to what the Lord has called me to do and I know that isn't it.

So what I have been doing the last couple of days is working on my dreams.  I am writing them down and beginning to think about them.  Many studies show that when we write down our dreams and think about them regularly, this process acts like a magnet drawing us closer and closer to our dreams and goals.  That's pretty cool stuff huh.

See, I think it is important to dream big.  When I dreamed about losing weight, I would see myself skinny.  I would see myself doing all kinds of things.  One thing that really embarrassed me about being big was I couldn't water ski which was big with my family.  But I would see myself being skinny and attractive.  I started confessing everyday that I weighed 205 pounds.  I did this for over a year without dropping a single pound but that dream was resonating inside my spirit every day.  That dream was working inside me and pointing me the right direction.  Then one day, that dream popped in my spirit and the transformation began.  But guess what, I didn't stop at 205.  I went all the way down to 185.  See when we dare to dream and then keep those dreams in front of us, amazing things can happen.

Now let me tie this to a place you may not really understand.  God.  Guess what, he has dreams.  He has dreams about you.  The bible says that He has plans for you.  Plans for your good.  It says in another place that he knew you before the foundation of the world.  Since before the world was founded he was dreaming about you.  That's pretty far out there stuff huh.

Well I want you to get a picture of this.  Think for a minute about that perfect guy or that perfect girl or maybe a car, etc.  Picture him/her/it in your mind.  Think for a second about whatever your goal is.  See yourself in a right relationship (See the Box).  See yourself succeeding.  How does that feel?  Does it touch a nerve in the core of your being?  Does it release a warm feeling inside you?  This might blow your mind but the Lord sits around dreaming of you the same way.  He pictures you in his mind successful.  He pictures you in his mind with the right person.  He sees you enjoying yourself and it brings great pleasure to His soul.  He gets excited about His dreams for your life.  He has a good life planned for you.  He sees you and He spending time together doing things that you love.



And that's another Opinion of the Minion.

Word Up

I want to take a few minutes to talk about words.

Have you ever heard the saying, "Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me"?  That couldn't be farther from the truth - words can help or hurt a lot.  Are you ever around someone who has nice things to say about you?  Chances are if that person continually has good things to say about you, you will want to be around them.  If someone is always saying negative things then you will want to stay away from them.

Also, take notice of something.  Words have a cumulative effect.  If I tell you something nice once and then tell you something not nice 100 times, the 100 times far outweighs the once.  The opposite is also true, if I tell you good things regularly and then I have something not so good to say, you might be OK with what I say.

What we say to others is extremely important.  I am involved with a couple of situations right now where I cannot physically be of much help.  All of these situations are tough because I care about the people involved but I can't take charge of the situation.  So let's go back to one of my favorite questions, "What can I do to help?"  I wish I would ask that question more often.

As I was sitting thinking about one of these situations, I was watching re-runs of one of my favorite TV shows, "Lois and Clark."  Shock and surprise, I like Superman.  Well in this particular episode, Lois and Clark (Superman) were both trapped in separate cages that would blow up if Superman tried to save the day.  At this point in the series Lois knows Clark is Superman and they are dating.  Superman tells her with heart wrenching certainty that he wishes he could touch and hold her.  Now while I don't necessarily put much faith in TV shows as far as how to live real life, what Lois said next was inspiring.  She said that she knew how Superman could touch her - with his words.

Whether you believe it or not, that is absolutely the truth.  We do touch people with our words.  Let me give you a couple of examples of people who have touched me with their words.  They may never know how deeply what they said meant but all these things helped build me up.

1.  My daughter, K, told me one time that I should become a certain thing because she saw me practicing a skill that I really enjoy.  I am not very good at it but it really made me feel good.

2.  In my own life, I have been going through a particularly tough situation.  I was talking just yesterday to a certain friend of mine, BT.  Now most people I know say that I am not handling this situation right because they would do it differently.  It's not that I am doing anything wrong.  Most people think I am letting another person use me.  In this case, I know I am doing the right thing and I just wanted someone to see that.  Well, BT told that in all his years of being in the banking business that he had never even heard of anyone doing what I was doing.  He told me that I was doing the right thing and that God would reward me for doing it.  I already know that but it was so nice to hear that from someone.  I certainly don't say any of this to brag about what I am doing.  I want you to see that your words can really make a difference.  When he told me that yesterday, it almost brought me to tears.  I was so touched.

3.  When I first posted "The Box", my friend LM and my cousin AB, both reposed the link on their wall with some really great things to say.  It was very encouraging.  They don't know this but both of them are huge drivers behind the Opinion of the Minion.

4.  There is a particular fan of the Minion, KS, who said something to me that was just astonishing.  She said that after reading the first two of my posts, she was hooked.  She went on to say that I was a wonderful writer and that she looked forward to reading more of what I write.  I don't think of myself as a writer at all.  I have a good friend who is a writer but not me.  I am just putting my thoughts on cyber paper.  This person has a much nicer looking blog than the Opinion of the Minion and has great writing skills of her own.  For her to say that to me, really blessed me.

5. I have another friend, J, who is always saying good things to me and that is one of the reasons I like hanging around with this person.  J has said many nice things.  One particularly felt good.  J said I was polite and sincere.  Those things mean a lot because this world is full of insincere people.  I try to be a very sincere person and it was nice that J saw this inside my box.  J also told me about a time when I was able to use words to help her.  That felt good.

6.  See, we don't really know when we say something good to someone what effect it will have.  Just because you don't see any outward change doesn't mean something isn't changing on the inside.  That same friend of mine, BT, told me a story that I certainly don't remember about how part of my personal testimony changed some one's life.  See, I was telling them what I went through and being an encouragement to them and I never even knew about it until ten years later.



Now let me caution you on a couple of things.

First, never compliment someone by saying something you don't believe.  If you do, it will come across as insincere and have the opposite effect of the one you want.  Remember, if you don't believe it, you can't tell it.  If you think someone is pretty tell them so.  Just this morning I saw a lady in Starbucks that I know who is old enough to be my mom.  I really liked the shirt she was wearing and I told her so.  You should have seen the smile on her face.

If you don't thinks someone is nice don't lie and tell them you do.  But what you had better do is take a few minutes and study them.  If you do, you will find that there is something about them you can compliment that you really believe and they will appreciate it.  Let me challenge you with this.  Try to find one person a day and give them a compliment.  Here is what will happen when you do - If it is sincere, they will appreciate it.  Now here is the surprise part of it - You will feel great for doing it.

Second, and I see this one a lot, let someone compliment you.  My friend J and I have this in common, sometimes we both struggle when someone gives us compliments.  I used to shrug them off and down play them because I had a person in my life at one time who got jealous of them.  I think I finally have J trained on the very profound speech you should give to someone who pays you a compliment.  It's quite lengthy but it is very important so let me go into how to receive a compliment.

A. If someone is sincere, let it make you feel warm inside.  That is what it is supposed to do.  Stop for a split second and just enjoy the fact that someone recognized something great inside you.  Don't try to downplay it.  Just relax and let it bless you.

B.  OK now here is the long part.  How do you respond to someone who says something nice to you?  You have to give them this little speech I prepared for the occasion.  Are you ready?

You say - "Thank You."  Really profound stuff huh.  That's it.  Don't make some excuse why you shouldn't be given the compliment.  Just say thank you.

So let me leave you with a summary thought.  We should all be looking out for ways to use our words to touch people's lives in a positive way.  Many times you won't even know all the good you do.  Then when someone touches you with their words, enjoy it and say thank you.

And that's the Opinion of the Minion

The Football Player Who Couldn't Play

Today I want to continue looking at the box but this time I want to take a different approach.  Let me ask this question to start - When we get a Christmas present what is the most important part?  We certainly like the nice wrapping job (unless I did the wrapping), the colorful paper and the pretty bows.  But after about two seconds of looking at it, we tear right through to get to the good stuff inside.  Yet we do just the opposite with people?

With people sometimes their appearance is the most important.  Have you ever looked at some good looking TV star who was having personal problems and thought - Why does someone with all that going for them have so many problems?  The answer is the wrapping paper is more important than the gift. 

If you gave me a priceless diamond for my birthday wrapped in a box and I went on and on about the way the box looked. I really admired the shiny wrapping paper and the bow.  I made a big deal out of the glossy paper, opened the box and took out the diamond.  Then I either threw away the diamond or worse, I told you it was worthless and dropped it. 

After that I picked the box back up and played it the rest of the day.  I tried to take the box to bed, to school, and to work.  I showed all my friends the box and kept the box around day and night but I never ever looked at the diamond.  I would be crazy.  Yet we do this every day.  We look at a good looking girl or guy and our first thought is about their appearance but we never even appreciate what's inside.  Please don't misunderstand me, I think working out and taking care of your appearance is important and you should do this.  I just think that the most precious part of a person is the inside not the outside.

Why do we do this?  One of the reasons is because we don't spend enough time looking at the diamonds inside our own box.  We spend time working on the outside of the box or just babysitting it.  I work out about 7.5 hours a week.  Is that a lot?  Not really.  There are so many people who work much harder than I do.  But lets start with 7.5 hours a week.  I spend that working on the outside of my box (and it still needs work).  Do I spend at least 7.5 hours working on the important part of me (the inside)?  I try to now but I didn't before.  How many of us watch TV 7.5 hours a week?  We spend plenty of time babysitting our minds yet we never spend anytime developing them or the other diamonds in box.

Another reason is we work on pretend gifts that aren't really in our box (phantom gifts) and we neglect the real ones that are.  We do this because we think it will make other people like/accept us instead of developing the real gifts God put in us. 

Let me illustrate.  When I was in high school, I desperately wanted to be popular and I really wasn't.  I was a pimple faced nerd.  I was on the football team all four years of school (except for a couple of weeks as a sophomore) and I was one of the worst football players ever.  As a matter of fact, when I quit for a few weeks, my coach told my mom that I shouldn't play because I wasn't good.  It really made me mad but he was exactly right.  After my sophomore year, I was one of the strongest kids on the team but I wasn't a good player.  When the list came out for varsity and I wasn't on it, one of the kids in my class ridiculed me in front of people and it crushed me.  This was a phantom diamond for me.

On the other hand, I was a pretty good musician in band.  I played contra bass clarinet in the band and did really well as a freshman.  After my freshman year, I quit the band and wouldn't play because I didn't think it would make me look cool.  I couldn't appreciate the beautiful people in band because I didn't understand how really special and talented they were.  I didn't think being in band would make me popular like being a jock would.  Do you see what I was doing?  I wasn't celebrating and developing the natural gifts God put in my box.  I was working on phantom gifts because I wanted others to like me. 

Unfortunately, I wasn't popular, didn't get the girl and I didn't even like me.  Now, I am just me.  I quit trying to be good enough for others.  Whether anyone likes me or not, I really like me.

So let me ask you, two things.  First, how much time are you spending on the gift vs. the box?  Second, are you working on the real gifts inside you or the phantom ones just to impress someone else?

That's the Opinion of the Minion

The Box - 2015

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