To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Simple Thoughts Sunday

Stories of loyalty & dedication

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Happy Sunday, all. It’s time for another week and another opportunity to show up and attack the week with the determination to nail it! This week the focus is on loyalty and dedication, and what symbolizes this better than animals? Thanks to the many great social media sites, there is no shortage of inspiring images and thoughts around animals of all types. My favorite are dogs for sure, but as we launch into week two of January, a race horse or a lion are excellent visuals.

I hope you will go after the week with a plan for great success!  In the meantime, help some others out along the way! Cheering you all on!

(Photo Creds:  Pinterest) 

Let us consider – Simple Thoughts Sunday

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Happy Sunday everyone and I hope you have already started 2016 strong!

This week we will tackle the idea above, “let us consider.” There are so many opportunities on how to best approach this, but I am thinking right now that the key is that we really must stop and considerif we truly want a life of excellence. That concept in itself is an act of excellence and intention!

I can’t  wait to dive in with you all into this year and see where God takes us! I hope these “Simple Thoughts Sunday” excerpts feed your mind and soul and nudge you along in your journey to achieve the best for your life. Whatever that looks like, I truly believe God is right there with us and cheering us along! It is my honor to cheer you on as well!

Simple Thoughts Sunday: Word of the year

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A few years ago I started a new tradition (if you want to call it that) where I essentially set in play a “word of the year.”

I cannot begin to tell you how powerful this practice has been for me personally. I can look back at the word choices, which I pray about and would like to think God planted in my thoughts, and see where God showed up and in some cases showed off! So cool!

I love practical examples, so let me share one: Four or five years ago my “one word” wasdiscipline. Discipline physically and spirtiually were the primary areas. In that year, I honestly stayed in prayer on the word and in that year I transitioned to a healthy lifestyle and I read through the Bible for the first time all of the way through. Not only did I read it, but I developed a practice of journaling the highlight of the day from that scripture reading and applied it to my days and life.

That word and those habits become my reality, and I haven’t strayed away from them since! I love that example.

Last year my word was trust. I am a work in process on fully trusting God’s plan, especially since I have such a gift of knowing what is best for me and my family. (Ha!) Fully submitting has always been a challenge. God is working on that still but I’m much better than I was 365 days ago!

This year, my word became clear about a month ago now… it is deeper. Deeper in all key areas of my life. I can’t wait to see where God takes it!

I would highly encourage you to jump in and take the one word challenge. It is awesome! There is a fun website that outlines this as well. Check it out!  I’d love to hear from you if you choose to do this! We can encourage one another!

Big Blessings to all of you!

Simple Thoughts Sunday – 12/20

blog_748284_2825205_1450655586It’s the Sunday before Christmas, my bold prayer for all of my readers, friends and family this week is that you will truly try find love, peace and joy. That you would look up and see the beauty of the season. There are so many opportunities including the joy found in a child’s smile, or the love found seeing an adult child walking their elderly parent into a restaurant.

Most of all this year, we need to find peace. Peace that for me can be found in moments of silence that I am forced to carve out of my hectic days. Wherever you find yourself, pray that God will give you eyes to see the love, peace and joy that surrounds us.

(Photo Creds: Pinterest: Look at who is driving the car! Cute!)

Simple Thoughts Sunday – Bring what you have

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Seriously this photo is awesome! I love all of the fun holiday cards, so I’m going to use a few this week with my message. Thank you to Pinterest for their cool factor in capturing such fun in one site.

In addition to my pastor and church, I love to listen each week to Steven Furtick who happens to serve a church called Elevation in Charlotte, NC. His energy amazes and his message almost always hits me square between the eyes. A few weeks ago he focused on the concept that God didn’t really ask us for much, really only what we have to bring. He mentioned many of the great stories in the Bible. With the Christmas season upon us I can’t stop thinking that Mary and Joseph pretty much gave all they had, givng a life and their lives that would alter the world forever.

What is it that you have that you should “bring” this season?

CHEER for those that you simply need to celebrate, or even someone you don’t even know?HOPE for someone who is running short?
A WARM EMBRACE or a thoughtful card for someone who is facing this holiday without a loved one?
HONOR for our elders that have paved the way?

Let’s all bring what we have and together make this the best ever! It’s really up to us to make that decision – powerful, cool and a bit scary. I hope you all will challenge yourself to sacrifice your time and self to create a season of brilliance.

What will your family be known for?

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I am certain if they don’t now, my boys will have a few laughs over my constant attempts to get everyone focused on the good. So the thought above is a result of one of those times where I asked them by text “what should we be known for?”

We have a family mission statement that we created a decade ago, but these thoughts are from the last six months. By the way, we may or may not have 100 percent participation – ha!

I didn’t come up with this idea on my own by the way. It was most certainly a product of some people with amazing wisdom that have crossed my path and shared their stories and in this case, an idea that I felt wasbrilliant.

So, my question for you today, no matter your status, is what will you or your family be known for? I encourage you to write it down. Get everyone involved. Heck, make it a conversation point at Thanksgiving. Of course we don’t get this right all of the time, but we put it out there and work at it and as a result, life is just plain richer.

Who makes you better?

blog_735919_2808385_1447605486A simple, yet powerful, thought: Who makes you better?

Who when you have coffee or a meal with them, leaves you better?

Who when you text or (God forbid actually dial their numbers…that’s me by the way: I really need to learn to love the phone again) makes you darn glad you did?

Who, when you stop by their desk at work, adds some swagger to your step?

This week, seek out those people. God put them in your life on purpose.

Simple Thoughts Sunday: The best of you

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We all have our best, our own interpretation of happiness and success.

My encouragement today is that we need to be mindful of our personal joy and health so that we can be sure that we are giving those we love, those that need us, the best of us! 

What comes to mind when you think about being the best you? 

For me, it’s driving toward fulfilling God’s plan for my life, giving others the gifts he gave me to share and doing so in full health. (That’s a start at least…)

Have a crazy great week! It’s the boys’ birthday Thursday so I’m all about missing the two that are away and cherishing the moments with Joe while he’s here… CHEERING YOU ALL ON!  

Simple Thoughts Sunday

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Bold in our thinking, our priorities, our actions, our intentions, our love, our prayers.

Just imagine what could be achieved if we all were to be as bold as possible? You know, we were truly called to be bold: To use the amazing gifts that God gave us, and to step in and be the hands and feet of Christ and serve others to improve our world.

What can you do this week to showcase boldness? Pray bigger and broader, then watch what happens.

What Maya said: Rising through personal confrontation

blog_730460_2797471_1445912373One of greatest truths is that we have the opportunity to define our life. No matter what cards that we were dealt, we have the opportunity to choose to create our lives!

I know this first hand because I was raised in a pretty tough situation. I could have easily taken the wrong path simply because as a child I lived on the wrong path surrounded by alcoholism, abuse and poverty.

So what struck me about what Maya said in her quote I shared on Sunday’s post stands true: we must confront ourselves. 

“We have to confront ourselves. Do we like what we see in the mirror? And, according to our light, according to our understanding, according to our courage, we will have to say yea or nay-and RISE!”

Here’s what I’m thinking:

  1. Confronting ourselves through the lens of blaming others for the past is easy and lacks courage. Yes, you may have been hurt or downright pummeled. And yes, it was unfair. But that is now history. Remember the old saying that there is a reason the windshield is big and the rear-view mirror is smaller? We need to look ahead, and not behind!
  2. Truly focusing on ourselves is how we ultimately “confront” what may not be so much fun and truly begin to deal with it. (Remember that pre-decision concept…apply it here.)
  3. Once we own up to the good, the bad and the ugly, via a big dose of courage, we will actually make great progress and as a result rise.

By the way, we all read things and immediately reflect on a specific personal situation. I encourage you to read this a couple of different times, each time with a different area of your life that needs confronted…

  • How am I doing serving my work place, school or community?
  • How am I doing as a parent, friend or in my key relationships?
  • How am I doing with my health, and what’s important to me?

My hunch, is we all have an area where we need to rise! The result of rising is happiness and personal growth. In my opinion, both are worth the effort.