To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Holiday season

Christmas Eve, the gift of anticipation

blog_749488_2826667_1450980610Christmas Eve for a child, young and sometimes old, is filled with anticipation.

Anticipation being that waiting period before something exciting happens. In this case, celebrations unfold and hearts are filled with the expecting of what’s to come. While researching for this post, I ran across the amazing blog below by Jeff Goins.

Jeff is one of the great writing talents in the United States today and worth your time if you appreciate this type of work.  I believe you will find his words full of wisdom on this topic of waiting.  I for sure learned some new concepts that help me to frame up this amazing season in a way that is deeper and richer.

“After years of learning important lessons about life, I now realize that the magic of Christmas was never about the day. It was always about the waiting.”  – Jeff Goins  See full post here.

Ultimately, the primary point is how great it is that the birth of Jesus was just the beginning, the anticipation of what is to come!  His birth merely started the story of what was to come.

I pray today that your hearts will be filled with the anticipation of what God will do in your lives and those of your family and friends during the next year. Have the merriest of days and embrace the moments. You all are a gift to me personally and I am forever grateful.

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!)

3 ways to love what you have

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A big thanks to my son Sam for his help with today’s post. I got hit with that ugly stomach bug I had heard about – yikes! Creativity was not at an all time high, and wanting to stick with the theme this week on ‘Bringing What you Have’ was hard. He stopped studying for finals and shared some great ideas. Here are some insights to get your mind perhaps a bit more focused to have the best holiday season ever.

  1. Recognize What you Have. Make a short list of what you have. Do you have time? Maybe a few extra hours or a student on break? Are you a baker like my friends Alyssa and Amy? A musician like my friends Mark, Becca, Kelly and Cody? Are you an extraordinary decorator like my friends Shelley and Teresa? Are you good with kids? Do you love to hang lights and work in the great outdoors (thanks, Sam!)? An extra hand to help out where needed?

    Here’s my short list:
    – Some extra time to spend with my boys serving the community when they all get home from school.
    – A friendly smile and willingness to throw in some help!
    – I wish I could say I am a baker, but alas, not in this season of my life. I can however pick up a great loaf of bread or some fun dessert at one of many great local bakeries, Sashas, Upper Crust, Three Women and an Oven, IBIS… and deliver it to someone who would love such a treat.

  2. Utilize What you Have. “Whatever we possess becomes of double value when we have the opportunity of sharing it with others.” – Jean-Nicolas Bouilly // It’s pretty easy folks- You’ll have a smile as big and precious as this little girl when you simply act! Utilize those gifts, no matter how small or big they may be! Now is the time!
  3. LOVE WHAT YOU HAVE! It’s the title of the blog and a pretty important thought! Own your gifts! Figure out ways to use them throughout the year to better our world, at work, home and in our community.

(photo creds: Pinterest: darlingcollections.com)

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.

Hello December

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One more month! That’s 31 more days. What will you do? These are my ideas, in no particular order:

  1. Reach out
  2. Love!
  3. Pray for world peace
  4. Serve others!
  5. Build a gingerbread house! (And watch it slowly tip over…)
  6. Pray for healing
  7. Trust God for the best.
  8. Make a list!
  9. Check it twice!
  10. Start a new Tradition?  (For the sake of my friend, Susie, please not the Elf on the Shelf!
  11. Take part in preparing a special meal & break bread with those you love.
  12. Send a card or note to a long lost friend?
  13. Seek out discounts
  14. Embrace the chaos
  15. Embrace the quiet morning and late evening moments
  16. EXERCISE
  17. Be mindful of what is important
  18. Attend a Christmas service
  19. Make your home warm and bright
  20. See one of the great Christmas movies – Sure to be on the Oscar list soon.
  21. Call a relative or friend who may be struggling this season
  22. Sign up for the yoga class you’ve been wanting to take – Start it 1/1!
  23. Wrap up an important project!
  24. Celebrate when you achieve your goals!
  25. Shovel snow?
  26. Wrap a few gifts!
  27. GIVE!
  28. Put out the cookies for Santa, or light the candles for Hanukkah!
  29. Seek out a luminary walk to embrace the quiet winter night.
  30. Sing Christmas carols!
  31. CELEBRATE A LIFE WELL LIVED – A LIFE OF EXCELLENCE!  

Live it out!

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“And the greatest of these is love …” I COR 13:13

As we enter the holiday season with the hope of finding joy and peace, may we all remember that the greatest way to live out our lives is to show our love in big and small ways.

What is one big or small way you can show your love each day this week? Might as well kick off the season strong!

BOLD PRAYERS FOR YOU ALL!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

blog_739734_2813866_1448508539“Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday BY FAR. It’s really a feast of the superpowers:  simplicity (stripped of the gifts and excessive hype that can weigh down other holidays), love, (of course), and humor among them.”

(‘Life Is Good‘ by Bert and John Jacobs)
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As I said earlier this week, I love this book, but this thought couldn’t be beat as I truly discerned what is the best message for a Thanksgiving Day.

Since I post on Thursdays, I was thrilled that Thanksgiving will always be one of the days I get to take a moment to reflect. What am I thinking and what may resonate with my readers?

So for 2015, I think with the many issues that require our prayers and attention (See short list below), I loved this concept. Simplicity truly is a superpower, and one I need more of. I pray today that we all are able to take a deep breath and truly be joyful in the moment we are in. Whether it’s alone watching the Thanksgiving Day parade and drinking hot tea, or surrounded by many family and friends for a wonderful meal, and then playing a family traditional football game.

Add to that a big dose of love for those with us and those we wish were with us. Throw in humor to ensure sanity in this season. I promise there is a good laugh to be had if you simply look around the room. (Remember, those pictures of yesterday where that big hair and those bell bottoms are now hysterical, well, friends, that awesome outfit you have on today will give the same effect 20 years from now…Heck, you may have a similar outfit on today and are rocking the styles.)

Wherever today finds you, life is good indeed!

Here is the short list I mentioned above:

World peace (which translates to safety, security and a great future for our lives in general), is at the top. Other big ones include the critical importance of us electing a galvanizing leader for our country in 2016, taking care of those that have been placed in our care, be it families or community members that need our focus, and  working each day toward simply serving in the best way we can, using our gifts/talents.

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.

Crazy beautiful all around

blog_737081_2810070_1447905059Today’s a good day to stop and realize the sheer beauty of the world.

We are sitting right on the edge of winter and the shorter days give way to a great desire for comfort food and jumping in bed at 8 p.m.

But wait… in a few days, you’ll get shaken out of the stuper and thrown into the fury and fun of the holiday season. With this week’s theme of “mind the gap,” I can’t help but be somewhat alarmed and exhilarated at the very thought that there is a very short gap between these few days that rest between November 1 roughly (daylight savings time) to Thanksgiving where we give way to a different set of energy.

My thought: soak it up while you can! 

If you need to sleep, sleep! Beg, borrow or steal it if you need to. If you need a cup of great soup and some bread that reminds you of grandma’s house, then make or go get that, too. If you just want to lay under the covers all day and hide, well, try to make that happen!

I was with this amazing Uberdriver this morning and he shared that yesterday he just stayed home and enjoyed his family. He told me he got up to go to work, but was called back by his body and spirit longing to simply enjoy this day before the action gets moving at such a rate, he can’t stop. I thought that was awesome.

As a leader, I’m not advocating everyone calling in sick, although I am a big fan and supporter of flexible work schedules and an integration between work and life that is reasonable and allows us to produce our best. I am, however, advocating that you allow yourself and your staff if you are a leader to pull off of the side of the road, so to speak, and mind the gap that is this brief season.

Perhaps by doing so we will improve our health and get a sense of rejuvination which will help us build energy to have the best holiday season ever.

Train your mind

blog_734618_2805536_1447168536Most every American knows Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos quarterback, NFL Super Bowl champion and MVP. To many, the best quarterback of all time.

Regardless of where he lies in the final stats, there is no doubt that he has demonstrated that training your mind is critical to great success. In fact, when he had potentially career-ending surgery in 2011, he did what many thought couldn’t happen and made a decision to seek the best training of his mind and physical body to step back into the game again. And he has done so with sheer greatness.

The first step in his decision: train your mind.

Most everyday we are hit with an array of challenges, decisions, problems, etc that have the potential to take us down. A simple action or reaction can send us reeling and quite often those are left whirling in our minds, often creating a life of their own. What if he meant that? Did that text she sent mean what I think it meant?

The National Science Foundation estimates that a human brain produces as many as 12,000 to 50,000 thoughts per day, depending on how deep a thinker a person is. Most of the so-called random daily thoughts are about our social environment and ourselves.

As you can see, with our brain on overdrive, we simply must train our minds to think positive and focus on the best of ourselves, our abilities, our intentions and of course, people.

One of the interesting things about the brain is that it is methodical. In my research, I read that a thought actually becomes a physical pathway in the brain. According to life coach Tim Brownson, the more you have a thought, the more you groove that path and the easier it is to have it again. That’s why having the thought “Why do I suck?” is never a great idea.

That’s where the training part comes in. I don’t want to overcomplicate this, but instead give you this to contemplate today. We are all champions in one way, shape or form. Peyton Manning just does it on a national stage. When troubles come our way, we have a choice to train our minds to go into what I’ll callexcellence mode.

What pathways have been etched into your mind due to constantly thinking or focusing on them? It could be a person in the workplace that has driven you to drink or at the very least you have hit your head against the wall so many times trying to navigate the situation. It could be a family member (Thanksgiving is a few weeks away in case you want to get prepared now…), that always seems to say the most life-draining things that leave you wondering where they came from or where you came from. It could simply be that you are really hard on yourself for pick your issue: over spending, not doing enough charity work, not working out enough, never picking up the phone and calling your best friend… You get the picture.

Let’s “groove” some new paths in our minds today and put our minds on excellence mode.