Adversity Can Be Positive

Many of us go through life thinking that life would be much greater and much more fun if we didn't have challenging times, if everything went along just like we wanted. I once saw an episode of The Twighlight Zone in which the main character wished that he would never again lose a game of pool. He then found himself in the twighlight zone in which his wish was granted.

He was having the time of his life...for a while. Then it got boring. No matter what he did, he couldn't lose. He became very frustrated and it totally took the fun out of his favorite game.

This past weekend the US Ryder Cup team defeated the Europeans for the first time since 1999. It was becoming old, with the Europeans continually winning the cup.

Up until the 1980s the US held the cup and never lost. Rarely was anybody talking about the Ryder Cup. It wasn't until the Europeans upset the Americans in 1985 to break a drought dating back to 1957 that the Ryder Cup became a big deal.

Because the Europeans had a stranglehold on the cup in recent years, the significance of the cup was once again becoming diminished, especially from a European perspective. By winning the cup back, the US team now has added more fuel to the fire so that the next Ryder Cup match played in two years will be a very big deal again.

Let's remember this in our lives, especially when adversity strikes. The adversity certainly isn't fun; however, it helps to add flavor to our lives and actually makes it less boring.

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Romans 5:3-4

Positive Thinking

I am a pretty positive person...at least I think I am. Before I became a Christian, I loved positive thinking seminars. You know, the conferences where speakers would get you fired up to go out and conquer the world.

I know many Christians who look down upon positive thinking. They think that is for those who don't know God and that it is all fake. They think it is worthless to attend one of these events. I believe that is short sighted. Positive thinking alone will not take care of anything by itself, but it will help you in almost every case...and it certainly is more productive than negative thinking!

Zig Ziglar agrees as he writes:

Just what can positive thinking do? To be candid, some people have given positive thinking a bad name. I can't stand to hear some gung-ho individual say that with positive thinking you can just do "anything." If you think about that one for a moment, you recognize the absurdity of it. As a ridiculous example, I'm a positive thinker, but I could never slam-dunk a basketball or perform major surgery - or even minor surgery - on anyone and expect that person to survive. Nate Newton, the 300-plus pound lineman for the Dallas Cowboys, is positive, optimistic and outgoing but he'd be a complete failure as a jockey or a ballet dancer.

It's safe to say that positive thinking won't let you do "anything." However, it is even safer to say that positive thinking will let you do "everything" better than negative thinking will. Positive thinking will let you use the ability which you have, and that is awesome. It works this way. You can walk into a dark room, flip on the switch and immediately the room is lighted. Flipping the switch did not generate the electricity; it released the electricity which had been stored. Positive thinking works that way - it releases the abilities which you have.

The student who hasn't studied and prepared for the test won't be helped by "thinking positively." However, positive thinking will help the student who has studied and prepared by "releasing" the stored knowledge when the questions are asked. To express it in a different way, knowledge breeds confidence; confidence breeds enthusiasm; and enthusiasm is an important key to being and doing more with your life.

Buy the positive approach to life and I will SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

Philippians 4:8

The Palin Factor

Unless you live in a cave somewhere, you probably know that Republican Presidential nominee John McCain selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his Vice Presidential running mate. This selection has totally changed the political landscape and has seen McCain make up a lot of ground in the poles and even moved him ahead of Democratic hopeful Barack Obama in many poles. In the case of McCain and Palin, it appears that 1 + 1 = 3.

The reason I bring this up is not to debate politics, but rather to point out a valuable leadership lesson. Whether you love him or whether you hate him, John McCain did something very smart. He selected someone who would complement him, someone who would provide strengths where he is weak.

It takes a leader who is sure of himself/herself to do this...someone who is secure in who they are. I have known many leaders who wanted to surround themselves only with people who agreed with them. This did nothing to help their organizations.

When you can surround yourself with people who don't agree with you all the time and people who are better than you in areas where you are not so strong, it will make you and your organization better. Synergy will take place and everyone wins.

Easy Come Easy Go...

My entire life I have always seen the value of homes increase...until the past year or so. I have always been told that the stock market is a great place to have money as it will provide a greater return over the years than almost anywhere else.

You all know what has happened to the housing market lately. The issues there, coupled with the increase in fuel prices have impacted many other industries, even the financial services sector. Lehman Brothers, a company that weathered the Great Depression, filed the largest bankruptcy in our country's history yesterday. This led to a drop of over 500 points in the Dow Jones Industrial average, the largest single-day drop since trading resumed after the 9/11 attacks.

I was raised to believe that our security comes from the money we have invested and saved. God has really been working on me and showing me that anything I have is actually His and He is just loaning it to me for a while.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Matthew 6:19-21

Integrity

If you live in my community you have heard a lot about Extreme Makeover Home Edition finishing a home in Toledo. This was an incredible project to help a family in need. Tim Schlachter, the owner of Buckeye Real Estate Group headed up this project. Tim is a friend of mine and when he told me that they would need to tear down the existing house, clear away the debris, dig the new basement, pour the foundation, then build a new 4,500+ square foot house, that job seemed overwhelming. tThe fact that they needed to do it in 106 hours seemed downright impossible. That is pressure. But Tim is a man of integrity and I know he had confidence in his crew and in the process.

Well, they did it! Everything went according to plan and the Frisch family got to see their new home yesterday.

The other day, I drove by the old Savage Hall on the University of Toledo's campus. This is where I once played basketball while at UT. Savage Hall is undergoing a major renovation which began as soon as last season ended (the construction inside is pictured above). The new Savage Arena is to be completed by the start of the 2008 basketball season.

Think about that pressure. If the contractor doesn't get this done, what happens to the games that are scheduled? Would UT forfeit? Would they need to find an alternate site and would they be able to?

The contractor who won that bid had to be very sure of their plans. They also need to have integrity and do exactly as they say they are going to do.

It's kind of sad that those two words, "integrity" and "contractor" don't seem to go well together. I have had many contractors at our house who did not do as they said they would or did not start when they said they would. I have often joked that that is the first class taken in contractor school--how to break commitments.

This doesn't describe you, does it?

Above all, my brothers, do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned. James 5:12

Begin With The End In Mind

Today, I noticed in our local paper an obituary that saddened me. I know, I know...obituaries aren't usually uplifting, but this one caught my eye.

The reason it stood out was because it was so short. One sentence to be exact. No family listed, no accomplishments listed...only the time and location for the memorial service.

I hope that this obituary was short simply to save money. If not, this is very sad. It's as if this obituary is saying this person really didn't live. All he did was be born and now he's dead. Sad.

Let's not let that be the case with our lives.

I have mentioned this before but I am going to do so again. We must picture our funeral and what others would say about us and how they were impacted by us. Then we must live up to those standards so that people actually will say those things about us.

Live with the end in mind. Carpe Diem!

Garbage In, Garbage Out

I am a huge fan of leadership development. I'm not sure why this is but I am continually looking for ways to improve--maybe it's because I need so much improvement in so many areas.

Regardless, I believe that you are either growing or you are dying. I don't think there is a middle ground or a place of stagnation. If you are stagnant you are moving backward.

All of this is an individual choice. A choice of what we are going to put in our minds. Earl Nightingale wrote of this in this following excerpt from his book The Strangest Secret:

George Bernard Shaw said, "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."

Well, it's pretty apparent, isn't it? And every person who discovered this believed (for a while) that he was the first one to work it out. We become what we think about.

Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn't know where he's going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety and worry - his life becomes one of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing... he becomes nothing.
How does it work? Why do we become what we think about? Well, I'll tell you how it works, as far as we know. To do this, I want to tell you about a situation that parallels the human mind.

Suppose a farmer has some land, and it's good, fertile land. The land gives the farmer a choice; he may plant in that land whatever he chooses. The land doesn't care. It's up to the farmer to make the decision.

We're comparing the human mind with the land because the mind, like the land, doesn't care what you plant in it. It will return what you plant, but it doesn't care what you plant.
Now, let's say that the farmer has two seeds in his hand- one is a seed of corn, the other is nightshade, a deadly poison. He digs two little holes in the earth and he plants both seeds-one corn, the other nightshade. He covers up the holes, waters and takes care of the land...and what will happen? Invariably, the land will return what was planted.

As it's written in the Bible, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."

Remember the land doesn't care. It will return poison in just as wonderful abundance as it will corn. So up come the two plants - one corn, one poison.

The human mind is far more fertile, far more incredible and mysterious than the land, but it works the same way. It doesn't care what we plant...success...or failure. A concrete, worthwhile goal...or confusion, misunderstanding, fear, anxiety and so on. But what we plant it must return to us.You see, the human mind is the last great unexplored continent on earth. It contains riches beyond our wildest dreams. It will return anything we want to plant.

Compassion

I have a soft spot in my heart for people who work for bad bosses. I had a boss several years ago who was a real tyrant. That experience led me to write the book Bleedership, Biblical First-Aid for Leaders in which I contrast my boss' leadership style with the great leaders of the Bible.

I recently read about a contest in which people were given awards for having the worst bosses. Here is one of the entries:

I had to call an ambulance to take my wife to the hospital one morning. I was due in for work that afternoon. So, as soon as I arrived at the ER and my wife was with the doctor, I called my boss and told him I was at the ER with my wife and she was with the doctor. I told him I would not be in that afternoon. He asked my why I could not come in, to which I replied "Did you not hear what I just told you!" and he then said "You said she was with the doctor." So, I told him again that I would not be in and I hung the phone up.

Then, 6 months later my Grandfather was diagnosed with terminal cancer and was given less than two months to live. When I was explaining the situation to him, he said (I WILL NEVER FORGET THESE WORDS) "I don't know why you are worried about him, he is JUST your Grandfather and he is going to die anyway." I lost my temper and we argued. I later found out from my co-workers that he was mad about me being gone for the funeral. Needless to say, I found a new place to work, and I hope and pray no one ever has to work for someone like him.

This boss obviously had the spiritual gift of mercy...NOT. Compassion was not his strong suit.

I have found that when you treat people as people and not just cogs in the giant wheel, they will work much harder and be more loyal. They will actually care. And who knows, by treating others this way, you might just open a door for them to ask you why you are so different and you will have an open opportunity to talk with them about your faith.

To read more bad boss stories go here.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
1 Peter 3:15b

A Higher Perspective

This past Saturday, my son and I attended the Ohio State game versus Ohio University with our new pastor at CrossRoads, Dean Angell and his son.

I am so blessed to have season tickets for these games. I request that I get tickets in C Deck in Ohio Stadium, which is the upper deck. I like it up there because you can see everything, even stuff that happens on the other end of the field (the above picture of my kids shows the perspective we have at games).

Dean mentioned during his message on Sunday that while he was at the game, he noticed that he could see plays opening up like never before. He said this was due to a different, higher perspective. From this vantage point he could see so much more of what was happening on the field than sitting down lower.

He continued and said that the same is true in life. God has a much higher perspective and clearer picture of our lives than we ever could. So let's remember to go to Him regularly to guide us and help us with the decisions we must make.

Who's In Your Network?

During our men's group this morning (we meet every Friday at 6 AM), one of the guys shared some pretty devastating news he received this week regarding one of his children. It broke my heart.

I know this was difficult for him to share, but I also know that he felt better for sharing it. He now knows he will have brothers praying for him and supporting him.

I was reminded of my life and how much I have grown by being involved with this group. Six years ago I never thought I would be a part of something like this. I certainly didn't want to share my troubles with anyone else because I wanted others to feel like I had it all together.

It wasn't until I experienced the freedom of being authentic in a group like this that I realized what I had been missing. The Bible tells us we are to be in community so that we can encourage others and so they can encourage us. I have witnessed the power of this in my life and in the lives of many others.

To take a line for a cell phone company, "Who's in your network?"

Millenials

Last week at our private briefing for Truth At Work, Ray Hilbert talked about Millenials, also known as Generation Y. These are the people just now entering the workforce. He mentioned that they will be changing the face of the workplace because work life balance is so important to them.

This balance is critical to all of us, even if we don't realize it. If you are like me, you oftentimes go full-steam ahead when you have a lot on your plate. I feel like if I don't do this, I will get further behind and this stresses me out to no end.

There is probably some good in that line of thinking, but I really think, in my case anyway, that it is a weakness. I know that this inevitably will lead to burnout. I really need to learn from the younger generation about this thing called balance.

If you would like to learn more about Millenials, here is a great article.

Renewal

This past weekend, my wife Connie and I spent some time together at Kelleys Island on Lake Erie. We stayed at a cozy bed and breakfast and had an absolutely awesome time. Lots of relaxation and reconnection for us. Lots of time spent in Adirondack chairs on the stone platform above, listening to the waves and watching the sun set. It truly was a time of renewal in our marriage.

This was scheduled right in the middle of perhaps my busiest time in my life (see previous posts about Truth At Work). Yet it was wonderful. I didn't even bring my laptop to check messages!

I was reminded that I need to schedule more times like this to "sharpen my saw", especially when I am busy.

Teamwork - Part III

The past two days I have shared about teamwork. I did not intend to do it a third day in a row, but I must.

I had an incredible day yesterday. We conducted a couple of private briefings for Truth At Work, a ministry I am helping to bring to NW Ohio and SE Michigan. We had over 70 Christian business owners and leaders in for the two meetings to learn about Truth At Work.

I was humbled and literally brought to tears when I saw all of the help I was receiving:

• Ray and Matt, the 2 co-founders of Truth At Work came to Toledo from Indianapolis to lead the briefings
• One of their members, the owner of ServantHR took a day and a half away from his business and his family to come share about how much Truth At Work has helped him
• Many incredible leaders in the Toledo area (Al, Jim, Ed, Clint and others) have stepped up to help me by introducing me to others, giving me words of encouragement and praying for me
• Bob Borcherdt, a former teammate of mine at UT and president of Midwest Paper Specialties, not only let me use his facility for the meetings, but he had employees of his park quite a distance from the entrance so as to free up parking spaces. Two of his sons (college and high school age) were there bright and early to help with parking. He also had members of his staff helping with room setup, etc...
• Two women from the Greater Toledo House of Prayer shared with me that they had been praying for me since they heard about this and they feel led to continue to pray for me, Truth At Work and the business community in this region.
• My good friend Rod, who was extremely busy, yet found time to come and help with registration in the morning.
• My wife Connie (who is not a morning person), got up early and picked up the bagels, coffee and such by 6:45 AM. Then she cheerfully helped get everything organized and registered the guests.

And I have missed countless others who have encouraged, prayed for me and supported me.

All of this truly humbles me. I feel so blessed to have such an incredible group of people helping me, loving me and supporting me. What a great team! Thanks Lord!

Team Hoyt

The son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?' The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'. They went on to complete the marathon together.

Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together. One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.' To which, his father said 'Yes' too.

For those who don't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island Father and son went on to complete the race together.

Check out this inspiring video about Team Hoyt.

Teamwork

Last Saturday I was mowing our lawn and sweating profusely (it was hot and humid). When I was about half way done, my wife Connie and our son Robbie came out to do some weeding.

It was weird what happened to me. I had been exhausted from the heat, but the site of them coming out to work in the yard gave me a boost of energy. They weren't specifically helping me with the project I was working on, but I felt supported...I felt like I had teammates who were there to help me. It was cool.

Who can you do the same thing for in your work environment today?

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12

Class Warfare

One thing I have a hard time with is class warfare. It happens in companies all over the place. I see it all the time...when people complain because someone makes more money than someone else. Most of the time, those complaining don't look at or aren't willing to pay the price to get where they want to be.

This gets exacerbated when the media tries to pit the "haves" versus the "have nots." As if it is just a crap shoot. You either are a winner in life's lottery or you are on the short end of the stick. This is disturbing to me and it very prevalent now, a presidential election year.

In the Toledo Blade this weekend was a story about a person who is struggling to make her $515 monthly mortgage payment and how she feels John McCain is "out of touch" because he didn't know how many houses he owned. She said, "If you have a staff that has to tell you where you own your homes at and how much they're worth and stuff, then you have no flippin' clue."

I'm not exactly sure how to respond to a comment like that. First, I must share that it appears silly not being able to say how many homes you have. However, I don't think this means you "don't have a clue" with everything else.

In my home, I don't know where we keep all the kitchen utensils and many other things. Because I lack this knowledge doesn't make me clueless in every other are of my life (although many would argue).

I wonder if this woman wants the next leader of our country to also be struggling to make his mortgage payments. Don't get me wrong, I know that many good people are struggling now. However, making a decision on our next leader because of class warfare is not going to help this country.

Be Still...

Things have been a little hectic in my life lately. It has all been a good hectic though.

God has been doing some amazing things in the past several months.

This past year I was chairman of the National Day of Prayer Breakfast in Toledo. Our speaker for that May 1st event was Ray Hilbert from Truth@Work in Indianapolis.

After the breakfast, Ray and I spent a couple hours getting to know one another at a local Bob Evans. Little did I know that during our brief time together God was going to show up in such a big way!

We discussed the possibility of starting the Truth At Work concept in NW Ohio and I was very excited. It was as if God was telling me that this is what He has been preparing me for. So I decided to go to Indianapolis to observe one of their half-day sessions. This included a group of business owners and key executives who gather together each month to discuss issues that are critical to their personal, business and spiritual success. During this executive roundtable the group was guided through a highly structured and proven program that helped them advise one another on how to handle critical business and personal issues from a Biblical perspective.

Ray is coming to Toledo next week to conduct a couple of private briefings regarding Truth@Work. The purpose of this is to inform Christian leaders from our area as to the benefits of this program and to invite them to participate in an executive roundtable group.

As a result, I have been sending out invitations, learning as much as I can and preparing for these meetings.

I feel as if I have been running hard.

In the Bible, when Jesus sensed that He had been going hard, he retreated to a quiet place to be with His Father. When I have a lot to do, the thought of going off and “doing nothing” and being with God doesn’t seem logical. However, I am going to follow Jesus’ example this morning and have a personal retreat with God. I am hopeful that I can be still enough to hear what He wants me to hear.

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10a

The Ethics Of Taking A Vacation

I just returned from a week-long vacation to Florida with my family this past weekend. It was a great time. Probably the best part of the trip for me was simply doing nothing. No bills to pay. No lawn to mow. No "to do" lists to review. Just being.

The reason this is so great to me is because I don't relax well when I am at home. It seems I always find something that "needs" to be done. I have been accused of not being a human "being" but rather a human "doing." This can have its advantages but I also view it as a weakness as I can get burned out. As a result, I love vacations because it helps me to get away from all that.

There are many who are so busy that they don't feel they can take a vacation. Or they fear that their business will suffer if they are away. They might even feel guilty for taking a vacation.

I recently read a very good article which actually makes the claim that it is our ethical responsibility to take a vacation. The article claims that taking time out to recharge your batteries will make you and your company better. I agree with the author. Now I need to practice it more often by finding more frequent down time in my life.

You're Kidding, Right?

This morning I heard some more whining from an NFL player. This time it was from star wide receiver, Anquan Boldin from the Phoenix Cardinals.

He is wanting to be traded because he feels he is being treated unfairly. Here is what he said, "If I'm not going to be treated fairly, if my hard work and loyalty isn't going to be rewarded here, then let me go somewhere where it's going to be rewarded. That's how I feel," Boldin said.

Let me get this straight. Last year he signed a four year extension to his contract worth $22.75 million. He makes on average $4 million per year. He earns this whether he catches any passes or not. And he's not being treated fairly.

Whatever happened to being thankful, especially in the midst of such incredible wealth. Whatever happened to integrity and standing by the terms of a contract or agreement? Does anyone else find this ridiculous?

Second Chance

Lucas Wells is a friend of my oldest daughter, Kristin. He was a classmate of hers and he is extremely talented. He was a good athlete while in school and he also was amazing in the school musicals.

Last spring he was asked to join 100 other hopefuls to audition for a spot in the Broadway production Spring Awakening, a rock musical that won eight 2007 Tony Awards, including best musical.

In a recent Toledo Blade article, Wells told of his audition experience:

Invited to the final audition on Monday, Wells was excited and intimidated, because it was with the show’s composer, Duncan Sheik, and lyricist, Steven Sater.“I had idolized Duncan Sheik for so long, because he’s so good, and I tried not psyching myself out before I went in there,” Wells said.

It didn’t work. The staff could tell Wells was nervous, and after he performed, they sent him off for a few hours to relax, then invited him back to try again.

The breather worked, and Wells earned praise from all involved.

But he began to wonder what was really going to happen. Then his phone rang, and Wells was offered a part in the tour as a “swing,” which is a member of the ensemble, and an understudy to the two male lead roles, Melchior and Moritz. Wells said he was stunned. He had no idea they were considering him to play Moritz.

So now Lucas is on Broadway. Very cool stuff!

However, the thing I really am encouraged by is the fact that the staff gave Lucas a second chance at his final audition. They obviously saw talent and they gave him the benefit of the doubt...something most of us can do more of.

Positive Attitude

We just returned from vacation in Englewood, Florida. I know this shows our lack of intelligence--Florida in August...but it was amazing. Very relaxing. Great family time.

One morning I was walking with my oldest daughter Kristin along the beach. Because of the storms they have had, there was a lot of seaweed washed up on the beach (you can see a little of it in the above picture).

As we walked along watching seaweed being brought in and taken from the beach by the tide, I asked Kristin, "I wonder what it would be like to be a piece of seaweed, wondering if you were going to be left on the beach or brought back out to sea."

She said, "It shouldn't matter. Either way you would be by the ocean!"

Now that is a positive attitude!

Make it an awesome week!

Sharpening the Saw

The 7th habit Stephen Covey writes of in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is sharpening the saw.

In the book, he talks of walking through the forest and coming upon a guy who is cutting down a tree. The guy is sweating profusely and is really struggling. You ask, "How long have you been doing this?"

The man says, "Oh, I've been doing this for hours!"

"Why don't you sharpen your saw? It will go a lot faster."

He replies, "I don't have time to do that! I need to cut this tree down right away!"

I don't know about you, but I can relate to the guy cutting down the tree. I don't relax very well sometimes--as a result, I don't sharpen my saw.

However, when I'm on vacation, relaxation comes easy for me. No lawn to mow, no bills to pay, no mail to open. Only laying around, playing with my kids, reading and maybe even taking a nap. Sharpening the saw.

Well, that's what I'm doing this week. Vacation with the family. Great stuff. As a result, I probably won't be posting much this week.

Make it a great week!

All In

Do you want to live life the way it was meant to be lived? I mean do you really? Even if it might be painful at times?

Yesterday I attended the Willow Creek Leadership Summit which was incredible. Today is the final day and I am looking forward to it very much.

Bill Hybels yesterday shared something during his talk on The High Drama of Decision Making. It is something that I have heard before, but for some reason it really struck me yesterday.

He said, "You will never live life that is truly life until you are fully and uncompromisingly devoted to Christ." This means in every area of your life.

Pretty simple, right?

So let's do it! Let's be like the poker players on TV and go "all in."

Suing God

Have you ever been mad at God? I know I have, plenty of times. What do you do when you're mad at Him? Do you yell at him? Do you keep it inside and stew about it? Or do you calmly talk it over with Him?

Being mad is nothing new. It happened many times in the Bible. In fact, many of the Psalms are written in anger toward God. However, they almost always end up praising Him by the end of the psalm.

It is OK to show your anger to God. Besides, He already knows about your anger even before you tell Him about it...so you might as well be real.

This is taking it to a different level though. A state senator in Nebraska is so mad at God that he is suing Him. Read more here.

Grace

What would you do if some kids came in and vandalized your house and you caught them? What if they threw eggs, sprayed fire extinguishers, left water running in the kitchen and wrote obscenities on your walls? What if you found out the damage was $30,000?

Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A found himself in this very situation. Cathy is a strong Christian who made the news when he started his chain of restaurants because he refused to open his stores on Sundays. So how did he react?

He is not pressing charges and is agreeing with the punishment of the pre-teens reading a good book and writing "I will not vandalize other people's property" 1,000 times. Cathy said he did not want to prosecute the girls and leave them with a criminal record.

Now, that is grace in action.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

Nothing Happens Until Something Moves

I just had breakfast with a friend of mine who was just let go last month from the company he had been with for 30 years. The reason I bring this up is that he could be bitter and he could be wallowing in his pity. He could be doing nothing but complaining. He could say, "I'm 60 years old and out of work. Who's going to want to hire me?"

But he's not saying that or thinking that.

He said when he was escorted out of the building he was angry and hurt. But he also said he went into action shortly thereafter, contacting people, networking, putting feelers out.

One month later, he has four opportunities in front of him. He has no idea where he is headed, but he now has hope. All because he took action. Because he did something, God is opening up doors for him.

I recently heard Joyce Meyer say, "We need to do what we can do so that God can do what we can't do." We must take action, especially when adversity strikes. This action first and foremost should be prayer, then go as the Lord leads you.

Watch this short video for some great examples of others who didn't let their tough circumstances weigh them down.

That's Not My Job!

I have seen pictures of things like this before but I had never witnessed it first-hand. On the way home from a pool party yesterday, my family spotted this on the side of the road about a mile from our house. So, at their insistence, we turned around so we could get a closer look (and snap a picture or two).

I don't know much about painting lines on the road but I do know that I really appreciate the people who do it (especially when it's dark and rainy)! Maybe there are rules in place that state they are not allowed to move things out of the way while they are painting; however, I think that is a pretty slim possibility.

Don't you find this incredible? Painting right over roadkill? Not only is it gross, but it just says, "I don't care about my job or doing my job well."

I hope we all can take a different attitude. After all, you never know who is watching and who you might impact by doing your job well!

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.
Colossians 3:23

Attitude of Gratitude

A man is leaving one town and headed for another. Before reaching the town he encounters a fellow sitting roadside and asks him, “What’s it like in the town ahead?” Are the people friendly? Is the economy good?”

The fellow answers him with questions of his own—“What was it like in the town you just left? Were the people friendly? Was the economy good?”

The traveler snapped back, “Of course not, you fool. That’s why I’m leaving. The people were dumb and cheap and bad to do business with and the economy was awful.”

The fellow said, “I see. Well, I have bad news for you. The town up ahead is just like the one you left.”

An hour or so later, another, different traveler comes along, encounters the same fellow sitting by the side of the road, and asks him the same questions about the town ahead. Again, the fellow asks him, —“What was it like in the town you just left? Were the people friendly? Was the economy good?”

The traveler smiled and said, “Why yes, everybody was kind and friendly and generous and the economy was quite good.”

The fellow said, “I have great news. The town up ahead is just like the one you left.”

This story is so true. Our attitudes really do determine our altitude. I don't think there is a more powerful attitude than having an attitude of gratitude.

Zig Ziglar, had this to say about gratitude in this short article.

Pudge

I was saddened this morning when I heard that Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez had been traded by the Tigers to the New York Yankees. Pudge came to Detroit 4 1/2 years ago and has really helped to turn the team around. Not only has he done this with his stellar play and great work ethic, but he has done it with class. It is no surprise that he is leaving the organization with that same classy style.

"My 4 1/2 years in a Detroit uniform were very good, very nice," Rodriguez said. "People thought Detroit was never going to be a winning team. And guess what? We played in the World Series. We hired a good manager, one of the best managers in the game. It's unbelievable."

I contrast that with words I heard from Manny Ramirez this morning that he spoke about his team, the Boston Red Sox:

"The Red Sox don't deserve a player like me," Ramirez said. "During my years here, I've seen how they [the Red Sox] have mistreated other great players when they didn't want them to try to turn the fans against them.

"The Red Sox did the same with guys like Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, and now they do the same with me. Their goal is to paint me as the bad guy," Ramirez added. "I love Boston fans, but the Red Sox don't deserve me. I'm not talking about money. Mental peace has no price, and I don't have peace here."

Thanks Pudge for all you've done and thanks for being a great leader by example! I'll miss seeing you with the old English "D" on your chest.

The Sky Is Falling!

In the Toledo area gas prices have come down recently. Last week I even saw them sniff the $3.50 range. This was about a week after hearing on the radio that prices could hit $3.50 by year end because of the decrease in the price of crude oil and the decrease in demand (I guess our local gas stations didn’t know they could wait until year end to lower their prices to the current levels).

About a month prior to that, I had heard that we could see prices close to $6.00 per gallon within the next year.

Along the same lines, 30 years or so ago, I remember the media talking about how the earth could be covered by ice within the next 100 years as the earth was cooling down so fast. Today, all we hear about is global warming.

So how do you know what is true?

Certainly not from the media. We must realize that the "sky must be falling" for them to sell papers. The only place you can find absolute truth is in the Bible. Anything else is pure speculation.

Passion

Yesterday at church, Andrew Smith did a great job of explaining the importance of passion in our lives. This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I love to see people passionate about what they do. I love to see people chasing their passions.

Andrew had a large, ordinary looking flower pot sitting on the table next to him. Throughout the service, I kept wondering what he was going to do with it.

He finally went over to the pot and explained that the pot was just like us. Sometimes we can feel like we are going through the motions and we can feel just like an empty pot sitting on a table.

He then pulled out some flowers and some potting soil and began to transfer the flowers to the pot, transforming this plain, ordinary pot into a beautiful thing.

As soon as the flowers found their new home in the pot, Andrew explained that the pot was fulfilling its purpose. Cool stuff.

He concluded the service by challenging us to chase down our passions, even if it meant being impractical. That hit me hard. I realized that I had not been encouraging my daughter Molly to chase her dreams.

She dreams of working in the music industry somewhere because she really is passionate about music. I haven’t discouraged her from this but I haven’t been overly enthusiastic about it either. You see, I’m a pretty practical kind of guy and working in the music industry sounds anything but practical.

When we got home, I told Molly that I really want her to chase her dreams and her passions. I told her I want her to continue pursuing the music thing but I want her to look for ways to do something for God while doing it. I apologized for not supporting her more. I think she was appreciative of this. Hopefully, this will be a lesson I can hang onto.

Too Much of a Good Thing

This is what our hanging baskets on the outside of our porch looked like this past weekend before I fertilized them.

Several days later, here is the result:



I guess I over-fertilized.

Fertilizer is a good thing but when there is too much of it, it can have an ill-effect. This is true with a lot of "good" things in our lives. When we do too much of it it can actually be harmful.

Reading the Bible is certainly something we should do. It truly is our owners manual for life. Going to church is also good as we are able to support and build up others. But if all we did was read our Bibles and go to church, how could we impact those who need God?

Jesus was a great example of this. He knew the Word, but more importantly, He DID the Word. He actually did life with others, where they were. Through this He changed the world!

Responsibility

Did you hear about this? It seems a Tennessee man was at church and says he was so consumed by the spirit of God that he fell and hit his head. I love it when people are passionate about things, especially when they are passionate about God (even so passionate that they fall down while worshiping). If that was the end of the story, that would be pretty cool.

However, as Paul Harvey would say, "And now, the rest of the story..." Now this man is suing Lakewind Church for $2.5 million in damages for medical bills, lost time off work and pain and suffering.

Whatever happened to people stepping up and taking responsibility for their own actions?

To read the rest of the story, go here.

The Body of Christ

Check out this amazing short video:

If any one of those parachutists was not doing their job, the entire stunt would not have worked. What a great reminder that we all have a role to play in the body of Christ!

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27

Playing To An Audience Of One

I have a real problem with people criticizing others when they have never been in the same situation. That is probably why I was rooting so hard for Greg Norman to keep himself together and win the British Open yesterday.

He didn't get it done but he really had an incredible week. Had he won, at age 53, he would have been the oldest champion of a major golf tournament in history.

His career disappointments are well documented, from Larry Mize chipping in at Augusta to snatch a green jacket from him in a playoff at The Masters to Bob Tway's hole out from a bunker at Inverness to win the PGA. Most notably is his collapse at The Masters where he lost a 6 shot lead in the final round to Nick Faldo.

Many have called him one of golf's greatest "chokers." This is the stuff that gets me upset. The people who have called him this have never been in the same position to know what it feels like.

I can only imagine the pressure he felt to win yesterday. It could have taken away many of the negative thoughts that others have of him and changed his legacy in golf. That is a lot to think about and may have contributed to his less than stellar performance on Sunday.

Two things I take from this. One, I applaud Norman's perseverance. He was in there fighting away. He took a chance and I think still came out victorious as this article states. Second, I think about how often we fight to improve our image, the way others view us. This is sad. We should all be playing for an audience of One.

He Gets It!

In my men's group this morning, Stu shared with us a story about how he had a really cool conversation with one of his company's distributors that led to a discussion about God. He went on to say that he has no idea whether it had an impact on this guy or not.

Well, knowing Stu and the way he is constantly looking for ways to help others, I can almost guarantee that it did have a positive impact.

One of my passions is faith in the workplace, the fact that we can live out our faith 24/7...even at work. That is what God calls us to do in the Bible. I know many people who go to church on Sunday and put on their "Christian hat" and then hang it on the peg on their way out of church so they can put it back on next Sunday. That is sad. We can and should be wearing our Christian hats all the time!

Stu gets that! We can all learn from him! When we do, we will notice a renewed energy about our work and everything we do. The reason for this? Because we will realize that everything we do has a greater purpose.

Just Do It!

I met with a friend of mine yesterday who is going through some difficult stuff. I challenged him last week to get four things done which we both felt would help move him along toward getting out of the situation he is in. I told him that I wanted to see that he had done these things by the time we got together the following week.

He got two of the four things done but those were big steps. In fact, yesterday morning he said he woke up and didn't feel like doing anything. He felt paralyzed, like he was being sucked into his "pit." He said he just decided to do the thing he needed to do in spite of the way he was feeling.

I met with him immediately after this appointment and he said something pretty revealing. He shared, "Jim, I felt terrible when I got up. But after following through on what I knew was the right thing to do, my entire outlook has changed. I now have hope."

Wow, what a statement! I am very proud of him for stepping out of his comfort zone!

This applies to each and every one of us. We can't let our feelings control us. When we know we need to do something and it is the right thing to do, even if we don't feel like it, we need to follow the advice of Nike and Just Do It!

Passion

I didn't watch any of it but the American League defeated the National League for the 11th straight year in baseball's All Star Game. The game was the longest in major league history as it took 15 innings to decide the winner.

The American League champion will once again have home field advantage in the World Series at the end of the season. On SportsCenter on ESPN this morning, I was struck by how passionate the sportscasters were discussing this game. They were up in arms because they don't think the All Star game should determine home field advantage--they think it should simply be an exhibition game.

Their argument was that because it actually means something, managers will do things not normally done during an exhibition game because they want to win. This, they contend puts players' health at risk.

The way they were discussing this was if world peace depended on a solution to this "problem." I thought about how truly unimportant this was in the greater scheme of life. Yet, I watched intently.

I think I was interested in what they had to say because of one word: Passion. These guys had passion about what they were talking about. You could tell they believed in what they were saying.

We are instructed to do things with passion--to the best of our abilities. So what will you be passionate about?

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

Colossians 3:23

Let Your Yes Be Yes

I have been a Brett Favre fan for a long time. I'm not sure why, but I think I just liked the way he played...gritty, determined, tough and he was always a team player.

Favre retired from the Green Bay Packers earlier this year much to the chagrin of their loyal fans. This past weekend, word was leaked that he wanted to return to the team. This has caused major disruption to the Packers as their up and coming quarterback, Aaron Rodgers is scheduled to be the starter this year. The team wants to show support of Rodgers because he is their future at that position, yet they also don't want to tarnish the legacy that Favre has attained.

There are now a contingent of fans who want Favre back and there are others who see him as a whiner.

Though I have respected Favre his entire career, I happen to be in the latter category. I think what he is doing is very detrimental to the team. It's as if he is saying everything is about Brett Favre.

It's a shame that it has come to this. I hope his reputation isn't tainted by this act of selfishness.

"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Matthew 5:37

Failing Forward

Have you ever been around someone who says, "I'm not good enough yet to do that"? Or how about, "He does it so much better than I can, so I'll let him do it"?

I know many such people and I in fact have been like this at times. Perfectionists.

Being a perfectionist can be crippling. If we buy into the lie that "if it can't be done perfectly, it shouldn't be done at all" we will never do anything.

Those who are very good at something have obviously failed many times in order to perfect their craft. The only way you will get better is to do something...now--even if it is not that great. You will eventually get better. And in almost every case, something done poorly is worth more than something not done at all. Someone once told me that the key to growth is to Fail Forward.

Here is what Zig Ziglar says about this topic:

Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Doing Poorly

Chances are superb that when you saw the heading of this article you did a double-take and thought to yourself, "That is ridiculous!" But, let us think together and I believe you will agree that the observation is correct. Look at it this way: If you were to quit any endeavor because you did miserably on the first try, your life would be infinitely poorer. Think of it this way: When you watch sports professionals, whether golf, tennis or any other sport, play near-perfect games, you probably stand in amazement. What you're watching is an individual who has literally hit thousands of golf balls, or tennis balls, many of them poorly, and has taken hundreds of lessons from teaching pros to improve his or her game. They understood from the beginning that if they were going to play good golf or tennis, they would play a lot of poor games along the way.

The same applies in every area of life. Most sales professionals probably blew many sales before they became consummate professionals. They understood that every call, whether they made or missed the sale, was a marvelous learning experience. They understood that if it was worth doing, it was worth doing poorly - until they learned to do it well.

The same can be said of the exceptional teacher or the master chef. Each undoubtedly made many mistakes along the way, but they considered those "mistakes" learning experiences. So, whatever your endeavor, just remember that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing poorly until you can learn to do it well. Buy that idea and I'll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Dreaming

The Dreamgiver by Bruce Wilkinson is one of my favorite books. In it Wilkinson shares a parable about a guy named Ordinary who lives in the town of Familiar. He wakes up every day and goes to the Job and then comes home every night and watches the Box. Sound familiar?

Then one night, Ordinary is visited by the Dreamgiver and his life is forever changed. He gets a dream for his future. What separates Ordinary from most everyone else in Familiar is that he decides to chase his dream.

The book goes on to show the challenges and the joys that Ordinary experiences during his journey. It truly is a great read and very inspirational.

The reason I like this book so much is probably because I'm a dreamer. I like to look at situations as they might be. Some might say I'm naive and that it is a weakness. Perhaps that's true; however, I prefer to look on the bright side of things. It certainly is more fun than the alternative.

I believe that each of us has a dream and that we were made for greatness. I also believe that our gifts, talents and passions give us an indication of what our dream is. God has wired each of us a certain way on purpose and for a purpose. Check out this short video which talks about our dreams - click here.

So what's your dream?

The American Dream

Casting Crowns has a great song called American Dream in which they describe a husband and father who works long hours so that he and his family can have all sorts of toys. At the end of the song, he finally decides it is not worth it and he chooses to spend more time with his family.

I think many of us can relate to this song because we are told by the world to work harder so we can accumulate more stuff. You know, "He who dies with the most toys wins!"

It is so hard in today's society to not be drawn to financial wealth and the neat things it can buy. Trust me, I know this. Prior to becoming a Christ follower, money was my god. I felt that the only way I could find security and peace was in having enough money in the bank or in investments. After all, with money I wouldn't have any worries or stress, right?

As I accumulated money I found that the stress in my life actually increased. That is what put me on a quest to find peace. That road thankfully led me to Christ.

However, though I now know that finances cannot bring me security, I still find myself at times (although pretty rare now) longing for more wealth, for the American dream.

The Barna Group recently did a study on what people perceive to need in order to have an ideal life, or the American dream. The results surprised me. I was expecting to see a lot of "things" listed but instead this is what they found:

There were six specific conditions that at least three-quarters of all adults identified as being very important elements in their ideal life. Those included having good physical health (listed by 85%), living with a high degree of integrity (also 85%), having one marriage partner for life (80%), having a clear purpose for living (77%), having a close relationship with God (75%), and having close, personal friendships (74%).

How refreshing. So what do you need for your ideal life?

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Matthew 6:21

Complacency

I was talking with a friend of mine yesterday who is very involved in the youth soccer league in our community. He was telling me about another friend of ours whose son was just cut from his team during tryouts.

Rich said he was shocked that our friend's son was cut because he is one of the better players and has been playing for years. Then he found out that he went into tryouts knowing he was going to make the team so he just did a lot of goofing around.

The coach saw this as not being a team player and being undisciplined so he cut him.

As it ended up, two players left that team to join another team so he was allowed to join the team again. But what a great life lesson for him! What a great life lesson for us!

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Colossians 3:23-24

God At Work

This past year I was privileged to be chairman of the 19th annual National Day Of Prayer Breakfast held in Toledo. The event was a great success.

This year I am serving on the committee while Bob Borcherdt, a great friend of mine and college basketball teammate serves as chairman.

We met last Friday to discuss the possibility of taking this to a whole new level and doing something that could help the entire area from a leadership perspective. Bob had an in with John Maxwell and asked if we should pursue that.

We all said "Yes!" We all agreed that this was a long shot to say the least and the only way it was going to happen was if God made it happen. Afterall, John Maxwell is probably the best-known teacher on leadership in the world and he is very difficult to book.

So despite the odds, Bob and a couple of others from the team crafted a great letter to send to John Maxwell's manager. Yesterday (5 days after the letter was sent), we heard that John has agreed to come for the event! He will also put on a 4 hour workshop that day (May 7th) in the afternoon.

Wow!

We as a committee are still stunned and we almost have a sense of, "Yikes, what did we get ourselves in to?" We know much work is in front of us but we also know that God is making this happen and we just mostly have to stay out of His way.

Cool stuff!

Truth At Work

Yesterday was an exciting day for me.

I heard back from Truth At Work that my application had been accepted and I was officially a Chapter President for Truth At Work for NW Ohio and SE Michigan.

I will be working on building roundtable groups with Christian business owners and leaders in the area.

This all started when I was chairman of this year’s National Day of Prayer Breakfast in Toledo. Our speaker for that event was Ray Hilbert from Truth At Work in Indianapolis.

After the breakfast, Ray and I spent a couple hours getting to know one another at a local Bob Evans. Little did I know that during our brief time together God was going to show up in such a big way.

We discussed the possibility of starting the Truth At Work concept in the Toledo area and I was very excited. It was as if God was telling me that this is what He has been preparing me for. So I decided to go to Indianapolis to observe one of their half-day sessions. This included a group of business owners and key executives who gather together each month to discuss issues that are critical to their personal, business and spiritual success. During this executive roundtable the group was guided through a highly structured and proven program that helped them advise one another on how to handle critical business and personal issues from a Biblical perspective.

I was so impressed by what I saw that I came back and shared this information with a few Christian business owners and leaders I know. I have received very strong and positive feedback.

I have discovered that Truth At Work has expanded to several cities throughout the U.S and I am now working to bring it to the NW Ohio and SE Michigan area. Very exciting stuff--Yea God!

Waiting

Have you ever been to a restaurant by yourself and had to wait for someone to show up? I have plenty of times and it has sometimes felt awkward, especially when I failed to bring something to do. While everyone else is happily chatting and eating away, I find myself looking over the menu for the 13th time.

Does it make you feel better when your party shows up and gives you the excuse for why they were late? No, me neither.

Feeling this way has made my desire to never be late increase. I know I don’t like it when others are late so I certainly don’t want to cause someone else to feel that way. In addition, I try to not make excuses for my lateness when I am tardy, although I still find myself slipping into excuse mode from time to time.

If you are the excuse making type, you might like these actual excuses told to bosses for being late to work. But do me a favor, please don’t use them!

1. While rowing across the river to work, I got lost in the fog.
2. Someone stole all my daffodils.
3. I had to go audition for American Idol.
4. My ex-husband stole my car so I couldn't drive to work.
5. My route to work was shut down by a presidential motorcade.
6. I have transient amnesia and couldn't remember my job.
7. I was indicted for securities fraud this morning.
8. The line was too long at Starbucks.
9. I was trying to get my gun back from the police.
10. I didn't have money for gas because all of the pawnshops were closed.