aerobic kneeling

There are a different types of runners. There is a high percentage of people who run a couple miles every day just to keep fit. There is a smaller percentage of people who run half-marathons and marathons. Then there is even a smaller percentage of people who run ultramarathons...which are 100 mile races. 

The three types of runners have a couple things in common; running, having really good cardiovascular health, and being a little crazy.

As someone who runs a a couple miles day, it would be foolish for me to be down on myself for not running ultramarathons. Heck even the same with marathons. I have never attempted one, but I would love to someday! I run because it helps me stay in shape and I want a healthy heart. The people who are running ultramarathons are definitely abnormal, but are having the same benefits. 

I think it would it be amazing to be able to run a ultramarathon someday. But it'd be foolish to try it tomorrow. I would need to start out be running a couple miles, a 10K,  then a marathon or two...I would have to start somewhere. 

In our walks with Christ, I feel like it can often be like this for believers. I see articles or read books about people who pray 3-4 hours a day! Who has the time for that?! Or you read about Christians who are just on fire for the Lord and how God is doing amazing things in their lives every second of everyday. 

For newer believers, or believers who might not experience those things all the time, it's sometimes easy to feel down on ourselves. It's easy to think, why aren't those things happening to me? 

Studies show, to be in good cardiovascular health, it requires 30 minutes of running or jogging, three to four times per week. That's at least 90 minutes. On the other hand, we can be spiritually healthy spending 15-30 minutes in prayer or reading our bibles 3-4 times per week.

It's better to start somewhere than to not be doing anything at all. 

My encouragement to you is to focus on being spiritually healthy. The believers who pray 3-4 hours a day are amazing and have a great responsibility, but you don't have to compare yourself to them. The believers who are on fire daily, didn't just flip a switch one day, they had to start somewhere! 

I am probably in the best cardio shape I have ever been in, and I am not running marathons daily. 

It's gotta start somewhere. I hope this was uplifting to you this morning and as your start your Friday. 

the toenail

Back in February, I played some pick up basketball with a handful of guys one Saturday morning in Elkhart. We played for nearly three hours and it was a lot of fun. The older I get the more it seems like there is some part of my body that I always hurt. 

On that Saturday morning it was my big toenail on my right foot. I don't remember how it happened but I knew when it did that my toenail was done for. I knew that it was going to fall off and this sucker was going to cause me a lot of pain for a couple days. 

Well a couple days went by and it hurt like crazy but it was still going strong. Lift stayed pretty normal, I kept running and working out. Soon the pain in my toenail began to go away. I was so thankful because it was hurting me like crazy. 

But as the weeks went by, my toenail kept getting uglier. Even without it causing much pain, I didn't like to look at my feet. Last night, it started to look like it was ready to fall off, and it wasn't really ready yet. But I performed my own surgery and ripped it off, it was just like opening up a pop can. (sorry I know that is gross)

The ugly toenail is gone! But under it, it's still not cute, my toe has a lot of healing to do but it already looks so much better.

I believe my ugly toenail is a lot like to sin and the baggage that we carry. Oftentimes we might think of a mistake we made in the past or a wrong doing we committed and we just hold onto it. I think back to times in college where I definitely said things to my roommates that I would never repeat and I used to feel so terrible after I said them. Even though a lot of the time it was a joke, it was still something that I said.

The ugly toenail and sin relate really well. Think about a time where you blatantly sinned. You did something so wrong and you knew it. That's a lot like hurting my toenail. Then when we don't ask for forgiveness and repent, the toenail starts to get really ugly and you always have that feeling it's there. You know that feeling in your gut that I am talking about? Then when we ask for forgiveness and repent, it's finally ripping that sucker off. Then like an open wound, when we repent, it can take some time to heal. 

"Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."

(2 Chronicles 7:14) 

Reading about my toenail probably wasn't how you were planning to start your day, but I would encourage you all, if there is baggage or something that you are holding onto in your life, ask for forgiveness and repent. God is going to forgive you from your sins and you will be set free.

Jesus pace

There has only ever been one perfect person who has walked the earth and that is Jesus. There has never been anyone who has been perfect and there will never be anyone else.

I feel like I have to be perfect. I feel like there is some perfect standard that needs to be done everyday so that I achieve success in such a way that the world perceives it. I am just being completely honest. 

I often feel like I have to be perfect because sometimes I care about what other people think about me. I feel like I beed to have fancy things, a super nice car, and this perfect social media lifestyle. I feel like I need to make a lot of money to make it in this world, and that I might as well use it. I feel like I should be growing this massive business and working day and night to achieve it because once I do that I will make it! It often seems like I should be in charge. I am smart, I know what I am doing, why doesn't everyone else do what I am doing? I outwork them all. 

That entire last paragraph is what I feel like the fast paced pressure of this world wants us to feel. Go. Go. Go. Go. Grind day and night right? Society has all forced an image of how we should be living all the time. 

Think about the pace at which Jesus lived his life. Jesus did everything perfect, he was obedient and did everything God had wanted me too. Jesus would walk from town to town, perform these miraculous miracles, and then retreat to the wilderness to pray. He did this over and over again. Jesus didn't care about how many people saw what he was doing, he just wanted people to come to the Lord. 

We all need to start having a Jesus pace. A Jesus pace isn't this incredibly laid back, I don't care pace, but it's the idea that everything we chase after, that can easily burn us out, doesn't matter in the end. When our time comes, it's not going to matter how much we burnt ourselves out or what we have. We can't take those things with us.

I am guilty of not living my life at Jesus pace so one of the things I am starting to day is pray that I do. We create too much physical, emotional, and mental stress on ourselves when we live at the pace the world wants us to. Those feelings are not worth it! 

Let us commit to a life where we have a Jesus pace about all that we do. We have to make sure we still work really hard and give God all the glory, but those burnt out feelings are not worth the stress we put on ourselves.

suffering, it's inevitable

Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. 

(1 Peter 4:12-13)

I think it would be a safe bet to assume that you have faced a trail or two throughout your life. As if something strange were happening to us right? We must be glad for the trails that make us partners with Christ! Sometimes it's easy for a trail to get into my head, oftentimes things will seem to be going great and then all of a sudden they aren't and those are the times where we are to embrace those trials.

In life, growth happens when we doing things that we are uncomfortable with. You can be really average doing the same thing all the time, but we have to grow and we grow through our trials.

When we suffer we are partners with Christ. Which means that we will have the wonderful joy in seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. You know who doesn't get to experience that? People who aren't partners of Christ. 

When you are faced with moments today when you feel like you are suffering, just know that you have a partner to go through that with you. You have a partner who has been there and done that. Jesus experienced suffering that we could never even imagine, and he did it for us.

Rather than letting your suffering get inside your head, take suffering head on today! 

a simple smile

It takes more muscle to frown than to smile. 

I'm sure you have heard that your entire life. I know that is something I heard from my parents and grandparents all the time growing up. I think we often forget how easy it is to smile and how good a simple smile can you feel. 

As you read this sentence...smile. Even just the act of using your cheek muscles to perform a smile is such an amazing feeling. It's so easy too, so why don't we do it more?

One of the things I have tried to do a lot better at in my life over the past month is smiling when things suck. I have a new found love for running, and I remember when Rach and I were on vacation a couple weeks ago in the Smokey Mountains. When I would go on my morning runs, it was essentially running through the mountains, and it was horrible. My legs burned, my heart raced, and I probably could've walked faster than the speed I was running, but I just decided to smile through that. 

The smile I was displaying on my face wasn't some fake smile to make me happy and to help me get through it, but it was a smile because I understood how good I was going to feel after such a hard workout, and that by pushing myself I knew I was going to get results. 

Same goes with my financial planning practice, I rely heavily on people to say yes. Whether it's somebody agreeing to meet with me or a prospect deciding to move forward in planning. The downfall of relying on a yes? The probability of hearing no is significantly high. I have grown to handle rejection really well, and as cheesy as it sounds, one of the things I do after I am told no, or get bad news, is to smile, because I know that there is an opportunity for me to grow and learn from my mistakes. 

Think about this...smiling helps generate more positive emotions within you. That's why we often feel happier around children. On average, they do so 400 times a day. While happy people still smile 40-50 times a day, the average does do 20 times.

We have to start smiling more. I think I could smile 20 times before I get started working today and those smiles would change the outcome of my entire day. 

I encourage you to smile. Smile more, smile often, smile at your highest highs, and smile at your lowest lows. A quick smile can change your perspective and outlook on your entire day. And - one last thing to think about - smiles are contagious. Your smile is going to encourage others to smile as well. 

Daniel and the lions' den

Daniel is one of my very favorite characters in the Bible. There are countless stories about him continuing to stand strong in his faith, even when his life was threatened. One of the stories that is probably more well known is the story about Daniel and the lions' den.

Darius the Mede was the new ruler over the kingdom, and he had issued a decree early on into his reign. This decree stated that if anyone pray to anyone or anything other than the king that they would be thrown into the lions' den.

The same day Darius issued that decree, Daniel went home, and kneeled beside his bed, praying to God and asking for help. Daniel did this three times a day everyday. The same day, the guards broke into his home and caught Daniel praying, and Darius the Mede had his guards throw him in the lions' den. 

The next day when Darius woke up, he had looked into the lions's den and found Daniel with not one scratch on his entire body. How incredible is that??

I believe now more than ever, times are changing like never before. I don't believe anything will become this extreme in our lifetime, but how would you react? If there was a decree put into place where we couldn't pray to anyone, (besides our President for example) what would you do?

How would you prioritize that? Do you enjoy your life so much here that you are willing to worship false idols? Or when the time comes are you going to stand up for what you believe in? Even if everything on earth could be taken away from you. 

I believe there is a great deal of pruning going on throughout the world. The true believers are remember the truth, being obedient to God, and coming out. The people who want to believe in other things are making that known.

What do I hope you take away form this post this morning? Keep God first always, no matter what outside voice is telling you otherwise.

Get rid of the self-doubt

I recently had the privilege to attend a webinar earlier in the week and the guest speaker was David Nurse. For those of you who haven't heard of David Nurse, he is a Life Optimization Coach, Author, and Motivational Speaker. David is also a strong believer, and loves the game of basketball. 

I took pages upon pages of notes from the webinar, but there was really one thing in particular that stuck out to me and it was a tangible thing that we could all easily implement in our daily routine because it takes three seconds to do. 

David was talking about one of the things that he does every morning when he gets out of the shower, is that he will stand in front of the mirror, and wipe all of the fog and the steam off with his hands. For him, the reason he does that is because it's a way for him to clear up and get rid of all his self-doubt. When the mirror is clean he is able to have a better and more precise picture of who he really is.

Ever since Tuesday when I listened to it, I have done it in the morning and man is it powerful. I don't have crazy amount of self-doubt, but it's something I experience daily and I am sure that most people can agree with that. Self-doubt just has a stubborn way of fogging up all the good things that you have going for you. So to look in the mirror, and physically wipe away the "self-doubt" is an extremely significant thing you can do to start your day.

Whether you take a shower in the morning before work, or right before bed, I would encourage you to try it out today. It'll take less than 3 seconds! For me, I find myself smiling when I do it because it's such a freeing feeling. 

the importance of being prepared

I am really into motivational podcasts and webinars. Any opportunity there is to hop on and listen to one, there are always many things that I take away. The past week there have been two super powerful and impactful webinars I have listened to and one of the most common topics that I needed to hear about was the importance of being prepared. 

Being prepared is everything, when I have a closing presentation with a prospect that I want to become a client of mine, those prospects typically don't become clients if I don't properly prepare. When I take time, prepare well, and fully understand the prospects goals, and anticipate what objections I will hear, those are the meetings that go extremely well! 

Too often we don't prepare as much as we should. I know that I have been guilty of that more times than not. When people have things prepared for me, I feel extremely important, and like I really matter to them. Which is an awesome feeling to have.

If we want to be world changers, we must always prepare. I believe the littlest things can go a long way. 

In the apartment complex my wife and I live in, there are two dumpsters out back. One is directly behind our building and the other dumpster, which is much bigger is about 15 or so yards to the left. It's in a little less of a convenient spot. I've mapped it out before and it takes me 10 seconds to walk to the larger dumpster from the smaller one. 

Every day, the smaller dumpster is just completely filled up, overflowing, and trash bags just lay around the outside of it. It's disgusting and I complain about it daily. The larger dumpster is never full, there is always so much room left in that one but nobody takes the time to walk over there. I know for a fact when the garage man comes to the dumpsters, they get out of their truck because of all the trash that is laying around the outside of it. I've never talked to them but they probably don't like that nothing is prepared for them. 

When I was on my run this morning, I ran past this driveway at someone's house, and they had their trash all perfectly organized in their driveway for the garbage man this morning. It was beautiful. The trash can, and three garbage bags were in a perfectly straight line, and spaced out perfectly.  Again, I haven't talked with the garbage man, but that small act of preparedness will most likely go a long way.

Why do I share this? Why am I talking about trash and the garbage man? Small acts of preparing for other people are a great way to love others and treat people the way that we want to be treated. Preparation is not only a sign of loving others, but it's also extremely valuable in your business, career, and your job. 

Today I will commit to preparing better. I hope you do too. 

an intriguing thought

My goal for this post, is for it to be short, yet the most important that you will read today. 

THE MOST POWERFUL IMPRESSION YOU CAN MAKE IS ON YOURSELF. 

Oftentimes, I believe we all forget this, and some of us might not even know this...but it's so true. I believe that there is a misunderstanding that the impression we give your families, coworkers, and our bosses is the most important thing and it's not. The impression we make on those people is incredibly important, but the impression we make on ourself is everything. 

Think about it this way...May is quickly approaching which means most people are trying to complete their April goals. Now if you communicated with your coworker what you're going to accomplish in April, and they've been holding you accountable and you don't hit it, how should you react? 

Well if you gave everything that you had, you worked long hours, completed all the extra small details and came up a little short, we should value our impression on how hard we worked over the impression we left to the coworker that was only tied to the goal. 

Again, I am not saying your coworkers impression on you isn't important...what I am saying is that the belief you have in yourself is the impression we should be taking advantage of. 

God created us all the most amazing, unique and special ways. Everything that we are capable of doing, we should be giving God all the glory, because that is what we were created to do. Praise God and give him glory with all the amazing talents he blessed us with. 

If we aren't making a powerful impression on ourselves, how can we still give God the glory?

quarreling is dangerous

Have you ever quarreled with someone before about something that was really silly? If you are like me, or anyone else in the world, I am sure that you have. I think I have had the unique opportunity to hear more people around me quarreling than what I have done myself, and if any of you really know me who are reading this, you'll understand it's not really my personalty to quarrel. 

I have had a lot of teammates all throughout my life do this...especially back in Ohio during high school when we were playing on the AAU circuit. There was so much time that was wasted just arguing over silly things. Whether it was in the hotel, during our games, or even at meals. So much time was wasted quarreling. 

Now I don't mean to make that sound like it was some crazy negative experience, that I didn't love. I loved every second of it. I just look back at it, and wonder what the relationship with most of the guys would be like today, if the conversations weren't always arguments. (even joking arguments)

I am sure another example could be that one person we know in our lives, who thinks that their opinions are always fact, and you just can't win any argument with them, or even have a decent conversation.

More than ever we need to stop quarreling. 

Quarreling over anything but the truth is dangerous. 

"Remind everyone about these things, and command them in God's presence to stop fighting over words. Such arguments are useless, and they can ruin those who hear them." (2 Timothy 2:14)

If you can't have a conversation with someone who disagrees with you, you are dangerous. We spend so much much talking about things that don't matter. When was the last time you spent 20 minutes ranting about covid? Or masks? Think about what you could've done with that time rather than loathe and complain. 

Quarreling is a selfish attitude, because those who do it, aren't accepting the truth. 

Right now, the world needs to hear believers speak up and understand the truth. There is one truth out there and that is all that matters. As you begin this week, if you are faced with moments where you are surrounded by someone who is quarreling, or you think about it yourself, don't do it. 

Stand out among the crowd because of your willingness to accept and stand for the truth. Although, it might seem like we are playing the victim if we quarrel and don't argue, but we have to stand up for the truth. 

standard/feeling

I hope this brief post this morning encourages you to accomplish more than you could ever imagine, and it helps set you on the trajectory you want your life to be on. It's called "standard over feelings." 

I had the privilege to listen to one of my favorite speakers present yesterday, and his name is Ben Newman. Ben is the host of The Burn podcast, a best selling author, and a former financial advisor with Northwestern Mutual. 

I listened to the podcast about standard over feelings more than a year ago and it was one of those things that fired me up and then I quickly forgot about it as life was hectic. Much like a lot of the things we seem to learn over time. 

Anyway, standard over feelings is the idea that you set a high standard for yourself on a daily basis and commit to it, no matter how you feel. It doesn't matter how good or bad yesterday was, and it doesn't matter how good or bad tomorrow will be, what matters is the standard that you set for yourself on a daily basis. Setting a high standard for yourself and then being able to live by it daily is what is going to lead you to your wildest dreams. It's not a couple good days in a row, or a couple good months. It's the standard. 

What is the standard you set for yourself? I will be transparent with you, I have a standard for myself but lately I got away from it. I let how I was feeling drive me all over the map. No matter what plans God has for you and your life, we always have the ability to set a standard for ourselves, and commit to it.

My challenge for you is to put your standard over your feelings everyday. I don't care if all your meetings cancelled, I don't care if you got told no every sales pitch yesterday, it happens to us all and those who rise up, and hold themselves to a high standard are the ones who are going to be the most successful. 

 

never believe the first mile

For those who enjoy running, run a lot, or are trying to get into running more, I am sure if you have ever ran more than one mile, you understand that the first mile is the most difficult. It usually takes a little while to get your body warmed up and your heart rate to increase to a sustainable rate. After that first mile it's smooth sailing, and all seems to be easier. 

I am glad it's that way though. if we felt completely satisfied and like we got a great one mile in, there would be so many opportunities that we would miss out on. 

Much as this life..

If I gave up on the first mile every morning when I run, I am sure that there would be other things I would give up on throughout the day. What happens if I get asked a hard question in a meeting? What happens if I need to pick up the phone and call somebody to have a difficult conversation with them? What happens if my daily meetings kept goal is hard?

I hope you are starting to see the point that I am trying to make. 

Much like the first mile of a 5 mile run is the most difficult, everything we do in life is going to be difficult when we first start doing it. Your career might not be easy to start, the business you have dreamed of starting has a lot of hurdles you have to get through, etc. We grow the most when we do what is uncomfortable. Your character is tested in those moments, but getting through them and fighting to the end is what will get you one step closer to your dreams and the person that you are trying to become. 

Keep on running, because the feeling you get once we make it through the difficult trumps it all. Never believe the first mile. 

a light for my path

"Your word is a lamp to guide my feet

and a light for my path." (Psalm 119:105)

We live in a fallen world with many dangerous pitfalls, slippery slopes, and dark foes seeking to destroy our close fellowship with our Lord, but in Psalm 119, we are given a beautiful promise and an eternal truth...that God's Word is a gleaming lamp to our feet that will guide us through the darkness of this fallen world and it is a shinning light to brighten the pathway we take.

Scripture is our secure guidebook to return us into a right relationship with the Lord when we abandon road of righteousness or stray from the path of peace.

The Word of God is an inextinguishable lamp to guide us along the right path, and it is a radiant light that banishes the shadows of uncertainty, by illuminating the next step in this fallen world. 

Opening-up of the pages of scripture will brighten the path we take, re-energize our hope in Christ, and provide understanding for those who humbly walk before the Lord.

Remember where true light comes from, and I encourage you all to dive into the Word of God. 

 

"be still, and know that I am God"

One of the most thoughtful gifts that I have ever received was a bracelet that had Psalm 46:10 on it which says: "Be still and know that I am God." It was such a meaningful gift to me at the time because life seemed a bit chaotic. It was the middle of basketball season, I had difficult classes that semester, and things with some of the guys just weren't clicking. It was a time where I certainly wasn't "still." 

I was reminded of that verse this morning because it was also the verse of the day today, so I couldn't help but share the story about the gift I received. Weeks after I received that gift from my friend, I started writing this blog. I never thought I would have anything like this...and I certainly didn't think a small little bracelet would lead to such a great change in my life but it did. Each time I looked at my wrist and saw that verse I was reminded to be still. It was the subtle daily reminders that it's okay to be not involved in the chaos. It's okay to sit back, to take time to get into the word and seriously commit to a relationship with Christ. 

"Be still and know that I am God."

That verse is more important than ever today. We live crazy lives. We live in a crazy world, one that is ever changing by the minute. Things only seem to be getting crazier, with the enhances in technology, social media, and news outlets everywhere, someone else's crazy experience on the other side of the world can become a part of our lives almost instantly. No matter how hard we try to shut it off, things just seem to keep speeding up, to the point where it becomes harder and harder to "be still" every day.

My hope and prayer for you is that you can find some time to "be still" daily. Whether it's for 20 minutes before you get ready for the day, a brief walk over your lunch hour, or some time in the evening to wind down. We must be dedicated in finding the time we need to understand that God is God! We must "be still" in oder to realize that. 

I hope this was encouraging this morning for at least one person. I know that God really made himself more known to me by a simple loving act from a great friend. Think about somebody that you can encourage today, and you might have an impact greater than you could ever imagine. 

remember him

A thought that has always been on my mind is that I don't want my life to fly by, and when I am older, I start to realize how good God has always been to me. I want to be aware of how good God is being to be always..especially right now.

There are plenty of people that I know where it's clear that they have lived great life so far, but again, just haven't been aware of all God has been doing. The busyness of life, and the hustle and bustle it brings often causes time to fly by faster than what we can keep up with. 

"Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, "Life is not pleasant anymore." Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. Remember him before your legs-the guards of your house-start to tremble; and before your shoulder-the strong men-stop. Remember him before your teeth-your few remaining servants-stop grinding; and before your eyes-the women looking through windows-see dimly." (Ecclesiastes 12:1-3)

How true is that scripture? I am 24, which is young, but I am not as young as I once was. My grandparents are not as young as they once were, my parents are not as young as they once were either. I do believe we all continue to grow into the best version of ourselves daily, but we have to remember God while our lives are still pleasant. There will come a time when our lives won't be pleasant anymore, and I don't want to all of a sudden realize how good God was to me my entire life at that point. 

This all seems easier said than done right? How do we remember God and not forget about the good he is always doing?

Above all else, it's intentionality and discipline. Life only seems to get crazier and faster the older we get. I honestly feel like sometimes when I take time to sit back and evaluate my life, a month will fly by in the blink of an eye. If I never tried to be intentional in my walk with Christ it's something that would be continued to be placed on the back burner. Even when I am intentional, I still place my walk on the back burner sometimes. 

My hope and my prayer to you is that you don't let the excitement of life cause you to forget your Creator. We must honor God before our life's aren't pleasant anymore and we don't know when that time is coming for anybody. Life is simply too good to not honor God and realize that God is good always and is always at work.