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I Want to …

June 26, 2012 in Bible, Christian Living, Goals with 3 Comments

I just started reading Steve Farrar’s book, “How to Ruin Your Life by 30″. I figured I would read it in order to help others – as I am well past 30.

I am only a couple chapters into the book, but am realizing he could just as well have entitled it “How to Ruin Your life by 40 … or 50 … or 60″ or more easily, “How to Ruin Your Life”. I plan to share some of his words of wisdom with you over these next several weeks.

Farrar shares a staggering story about John Bisagno. John had just recently graduated from college and had decided to go into full-time ministry. His father-in-law cautioned him to make sure he kept his relationship with God as a priority, as in his experience “out of every ten men who start strong with Christ in their twenties, only one out of those ten will finish strong.” This statement shocked me – and it shocked John as well. He was so stunned by these remarks that he wrote down the names of 24 of his friends, friends who were in their twenties and were living lives committed to Jesus Christ. Thirty two years later, only three of those men were still living their lives committed to Jesus, the majority of those men had ruined their lives before they even turned forty. (pages 24-26).

I found this story absolutely shocking and frightening. What am I doing today to keep me from being one of those “statistics”, those who fall away from what I want to become?

Farrar used this story to make the point that when you are young, you often times don’t think about what impact decisions have today on how you will finish 50-60 years down the road – cause and effect. He says, “Every young man or woman has an image in their head of who they will be in several years, but the image is hardly ever the natural outcome of the life they are living. The truth is that most young people are comforted with a future perception of themselves that is based on the solid evidence of nothing.” (p. 18)

This is as true for 70 year olds as it is for 20 year olds. Decisions today affect tomorrow. What you want to become is product of decisions made today and tomorrow and the next day … The question is, “What do you want to become?” Once you define that, it should guide your actions today.

The great thing about the faith in Christ is that when you mess up and realize you are heading down the wrong path, we have forgiveness and the ability to start over. Moses, David, Peter, Paul are biblical examples of this. Philippians 4:13-14 “Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call in Jesus Christ.”

Again, the question is, “What do you want?”

What are you learning?

June 13, 2012 in Goals with 2 Comments

I had the privilege of having supper with a special lady Sunday evening, Dr. Frances Bartlett Kinne.

Dr. Kinne has quite an impressive resume. You can “Google” her and read more if you would like. She truly is an amazing lady!

My connections to Fran go back to 1984. Fran grew up in Story City, Iowa and gave an annual award to a high school senior in honor of her mother – the Bertha Bartlett Outstanding Senior Award. In 1984, I was blessed to receive this award. It came with some money to be used to help with college expenses – at that time a couple hundred dollars or so. Anyway, I was thankful for Fran’s generosity, so I wrote her a thank you note. It turns out that I was the first student that had ever sent her a thank you for this award. Anyway, to make a long story short, she reviewed my bio and credentials that were sent to her by our principal and then called me and offered me a full tuition scholarship for me to attend Jacksonville University. My parents and myself – along with my good friend, Craig Munsen, traveled to Jacksonville to visit the campus and get to know Dr. Kinne. During the visit, Fran increased the offer to also include room and board. Craig and I decided to attend JU and we got to know Fran very well.

I only stayed at JU for a year and a half. Looking back, it was probably a mistake to transfer from JU back to Iowa, but at that time I felt transferring was the right thing to do, and God used my time at both JU and at Wartburg (where I transferred) to mold me into whom I am today.

After leaving JU, I did a very poor job of keeping in contact with Fran. I would see her once in awhile when she would be back on a visit to Story City, but we rarely had the opportunity to spend much time together. So, this past Sunday was a blessing.

I have many fond memories of my time in JU and especially with Fran. There are a few things that she did that have stuck with me even to today. How she treated people (and still treats people) is amazing. She treats every person the same – with grace and friendliness. We would often drive with Fran and she always greeted the toll booth operators with a friendly smile and warm hello. Even as the president of the university, she knew the janitors and spent time with them. She really knows how to make people feel important!

She also told me once that every day she makes sure she does at least one thing that she doesn’t want to do – something that is hard and maybe not very comfortable. Maybe that is making that difficult phone call – or handling that hard chore.

As I walked her into the hotel lobby on Sunday night, she said something that really struck me. Fran is getting up and age – she is in her mid-90′s. Her health is good and mentally, she is amazing. She told me that she continually wants to keep learning. Her focus now is on better learning the Bible. I found this amazing – not that she wants to learn more about the Bible (although that is pretty cool), but the fact that in her mid-90′s she strives to keep learning. I am sure that is part of the reason she is as mentally sharp as she is.

I love to learn as well, but I know that is not the case for everyone. I know there are some people who, once they have graduated from high school or college, they stop seeking to learn. Granted people continue to learn throughout their life through experience, but I am talking about something more here. I am talking about intentionality. Do you have a plan to continue to increase your knowledge and understanding on a given topic? I believe it is imperative that you have a plan – and I am guessing Fran would agree with me!

What are you focused on learning at this stage in your life?

“Get Motivated!”

May 9, 2012 in Goals with 1 Comment

I attended the “Get Motivated!” seminar in Des Moines yesterday. I want to share some of my favorite quotes from the day:

  • “‘Embrace the Grind’ – Importance of preparation” – Kirk Ferentz
  • “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can” – John Wooden, shared by Kirk Ferentz
  • “Don’t forget to have a sense of humor.” – Dan Rather
  • “99% of all of our DNA is the same. It is in the 1% that is different where your greatness lies.” – Keith Craft
  • “What you want in life will determine what you do in life. Decide what you want.” – Keith Craft
  • “Get up!” and “Do it!” – Bill Cosby
  • “God didn’t create one person in the universe who is better than you.” – James Smith
  • “It is not where you have been, it is where you are going.” – James Smith
  • “If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.” – Joe Montana
  • “When opportunity presents itself, you must be ready for it.” – Fred Hoiberg
  • “When adversity strikes, make sure you handle it the right way.” – Fred Hoiberg

Use it or lose it

May 8, 2012 in Goals, Health with 2 Comments

I went jogging today for the first time in at least a month – and probably the 4th or 5th time since mid-October. It really sucked. 

 

I used the Jeff Galloway method where you jog/walk in intervals. I jogged 2 minutes and then walked one minute. I did 10 intervals for a total of 30 minutes. It may not sound very difficult, but I really struggled.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised it was hard, it’s not like I am the picture of health and fitness. But it is a little surprising – or more accurately, depressing how fast things can decline. You see, I did a half marathon just six months ago. In October I jogged 13 miles and today I certainly could not even do a mile if I didn’t work in walking. Ugh …

There are a couple lessons here for anyone who desires to be at least a little healthy and have some cardiovascular fitness. In fact these are lessons for anyone who wants to keep a skill or retain some knowledge.

The first lesson is to continue on. It is a lot easier to maintain than it is to regain physical conditioning. I imagine if I had jogged 2-3 times a week, I could have continued to be able to run 3-5 miles. It will take me several weeks to get to that point now. Likewise if you want to retain something you have learned, you need to continue to do something with it, if you learned a language in college and then do nothing with it for years, in all likelihood, you will forget all you have learned.

The second lesson is to look forward. As you look ahead, continue to remind yourself of the impact your retaining that skill or knowledge will have long-term. How can that skill benefit you five years from now? How could better health and fitness make enhance your life looking ahead 10 years?

What skill have you lost through inactivity over the past 10-20 years?

 

The danger of ignoring things

April 28, 2012 in Christian Living, Goals, Health with 0 Comments

The saying goes, “Ignorance is bliss!” Nothing could be further from the truth.

I can tend to have the personality that if I ignore something, it will go away – never to bother me again!

How many of you are like that?

The issues that can be ignored are endless, health, relationships, financial, workplace, church … it could go on and on.

I know of some people who are struggling with their marriage, but they absolutely refuse to address the issues – hoping things will just get better. I know of some others who are struggling in raising their children (these children are of any age) and they do nothing to address the situation. I know of others who have health issues and fail to address their situation hoping that things will “just get better”.

I have fallen into that last area. I have some health issues I have ignored the past several months. I went to the doctor this past week and found out that ignoring things has not helped. In fact, ignoring things NEVER helps!

So, what can a person do to fight this tendency to ignore things?

  • Admit it! First we must admit there is an issue. This is obvious, but necessary.
  • Seek accountability. Find someone to help hold you accountable for movement. I have another appointment with my doctor in four weeks and progress will need to be made by then. Find someone and ask for this!
  • Have daily reminders! In regards to my health, there are daily things I need to do. What can you do to work on your financial situation daily? How can you keep that in the forefront? Perhaps a note on your mirror or at your desk at work.
  • Turn it over to God. When you are at the end of your rope and you don’t know what to do, turn it over to God. “Trying harder” doesn’t work. Rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says in Matthew 11, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The doctor warned me in regards to ignoring my health issues. There may come a point of “no return” when things can’t get better. This is the same for any issue you choose to ignore. You may get to that point of “no return”, when it is too late to make changes. Do something before it gets to that point!

What are you ignoring right now? What are your first couple steps you need to take to address that issue?

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