The Winter Olympic Games will begin in just a few weeks. I love to watch skiing, the bobsled and luge and of course the hockey games. However, the one event that makes my palms sweat just watching it is ski jumping.

Those men and women that climb to the top of that huge tower, sit on a little seat and look down…then hop into those two little tracks in the snow as they almost free-fall down at speeds of up to 60 mph and at the end of the jump, they explode upward with arms to their sides and skis in a v-shape position that allows them to remain airborne for longer periods of time and maximum distance. Then as they descend, they gracefully put one foot in front of the other as they make contact with the ground and ski to a well-controlled stop and a wave to the fans.

Why would a sane person do that?

What I find interesting is that all of that training and all of that dedication to perfecting their art is useless if they fail to “stick the landing”. They can fly in the air for miles past the nearest competitor, but if they don’t land properly, it won’t count.

Now…let’s think about us…

Many of us have made New Year’s Resolutions. We have set goals. We are working hard each and every day trying to take care of ourselves and our families and to make our lives better. All worthwhile and necessary activities.

But fast forward…many years… Think about your last chapter…the last days of your life on the planet. What does that look like? What did you become? What will you leave behind? How will people remember you?

Will you be remembered as happy? Generous? A loving Husband or Wife? A good Father or Mother? Will you be remembered by a few or by many? Did you make life better for others?

I know it’s difficult to think about…but if we want to “stick the landing”…we MUST think about it! It’s going to happen… and we can write that chapter of our life right now! My point is…that we need to think about it and to make that a part of our overall training. It needs to be an integral part of who we are working so hard to become.

I would say we need to start at the end. Figure out the type of person we want to be at the end of our life and then work backward to align our daily lives to live in such a way that would produce that type of person.

That day is approaching! The ground is closer to some of us than others…but we all only get one chance to “stick the landing”…and we still have time…

Think about who you want to become…then get busy…

Let’s stick the landing!

It’s Christmas time.

The time of giving and receiving of gifts. Some people love this exchange and others dread it. But I was wondering why we do it at all?

Why do we exchange gifts?

Some believe that God was the initial giver. He gave His Son to the world.

Some also believe in a wealthy bishop named St. Nicholas who secretly enjoyed giving gifts to people in need. A famous story about St. Nicholas, tells of a poor man who had no money to give to his three daughters on their wedding day. St Nicholas dropped bags of gold into the stockings which the girls had left to dry by the fire. The sisters found the gold and ever since, children have hung up stockings on Christmas Eve hoping that they will be filled with presents by Christmas morning.

We all know how it feels to give to others. I think we are wired by God to enjoy it.

Recently, I was in Guatemala with Hope Ignited hosting a medical clinic and doing community development projects. We had a small team of 7 people and of that team, 3 people had never been on a trip like this before. So, I wanted to capture some of the highlights of that trip which I was able to experience.

The Greatest Payment Ever

…priceless…

We were made aware of a young father in the village that was dying of cancer and would soon leave a widow and several young children. Our team went to his home and found him in bed with a horrible multicolored tumor on his leg the size of a soccer ball.

The room was dark but we were able to discern that the man was in his early 40’s. The room had a stale stench of sickness that was indescribable. One member of our team was a doctor. Rachel Jamison is a pediatrician and also Chuck Jamison’s daughter-in-law.

She examined the young man and spoke with his wife as we gathered around him in prayer. We laid hands on the man as Chuck anointed him with oil as a sign of divine love. Many in the team felt the loving presence of the Holy Spirit as we spent time just loving on this man and praying with his family. It was a very powerful and emotional moment for everyone.

As we left, walking up the hill toward our van, one of the man’s young daughters came rushing up to Rachel. With a big smile, she handed Rachel a single flower as a gift of thanks for caring for her father.

I know doctors make a lot of money…but I don’t think anything will ever top the value of that single flower.

Stove building / Life-changing

We also visited the home of a widow and her 3 children, all under the age of 8 living in a “home” of corrugated metal and plastic scraps. Each morning she leaves her home at 5 am to catch a bus to go to work washing produce in a nearby village and does not return home until 7:30 pm. The children are left unattended with only a few pennies to buy a small bag of junk food to sustain them. Her “home” had a pile of rocks where she could cook and a bucket and a rock to wash clothes on.

Frank Gray

One member of our team, Frank Gray, a soft-spoken man that had never been out of the U.S., volunteered to help build an indoor stove for the family. He worked for two days with a Guatemalan masonry worker apart from the rest of the team. The work was dirty as they cleaned out a place for the stove. The area was full of spiders…which Frank is deathly afraid of! With language barriers between Frank and the mason, and under the supervision of countless curious children that were trying to understand why he was working so hard to provide a valuable stove in a shack for a woman he had never met or seen, Frank got it done.

After two days of hard work, we all gathered in the “home” to light the stove for the first time. The children all gathered around to watch with excitement and smiles from ear to ear…but the biggest smile among them all was the smile on the face of Frank.

We never saw the widow during the time we were there, but it was evident that her life would be better…and I think… so will Frank’s.

The Hugging Pharmacist

During our medical clinic, patients were registered and then sat in line to see one of three doctors that we had available to us. Once they had seen a doctor, they reported to our make-shift pharmacy that was staffed by Hope Ignited’s Chuck Jamison and a Guatemala first-timer…Scott Helfrich.

Scott Helfrich

On several occasions, I would walk into the pharmacy and I would see Scott with a huge smile on his face doing his best to converse with each patient to fill the prescription the doctor had ordered. It ranged from vitamins and antacids to worm medicine, antibiotics, ibuprofen, and sinus medication. Scott would get eyeball to eyeball with each patient and explain the dosage and frequency of each medication in his “makeshift Spanish”. But at the completion of each prescription, Scott would open up his arms and embrace the person.

It was the most beautiful and natural display of love for one person to another that I’ve seen. No doubt, each of the 388 patients that we saw over the two days felt better when they left…and I can’t help but think it was largely due to our “Hugging Pharmacist”.

No Pressure Blood Pressure

As part of our medical clinic, we were required to obtain each patient’s temperature and blood pressure. I was responsible for getting the temperature of each person. It was an easy job that only required a gentle swipe of an instrument across the forehead of each person. The blood pressure job was a bit more involved. The volunteer for that job was another first-timer, Joyce Fownes.

In Guatemala, most people have elevated blood pressure due to genetics, but mostly diet. To see a patient with 180/100 is pretty typical.

Joyce was to record the blood pressure of each of the 388 patients in addition to many of the family members and children that came with each patient. When I took a break from my temperature reading responsibilities, I noticed how Joyce was taking each person’s blood pressure.

Joyce Fownes

She would kneel on the hard concrete floor in front of each seated patient and gently place the cuff and stethoscope on their arm as she took the reading. I watched the eyes of each person as they looked at Joyce take the readings. I can only imagine what they thought of this woman from the U.S. that was kneeling before them on the hard ground serving them.

It was such a beautiful example of what Jesus would have probably done if He was there…and when I think about it…He probably was.

These are just a few of the highlights that I observed during our week in Guatemala. I have to say that the team of “first-timers” was amazing.

So, when I think about the week, I know we went there to serve the people of Guatemala…but I know without a doubt…we were the ones that received the greater gift. Our hearts were filled with compassion, love, and a deeper understanding of our place in this world.

All of this brings me back to Christmas.

Remember, the story of the three kings. They received word that the moment they had been waiting for had arrived. They traveled to this place of promise and brought gifts to bestow upon the one who would change the world forever. They brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh… all things of great value to give as a gift to the newborn child.

Whether shepherd or king, their encounter with the Christ child was the same. They left Bethlehem differently than when they arrived. They returned home changed, with hearts full of exceeding joy.

What I find so interesting is that even the wise men took a new path: “And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” (Matthew 2:12, NIV)

That is why I love trips like this…I believe you get to experience Christ…and once you experience Christ, your life can never be the same. And your response is always praise.

Oh come, let us adore Him.

I pray that we can all do that this Holiday Season.

Merry Christmas!

I love Thanksgiving. It’s not the actual meal that is so enjoyable, it’s the preparation. There is something “magical” about preparing for an event or occasion. Granted, it’s hard work and requires planning, coordinating, and flawless execution when everything comes together…but during the entire process, we are motivated by our imagination.

We imagine how the event or occasion will be received.

We imagine the smiles and the “oohs and ahh’s that we will hear.

We think about the “chatter” that will fill the air with excitement.

These thoughts alone prompt us to do what we do. These thoughts make all the work that will be required…worth it. Providing for others…whether it’s a meal or a performance…or any other event or occasion… is what fills our hearts the most. It’s what gives us our greatest sense of satisfaction. It’s love in action.

I’ve been preparing as well.

In a few weeks, I’ll be joining a team of seven other volunteers that will spend a week in Guatemala. Hope Ignited will be hosting a 4-day medical clinic in a new village we have never worked in before. So I’m certain the crowds will be large. We expect to see over 120 people per day. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been to Costco several times as well as the Dollar Store and have a living room full of ointments, over-the-counter medicines, antacids, crayons, reading glasses, and clothing. All the other members of the team are doing likewise. These clinics are difficult and we really don’t know who or what will show up on our doorstep, but that is part of the excitement because we know that whoever does, we will be able to help them in some small way. In addition to attending to their medical needs, we will be attending to their spiritual needs. We will be praying for and sharing the gospel with each person that attends the clinic. We even have gospel presentation coloring books in Spanish for the children as well as small toys and clothing.

This is a “normal” kitchen in Guatemala.

We are also going to be building some indoor cooking stoves for some of the widows in the community. This is a great time to spend the day working in someone’s home and getting to interact with the entire family as we build a simple stove that transforms their life. Literally, it does! It replaces old methods of cooking over a fire in a smoke-filled room with a highly efficient self-contained stove that is vented to the exterior.

I’ll also get to test out a device I made. I’ve built a little machine that makes what they call Biofuel Briquettes. These are highly compressed briquettes that are made out of paper, sawdust, dried twigs, and leaves that are used in lieu of firewood. These briquettes burn longer and hotter than traditional firewood and our hope is to turn this into a small business for people in the community. Imagine when people begin to view paper, sawdust, leaves, and twigs as moneymaking materials to be collected and utilized!

Yes, preparation is hard work…but it’s inspiring to work as well. It’s what makes life worth living.

So it is my hope that during this Thanksgiving and Christmas season as we make preparations to love on our family and friends, that you’ll take a moment to consider the many people that don’t have someone preparing for them. I hope that thought prompts you to give yourself the gift of giving…whatever you have…to whomever, you feel led to give.

Because thousands of years ago during this same time, our Creator was making preparations for mankind’s greatest gift…simply because He loves us.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Till next month…

Bob

I am definitely in a new season of life!

Many of you know that I’ve relocated to Plano, Texas about six weeks ago and have committed myself to full-time ministry by working with Hope Ignited. It has been a wonderful six weeks but it has been quite an uphill climb!

First of all, I arrived in Texas with just 3 days remaining on my drivers’ license. That required having to change my car insurance, get my car inspected, register my car and get new tags all before I applied for my new license. But I did it with hours to spare!

I successfully found a place to live in a central part of town and I’m slowly making Texas my home. There is most definitely a Texas sense of pride here…you can just feel it. I guess that’s where the “don’t mess with Texas” slogan came from. But I love it.

Working with Hope Ignited full-time has been great. Being able to focus full time on figuring out ways to help grow our ministry so we can do all the things we have planned has been wonderful. Our office is in a building called the Hope Center.

Here is the link: http://www.thehopecenter.org

It is a beautiful building that is filled with nothing but different ministries. It’s a nice place to go to work.

Part of working with Hope Ignited is the new realization that I am responsible for raising my own support. This is a new world for me to some degree. I’ve spent a large part of my career as a salaried employee and most recently I have been fortunate to have a backlog of paying construction projects that I could rely on. But those days are gone.

Ironically, I have a tremendous amount of peace about it. I know this is what I’m meant to be doing and I know that what we are doing is worthwhile and good. So I’m certain that we will be able to find financial supporters that want to join us in the life-changing projects we are working on.

For instance, we have been responding to a request from the Government in Guinea, West Africa to purchase school buses for them and have them shipped to Africa. They want to start a pilot program for a regional transportation program that will provide for the creation of new jobs and expand the markets for products and services as well as allow people to move from village to village easier. Think about this…we are a faith-based Christian organization. Guinea is a country that is 85% Muslim. How did this happen?

Hope Ignited has been working in Guinea consistently for the past 12 years training thousands of pastors, starting 3 schools, creating businesses, and working to improve the living conditions of the inmates in the Central prison. We have made many friends in Guinea and I believe we have demonstrated our commitment to the country.

Why is this important?

Relationships.

At some point, they will ask us why we are doing what we are doing. It is in that moment we will be able to share with them the reason…the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s a great reminder that it is not WHAT we do…it’s WHY and HOW we go about doing it. Building relationships and living out our faith for them to see and experience. What a great opportunity!

We are hopeful that this bus program will continue to grow and both Chuck and I will be traveling all over the country buying buses!

Finally, I’ve gone back to school. I am enrolled at Fuller Theological Seminary and am in the process of working towards my Masters of Arts in Global Leadership. This is a great program that will deepen my knowledge of worldwide cultural differences and allow me to expand my leadership skills. So every free hour I have has been filled with reading and writing and learning how to be a student again… after 30+ years.

It’s been a busy time, but I’ve never been happier. I’m where I should be and doing what I should be doing. It’s nice to know that.

Thanks to all for your prayers and support.

Till next month…

Bob!

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about choices. Think about it… You choose what time to wake up, will you work out or not? Will you eat breakfast or grab something later? Will today be a casual day or a day to impress? Will you get to work early or on time? Will you confront or let it slide? Make the call or answer the email? Eat lunch with friends, alone, or with a client? Smile and laugh or focus? The list goes on and on.

But think about the potential impact each of these choices holds.

I think back to high school where I learned about potential energy and kinetic energy. Remember?

• Potential energy is energy that is stored within a system.

• Kinetic energy is the extra energy that it possesses due to its motion.

I think about my choices throughout the day and the varying amounts of energy they may contain.

Choices that are easy, random, and safe probably hold less potential energy than choices that may be difficult, intentional, and out of your “present” comfort zone. (Remember…it’s only out of your comfort zone until you have accomplished it.)

It also stands to reason that if I act on a safe choice, the kinetic energy that is released by that action will also be of a lesser impact than had I acted on a choice with a higher quantity of potential energy. Maybe that’s why when I accomplish a difficult choice, I just feel so good!

So in keeping with the “High School Science” analogy…if I want the trajectory of my life to be at its optimum, both in height and distance covered…I am going to need greater amounts of energy to sustain myself…right?

But if I am happy living my life as a “dud”… (remember as a kid when you lit a firecracker and it didn’t go off…), then the amount of energy really doesn’t matter.

So what’s the point?

I challenge each of us to take a fresh look at the choices we make each day. Look at them through a new lens. Make choices that contain the highest amount of potential energy. So that once you take action on them, you will release a tremendous amount of kinetic energy that will propel you to great heights and distances.

You’re going to make a choice anyway…so why not make it a good one…it’s your choice.

This morning as I was leaving my home and making my daily run to Starbucks for coffee. For some reason… I happened to look down at my odometer in my car…90,000 miles. Not bad for a 9-year-old car! I started thinking about all the places that my car has taken me. I would have to say that many of the miles were commuting miles and errand miles spent going to and from and busy weekends “checking off my to-do list”. But I also know that some of the miles included several wonderful road trips throughout Southern California and Colorado as well as a recent trip from Atlanta to Dallas. The memories that I’ve been able to experience in this car will last me a lifetime.

So I started thinking about what the odometer of my life might look like…

Each day… I’m clicking off miles… and I’m wondering how many of them are just…miles of getting to and from places that really don’t matter that much. How much time is spent doing things… that to be honest…really don’t matter that much…versus being intentional about creating meaningful miles for my life…

Hmmm…

This Thanksgiving…. we all have an opportunity to stop and take a look at the miles that we have traveled over the past year. We have the opportunity to appreciate the journey, the learning that came from it…the people that accompanied us along the way… and also the blessing we received by being able to fully experience it…

Let’s not miss this opportunity to stop and just say thanks…

I wish you all the very best of Thanksgivings. We have so much to be grateful for

Having just returned from a successful summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, I wanted to reflect on a couple of the things that I learned during my trip.

The first is…

“Pole Pole”. (Pronounced Polay Polay) It means “slowly slowly” in Swahili.

This was the first directive that our guide gave us as we began our 6-day trek up the mountain. He constantly reminded us of this very important strategy prior to each stage of the climb and several times throughout each day.

What I learned about this method of climbing was that by taking smaller steps both vertically and horizontally on the climb, I was stronger and much more efficient by the end of the day. I felt great regardless of the terrain or length of the hike. It also gave my body time to adjust to the ever-increasing altitude. I also learned that by adhering to this pace over time, we would overtake many of the other groups that were initially walking much faster than our group.

When I think about it…everything that has lasting value in my life has been made by taking the very same small steps consistently over time. Good relationships are made by making small (seemingly insignificant) gestures consistently over time. Financial stability is also made by making the same small deposits consistently over time.

Big change does not happen overnight…it happens over time.

The other thing that I learned was this…

“All I really need to know is what my next step is.”

This was played out each evening when our guide would enter our tent after dinner and brief us on the next day. He would tell us what time we would wake up, eat and what to pack for the day. That was it. If we were to ask him how long we would hike or what time we would arrive at our camp or any other details about the day…he would just smile and repeat back to us…the time we should wake up, eat, and what to pack.

This “unknowing” just about drove many people in our group insane! They kept asking the same questions each day about what the details of the day would look like and each question would be returned with the same smiling response…

Why do we feel like we need to know all the details at the beginning of everything we do?

Why can’t we just use the information we need and then experience the remaining events?

What I learned about NOT having all this information was that I was less stressed throughout the day. I KNEW what I needed to know and then I was allowed to experience the rest of the day from a fresh perspective. I wasn’t judging my experience against what I thought it would or should be. Every experience was fresh, new, and vibrant. Very cool!

So what if I tried to live my life this way…

Pole Pole

and

only deciding on what my next step is going to be…

Just by my initial thought…I think I would be much more effective, less stressed, happier, and ultimately more successful. It certainly is not the “norm” as accepted by the typical “American culture”…but I’m not so sure I need to know if it will work or not…I just need to begin doing it!

Looks like I’m already learning!

Pole Pole!

Have you ever thought about what you think about?

Are your thoughts taken up with trying to remember all the things you have to do? Or are you playing out conversations in your mind? Are you problem-solving? Or are you re-playing things that have already happened? Have you ever wondered why? Why do think about what you think about?

I am reading the 1902 classic essay by James Allen called, “As a man thinketh”. What an amazing book and it’s free on Google! I believe it is relevant to all of us today as we all try to get more, be more and do more.

Take a moment and let some of my favorite thoughts sink in:

1. Men do not attract what they want, but what they are.

2. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.

3. Every action and feeling is preceded by a thought.

4. Right thinking begins with the words we say to ourselves.

5. Men are anxious to improve their circumstances but are unwilling to improve themselves and they, therefore, remain bound.

6. Circumstance does not make the man, it reveals him to himself.

7. The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors, that which it loves, and also that which it fears. It reaches the height of its cherished aspirations. It falls to the level of its unchastened desires – and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.

8. A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thought, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.

9. As the physically weak man can make himself strong by careful and patient training, so the man of weak thoughts can make them strong by exercising himself in right thinking.

10. A man’s mind is like a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein and will continue to produce their kind.

As we all attempt to navigate the daily challenges of our lives…I hope that we will be just a little more intentional about what we focus on. Be mindful of what you think about and the thoughts you allow into your mind.

So if it is weeds or seeds…it’s our choice… and that choice…is what we will ultimately become.

Silence is Golden…I wonder where that concept came from?

In our lives these days, silence is a thing that has fallen out of favor for many people. I watch people that may be standing in line or sitting in their car or having any “idle” time at all and guess what they immediately turn to? You guessed it… iPhone or Blackberry or some other type of device. Whatever happened to just standing? Whatever happened to giving yourself the opportunity to let all the dialogue in your life settle to the bottom of your day, much like the little snowflakes in a snow globe?

What ever happened to that time?

I believe it is important for our spirits to have silence. But you might say…”Hey, I pray…or I meditate,” but I don’t think that time is enough. I think our spirits are thirsty for periods of silence and it actually nurtures our spirit when we allow ourselves regular periods of silence.

When some people say, “I don’t even have time to think”, what they really mean is that they have not had the quiet time to just “be”. They have… a great loss to themselves, failed to build silence into their lives.

Our spirituality can survive many setbacks, however, it can hardly survive in an atmosphere devoid of silence.

So my question to all of us is…when?

When will you allow yourself…and your spirit some silence? How about next time your get in the car…turn off the radio. Next time you are standing in line or waiting…try to get comfortable and to be alone with your thoughts. Work on learning to be comfortable in silence.

You might just be amazed at what you hear!

I remember as a kid a phrase that was commonly used after a fight of some kind. A person would say, “He really got the best of him”. Meaning that somebody most likely got his butt kicked. But this is not the context of the question that I’ve been thinking about lately.

My question is literally…who gets the best of you?

Who is it in your life that makes you the “best” you possible? You know the one, the you that you really like…the you that are the happiest, the funniest, the most insightful, the most thoughtful. The you that you are really proud of being. When you are in their company, life seems to flow almost without effort and you routinely feel “filled” by having spent time together. This is what I’m referring to as being “the best of you”.

So who in your life gets it?

Are you surprised by your answer? Is it the one you feel “should” get the best of you? Many people I’ve had this conversation with have responded with answers like my job, my dog or cat, or even…I keep the best of me for myself! What a shame!

So what do you do if you don’t like your answer?

What if you’re not giving the best of you to the person in your life that needs it?

My answer would be that whatever you want in life…give it first and give it consistently and give it without ever thinking you’ll ever get it back.

Give away Love, Encouragement, Support, Understanding…give them away, and don’t expect an acknowledgment, a thank you, a change in attitude or behavior. Just give that which you want. Stay focused only on the giving…because it’s in the giving of ourselves that we become our best.

You’ve only got one “best”…so don’t give it to who deserves it…give it to who needs it.