Servant Resources

Time Out

You may have noticed my last post was some time ago. With so much going on currently, I've decided to take an extended break from blogging. Thanks for checking in over this last year. It's been a real growing experience for me and I trust you've been blessed.

Chasing Your Dreams

Ever since I was young, when I would sit on my Dad’s Harley Davidson in the garage, I’ve wanted to ride one. I’ve wanted to take one for a spin longer than the end of a driveway. Too many things stood in the way, however. I’d have to buy a bike and take the dreaded DMV motorcycle test. Insurance rates would be costly. It’s far too dangerous. And so on. It just seemed complicated enough that I never stepped out and did it.

Until now.

Within a few short minutes of searching the internet, I found a Harley dealer who not only rented motorcycles; they also had a training course that once passed, required only the written test at the DMV. So, I followed this particular dream with my two oldest sons and learned just how easy it was.

Sometimes our minds are so cluttered with excuses as to why we can’t do what we dream. But as you step off in the direction of your dreams, you just may find how simple it is after all.

Start with a small dream, build your confidence and then go for the bigger ones. Or, if you’d rather, pick the biggest dream you have and dive in. Either way, go for it, and let me know what happened.

Be Deliberate

Some years ago, I was part of a team that spent 10 days in the Appalachian wilderness area in upstate NY. It was fall, and the temperature could swing wildly in just a matter of minutes. The weather during the trip ranged from warm days in the upper 60’s to freezing, snowy mornings. I learned a lot of things on that trip, but perhaps the one thing that has stuck with me all these years is the need to be deliberate.

 

To be deliberate is to be purposeful—to plan or calculate before taking action. For example, in the wilderness you have to pay close attention to where you are going. At times, every single step is a calculated action. One wrong move and you could place yourself in serious danger. A step that causes you to fall into the water could end up creating hypothermia; and even a simple slip of the foot could cause a significant sprain.

 

I have carried the message of being deliberate with me throughout my life. That doesn’t mean that I’ve always heeded it, but I have been aware of its necessity, especially in the big decisions.

 

How might being deliberate about your own personal actions change the way you do things? Sometimes what seems small and insignificant, or what you think no one knows about you, can be the very thing that brings about serious repercussions. Bad decisions can bring destructive things into your life, and hurt those you care about in significant ways.

 

Take some time to consider your ways. The Lord orders our steps, but we have to take them.

Slow Down

I was watching Survivorman the other day. If you haven’t seen it, it’s an intriguing reality show that pits Les Stroud against the elements. One episode he’s in the Amazon, and the next he’s in Antarctica. They drop him off far from civilization and he has to get himself back.

I’m often fascinated by how he takes what nature gives him and uses it to overcome his circumstances. In this particular episode, he was deep in the tropical rain forest and battling physical sickness as well as the rain and the dangers of the jungle.

In the middle of his journey, while adding additional protection to his shelter, he talked about the speed at which he was moving. He said something to the effect of “when you’re in a survival situation, you need to slow down.”

That’s often the opposite of what most people naturally do. They tend to speed up. Whether it’s in the jungle, where they are running out of daylight and must complete a shelter; or in their workplace, where they are running out of time on a critical deadline. Most people try to move faster. But in moving faster, they make mistakes that ultimately work against them.

Slowing down can clear the mind to see and accomplish what is critical rather than what is desired. Slowing down can provide perspective. Slowing down can keep you from making a fatal mistake. Slowing down can keep you from having to do it over. Slowing down can keep you from turning in mediocre work.

I’m not talking about slowing down to a crawl; it’s more like going from 65 MPH down to 50 MPH. And I’m not advocating that you slow down incessantly; just enough to get your bearings and assure you are on the right track. Then you can pick the speed up again; this time with the certainty that you are clear about your objective. Going twice as fast in the wrong direction is not the solution.

Just knowing when to dial it down a bit can be a life saver—literally and figuratively. 

Puddles

When I was a boy, puddles were meant to jump in, wearing rubber boots up to your knees. Take a flying leap and land in the middle with both feet. Then jump and splash around until everything around you, including yourself, was soaking wet.

 

But lately, I’ve noticed that I’ve moved into a “puddle avoidance” mode.  Step around the puddles, keep out of the mud, don’t get your shoes wet, let alone your entire self.

 

What if puddles were tears? All the tears I’ve ever cried were there in puddles. The tears I’ve cried that others could see, as well as the one’s inside that don’t make their way out of my eyes. Puddles created and then expanded by hopes dashed, hurts rendered, dreams crushed…a heart broken.

 

Would I avoid them? Tiptoe around them lest I allow the pain to splash back on me again?

 

What if, when the tears came, I danced around in them for a bit. What if I splashed around in them and allowed myself to feel them fully and completely. To celebrate my human emotions at their deepest level.

Would I be able to go off afterward, and be whole again…restored? Healed and delivered from the brokenness completely? Would I be fully alive and unhindered by the puddle baggage of the past?

Perhaps it’s worth a try.