Leveraging Life

A Mother’s legacy begins long before the labor pains begin and continues long after the child is out on their own.

A legacy is born when personal plans and desires are replaced by the need to nurture, protect, and equip. Personal hopes and dreams come second to a lifetime of teaching and sharing and caring for the next generation of dreamers in your care.

A legacy develops when dedication, devotion, and discipline are expressed and intermixed freely with love, trust, and freedom; which at times can lead to disappointment, disobedience, and defiance.

A legacy is passed on when the child finally understands the significance in the sacrifice that was made for her as she approaches the sacrifice she is about to make for her unborn child.

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A Mother’s Legacy is doing the best you can, every chance you can, with what you have, and not worry about what you wish you had.

A Mother’s Legacy is lifetime of shared lessons, both good and bad, so they may be leveraged in such a way that perfection is never a goal of the legacy your legacy is giving birth to.

A Mother’s Legacy is a debt that cannot be repaid, but it is a debt than can be paid forward.

A Mother’s Legacy is something only a Mother can leave, so take a minute today to make sure your Mom knows about the legacy she left in you!

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

Love you all,

Tom

Special thanks to all the Mom’s who are in my life and who have helped write this post as I have had a front row seat watching the legacy you are leaving with your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

I found this video via Seth Godin’s blog, this is Seth, which featured Sarah Kay’s poem For My Daughter. Sarah’s masterful delivery of the poem is in the art form of Spoken Word. To learn more about Sarah check out the talk she gave at a recent TED conference which now has almost had 1.8 million views. 

Wow!! Now Sarah’s poem has been turned into a book and can be ordered from Amazon using this link. 

You also can you can receive Leveraging Life updates in an email every time I update and all you have to do is click here to subscribe to Leveraging Life. (It’s free)

Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. This may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. When possible I will provide the story behind the song so you learn more about the message and what the inspiration was behind the creation of the song. I hope you enjoy this selection and don’t forget you can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here.

Learning To Be The Light

This past week I had the opportunity to share some of my story and my thoughts about transitioning Faith. This was my story, my successes and failures, and how my Faith that transitioned from decades of passive Faith, into Active Faith, and now what I would classify as ENGAGED Faith.  

What an amazing experience it was to share my story with a group of men who I have been doing life with on Friday mornings for almost four years. 

One Thing, whose mission is to “Spur Men to Walk with God”, has taught me so much about the Bible and Faith and is the place where credit most of my Spiritual Growth as they challenge me to “go deeper” in preparation of every Friday gathering.

For me to be able to share my story and illustrate my personal relationship with God at each stage in that story reflects how I’m growing comfortable Learning To Be The Light in the community that surrounds me. Therefore there can be no better pick for our Worship Wednesday selection than NewWorldSon! 

For me this is something both scary and exciting as I step out of my comfort zone! And who knows if other opportunities will present themselves, but I am finding purpose as I become surrendered to God’s will for my life and being available to whatever God has planned for me moving forward.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  (Jeremiah 29:11) 

It’s So much brighter living in your world
Savior what you did for me
You gave me something I want everyone, I mean everyone to see
When we struggle and it all goes wrong
Only you can make it right
So I say
Oh oh oh oh oh
I’m learning to be the light  

I’m still learning to be the light and I hope you are too!

~Tom

trusting God period!

Next up! Faith 2.0 – I’ll break down what I shared during my

You also can you can receive Leveraging Life updates in an email every time I update and all you have to do is click here to subscribe to Leveraging Life. (It’s free)

Seventy two hours ago at dawn, Sunday morning, we celebrated the Jesus’ Resurrection and the empty tomb. We celebrated a moment in time which changed the context of how we live our lives and the hope we have for our Eternal future.

The question I pose today, the Wednesday that follows, how has this past Easter Sunday impacted your Monday and Tuesday? There’s no right or wrong answer, as we all approached this Easter Sunday differently and our expectations were equally different.

But the question I believe we must ask ourselves is, have when been impacted by what we have experienced…the ultimate expression of love!

Love by our Savior to die for our sins.

Love by our Heavenly Father, who loved us so much, He offered His Son for us.

So in the spirit of Worship Wednesday, through song we worship our Heavenly Father while giving thanks and praise to His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. How He Loves is a song most of us know rather well and one I had previously featured on Leveraging Life. 

Continue Reading…

By most accounts Good Friday is considered to be the most solemn of days for those who consider themselves Christians. Once upon a time, the day set was set aside for prayer and fasting. However, like most traditions, things evolve as time goes on. 

Today some countries treat Good Friday as a national holiday.

Decades ago business were closed for the day, or at least idled from noon till 6pm in observance and out of reverence for the time Jesus was on the cross.

Sadly for a lot people, some Christians included, Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday.

I’m not here to judge, nor am I casting stones, because for decades Good Friday was the Friday before Easter for me as well. Sales meetings had to be held, teams had to be motivated, and business had to be managed. Reverence and observance for me was ordering Salmon instead of a Ribeye on Good Friday, hardly the sacrifice on the most solemn of days.

Things changed for me after I transitioned from reading the Bible as if it were a task on a to-do list and began reading it to seek wisdom, guidance, and direction for my life. I was studying the Book of Luke leading up to Easter and I read a verse, a verse I had read often. A verse I was taught while growing up. A verse I had heard recited and preached in church every year. A verse, which when read that day, came to life because Good Friday got personal. 

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34

In this personal moment, as I read the verse, Jesus wasn’t just forgiving the Roman soldiers for their sins, Jesus was forgiving Me for my sins. The very same sins for which He was dying for on the Cross that Friday.

My Sins – those not yet committed!

My Sins – washed away!

My Sins – no longer separated me from God!

The Cross is personal, Jesus’ Love is tangible, and I am forever changed!  

~Tom

trusting God period!

You also can you can receive Leveraging Life updates in an email every time I update and all you have to do is click here to subscribe to Leveraging Life. (It’s free)

Today marks our 1^st wedding anniversary. 366 days amazing days! 366 not 365 because of the Leap Year, and as I reflect on those days two words come to mind.

Challenges

Challenges for sure…there is no way to battle cancer and for it not to impact one’s family. Challenges also came our way as we blended two households into one and I assumed my role as husband and stepfather.

Joy

Joy is our families embracing us as a couple and coming to see both families as one. Joy is God breathing life into my dream of being a parent, one that I had long ago given up on. Joy of not have to go through life on your own and having a partner to lean on when faced with challenges. Joy is having another set of eyes to view life through, to see what is not obvious from your point of view.

What I find amazing is the fact that I never set out to find Joy, yet, Joy found me.

So what is the formula to finding joy in the midst of life challenges?

So what’s my secret?

Trusting God period…is choosing Joy for our lives. This choice allows us to look past our circumstances and focus on the fact, a fact that has been present since the Garden of Eden, that God’s plan for our lives is far superior than our plan for our lives.

Truth be told, God’s plan may not be the plan you or I would have chosen for our lives, but this year has shown me that choosing to trust God in spite of the circumstances allowed me to lean on Him in a way I might not have if things were different. And in doing so I do believe the Joy I’m experiencing on this, the first anniversary of my wedding day is a result of that decision to trust God period. 

So on this day, March 19 2012, Shari thank you for saying “I Do” and the blessing it is to have you as my wife;  and thank you Michael and Matthew for saying “I Will” and for giving  me the opportunity to be involved in your lives as your Stepfather.

My hope and my prayer is that something in this post resonates with you and may even lead you to choose to trust God in your life, so you will experience the joy that flows from your decision. 

Start small. What is the one area in your life that comes to mind, right now, what do you need to let go of and trust God?

What’s holding you back? Just give it to God and see what happens!

Make sure to share what happens with someone else so the lesson you learned can be leveraged and glorify God!

~Tom

trusting God period!

You also can you can receive Leveraging Life updates in an email every time I update and all you have to do is click here to subscribe to Leveraging Life. (It’s free)

Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. This may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. When possible I will provide the story behind the song so you learn more about the message and what the inspiration was behind the creation of the song. I hope you enjoy this selection and don’t forget you can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here.

My Hope Is In You

Aaron Shust

As you’ll see when you listen to the story behind the song, when life is good we tend to lose sight of all the good things God is doing which affords us this good life. Sadly our dependency on God is usually a factor of the turmoil present in our lives.

How would our lives play out differently if God was at the center of our lives in good times and as well as the challenging times? The answer to this question is something we all should contemplate.

Continue Reading…

Growth Is Gradual and Change Is Immediate

Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. This may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. When possible I will provide the story behind the song so you learn more about the message and what the inspiration was behind the creation of the song. I hope you enjoy this selection and don’t forget you can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here.

Where is God Now?

A common question we all face at various times in our lives. There are times when it can be tough to find God in the midst of so much pain and suffering in this world. When faced with personal trails and challenges in our lives or those we love there is a tendency to allow our faith to waiver.  Continue Reading…

Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. This may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. When possible I will provide the story behind the song so you learn more about the message and what the inspiration was behind the creation of the song. I hope you enjoy this selection and don’t forget you can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here.

Trust In Jesus

Third Day

I need to set the stage for this post by describing the place I find myself tonight. A few hours ago I attended a memorial service at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta for the families of patients who passed away while being treated there. The Chaplain’s staff did a nice job creating a memorial service which honored those who had died and expressed hope for those who had experienced a loss.

As I was driving home I reflected on the service and the degrees of emotions that were present in St. Joseph’s chapel. What was clearly evident was a sense of loss. For some there was peace in that loss and for others the peace had yet to overcome the loss. As I wrestled with those thoughts and my mind drifted to how my life could, would, and should impact those I loved, a song came on the radio which illustrates how I believe peace transitions from those who have passed to those who are left behind. Continue Reading…

Most Fridays I feature a website, blog, book, or video that for me has become a favorite. It may be a favorite resource, a source of inspiration, or just something I found interesting. Please feel free to comment, and I hope you might share a favorite or two of your own in the comment section. Who knows, maybe I will feature something you shared as a future Friday Favorite.

Dan’s Coffee Run

If you’ve ordered a cup coffee recently at Starbucks, you’ve noticed the traditional green and white cups have gone by the wayside for the red and white “Every Love” cups. To celebrate Valentine’s Day, Starbucks invited their employees and customers to share their stories and celebrate the relationships which have touched our lives.  Continue Reading…