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Archives For January 2011

When It Got Personal

January 26, 2011 — 2 Comments
iStockphoto © Ricardo Reitmeyer

As 2010 came to an end and 2011 began I found myself doing quite a bit of reflecting, maybe more than usual. I think for most of us a change of season or a change of year brings that on, but this year more than before this has been a prevailing mindset. For me, I think that comes from being in a great place personally, professionally, and spiritually. 

Now don’t get me wrong my life isn’t perfect, but the reality is life is so much richer than it has ever been before. Certainly not in the monetary sense, because I’ve made a lot more, but it’s rich on so many other levels. Words like fulfilling, promise, satisfaction, peace, and trust all come to mind and when they do I find myself wondering where I’d be if I had not come to know God in a real and personal way. A real relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ, not just religion; faith grounded in grace not acts, deeds, and ritual.

So much of what has gone on these last four years came from me not depending on me, not trying to earn something I’d never be worthy of, and me not trusting God for this but not for that…..just trusting God period in all things!

 

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV©2010)

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

In the spirit of my one word for 2011, pause, and because of this reflective mindset I thought it was the appropriate time to share my story….my testimony and the reason why I’m trying to Leverage Life better now than before….because of this personal relationship!

My Story 1964-2007

My name is Tom Martin and I grew up in a family where church was a part of my life for as long as I can remember. But for me faith came to represent attendance and obligation which carried forward as I became an adult.

After graduating from college most people would say work dominated my life. I still went to church but it had become the thing I did on Sunday before playing golf. Just when I thought everything was the way it was supposed to be, the company I worked for twelve years was sold and I started questioning God’s role in my life. And then when I found myself with serious health issues I became disillusioned with God and drifted away.

As I tried to process what was going on in my world I think God used those two crises to get my attention. I realized that the people who were supporting me were the family and friends who came second to my career all those years, and I felt if they could extend me so much grace and mercy maybe God could as well. 

As I recovered from surgery I was having trouble gaining clarity on moving forward with my life and my sister Molly sent me an email with a message that said, “not sure if this is what you’re looking for but it might be a place to start.” I thought it was probably something she’d seen on Oprah, but it was a youtube link to the “It’s Personal” series. At first it was difficult to grasp because Andy wasn’t talking about going to church he was talking about having a relationship with God, and after watching it over and over, I knew that was what was missing in my life all those years.

I started to attend Buckhead Church with family last year and found some of the clarity I was looking for in the Hope Mentoring program. David Schmidt was my Hope mentor and he helped me learn what it meant to have a relationship with God. Participating in Starting Point, joining a men’s small group, and volunteering on the production team have all played a role in my being here today.

This past year has not been perfect, there still were challenges personally and for my family, but there is a peace that comes from leaning into that relationship and just watching God be God in my life and lives of my family.

I’d like to thank my family for their love and especially Molly for have the courage to send that email. I’d also like to David Schmidt, Paul Cote, and Russ West for being the kind of friends who went out of their way to reassure me that they could see God working in my life when I had my doubts. And a final thank you to all of you who have prayed for me throughout this journey, I believe that my declaration today that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior is the answer to all those prayers. From My Baptism Video Testimony May 31, 2009

Feel free to contact me for more information or additional links to learn more about anything featured in this post or with questions on how you can also begin to have a personal relationship with your Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

~Tom

trusting God period

Thanks for taking the time to watch the videos and thanks in advance for spreading the word about Leveraging Life, please use the Sharing is Caring links at the bottom to update your Facebook and Twitter pages, and don’t forget to email your friends.  

If you are not doing so already, you might want to subscribe to Leveraging Life. (It’s free.) That way when I update you’ll be notified via email.

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Empty Me – Worship Wednesday

January 19, 2011 — 2 Comments

~ Empty Me ~

Chris Sligh

There are certain songs we all can identify with, the kind of songs that you wonder if somehow the songwriter used the cliff-notes of your life to write the song. For me Empty Me is one of those songs.

The first time I heard the song was in the summer of  2008 and I was in a huge transition physically, professionally, and spiritually. Looking back now, I can honestly say the song….especially these lyrics served as a great reminder what I was capable of when I was full of myself and what God could accomplish when I was not.

I’ve had just enough
Of the spotlight when it burns bright
To see how it gets in the blood
I’ve tasted my share
Of the sweet life and the wild ride
And found a little is not quite enough
I know how I can stray
And how fast my heart could change
 
Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds onto
Lord, empty me of me so I can be filled with you
 

 

Here is a link to the story behind Empty Me, with the lyrics, which Chris Sligh actually wrote while he was a finalist on American Idol. And since tonight is the season premier for season 10, I thought I would include this video from season 6 where Chris took exception to Simon Cowell’s critique and shared a few thoughts which Simon took exception to. The fun begins at the 0:45 mark with Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul sharing their thoughts before Simon and Ryan Seacrest join in.

Worship Wednesday is a feature on Leveraging Life where I hope someone finds a message in a song that they need to hear. A song offering encouragement, support, promise, or hope in the moment they need it most. I will make every effort to provide a link to the story behind the song if it is available.

~Tom

trusting God period

Thanks for taking the time to watch the videos and thanks in advance for spreading the word about Leveraging Life, please use the Sharing is Caring links at the bottom to update your Facebook and Twitter pages, and don’t forget to email your friends.  

If you are not doing so already, you might want to subscribe to Leveraging Life. (It’s free.) That way when I update you’ll be notified via email.

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Learning to Pause

January 17, 2011 — 3 Comments

 

A week ago I wrote about how I would be choosing to “pause ” more often this year as compared to years past and how “pause” would be my One Word for 2011.

Little did I know only a few days later nature, not health, would create the perfect “pause” situation for the entire metro Atlanta area and much of the Southeast. 

The timing, situation, and scenario was perfect for me to implement my plan as snow and ice caused everything to slow down, or as in this case, grind to a standstill. As this photo indicates, nothing was moving, and despite managing a Subaru dealership (which has the best symmetrical all-wheel-drive system available), we were closed for one day and had limited schedules for most of the week to ensure the safety of our employees and customers with all the ice. 

Photo credit: John Spink via ajc.com

As the snow started to fall and the ice accumulated, I was purposefully absent from the social media scene. Not as in a social media fast (something I had done once before), but by design with the hope to reconnect in the midst of an intentional disconnect. So other than a few “tweets” on Twitter and a couple “status update” on Facebook to let customers know about hours of operation and a Snow-Jam sale we were hosting, I was noticeably silent for a week. 

In the midst of my pause, I found  few things that made me go ”Hhmmm.” 

We’re all concerned about “everyone else” when the roads are icy.  Doesn’t that mean we are all “everyone else”?  

 An email can reach someone, but a handwritten note will touch someone. 

 Internet access allows people to communicate.  Personal access allows people to connect.   

 Having a day with no agenda recharges your batteries.  Spending the day with someone you love and having no agenda recharges your soul.  

 Board games and card games from our youth are meant to be played all year round, not just on holidays.     

 Life doesn’t get in the way.  More often than not, we get in the way of life. 

 My words, if left undefined, unchecked, unexplained, can deliver a blow rather than make a point. 

 Being needed, even in the most trivial of ways, stirs something in me that I can’t quite explain but had let stay dormant far too long. 

  How do you expect someone to meet your expectations if you haven’t shared what they are?  

 A gas log fire can’t compare to real log fire. 

 Shoveling snow is something I didn’t enjoy as a child and don’t enjoy as an adult. 

 Full-service gas stations serve a purpose when the wind chill dips into the teens.

It’s still early, but I’m learning pausing requires more effort than I thought and it does not come not naturally. Pausing creates clarity, awareness, and understanding but I need to be more dedicated and disciplined in my efforts. 

One thing is clear, when we slow down God shows up. Not because God wasn’t there all along, but because sometimes we’re all too busy to see what He wants to reveal to us.

Personally I can’t wait to see God reveals with each and every pause this year!

I love to hear some suggestions on when, where, and how you pause or plan to pause.

Do you turn off the radio and cellphone to or from work during your commute each day?

Do you allow allocate a few minutes after the kids go to bed in the evening but before you crash at night?

What distraction has become a habit that can wait till your pause is complete?

~Tom

trusting God period 

Thanks for taking the time to visit Leveraging Life, please use the Sharing is Caring links at the bottom to update your Facebook and Twitter pages, and don’t forget to email your friends if you like what you see.   

If you are not doing so already, you might want to subscribe to Leveraging Life. (It’s free.) That way when I update you’ll be notified via email. 

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Atheist Don’t Have No Songs

January 14, 2011 — Leave a comment

On Friday I feature a website or a blog that for me has the potential to become a favorite. It maybe a resource, a source of inspiration, or just some distraction I frequent. Give the Friday Favorite a look, read, or listen, and please feel free to comment about mine and share a favorite or two of your own in the comment section. Who knows maybe we will feature one of yours as a future Friday Favorite.

~Atheist Don’t Have No Songs~

Steve Martin with Steep Canyon Rangers

 

Big thanks Way Kidd for sharing this clever take which poses an interesting fact about there being no atheist’s songs; the lyrics are listed below.

Christians have their hymns in pages.

Hava Nagila’s for the Jews.

Baptists have the Rock of Ages.

Atheists just sing the Blues.

 

Romantics play Claire de Lune.

Born-agains sing He is Risen.

But no one ever wrote a tune

for godless Existentialism.

 

For Atheists there’s no Good News;

They’ll never sing a song of Faith.

In their songs they have a rule:

the “he” is always lower case.

 

Some folks sing a Bach cantata.

Lutherans get Christmas trees.

Atheist songs add up to nada.

But they do have Sundays free.

 

Pentecostals sing, sing to heaven.

Coptics have the book of scrolls.

Numerologists count to seven.

Atheists have rock and roll.

 

For Atheists there’s no Good News;

They’ll never sing a song of Faith.

In their songs they have a rule:

the “he” is always lower case.

Atheists don’t have no songs.

 

Christians have their hymns in pages.

Hava Nagila’s for the Jews.

Baptists have the Rock of Ages.

Atheists just sing the Blues.

 

Catholics dress up for mass

and listen to Gregorian chants.

Atheists just take a pass,

watch football in their underpants.

 

Atheists don’t have no songs.

 

~Tom

trusting God period 

Thanks for taking the time to visit Leveraging Life, please use the Sharing is Caring links at the bottom to update your Facebook and Twitter pages, and don’t forget to email your friends if you like what you see.   

If you are not doing so already, please subscribe to Leveraging Life. (It’s free.) That way when I update you’ll be notified via email. 

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The Bottled Water Story

January 7, 2011 — 1 Comment

On Friday I feature a website or a blog that for me has the potential to become a favorite. It maybe a resource, a source of inspiration, or just some distraction I frequent. Give the Friday Favorite a look, read, or listen, and please feel free to comment about mine and share a favorite or two of your own in the comment section. Who knows maybe we will feature one of yours as a future Friday Favorite.

While no one who knows me would classify me as an environmentalist I do try to do my part when it comes to what I can do personally in my home and professionally at the dealership to protect the environment. Recently I stumble across this YouTube video about the Bottled Water Industry from storyofstuff.org where Author and Host Annie Leonard outlines how “Manufactured Demand” creates demand for what is not necessarily needed and in turn destroys what is needed most.

What I do know from my partnership with CharityWater.org is that almost one billion people on this planet don’t have access to clean drinking water while billions of bottles of bottled water are sold every year. Continue Reading…

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my one word : Pause

January 6, 2011 — 7 Comments

 

 

Fellow blogger and tweeter Alece Ronzino suggested on her blog, Grit and Glory, that some of us might be better served scrapping making resolutions and commit to focusing our attention on a single word for 2011 to see how that commitment will impact our lives.

“I’ve never been a New Year’s resolutions girl. I just can’t bring myself to do it. I think I tried once. And a few months later when I couldn’t even remember what my resolutions were — or where my list was — I felt like a miserable failure. And I’ve never resolutioned again. But last year I decided to choose one word to focus on. My own personal non-resolution resolution.” –Alece

So in the spirit of Alece’s post I spent some time thinking about what my one word for 2011 might be. I first had to look back on 2010 because 2010 stretched me in so many ways, both good and not so good. But in the midst of that reflection even my ”not so good” moments were filled with ”God Winks“ signs I might have missed if I didn’t stop to PAUSE! Continue Reading…

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My Own Little World – Worship Wednesday

January 5, 2011 — Leave a comment

 

~My Own Little World~

Matthew West

I came across My Own Little World by Matthew West while doing research for the Operation Christmas Child post I made during the Holiday edition of Worship Wednesday. It only took one view of the video to challenge me to view my life through the lense it provides,

What if there’s a bigger picture

What if I’m missing out

What if there’s a greater purpose

I could be living right now

Outside my own little world

and once I read Kevin Davis’ Behind The Song interview with Matthew West about how the song came to be, I knew it was the perfect song to kick off Worship Wednesday in 2011. 

“This song was written one night in the cabin as I found myself humbled by the realization of just how sheltered my safe little Christian life is most days.” Matthew West

Take a minute or two and watch the video and read the story behind the song, then pause….pause to ask God if He will: 

Put Your light in my eyes and let me see
That my own little world is not about me

So How does Your Own Little World Look To You? 

 Thanks for taking the time to watch the videos and thanks in advance for spreading the word about Leveraging Life, please use the Sharing is Caring links at the bottom to update your Facebook and Twitter pages, and don’t forget to email your friends.   

~Tom

trusting God period

If you are not doing so already, you might want to subscribe to Leveraging Life. (It’s free.) That way when I update you’ll be notified via email.

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My hope is someone may be led to a song with a message they need to hear offering encouragement, support, promise, or hope when they need it most. I will make every effort to provide a link to the story behind the song if it is available.

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