Archives For Faith

Survivors – Worship Wednesday

October 25, 2011 — 2 Comments

Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. It may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. When possible I will try to provide the story behind the song so you can see what inspired the lyrics and the music. I hope you enjoy this selection and don’t forget you can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here.

Survivors

Matthew West

This Sunday we were on our way to run an errand before church and I heard Matthew West’s interview about this song. What caught my attention before I heard the first note or learned the first verse was the story about a cancer fighter’s husband walking out on her and their kids while she was in chemo. The stark contrast of this cancer story as compared to mine caused me to pause and reflect on the blessings which have been a part of my cancer journey the last two years. 

The list of blessings is long and it is humbling as God was in the details orchestrating people, events, and things to guide me through the valleys. Looking back through the sequence it is clear that support and encouragement I received helped me focus not on my circumstances but on God and what He was doing in my life through those circumstances, which allows me to boldly declare I trust God period!  Check out the videos and also my latest cancer update.

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Has It Been A Year Already?

July 24, 2011 — 2 Comments

 

iStockphotos © RTimages

The last few weeks have been a blur! An example of that fact is you seeing this post now and not July 11th as originally planned. There is a saying, “life get’s in the way,” and I think you’ll agree there are times when “stuff” gets in the way of life as well…and boy has that been the case lately for me!

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Leveraging Faith

June 24, 2011 — 1 Comment
iStockphotos © Michel de Nijs

Sixteen hours in a car driving to and from Indiana for a wedding last weekend afforded me a good bit of time to reflect on the first six months of 2011. In the moments when my family dozed, one thought emerged almost as often as overpasses appeared on the horizon:

I had not “paused” as often as I hoped to this year.

My first inclination was to go through a long list of excuses why, and those familiar with my story might consider most to be legitimate. Regardless of the excuses, though, one question lingered.

Is there a correlation between pausing and being grateful?

When you live your life at a pace life dictates, you miss what opportunities are present to go deeper, past those surface level observations. At the surface everything is a blur, much like when you lie in bed at night and the day just plays through your head like a movie preview trailer. But if you truly desire to see the real story being written by your life, you need to make an effort to look past the obvious and find the picture God is painting.

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National Cancer Survivors Day – June 5th

June 4, 2011 — Leave a comment

There are 28 million people living with cancer right now across the globe. Each day, in the U.S. alone, over 4000 more people are diagnosed.

Stand Up To Cancer and LIVESTRONG are joining forces in recognition of the bravery of those in the fight and those who have won the battle. We are calling for survivors to declare themselves and inspire everyone living with cancer to stand up and keep fighting.

Chances are, cancer has touched you in one way or another in your lifetime. In honor of National Cancer Survivors Day, here is your chance to give cancer a piece of your mind. Whether you are fighting the battle, standing in support of a loved one or if you just hate cancer, we all have something to say. 

So join us, declare yourself, and donate your Facebook status by clicking here.

 

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Cancer Confessional – Why Me and Why Now

May 5, 2011 — 3 Comments
iStock photocredit © Lise Gagne

Why Me and Why Now is the second installment in a series of posts called My Cancer Confessionals, where I lift the mask on how I “try” to leverage my faith in the midst of adversity. I outlined earlier my concern that my optimistic and encouraging attitude might lead readers to believe I somehow never have doubts, fears, or concerns…all of which couldn’t be further from the truth.  For me, trusting God period is a day-to-day challenge, and some days are just harder than others. But thanks to my personal relationship with my Heavenly Father, on those tough days when I don’t have what I need, He is there to bridge the gap and that relationship grows deeper.  

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” Proverbs 3:5 NIV

Truth be told, my world, my life, and yes, even my faith has ebbed and flowed in the midst of all the sub-plots in my life and was what I was referring to in my post entitled Paradigm Shift.  As one dream was coming true, Shari and I deciding to get married and were signing up for our church’s 2:1 pre-marital mentoring program, a nightmare re-emerged as I learned my merkel cell cancer had metastasized. What was thought to be remote and isolated had now taken on a “popcorn” effect (one doctor’s term) and popped up in multiple areas of my body.

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Cancer Confessional – Behind the Mask

April 28, 2011 — 2 Comments
iStockphoto © PeskyMonkey

If you were to take the time to poll my family, my friends, and my co-workers asking them to describe my outlook on life, most if not all, would described me as an optimist…a glass half-full guy. Dig a little deeper into what makes me tick and spend a little time reading through my DISC profile (high D & I) you would learn that being an encourager is another characteristics which makes up who I am. Optimism and encouragement come naturally to me and throughout my career they have been utilized to build teams and help grow businesses.

However in the scope of writing blog such as Leveraging Life, I have a genuine concern, what comes naturally (optimism and encouragement) could be taken out of context or be misconstrued leaving readers with a false impression that I never have doubts, that I live my life without fear, or that I somehow trust blindly when facing trials or adversity. 

“saying trust God period and living trust God period are two totally different mindsets…one is contingent on circumstance and situation warranting that trust, and the other is influenced by a relationship which is nurtured through circumstance and situation creating an environment of trust.”   

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Sweetly Broken – Worship Wednesday

April 20, 2011 — 2 Comments

  

Good Friday – the Ultimate Exchange

“Why is Good Friday called Good if it pertains to the day Jesus was crucified?”

This innocent question came my way recently and as I was about to give my answer, an answer that had more to do with fasting and sacrificial rituals, I paused and said it’s called “Good” because a great exchange that took place that Friday.

“Jesus exchanged His human life for my eternal life…and your eternal life as well.”

As I said in last week’s post Amazing Love, faith for me over the last five years has become very personal. By that I mean it has less to do about attendance because of an obligation and everything to do with God, His grace, His love, and a desire to know my Savior Jesus Christ. Subsequently the lens from which I view life and how my life is impacted by what is shared in the Bible results in new and different meanings for things I grew up taking for granted. And while I know I’m not alone in what I perceive to be my spiritual maturity, one of the biggest changes is how I view the cross. Specifically what took place that Good Friday which as the song title says leaves me Sweetly Broken.

To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of it’s suffering I do drink
Of it’s work I do sing

For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified

You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

In awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness

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When God Winks – Love

March 29, 2011 — 2 Comments

What you see here is what greeted Shari on the afternoon I proposed. Most people would say three weeks is just too short of period of time to plan a wedding. A lot of life was crammed into those 21 incredible days, plus we had so much affirmation in the God Winks which paved the way to March 19, 2011, their was no denying that Saturday would be the day when Shari and I became husband and wife.

Regardless of the size, weddings require planning, coordination, and organization in order to insure the day is filled with memories. Time usually is the best friend a bride and groom have to guaranty those memories are good memories. Our wedding and the variables that went with it…schedules, location, catering, musician, rings, etc…each obstacles in their own right at some point, all somehow fell in place as the day approached. And those who know us and our story, saw first hand all the God Winks in those 21 days, even my car being broken into two days before the ceremony.

Our God Wink Story

Shari and I met in 2008 while we attended different locations (campuses) of North Point Church. I was a member of and served at the Buckhead Church campus, and Shari was a member of and served at the Alpharetta Church campus some 15 miles away. As much as I would have liked to participate in Fusion (our singles program) at my home campus, Buckhead, making two trips downtown on a Sunday just didn’t make much sense. Fortunately for me I had the option to join the Alpharetta group and in our eyes that was where the God Winks began for us. And despite meeting then, both of us were in different places and that was all it was meeting and going our separate ways for the next two years.

Random, Fate, or another God Wink

In the spring of 2010 we both signed up for Fusion again, and yes for me once again Alpharetta…not Buckhead. Odds were about the same 400+ singles randomly assigned to 7-8 different host homes, yet we find ourselves not only placed in the same host home, but also in the same small group within that home. Coincidence, chance…destiny…we know it to be one big defining God Wink!

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4 Steps To Finding the God Winks in Your Career

March 12, 2011 — Leave a comment
iStockphotos © Felix Möckel

I mentioned in my last post “Where are the God Winks” that I would highlight some of the God Winks from my life and I thought career would be a great place to start because it incorporates networking and how God can connect all those dots.

A God Wink is … something taken as evidence that a higher power is at work; a coincidence. 

I have been in the auto industry since college; actually I started selling Ford’s as a way to earn some extra spending money while at the University of Georgia. I did rather well working weekends and a few nights here and there which gave me the opportunity to create my own job description as the UGA on-campus College Graduate Plan coordinator. No one exactly knew what I did, but the title helped me negotiate the need to have an “on-campus” demonstrator available to show to potential buyers….a brand new Mustang GT. Not a bad thing for a 21 year old college senior to have in Athens and actually a pretty cool perk.

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When God Winks

March 3, 2011 — 1 Comment

Most Fridays I feature a website, blog, or a book that for me has become a favorite. It maybe a favorite 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.

when God winks book

How the book When God Winks by SQuire Rushnell came into my life was a God Wink itself now that I look back. 

While in a nursing home battling a Sepsis blood infection, I was left with no other choice but to try an sell my dream home.  The uncertainty of my health and certain closing of my business forced me to put my home on the market in 2007 only a few months ahead of the real estate market starting to tank. Fortunately for me God’s timing prevailed and I had a contract in four days and I closed in five weeks with a couple who had already sold their home. 

With no home to go back to I moved into my parent’s home while waiting to get strong enough for surgery. Barely able to walk, surrounded by books, with time on my hands, ”When God Winks” literally fell into my lap (or to be exact) dropped at my feet as I reached for another book. If the title When God Winks didn’t have my attention, the caption on the cover, “how the power of coincidence guides your life”, certainly did.

God wink: something taken as evidence that a higher power is at work; a coincidence.

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