A Leap of Faith

"The jump is so frightening between where I am and where I want to be....because of all I may become I will close my eyes and leap!" -- Mary Ann Rachmacher

I read this quote this morning and thought to myself, wow I can really relate to that sentiment.  There have been numerous times in my life where I had to jump from one place in life to another in an effort to better myself and to get to where I wanted to be.  Some leaps are more frightening than others.  My biggest and most frightening leap was deciding to pursue my passion.

The reason why that leap was difficult was mainly because of fear.  Fear of what people would think about me.  Fear of failure.  Fear of not hearing from God and doing things strictly on my own.  In the end, those fears were still there but I was looking for more out of life so I took a leap of faith.  Afterall, only one of two things were going to happen.  I would leap and fail or I would leap and succeed.  Even my failure wouldn't be a true failure because I could use the skills I would learn in other aspects of my life.

That leap of faith has proven to be one of the most fulfilling and challenging things that I have ever done. It gave me confidence and helped increase my self-esteem.  So yes, sometimes you just have to close your eyes and leap!  Don't let fear keep you from reaching your goals and dreams!  One leap can take you from where you are to where you want to be!

Finding Balance in An Unbalanced World

Life can get downright crazy at times with all of the stuff that people have to do these days. Work, school, church, community meetings, raising children, errands, etc all compete for our time. So how do you do it? How do you find time to fit everything in and live a fulfilling life? I believe there are 6 things that can help you achieve balance in your life: Knowing who you are, understanding your values, knowing the vision for your life, setting long term and short term goals, knowing how to deal with stress, and knowing how to manage time.

If someone were to ask you who you are? Would you respond with your name and you current job title? That’s what most people would do. But who you are is not always tied to your job title. Everyone one of us was created for a reason and it’s important that we understand who we are and what our God given vision is. Some of us are teachers, motivators, encouragers, etc. Answering the question of who you are involves getting in touch with your true self and asking yourself 3 key questions: What are your strengths? What are you passionate about? What brings you enjoyment? When you can answer those questions and walk in your God given purpose. Life seems to go much easier and smoother.

A deeper level of knowing who you are involves understanding your values. Your habits are usually your values. If you always sleep in, chances are you value your sleep. Values are the core of who we are. They are the basis of your character, actions, attitudes, ethics and personal beliefs. Galatians 5:22 -23 tells us things that we should value especially if we want to be successful in our Christian walk. We need to value love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. When you have a clear value, you are motivated to do things. Clear values help us make decisions especially when multiple things compete for your time. When you have clear values, you set the foundation for growth. More importantly, clear values bring inner peace.

You also need a vision on where you are headed. What has God shown you for the future? What do you see? God has a unique vision for each of us. Some visions are on a large scale and some are small scale but they are all important. Pray and ask God for the His vision for you life, don’t rush the process. The core of vision is tied up in your values, talents and passions. Try to hang around visionary people who can help guide you.

Once you know who you are, have a vision for you life. You need to create and set some goals for your life to help you achieve that vision. People usually set goals in the follow areas: health and wellness, relationships, work, love, finances, fun, family and faith (i.e. your spiritual walk). You should have both short goals as well as long term goals. What do you hope to accomplish today, this week, this month, and this year, in the next 5 years, in the next 10 years? Set goals in whatever time frame works for you but at least make sure you set some goals that are measurable so that you can see how much progress you are making.

Lastly, you need to learn how to manage your time. For some people, this is one of the most difficult tasks. First step, get a planner or a calendar or use a computer or a cell phone with a calendar or planner on it. You need something that is going to let you map your day hour by hour. Then you need to align your values with your behaviors. The things that you value most should be the things that definitely get time on your calendar.

When life seems to get out of control, always return to what matters most. Find God then find yourself. Rekindle your passions, live them out. Figure out what’s important to you. Make a commitment to it. Pray about it. Get information on it. Make a plan to succeed at it. Face your obstacles and find supportive people to surround you!

Life Balance

Most of us who have an active life struggle to have a good life balance formula. For some of us, life only seems to include work and very little time for friends, God, or relaxation. I'm sure all of us have seen that email about the Big Rocks. You know the one where the professor fills a big jar with rocks and he asks his class if the jar is full and they all say yes. Then he adds some gravel to the jar and asks the class if the jar is full and this time the class says no. Then he goes on to add sand and water until the jar is truly full. The jar represents life and the big rocks represent what's most important to us. Always fill the jar with the big rocks first and then add the extras. They key is understanding and learning what matters most to you. Knowing what matters most to you enables you to be able to say no to people and things that try to take up your time.

Your life balance model should consist of 3 things, worship, work and play! Worship includes your time at church, reading your devotions, prayer time, meditation, silence, solitude, ministering to family and friends, visiting shut-ins, serving on church committees, volunteering at schools and in the community. Work includes jobs, house work, paying the bills, mowing the lawn, grocery shopping, and other labor-intensive thing that we do. Play includes sports, exercise, hobbies, playing instruments, reading, dates, playing games, and hanging out with friends and family. Each activity requires investment of your time and each thing will give you something back. Worship glorifies God and blesses your spirit. Work can be tiring but hopefully you feel good after you accomplish something (if not, that's another subject!). Play time lets you get some exercise or spend some quality time with someone, or doing something---but play time feeds your soul!

Most people don't use this model or think about this model in their lives. Most people pour more into their work than any other aspect of their life. "They kill themselves trying to make a living, and die never having lived." In our society, work becomes our object of worship instead of God. We forget that God should be the one who gives us a sense of security and worth not our JOBS! So if our company tells us goodbye, it doesn't matter--God supplies our needs. When we worship our work, we have to "work" at playing because we don't value play time enough--so there's no time or money for it. Then if we do play, everything is turned into a competition or an avenue to make money. Then play becomes work! Not to mention that we "play" at worship. We don't take it seriously or give it priority. It becomes an after thought. We don't allow God to fill us and we look for other things to take His place. Life becomes out of balance very quickly when we worship our work, work at our play, and play at our worship! Nothing fulfills us.

Don't live an unfulfilling life, discover your big rocks, write out your vision, and live a balanced life….one where you can pour yourself into work while you're there but leave it there when you go home. One where you can go off and have some fun and not think about things at the office. One where you can worship and be totally focused on the things of God and not have other things fighting to get your attention.