Thursday, September 24, 2015

as humans, we all crave validation. a "great job" from a boss, an "i'm proud of you" from a parent, an "i appreciate you" from a friend.

even when we're not realizing it, or at least acknowledging our motive, we're posting pictures on facebook to show people we haven't talked to in decades how cool our lives are, or better yet, sticking it to the ladies on the view by posting pictures of different nurses with their 'nurse' stethoscopes to validate our very important job. we're approval addicts by nature.

a few days a go i shared with the facebook world that i felt like i was 'failing at life', and the response was remarkable.

my inbox flooded with emails from people who wanted to thank me for being so honest because they feel like that, too, and my wall flooded with people who wanted to let me know how much my life has impacted theirs.

i heard from a young adult [who was, at the time, in trouble with the law] whom i lived with for a summer five years a go, some people from high school, a friend i met at a jays' game in detroit, a kid i babysat when i was a teenager, a girl i served in a restaurant a while back, and the list goes on.

with every kind word, my 'i fail at life' mentality drifted away. with every word of truth, the lies suffocated.

the truth is, as i have often preached, success isn't measured by how many degrees we have, what kind of car we drive, how big our house is, or what kind of title we carry. success, in my opinion, is measured by how well we love, what kind of person we are, and what kind of legacy we'll leave behind.

after all, we can't take anything with us when we die. only love remains.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

1) sometimes, you have to walk the same path to see how much you've changed.

i cringe when people use the phrase "everything happens for a reason" as a way of trying to cheer me up when things go sour, but at the end of the day, while i don't necessarily believe in the validity of that statement, i do believe that everything works out for good, and that everything we go through in life can be used for a greater purpose.

i couldn't help but meditate on proverbs 19:21 [many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails] and proverbs 16:9 [in their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps] as i walked out of the church i used to attend, and have recently returned to, this past sunday. it felt like home to me, yet new, and i like new.

2) the best is yet to come.

in addition to working alongside the kids' pastor and pouring into the students that come through his leadership program, i have been plugging away at building this kickin non profit that my friend and i have been dreaming about for longer than we even knew we were. i can't go into too much detail at this point, but let's just say that it incorporates all of our passions and giftings [public speaking, mentoring students, connecting them to local and global serving projects etc]. things have been falling into place quite nicely as we work alongside the PAOC missions department at building a strong and sustainable foundation, and i couldn't be more thrilled about it.

my future is bright ... and so is yours.