The Man-Tips ebook Vol. I is now available.

This is a whimsical but practical guide for men who aren’t sure what their ladies like. I asked a bunch of woman to give me tips they thought all guys should know…and here they are!

Click HERE and then click the download link.

Today I just want to say thank you!

I have a lot to be thankful for.

I have truly been blown away at the response from my online communities during these hard times for my family. Sometimes I feel like social media friends are somehow just 1′s and 0′s and/or statistics and not that there are actually real people on the other side of the equation. But you all have proven that even social media/ online communities can be real, meaning and effective!

Thank You.

I have been blessed by your responses to help pray for me and my family during this difficult season. From my pastors to my church, from my friends to acquaintances, and all the way too people I have never actually met; the fact that you are willing to take a second and say a prayer for us sooooo touches my heart.

Thank You.

I will keep you all updated the best I can, but for now just know that you do have an impact on people’s lives. People are listening when you say something online, and that I have felt your prayers with me.

Thank you for your concerns, thoughts, prayers, comments, emails, tweets, direct messages, texts, and phone calls and support…they mean so much to me.

I know that rough times will happen and it’s comforting to know I have people who want to help and are there for you…even if it’s just online. So thank you for being such a kick butt community and one I rely on more than I knew. God bless you all.

Thank You.

These past few months have honestly been very challenging for me. I have been through or witnessed so many setbacks, either physical, financial, logistical, or some combo of the three. It has seemed like for no reason, problems have come out of nowhere. Not everything has necessary happened to me personally but honestly, when it happens to the people you love, it pretty much happens to you too. And I wish I could trade places with many of them so they could find some relief. I feel like I have said all I can say to help encourage my self and others during these difficult times.

Going through storms in life is difficult. Seeing setbacks in my own life, that have delayed my plans has been difficult. Seeing random health and financial problems attack my girlfriend has been difficult. Having my cousin be perfectly healthy one day and fighting for her life the next has been difficult. (thankfully she is doing much better) And now last night, my memere, who currently has several types of cancer, had a stroke and doesn’t seem to be doing well.

It has seemed like one wave of hardship after the next. Just when we come up for air, we get smacked in the face with something else and pulled back down. I don’t have much left to say. It’s has been a stressful and trying few months.

But in these moments, I have two choices: I can fold or I can fight!

I can easily give into fear and let my circumstances determine my actions, reactions, and response. I can see all these bleak situations around me and say, Fear you win. This is awful, it’s the worst thing in the world and I’m never going to recover from this. I might as well just give up trying.

It is too easy to look at the mountain in front of us and say that it is just too big an obstacle to climb. Or my setback is just too much, I don’t know how I am going to get through this.

But I won’t do that!

I choose to fight!

Why?

Cause I don’t fight alone.

It’s not a fair fight. The odds are stacked in my favor.

We can choose to tell God how big our problem is or we can tell our problem how big our God is!

I choose to fight! To stand up and face the mountain, obstacle, or setback.

I’m making a stand to choose joy no matter what the circumstance. Will there be pain? yes. Will there be tears? yes. Will it be hard? yes. But joy isn’t based on circumstance. My hope, my peace, and my joy comes from God and God alone. He is my rock, my fortress, and my strong tower. He is my deliverer. He is my protector, preserver, and provider. He is my strength when I am weak. He has good plans for me. A future. He has got my back. He is my healer, my portion, my friend, my father, my God. From now until forever, that will never change!

So what do you do when you have nothing left to say because you are so drained from what life is throwing at you?

You say nothing!

You believe!

“The Lord WILL fight for you; you need only to be still!” Exodus 14:14

I choose to believe!

I choose to fight!

Here are the first 5 tips from my Man-Tips project e-book coming out shortly.

Men: take notes.

Women: take notes and give them to your men.

Enjoy!

You can find out more about the Man-Tips project HERE.

Today, I have the honor and privilege of guest posting on Mary DeMuth’s blog. Mary is an author, speaker, and book mentor and the resources she provides have greatly helped me out.

Do me a favor and head on over to her page and read my post about Living A Life of Freedom.

Thanks

This song is beautiful…all dads with daughters I’m sure will agree.

Have a wonderful weekend.

The few famous words from our GPS’ bring us security knowing we are on the right path and made it to where we wanted to be. But on the roadmap of life we don’t have a GPS to tell us the way; we don’t always know which path is the right path to take. So how do we navigate our way to make sure we end up where we want to be?

A good place to start is looking at where we came from. Following the path from where we were to where we are now, will give us a great indication of where we will end up. It’s easy to look back and see how we got to where we are now, but it often seems impossible to know where we will end up. But Andy Stanley adds,

Looking ahead we are often deceived into thinking that life is a series of unrelated decisions, and somehow we will end up where we want to be simple by force of will or luck…A path, like all paths, has a specific and often-times predictable destination.

Are you feeling lost? Are you not sure where you are heading? Maybe you know where you want to end up but aren’t sure if you are currently on the right path…

Reflect on the paths that you’ve chosen. Think about the choices you are currently making. Look back and see where you were and where you are now to determine your direction. Then you can use your direction to determine your destination. It takes more than just good intentions to get to where we want to be…we have to make sure we are headed in the right direction.

It’s important to look inside ourselves and give ourselves a checkup…

So…Arriving at destination or recalculating? Which path are you heading for?

Due to some technical issues with Mary’s site, my guest post will be published on Monday.

I hope you all can go check it out then…sorry for the tease.

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Today, I have the honor and privilege of guest posting on Mary DeMuth’s blog. Mary is an author, speaker, and book mentor and the resources she provides have greatly helped me out.

Do me a favor and head on over to her page and read my post about Living A Life of Freedom.

Thanks

What makes you feel strong? What empowers you? What activity gives you energy?

What is it that makes the time fly by? What brings you joy? What makes you feel alive?

Chances are, the answer to those questions are what your strengths.

Pursue them. Cultivate them. Shape your life around them. God designed you the way He did for a reason and when we pursue those strengths, we are fulfilling God’s desire and design for our lives.

Our culture seems so focused on improving our weaknesses. If you are lacking in a certain area, we are so quick to try to fix it, or we are feel shame that we are not as good as someone else. We’ll attend workshops, special classes, and seminars to try to help improve our weaknesses. But what if we gave the same focus to improving our strengths? What if instead of changing how we are wired, we learned what our strengths are and put our energy and focus into them?

When you become wrapped up in wishing you were someone who you are not, you become hindered from becoming the best version of yourself.

So what if instead of becoming mediocre at a several things, we focused and developed our strengths and became the best at just one or two thing?!

“Each of us has certain strengths. We were born with them, they will always be our strengths, and we delight in them…Trying to improve our weaknesses is like trying to teach a rabbit to swim or a snail to race, God’s design for work is best when it goes from strength to strength.” ~Marcus Buckingham

We were not all created the same way. We all have unique and different talents and abilities.

Let’s shift our focus. Let us not settle for being mediocre at many things just to call ourselves “well-rounded”; but instead pursue our strengths. Be the best you you can possibly be. Develop your giftings, pursue them, incorporate them into your daily routine, and live out God’s plan for your life!

Thank you all for keeping Brie in your prayers…I can tell you that it is truly making a difference.

Brie is now out of the ICU! Praise the Lord!

She is eating snack foods and feeling better.