I am in the process of learning lots about the wonders of Web 2.0 and the conceptual age that is emerging from the information age and in the process I have just learned how to connect my Blogger, Google, YouTube, Facebook, Picasa, and many other accounts to each other so content can be shared in its most relevant locations. So here is a video I made and distributed on YouTube... now seamlessly connected to my "A Glimpse Inside" blog.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
This Is Just A Test
I'm currently testing out a cool application called LifeCast that let's me post to my Google Blogger account from my iPhone. It should even add geo-tagging information. Let's see if it works.
Geolocate this post
Posted with LifeCast
Geolocate this post
Posted with LifeCast
Thursday, February 14, 2008
I Had A Dream
I am here today to tell you who I am, truly, honestly, and openly. To let you see past all that I am on the outside, and to let you have a glimpse of my heart.
Like most people, I remember being asked about what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I remember all the different things that I dreamed about doing or being. I remember wanting to be an astronaut, dreaming about being wealthy, and desiring to be famous. I also remember those dreams changed and matured as I went through different seasons in my life.
I realized recently that I have never clarified my dreams to myself, and that my dreams are so numerous that it would be hard to name them all. I want to be a Pastor, to be a Real Estate Investor, a Photographer, a world traveler, a missionary, and so much more.
When I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that all of these things are just passions, just things that I love, and I realized that the truest and deepest desire of my heart is love.
Tim McGraw, a renowned Country music singer and song writer, write this verse:
“I’m sittin’ here with my kids and my wife, and everything I hold dear in my life,
We say grace, and thank the Lord, got so much to be thankful for.
Then it’s up the stairs and off to bed, and my little girl says,
I haven’t had my story yet,
Everything weighn’ on my heart disappears, just like that,
When she lifts her head off her pillow and says,
‘I love you dad’
I don’t know why they say grown men don’t cry.”
I want to be the kind of man whose children love him, whose wife cherishes him, and who is not afraid to cry.
I want to be the kind of leader who has followers, the kind of teacher who has students, the kind of artist whose work is admired, because of love.
I want to be the kind of man who loves God with all his heart all his soul and all of his mind.
The deepest desire of my heart and my real dream look like this: on that final day when I meet Jesus the first words I want to hear are, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!!”
Like most people, I remember being asked about what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I remember all the different things that I dreamed about doing or being. I remember wanting to be an astronaut, dreaming about being wealthy, and desiring to be famous. I also remember those dreams changed and matured as I went through different seasons in my life.
I realized recently that I have never clarified my dreams to myself, and that my dreams are so numerous that it would be hard to name them all. I want to be a Pastor, to be a Real Estate Investor, a Photographer, a world traveler, a missionary, and so much more.
When I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that all of these things are just passions, just things that I love, and I realized that the truest and deepest desire of my heart is love.
Tim McGraw, a renowned Country music singer and song writer, write this verse:
“I’m sittin’ here with my kids and my wife, and everything I hold dear in my life,
We say grace, and thank the Lord, got so much to be thankful for.
Then it’s up the stairs and off to bed, and my little girl says,
I haven’t had my story yet,
Everything weighn’ on my heart disappears, just like that,
When she lifts her head off her pillow and says,
‘I love you dad’
I don’t know why they say grown men don’t cry.”
I want to be the kind of man whose children love him, whose wife cherishes him, and who is not afraid to cry.
I want to be the kind of leader who has followers, the kind of teacher who has students, the kind of artist whose work is admired, because of love.
I want to be the kind of man who loves God with all his heart all his soul and all of his mind.
The deepest desire of my heart and my real dream look like this: on that final day when I meet Jesus the first words I want to hear are, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!!”
Friday, February 8, 2008
Let Us Win The Nations
Hands clasp.
Arms wrap.
Hearts gather in communal celebration.
Heads bow.
Knees fall.
Hearts lay prostrate in humble admiration.
Bibles open.
Words Spoken.
Hearts listen in hungry anticipation.
Throats tighten.
Tears well.
Hearts cry out in shameful realization.
Decisions made.
Lives change.
Hearts go out and win the nations.
Arms wrap.
Hearts gather in communal celebration.
Heads bow.
Knees fall.
Hearts lay prostrate in humble admiration.
Bibles open.
Words Spoken.
Hearts listen in hungry anticipation.
Throats tighten.
Tears well.
Hearts cry out in shameful realization.
Decisions made.
Lives change.
Hearts go out and win the nations.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Tomorrow
It’s a bizarre winter day for the Midwest; the bleak cold broke for most of the afternoon, giving way to a very summer like sixty degree breeze. The warm sunshine outside calls out in its silent voice playfully asking me to come enjoy the sultry rays of a day soon to be lost in the darkness of winter once more. Sadly I must ignore the tacit invitation for I am not free of my windowed cell until six o’clock that evening, the bitter cold will have returned by then. So, I allow my mind to wander to many far distant places where sunshine and warmth never have an end. Where cold unfeeling winds have no place to call home. A day comes, traveling slower that I would like, whose arrival ushers in a new direction for my life. A path that will leave the lingering solitude of a life lived in singleness and overrun by hours worked in pursuit of a paycheck behind. I look forward with anticipation to that fork in the road, but I must keep a grateful heart now. I cannot live my life constantly waiting for tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Defining Moments
Orrin Woodward, on his blog over at BlogHarbor, in his most recent post has started a discussion about defining moments in his life. He has asked us (his readers) to respond in kind and post our own stories of defining moments in our lives. I have had many of those moments in both my faith and leadership journeys. I will share the latter with you now and the former sometime in the next couple of weeks. Enjoy.
I was enjoying a warm summer afternoon playing in my room, waiting patiently for the most exciting moment in any nine year old’s life. The moment that dad got home from work. As usual he came up to give me a hug, and most unusually he handed me a book. It was black and purple and the authors name I could barely pronounce. Key-O-Sock-Ee... what a weird name I thought to my self. I sat quietly on my bed, slowly opening the book. There was a yellow sticky note on the front page. “Rick, I think your son would enjoy this book” is all it said. God was orchestrating my vision before I even cared who He was. I read for the rest of the afternoon and was twirling in the story of another nine year old boy who was learning the ways of the wealthy from his Rich Dad and the ways of the middle class for his Poor Dad. A train of influence was set in motion that day, and it could never be stopped. I found the man who would be my first real mentor; his first lesson to me was that I could do what ever I set in my mind to do. I don’t even know if that lesson is explicitly stated in the book, but that’s what I got from it. I could do anything, he told me I could and I was naive enough to believe him with my whole heart. It was my first defining moment. Many more were to come and my second one was to come shortly there after and it was the lessons taught by this Kiyosaki guy that helped me understand it.
I was enjoying another warm summer afternoon (I should mention that I lived in So. Cal., so every afternoon was a warm summer one), sitting in the passenger seat next to my dad. He had just picked me up from one of the first days of high school. As I had gotten in, he said he had something he wanted to show me. Intrigued, I asked him what and as was his style he said that I’d just have to wait and see. I should back up here and make a point. My father is one of the most wonderful men to have ever blessed the days in my life. He taught me so much that I am extremely grateful for and without him I would not be the man I am today. All though my life up until this point my dad had told me that he believed I could do anything I set my mind to, same as Kiyosaki. Again, in my naïveté, I believed him. Something was about to happen, though, that would shake me down to my very foundations. In recent months I had again been reading one of Kiyosaki’s latest books (I had read so many of them that I considered him a friend, and he didn’t even know I existed). In the book he mentioned something that I didn’t entirely believe. He said that the message would change. You know the message of fathers to their sons. The one that says you are strong, capable, and can do anything that you put your mind to. Well, my message hadn’t changed and I didn’t believe it would and so the rest of Kiyosaki’s message and teaching were thrown into doubt in my mind. But today would prove different. Back to the ride in our truck with my dad. Were barreling down the road and where my dad should have turned right to head home, he instead turned left and took me somewhere I have never been. We round a few more corners and pass a couple of small ranches, when suddenly several mansions come into view. They were huge! My dad slows as I just gawk at the homes... I didn’t even know we had a rich part of town. The first one had a huge lake in his front yard and a yacht that looked to be too large for that lake it was on. The next was a spanish villa ranch style with at lease two guest houses that were bigger than the home we lived in. The next one had so many plants in the front that I couldn’t even see the home. My favorite one, however, was the last in line. It was nestled on top of a humungous hill and it had a two story living room that was circular and made entirely of glass. The view must have been amazing. Then from the front yard there was a really big water fall that ran from that impressive living room all the way down the hill to a large pond next to the road. I fell in love with the outside of that home and for years I would drive down that road after school just to inspire myself and remind me of all that was possible. I looked over at my dad, he wasn’t gawking at the homes, but smiling at the look of amazement on his eldest son’s face. He simply said, “I just wanted you to see what was possible,” as he began the drive back home. He was telling me again that he thought I had what it took to have a house like that one day. I knew it. So, to show him that I got his message, that I understood what he was trying to tell me, and to reassure myself that I believed him, I looked over at him and said “Dad, by the time I am twenty-five I will be able to afford any of the homes on that block.” I was proud of myself. My first real goal. It was specific, measurable, and timed; Kiyosaki said my goals should be like that. All I had to do was write it down. What came next shocked me greatly; instead of telling me that he knew I could do it my dad responded with the infamous comment that so many children hear; “Don’t get your hopes up, son.” Confusion whirled around in my thoughts. What? I thought he believed in me. It was at that moment that I realized that everything Robert Kiyosaki had been telling me was right. The message had been changed and it would never go back. For years following that moment, I heard my parents, my friends, my family, and a whole bunch of people who cared for me tell me not to get my hopes up. They were just trying to protect me. It was at that moment that I realized that I could no longer look to those who were wrapped up in the nintey-five percent world for my direction and vision in life. I had to look to those who had the success that I wanted and follow their example and listen to their advice, ignoring the incorrect or inadequate advice that came from those who did not have that same success.
They say that when the student is ready the teacher will come. Five more years of reading and dreaming had passed. I had committed to learn something new about success everyday and read a book on the subject every month. Again because Robert Kiyosaki had told me I should do that. He was my mentor and He also had that success I was looking for; so I listened. I was almost twenty years old and newly engaged to an amazing woman I thought would someday be my wife. That didn’t work out, but that’s another story for another time. I was online looking for people who might play Robert’s new Cashflow 101 game with me. I found a guy in my area by the name of Joel Burroughs. He agreed to meet me and my fiance at Barnes & Nobel the following afternoon to play the game. Little did I know that I was about to have another one of those defining moments. This time, however, dreams and reality would collide. After an enthralling game of Cashflow 101 and then another of Cashflow 202 with Joel and his wife Maria, he asked me if I wanted to see a business opportunity. Intrigued I said yes, and in the hour that followed I was introduced to the TEAM Leadership Development system (then called Legacy). For the first time in my life there was a method given to the madness of the dreams in my head. Joel would become my coach, my encourager, and my good friend over the next couple of years. He would begin to teach me the science side of leadership and he had helped to put meat on the bones of my dreams by giving me a system by which I could accomplish everything that I ever wanted. He also introduced me to a man by the name of Nick Scarcella who would become my next mentor, a man who could teach me the art side of leadership and encourage me to be the man he knew I could be.
The latest of these defining moments is really no moment at all, but a menagerie of little moment that when brought together bring a crystalline like definition to the life I intend to lead from this moment forward. Up until just recently I had a dream, I had a goal, and I had a plan to get there, but I was missing the most important ingredient to any journey of success, my heart. The TEAM LDS had introduced me to a man who quickly became my hero, a man who’s vision was bigger than himself. Orrin Woodward did something that no one else could have; he put a heart into my vision. When a vision, a dream, a goal, gets a heart, it comes to life. Orrin shouted to me over my car stereo, “GET YOUR HOPES UP, RICHARD!” I knew he was talking to me, “Stop, pecking on the ground with the chickens and come up here and fly with the eagles... where you belong.” Orrin was telling me that I needed to have a heart in my vision. I needed to know why I was doing what I was doing. Without a defining why, I would never get were I wanted to be and I wouldn’t enjoy the journey. God was at work in all of this and he showed me his fingerprints again this last week. I was just about to finish Launching A Leadership Revolution, by Orrin and his partner Chis, when I had to put the book down before finishing the conclusion. I had a leadership book club coming up in two days and need to finish Wild at Heart by John Eldridge before that time. So I put down LLR before reading the conclusion (something I never do) and read Wild at Heart. That book challenged me in a lot of ways and helped me to understand several of the actions and attitudes of my life. What John did in that book was to peel that last layer of dirt off the fossil that had become my heart and let God breathe new life into it. One of the concluding thoughts in that book that washed over me like a tidal wave of realization was a quote by Gil Bailie which read, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what make you come alive, and go do that, because what the world need is men who have come alive.” Wow! That’s what Orrin had been trying to tell me, and God wasn’t going to sit by idly and let me go without that message getting thoroughly ingrained into my head. Remember how I had not finished LLR, well I picked it up yesterday and read the conclusion. The concluding thought in that book read something like this; it was a quote by Gil Bailie which read, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what make you come alive, and go do that, because what the world need is people who have come alive.” Okay! Okay! I get the point God. I need to find out what makes me come alive and go do that. That’s where my hero comes in again. Orrin puts it best when he says that we have a battle to fight. We must change the heart beat of our nation and in so doing the direction of our world. How do you change the heart beat of a nation? By changing the hearts of its individuals, one person at at time.
So here I stand, at the edge of today gazing into the endless vista of tomorrow and thank God for a battle to fight. You see everyday spent in the battle to win the hearts of those without truth is truly a day lived in the fullest of adventures. It makes me come alive inside and that’s what our world needs, men who have come alive. Please come and join TEAM Leadership, this battle can’t be won alone.
With Love,
Richard Matthews
PS - According the John Eldridge... all I have left after having a battle to fight and an adventure to live, to really get my heart back, is to find a beauty to rescue. That’s sounds fun!
I was enjoying a warm summer afternoon playing in my room, waiting patiently for the most exciting moment in any nine year old’s life. The moment that dad got home from work. As usual he came up to give me a hug, and most unusually he handed me a book. It was black and purple and the authors name I could barely pronounce. Key-O-Sock-Ee... what a weird name I thought to my self. I sat quietly on my bed, slowly opening the book. There was a yellow sticky note on the front page. “Rick, I think your son would enjoy this book” is all it said. God was orchestrating my vision before I even cared who He was. I read for the rest of the afternoon and was twirling in the story of another nine year old boy who was learning the ways of the wealthy from his Rich Dad and the ways of the middle class for his Poor Dad. A train of influence was set in motion that day, and it could never be stopped. I found the man who would be my first real mentor; his first lesson to me was that I could do what ever I set in my mind to do. I don’t even know if that lesson is explicitly stated in the book, but that’s what I got from it. I could do anything, he told me I could and I was naive enough to believe him with my whole heart. It was my first defining moment. Many more were to come and my second one was to come shortly there after and it was the lessons taught by this Kiyosaki guy that helped me understand it.
I was enjoying another warm summer afternoon (I should mention that I lived in So. Cal., so every afternoon was a warm summer one), sitting in the passenger seat next to my dad. He had just picked me up from one of the first days of high school. As I had gotten in, he said he had something he wanted to show me. Intrigued, I asked him what and as was his style he said that I’d just have to wait and see. I should back up here and make a point. My father is one of the most wonderful men to have ever blessed the days in my life. He taught me so much that I am extremely grateful for and without him I would not be the man I am today. All though my life up until this point my dad had told me that he believed I could do anything I set my mind to, same as Kiyosaki. Again, in my naïveté, I believed him. Something was about to happen, though, that would shake me down to my very foundations. In recent months I had again been reading one of Kiyosaki’s latest books (I had read so many of them that I considered him a friend, and he didn’t even know I existed). In the book he mentioned something that I didn’t entirely believe. He said that the message would change. You know the message of fathers to their sons. The one that says you are strong, capable, and can do anything that you put your mind to. Well, my message hadn’t changed and I didn’t believe it would and so the rest of Kiyosaki’s message and teaching were thrown into doubt in my mind. But today would prove different. Back to the ride in our truck with my dad. Were barreling down the road and where my dad should have turned right to head home, he instead turned left and took me somewhere I have never been. We round a few more corners and pass a couple of small ranches, when suddenly several mansions come into view. They were huge! My dad slows as I just gawk at the homes... I didn’t even know we had a rich part of town. The first one had a huge lake in his front yard and a yacht that looked to be too large for that lake it was on. The next was a spanish villa ranch style with at lease two guest houses that were bigger than the home we lived in. The next one had so many plants in the front that I couldn’t even see the home. My favorite one, however, was the last in line. It was nestled on top of a humungous hill and it had a two story living room that was circular and made entirely of glass. The view must have been amazing. Then from the front yard there was a really big water fall that ran from that impressive living room all the way down the hill to a large pond next to the road. I fell in love with the outside of that home and for years I would drive down that road after school just to inspire myself and remind me of all that was possible. I looked over at my dad, he wasn’t gawking at the homes, but smiling at the look of amazement on his eldest son’s face. He simply said, “I just wanted you to see what was possible,” as he began the drive back home. He was telling me again that he thought I had what it took to have a house like that one day. I knew it. So, to show him that I got his message, that I understood what he was trying to tell me, and to reassure myself that I believed him, I looked over at him and said “Dad, by the time I am twenty-five I will be able to afford any of the homes on that block.” I was proud of myself. My first real goal. It was specific, measurable, and timed; Kiyosaki said my goals should be like that. All I had to do was write it down. What came next shocked me greatly; instead of telling me that he knew I could do it my dad responded with the infamous comment that so many children hear; “Don’t get your hopes up, son.” Confusion whirled around in my thoughts. What? I thought he believed in me. It was at that moment that I realized that everything Robert Kiyosaki had been telling me was right. The message had been changed and it would never go back. For years following that moment, I heard my parents, my friends, my family, and a whole bunch of people who cared for me tell me not to get my hopes up. They were just trying to protect me. It was at that moment that I realized that I could no longer look to those who were wrapped up in the nintey-five percent world for my direction and vision in life. I had to look to those who had the success that I wanted and follow their example and listen to their advice, ignoring the incorrect or inadequate advice that came from those who did not have that same success.
They say that when the student is ready the teacher will come. Five more years of reading and dreaming had passed. I had committed to learn something new about success everyday and read a book on the subject every month. Again because Robert Kiyosaki had told me I should do that. He was my mentor and He also had that success I was looking for; so I listened. I was almost twenty years old and newly engaged to an amazing woman I thought would someday be my wife. That didn’t work out, but that’s another story for another time. I was online looking for people who might play Robert’s new Cashflow 101 game with me. I found a guy in my area by the name of Joel Burroughs. He agreed to meet me and my fiance at Barnes & Nobel the following afternoon to play the game. Little did I know that I was about to have another one of those defining moments. This time, however, dreams and reality would collide. After an enthralling game of Cashflow 101 and then another of Cashflow 202 with Joel and his wife Maria, he asked me if I wanted to see a business opportunity. Intrigued I said yes, and in the hour that followed I was introduced to the TEAM Leadership Development system (then called Legacy). For the first time in my life there was a method given to the madness of the dreams in my head. Joel would become my coach, my encourager, and my good friend over the next couple of years. He would begin to teach me the science side of leadership and he had helped to put meat on the bones of my dreams by giving me a system by which I could accomplish everything that I ever wanted. He also introduced me to a man by the name of Nick Scarcella who would become my next mentor, a man who could teach me the art side of leadership and encourage me to be the man he knew I could be.
The latest of these defining moments is really no moment at all, but a menagerie of little moment that when brought together bring a crystalline like definition to the life I intend to lead from this moment forward. Up until just recently I had a dream, I had a goal, and I had a plan to get there, but I was missing the most important ingredient to any journey of success, my heart. The TEAM LDS had introduced me to a man who quickly became my hero, a man who’s vision was bigger than himself. Orrin Woodward did something that no one else could have; he put a heart into my vision. When a vision, a dream, a goal, gets a heart, it comes to life. Orrin shouted to me over my car stereo, “GET YOUR HOPES UP, RICHARD!” I knew he was talking to me, “Stop, pecking on the ground with the chickens and come up here and fly with the eagles... where you belong.” Orrin was telling me that I needed to have a heart in my vision. I needed to know why I was doing what I was doing. Without a defining why, I would never get were I wanted to be and I wouldn’t enjoy the journey. God was at work in all of this and he showed me his fingerprints again this last week. I was just about to finish Launching A Leadership Revolution, by Orrin and his partner Chis, when I had to put the book down before finishing the conclusion. I had a leadership book club coming up in two days and need to finish Wild at Heart by John Eldridge before that time. So I put down LLR before reading the conclusion (something I never do) and read Wild at Heart. That book challenged me in a lot of ways and helped me to understand several of the actions and attitudes of my life. What John did in that book was to peel that last layer of dirt off the fossil that had become my heart and let God breathe new life into it. One of the concluding thoughts in that book that washed over me like a tidal wave of realization was a quote by Gil Bailie which read, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what make you come alive, and go do that, because what the world need is men who have come alive.” Wow! That’s what Orrin had been trying to tell me, and God wasn’t going to sit by idly and let me go without that message getting thoroughly ingrained into my head. Remember how I had not finished LLR, well I picked it up yesterday and read the conclusion. The concluding thought in that book read something like this; it was a quote by Gil Bailie which read, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what make you come alive, and go do that, because what the world need is people who have come alive.” Okay! Okay! I get the point God. I need to find out what makes me come alive and go do that. That’s where my hero comes in again. Orrin puts it best when he says that we have a battle to fight. We must change the heart beat of our nation and in so doing the direction of our world. How do you change the heart beat of a nation? By changing the hearts of its individuals, one person at at time.
So here I stand, at the edge of today gazing into the endless vista of tomorrow and thank God for a battle to fight. You see everyday spent in the battle to win the hearts of those without truth is truly a day lived in the fullest of adventures. It makes me come alive inside and that’s what our world needs, men who have come alive. Please come and join TEAM Leadership, this battle can’t be won alone.
With Love,
Richard Matthews
PS - According the John Eldridge... all I have left after having a battle to fight and an adventure to live, to really get my heart back, is to find a beauty to rescue. That’s sounds fun!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Dream Today
Orrin Woodward quotes Einstein when he says, “Imagination is more important than knowledge,” and he completes the thought by saying that, “if we can image the future, we can create a new today.” Let’s Imagine Together..
For the sake of perspective and for later reflection, let’s start with what my life is like today and see if imagination can change my tomorrow. I awake suddenly; the alarm blaring, announcing the commencement of a new school year. The cool morning air of late summer blows through the window and I know that getting out of bed would not be nearly as pleasant as the warm sheets enveloping my body. I arise drearily and shut off the screeching clock, imagining to myself how nice it would be to smash that terror of the morning. Senior year of Bible college starts in just a few hours and I must be ready for whatever stresses that may bring, so it’s off to the shower for me. As the warm water pours over my unclad body, I thank my Lord for the life He has given me and chuckle a little at the recent memory of the roaches scurrying away when I turned the lights on in the bathroom only moments before. I can’t afford much as a college student and the little three bedroom, that myself and four roommates had, was as nice as any student could ask. It serves as a humble reminder, however; that I am in all senses, now considered an adult by our world. Bills must be paid, laundry must be washed, food cooked, dishes cleaned, hours worked, studies finished, relationships kept up, and hopefully, amongst all the work I would find the time to sleep. Now clean and dressed, I sit with a bowl of cereal on the old couch, with torn arms and soft cushions. We got it free from someone who was going to throw it away. It fit well with the rest of our obviously college student furniture, another six dollar couch from goodwill and some camping chairs; life is good and cheap is how we live it.
Almost mindlessly, I take the next steps in my daily routine, collecting my school books and my gear for work. Walking outside, the sunburst orange of my inexpensive Suzuki glints in the sunlight; it’s beautiful, but deceptively so, for that beauty is fettered with debt and with bills. The five minute drive to school passes quickly and the long search for a space to park begins, usually ending up with my car parked as far away from my class as possible while still technically being “on campus.” After three hours of class, my rear is beginning to be sore and the hard chairs do nothing to help the situation. As usual the professors teaching expands my mind and challenges my thought. Gladness fills my heart as I remember the advise I took from Chris Brady and Robert Kiyosaki; “if you are going to go to college, then go to a college where you can learn something you are passionate about, not one where you can be trained to do a job,” they said. After class finishes, I quickly pack my things and rush off to my car only to spend the next hour on the road, so I can make it to work on time and give them their eight hours and they can give me the check. Lucky for me, I get to spend this time getting personally mentored by some of the best business minds in this country. With the voices of Orrin, Chris, Lance, Randy, and many others flagrantly imbuing my mind with the thinking the wealthy, my thoughts dance with dreams of the future and the power of imagination.
Arriving at work brings my mind suddenly back to the moment at hand and I must now start the drudgery of an eight hour work day. At least the chairs are softer than the ones at school. As my fingers wander tirelessly over the many small screws and parts of the finely crafted machines, my mind drifts to the enchanting thoughts of a brighter and more challenging future. Those thoughts are the glint of hope that keep me from digressing into insanity from the sheer repetitiveness of my life. I see the look of hopelessness in the eyes of my fellow workers and wonder if they know that a better tomorrow starts with a bigger dream today; that to have something to live for, something to fight for makes life worth living. Looking into my co-workers eyes, I see a hopelessness that asks incredulously, “is there more to this life?” The time passes slowly, and the work work bores quickly; there is nothing new to learn and that makes the job seem pointless. Every few moments I glance over at the clock and am surprised by how little that long black hand has moved. I am reminded of how I feel about my dreams, checking my progress every few days and noticing that I am not progressing as fast as I would like. That’s okay though; persistence will pay off, because I know that when passion and skill come together that I can expect a victory. After many more machines are repaired and several more customers are helped, the clock finally hits that wonderful hour signaling my eight hours of slavery are over and now I am off to build my dreams. I make a phone call and confirm the time and place I am meeting him. He’s a young man, probably my age and tonight I am going to share a dream with him. We are sitting at the kitchen table of his home; a piece of white paper and a pen lay in wait on the table for a time after a friendship has been established and a need has been found. I must know who and where he is if I am to have any hope of showing him who he could become and where he could go. I learn about his job and how he dreads it. I learn about his kids, and how little time he has with them. I learn about his wife and how much he loves her and wishes he had more time to dote on her. I learn about his hopes and how he is starting to believe that they are not possible. I learn that he has stopped dreaming and how he wonders if there is more to this life. Sometime has passed now and he wants to know what I came here this evening to show him. I sit back and ask him if he knows what it means to live out of the glory of his imagination. His puzzled yet inquisitive gaze tells me all I need to know. Life has been as hard for him as it has for everyone of us; so hard in fact that he has lost his hope and his ability to dream. Leaning forward once more I begin to tell him a story, a story filled with hope and dreams, a story that can and will be reality if only we’d fight for it. “Let’s imagine together,” I say...
The sun bursts forth through the open window and a sweet tropical breeze caresses my senses. Time doesn’t matter in paradise and the only alarm comes from God and His creation. The scent of fresh fruit tantalizes my tongue and the morning melody of many birds tease my ears. I roll over, savoring the rested feeling that only freedom can bring and gently caress her face. My beauty, every peaceful breath she draws causes my heart to melt a little. What a precious gift she is; I wonder if she knows the depth of my love? Does she know I’d give my life for her, if ever it was asked? Quietly I slip out from under the warm covers and head to the shower, pausing briefly at the panoramic window to take in the view. The ocean is so vast, the sky is so blue. I sigh and think about what I’d be missing if I had chosen not to fight for my dreams. The warm breeze nuzzles my unclad body and reminds me that I have a shower waiting. Another day of freedom lies just around the corner and I must be ready for whatever adventures that may bring. So, I make my way to the bathroom, turn on the shower and admire the many jets of streaming water. I had always wanted a shower that would spray from every direction, a shower who’s only goal in life was to completely wrap me up its warm watery embrace. As the warm liquid pours over my body, I thank my Lord for all that He has given me and chuckle a little at the recent memory of my beautiful bride sleeping next to me only moments before, an exemplary gift to an undeserving man. It’s not much but this little six bedroom villa in the Caribbean Islands is more than any man can ask. It servers, however; as a quiet and humble reminder of all that is possible when one fights for his dreams. Bills are all paid, laundry is taken care of, food is being cooked. All that’s left for me to do is be a daddy to my kids, a husband to my wife, and leader to my team. Now clean and dressed I move to the kitchen and proceed to successfully rouse my boys with the succulent smell and crackling sound of freshly cooked bacon. We sit down in chairs much nicer than the ones from college, but all of that is meaningless compared to getting breakfast with my wife and kids in the middle of the week. No rush for work, no rush for school, no rush at all. We just get to enjoy each others company. Life is good and free is how we live it.
To Be Continued...
For the sake of perspective and for later reflection, let’s start with what my life is like today and see if imagination can change my tomorrow. I awake suddenly; the alarm blaring, announcing the commencement of a new school year. The cool morning air of late summer blows through the window and I know that getting out of bed would not be nearly as pleasant as the warm sheets enveloping my body. I arise drearily and shut off the screeching clock, imagining to myself how nice it would be to smash that terror of the morning. Senior year of Bible college starts in just a few hours and I must be ready for whatever stresses that may bring, so it’s off to the shower for me. As the warm water pours over my unclad body, I thank my Lord for the life He has given me and chuckle a little at the recent memory of the roaches scurrying away when I turned the lights on in the bathroom only moments before. I can’t afford much as a college student and the little three bedroom, that myself and four roommates had, was as nice as any student could ask. It serves as a humble reminder, however; that I am in all senses, now considered an adult by our world. Bills must be paid, laundry must be washed, food cooked, dishes cleaned, hours worked, studies finished, relationships kept up, and hopefully, amongst all the work I would find the time to sleep. Now clean and dressed, I sit with a bowl of cereal on the old couch, with torn arms and soft cushions. We got it free from someone who was going to throw it away. It fit well with the rest of our obviously college student furniture, another six dollar couch from goodwill and some camping chairs; life is good and cheap is how we live it.
Almost mindlessly, I take the next steps in my daily routine, collecting my school books and my gear for work. Walking outside, the sunburst orange of my inexpensive Suzuki glints in the sunlight; it’s beautiful, but deceptively so, for that beauty is fettered with debt and with bills. The five minute drive to school passes quickly and the long search for a space to park begins, usually ending up with my car parked as far away from my class as possible while still technically being “on campus.” After three hours of class, my rear is beginning to be sore and the hard chairs do nothing to help the situation. As usual the professors teaching expands my mind and challenges my thought. Gladness fills my heart as I remember the advise I took from Chris Brady and Robert Kiyosaki; “if you are going to go to college, then go to a college where you can learn something you are passionate about, not one where you can be trained to do a job,” they said. After class finishes, I quickly pack my things and rush off to my car only to spend the next hour on the road, so I can make it to work on time and give them their eight hours and they can give me the check. Lucky for me, I get to spend this time getting personally mentored by some of the best business minds in this country. With the voices of Orrin, Chris, Lance, Randy, and many others flagrantly imbuing my mind with the thinking the wealthy, my thoughts dance with dreams of the future and the power of imagination.
Arriving at work brings my mind suddenly back to the moment at hand and I must now start the drudgery of an eight hour work day. At least the chairs are softer than the ones at school. As my fingers wander tirelessly over the many small screws and parts of the finely crafted machines, my mind drifts to the enchanting thoughts of a brighter and more challenging future. Those thoughts are the glint of hope that keep me from digressing into insanity from the sheer repetitiveness of my life. I see the look of hopelessness in the eyes of my fellow workers and wonder if they know that a better tomorrow starts with a bigger dream today; that to have something to live for, something to fight for makes life worth living. Looking into my co-workers eyes, I see a hopelessness that asks incredulously, “is there more to this life?” The time passes slowly, and the work work bores quickly; there is nothing new to learn and that makes the job seem pointless. Every few moments I glance over at the clock and am surprised by how little that long black hand has moved. I am reminded of how I feel about my dreams, checking my progress every few days and noticing that I am not progressing as fast as I would like. That’s okay though; persistence will pay off, because I know that when passion and skill come together that I can expect a victory. After many more machines are repaired and several more customers are helped, the clock finally hits that wonderful hour signaling my eight hours of slavery are over and now I am off to build my dreams. I make a phone call and confirm the time and place I am meeting him. He’s a young man, probably my age and tonight I am going to share a dream with him. We are sitting at the kitchen table of his home; a piece of white paper and a pen lay in wait on the table for a time after a friendship has been established and a need has been found. I must know who and where he is if I am to have any hope of showing him who he could become and where he could go. I learn about his job and how he dreads it. I learn about his kids, and how little time he has with them. I learn about his wife and how much he loves her and wishes he had more time to dote on her. I learn about his hopes and how he is starting to believe that they are not possible. I learn that he has stopped dreaming and how he wonders if there is more to this life. Sometime has passed now and he wants to know what I came here this evening to show him. I sit back and ask him if he knows what it means to live out of the glory of his imagination. His puzzled yet inquisitive gaze tells me all I need to know. Life has been as hard for him as it has for everyone of us; so hard in fact that he has lost his hope and his ability to dream. Leaning forward once more I begin to tell him a story, a story filled with hope and dreams, a story that can and will be reality if only we’d fight for it. “Let’s imagine together,” I say...
The sun bursts forth through the open window and a sweet tropical breeze caresses my senses. Time doesn’t matter in paradise and the only alarm comes from God and His creation. The scent of fresh fruit tantalizes my tongue and the morning melody of many birds tease my ears. I roll over, savoring the rested feeling that only freedom can bring and gently caress her face. My beauty, every peaceful breath she draws causes my heart to melt a little. What a precious gift she is; I wonder if she knows the depth of my love? Does she know I’d give my life for her, if ever it was asked? Quietly I slip out from under the warm covers and head to the shower, pausing briefly at the panoramic window to take in the view. The ocean is so vast, the sky is so blue. I sigh and think about what I’d be missing if I had chosen not to fight for my dreams. The warm breeze nuzzles my unclad body and reminds me that I have a shower waiting. Another day of freedom lies just around the corner and I must be ready for whatever adventures that may bring. So, I make my way to the bathroom, turn on the shower and admire the many jets of streaming water. I had always wanted a shower that would spray from every direction, a shower who’s only goal in life was to completely wrap me up its warm watery embrace. As the warm liquid pours over my body, I thank my Lord for all that He has given me and chuckle a little at the recent memory of my beautiful bride sleeping next to me only moments before, an exemplary gift to an undeserving man. It’s not much but this little six bedroom villa in the Caribbean Islands is more than any man can ask. It servers, however; as a quiet and humble reminder of all that is possible when one fights for his dreams. Bills are all paid, laundry is taken care of, food is being cooked. All that’s left for me to do is be a daddy to my kids, a husband to my wife, and leader to my team. Now clean and dressed I move to the kitchen and proceed to successfully rouse my boys with the succulent smell and crackling sound of freshly cooked bacon. We sit down in chairs much nicer than the ones from college, but all of that is meaningless compared to getting breakfast with my wife and kids in the middle of the week. No rush for work, no rush for school, no rush at all. We just get to enjoy each others company. Life is good and free is how we live it.
To Be Continued...
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