Things Are Looking Up With Optimism and Hope

We are known as an optimistic family. We reinforced optimism in our children with “You are champions. You can do anything if you set your heart and mind to it. With God all things are possible." We purposely speak “God is good -- all the time” regardless of sunshine or rain, joy or sorrow, win or defeat.

Now, I have a greater, healthier sense of respect for the concept of hope even more than optimism. To be optimistic about our lives will serve us well, mentally and physically. But when we’re holding onto the last strand of the rope in our circumstances and when we need a powerful shot of an energy drink to keep us holding a little longer, there is no substitute for hope. So here, let me offer you an energy drink from the Springs of Living Water found in God’s Word: “We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28).

Looking back at my own life -- every defeat, every pain, every disappointment, resulted in eventual good. Now I know God is actively working to bring good out of whatever happens in our lives. So we grab hold of hope and that truth again: “We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28). That scripture isn’t saying that every event in our life will be good. But it does say that when we put our whole life together, every piece of it works together for good. It’s like making a cake. We may not like the taste of each ingredient -- but when it’s all put together, we can’t keep our hands off of it. God wants to bake an amazingly tasty cake with our lives, and He wants to use even the distasteful and bitter ingredients to do it.

God also doesn’t say that everything works together like we want it to or every story will have a happy ending. The reality is not every business decision will make us a million dollars. Not every couple that gets married will live happily ever after. Not every child will become a star athlete. Instead, the verse reminds us that we can have absolute confidence that our Master Chef and Designer causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God. (BTW, this promise is for “those who love God,” not for those who don't.)

Hope is the absolute confidence that every part of our lives will ultimately make sense. From our vantage point, life looks like a mess at times. But God’s view is the finished cake -- so tasty, so good. We can’t even imagine the good that God has in store for our future. Our future is in God’s hands — and there’s no better place for it to be.

Dear God, Is it OK for Us to Pray for our Team to Win?

This is Super Bowl Sunday and if you're not a Rams or Patriots fan, you may not be inclined to feel "passionate" about today's game. You probably don't care one way or the other who wins. But if you are one of those team's fans, you may be as passionate about your team, as I would have been if my Dallas Cowboys had made it the distance.

I heard my son and his buddy talking about the game yesterday. Ryan was giving his support for the Patriots: “Why wouldn’t we want to see the Patriots set records and win again? They have proven themselves to be champions. They have arguably the greatest quarterback of all time and Bill Belicheck is the greatest NFL coach of all time. They’ve created one of the most dominant sports dynasties in American sports history.” Then his buddy declared his case for the Rams: "Sean McVay is the youngest coach in history and Jared Goff is the youngest quarterback at 24 to go to the Super Bowl since Brady won his first Super Bowl at age 24. It’s time to give others a chance to prove themselves!” I was amused at their bantering.

I was also amused by a Fox News story of a pastor who was asking: “Is it OK for us to pray for our team to win the Super Bowl?” I was so taken with his article that I make it part of my post today. Here are some excerpts: “I grew up in New England so you can guess who I am rooting for to win the Super Bowl. I was an athlete and my two boys played college football, so I’ve always prayed for a win.

The majority of people don’t believe you should pray for God’s help. I’m sure most of them think God has better things to do than concern himself with whether the Patriots win their sixth Super Bowl. But the Bible tells us in Philippians 4:6, “Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything.” Everything includes sports. If you care about your team you can pray for them. Of course, there will also be people praying for the other team. We can pray for success because God wants us to be successful. He wants us to live life to the fullest. My definition of success is fully living out your life’s purpose. God equips us with talents, gifts, passions, and opportunities. And He expects us to fulfill our potential. When we do, we are a success.

Genesis 39:23 tells us, “The Lord was with Joseph and made him successful in all that he did.” We can certainly pray for God to make us successful too. For the players in Sunday’s game, success means doing their very best with the gifts, talents, and opportunities God gave them. They can certainly pray for that and we can pray that for them as well.

Go ahead and pray for your team on Sunday. Pray that every player on the team plays to his fullest potential. It’s likely that the ones who don’t on either team will decide the outcome of the game. And if by some chance all the players perform to their fullest ability, then the Super Bowl champions will of course be…the Patriots!" -- Pastor Rick McDaniel

I loved the “take away” from this pastor’s post. Pray about everything. That’s our call to action. Pray about our country. Pray about our families. Pray about our neighbors and our friends who need prayer. In the end, God will still be the ultimate, great and sovereign Umpire Who calls the plays and gives penalties OR rewards. That’s what God asks for – to perform to the greatest of our ability and keep praying. We are on the winning team, God’s team and we always win! Just check out the end of His play-BOOK!

It's Not Over Till I Win

Years ago, my daughter wrote and recorded a song entitled "It's Not Over Till I win". The chorus of the song goes like this:
"I'm not givin' up. I'm not givin' in. I've got to keep believing. It's not over till I win! I'm not givin' up! I'm not givin' in. I've gotta keep on pressing on. Cause it's not over till I win."

That song certainly rang true this weekend. Ryan and Shawntel asked if I could come to Austin to stay with the boys and to go to Brennan's Baseball Tournament in Taylor TX. Alexia came with me and it was "Game on", but on the first day, Brennan's team fell short on both of that day's games. They are a good team, but on that day....it just didn't come together for them. So, going into yesterday's games, our expectations weren't that high and if we lost the first game, we knew we'd be heading back home. But, lo and behold, they won their first game, and then they won their second game, that pushed them to the semi-final that they won again which put them in the final game. And, to our amazement, they won the overall tournament, winning these Texas-sized tournament rings. Of course there was celebration in ginormous proportions. It sure made it worth our while to get to be a part of the excitement. Brennan was confident that it was Nana and Alexia's presence that helped them win and asked if we'd be sure to come to all of their tournament games. LOL!

What if those boys and their coaches had given up when they lost those first two games? But they didn't, and with each win, they seemed to gather more and more confidence and determination that said "It's Not Over Till We Win!"

What about the losses we've experienced in life? Did they make us quit the game or did it propel us to dig our heels in and realize that each loss showed us what we were doing wrong and what we were doing right.

Are you done? Are you ready to throw in the towel? Do you hear voices that say "You're losing -- you just can't take it anymore -- you might as well give up -- you're gonna fail again?" Then I urge you to listen to this song, written and sung by my favorite vocalist, who heard those same voices and had plenty of reasons to give up. But instead of giving up....she pulled up her bootstraps and let those voices know "It's Not Over Till I Win!" Turn up the volume on your speakers and get ready to fire up and muscle up! It's time for your come-back! It's NOT OVER TILL YOU WIN.

http://staciwallace.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/03-Its-Not-Over.mp3

What's Your Name?

Day 203 of Photo Inspirations -- What's Your Name?
Not my usual kind of photo inspiration, but nevertheless it captured my attention and my thoughts about speaking what we want to be, instead of who or what we are. Yes, I was amused when I saw this lady's shirt and what it said. "Sarcasm -- just one more service I offer".  And indeed that's what she offered. This is one of the moms in one of the opposing teams that were at the tournament yesterday. Her sarcasm was evident.  And she seemed to be proud of it. It was who she was and I thought to myself, why would someone want to call themself that or would want to speak of themself in that way? How about a t-shirt that said encourager? Or cheerleader?  Encouraging and cheering others on.

I thought about a little child that I saw wearing a t-shirt that said "I'm a little monster."  Sure, that little child may have been a little mischievious. But by no means does that make her a monster, and neither should she be called a little monster. That little child didn't call herself a little monster, but whoever gave her that t-shirt and whoever put it on her is calling her that.

The Bible says "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." We are children of Almighty God and made in His image. Why wouldn't we be calling ourselves and those around us......Beautiful!  Special? Precious treasure?  Peacemaker?

Our reality may just be what we're calling to ourselves.  If we want and desire a life of joy, contentment, peace and love, doesn't it make sense that we do our best to promote it in every way possible?  If we want our children to be confident, feeling loved and embraced, shouldn't we be calling them champions?  World changers!