The Expert in Anything Had to BEGIN

Ever look at someone and wish you had their talents or abilities or strengths and just wish you had even a portion of what they have? They, too, were at their beginning.....they had to learn; they had to spend hours developing their gifts; they had to be willing to be trained, they had to grow.

I became a pilot, a pianist and organist, a teacher, a securities broker and a real estate broker -- not to mention all the other things I've gone on to do -- because of training, studying, practicing....and determination, And, now, I've gone on to become quite accomplished in the world of technology.

Several years ago, I bought a cell phone that did it all -- talk, text, email, photos, music, internet, games. The nice guy at AT&T set it up for me. I was a happy camper -- ONLY $150 a month for my phone and service. But then, two years ago, my son created a social commerce company, Solavei to lower the cost of commerce and make it even profitable. I was excited to switch my mobile service to Solavei ($100/mo savings) and help people save, too. And in so doing learned more in this world of technology. Now, I am often the AT&T guy -- helping my friends and family get set up on Solavei -- and the best part, it also meant a $100/mo savings ($1,200 a year) for me -- not to mention, thousands of people have joined my network so I even have residual monthly income coming in. Who would have thought that this Nana would be competent in this world of technology? No one, including myself, but I was willing to grow, to be trained, to develop my gifts and to learn. I often laugh at myself when I'm talking about APN settings, MVNO, bandwidth, CDMA vs GSM, etc.

And what about you? What have you stretched yourself to become and do? God planted seeds inside you for you to cultivate and grow. Sure it may take hours and hours of training -- but isn't that what we did as youngsters when we began to read and write and learn arithmetic? Why would we stop now? Let's continue to take leaps of faith to become the best we can be! It comes with great reward. Now, let's wake up those seeds and cause them to GROW, today!!

The Greatest Gift We Give Our Children

In my post, yesterday, I urged parents to cultivate the talents, giftings and abilities of their children. The same day I read Max Lucado's post along the same lines, but he took it a step further by saying "The greatest gift you can give your children, is not your own riches, but revealing to them their own!" I love it. Helping our children find God's destiny and purpose for their lives is how Father God orchestrates our lives, and as we yield ourselves to His Master wisdom and direction, He helps us discover those gifts and talents He's placed in us, and then we use them to bless our world. Enjoy Max Lucado's (one of my favorite authors) short message here:

The Greatest Gift
by Max Lucado
"My dad repaired oil-field engines for a living and rebuilt car engines for fun. Dad loved machines. But God gave him a mechanical moron…a son who couldn’t differentiate between a differential and a brake disc. My dad tried to teach me. I tried to learn. Honestly, I did.

Machines anesthetized me. But books fascinated me. What does a mechanic do with a son who loves books? He gives him a library card. Buys him a few volumes for Christmas. Places a lamp by his bed so he can read at night. Pays tuition so his son can study college literature in high school. My dad did that.

You know what he didn’t do? Never once did he say, “Why can’t you be a mechanic like your dad and granddad?” The greatest gift you can give your children is not your own riches, but revealing to them their own!"

What Grows in Your Garden?

I saw a friend’s post a couple of days ago where she was asking for advice for getting rid of weeds in her garden. Comments to her post included: “Put newspaper around the plant – it will suffocate the weeds”; “Put grass clippings around the plant”; and I loved this one “Don’t plant a garden!” LOL!

That made me think about the weeds that may have grown in our heart’s garden – weeds of selfishness, pride, self-centeredness, laziness, bitterness, anger, envy, etc. Here's my advice: 1) First, cultivate the soil and add in a get mixture of fertilizer (prayer) ; 2) Plant the seeds of God’s Word (Bible reading and meditation); 3) Give the plants plenty of sunshine (speaking the light of God’s Word over the situations that may be troubling or concerning us); 4) Give the plants plenty of water (thanking, praising, trusting in God’s goodness and mercy to complete what He started, Proverbs 3:4,5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths."

Then, get ready for an abundant harvest of sweet and beautiful fruit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.......” Galatians 5:22,23

St. Paul said it perfectly in I Corinthians 3:6,7 – once we plant the seed…..God will make it grow! "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." God is the Master Gardener, and what He plants, always yields a great harvest!