All posts by Keith Thompson

Swinging for the fence

Life

This is obviously a baseball term depicting a batter getting up to the plate and swinging with everything he has and not holding anything back.

Before I had a real job, I used to play competitive league softball. I was almost a real ball player and almost had some skills at the game. Nonetheless, I batted 4th which in most baseball realms means that you were the best hitter on the team. The idea was to let the first 3 people bat and get on base and then the 4th hitter would hit a home run and score all 4 players. That was the idea anyway.

At the time I was in my early 20’s and could bench press twice my weight. Now I can bench press a chicken leg or a cell phone. Ha. Then, I was eating food to try and gain weight and working out 3-5 times a week with my muscled friends. Now I try not to eat so I will lose weight. It’s amazing how the cycles of life happen.

Anyway, the feeling it was to swing a bat with everything you have is a lot like life today when you absolutely try as hard as you can at what you are doing. I am sure there is some doctor that could name what happens to the cells of the body when you are giving your all either mentally or physically at some project. It is like a shot of adrenaline to the soul. When you experience this adrenaline rush in life or business, you will sleep better and be more content in life. There is something both physical and spiritual about trying as hard as you can at something.

The other side of this subject is the fear of failure that holds you back. Many people live an entire life with a fear of failure that keeps them from really experiencing true satisfaction and the joy of a job or project well done.

Find something that you can give your best to and watch how you feel afterward. KT

Boldness

Life

Hebrews 4:16 says “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in a time of need.”

Being bold does not only help in your life here on earth but it is also very helpful when you go to God for help. James 1:5 says that when we need wisdom, let us ask God and he (God) will not withhold it from us, but verse 6 &7 are the real deal. Verse 6 &7 says “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed and let not that man think he shall receive anything of the Lord.”

Translation: God expects us to be bold even when we are talking to him and asking for his help.

I heard a preacher one time paint a mental image of this subject that has stayed with me for many years. The image is of a daddy with a candy bar in his shirt pocket and his little son crawling up to his daddy and asking him if he could just lick the wrapper of the candy bar. That’s just foolishness isn’t it? The image God wants us to get is of the little boy running and jumping into his daddy’s lap and grabbing the candy bar. That is the image of who God is that is burned in to my consciousness and I hope is also in yours.

Be bold in life but especially be bold in the sight of God because you are his little child just like the little boy in the story. KT

Be careful how you speak to yourself

Career, Life

Some of the most powerful words you will ever hear spoken are your own words. These words will either edify you or tear you down. The bible speaks to this when it says “whatever is in your heart in abundance will come out of your mouth.”

Years ago I had no teaching or basis for understanding this cornerstone of life, but I just knew in my heart that I needed to be careful with the words of my mouth. Especially when I speak to myself. There have been many times when I embarrassed myself in a presentation or messed up a pitch or didn’t respond with the right words or in my case even say the words fluently. I was always tempted to get in my car and say things that would tear down my spirit. Somewhere in there, I just knew that I needed to be careful when I was alone with myself because I was my own worst critic.

One time in New York I was speaking to a group and I blundered, stumbled, stuttered and basically felt embarrassed when I finished. I felt that I have really blown the speech. The next day a friend of mine that I trusted came up to me and told me it was one of the most moving and timely speeches he had ever heard. When I told him how I thought I had messed up, he said to me, it was actually very powerful. What we often think people are saying about us, many times is not true at all.

The speech I gave was one evening and what the friend told me was the next morning. I had that whole night to think alone and potentially beat myself up. I will confess I did think about it all evening, but I refused to speak to myself wrongly.

I have heard people say things to themselves like “you’re stupid,” “you’re dumb and ignorant,” “you will never succeed,” “you will never make it,” “nobody wants to be your friend,” “you always make bad decisions,” “you have no friends,” “no one likes you,” “you always fail,” “you always lose,” “you are ugly, overweight, or whatever.” These are the kinds of things that people say to themselves when they are alone and no one is listening or watching.

Many actions and decisions we make in life can be wrong because we make those decisions on the spot. It would be far better if we decided ahead of time what our decisions would be before we had to make them. When the Navy Seals land in enemy territory, they don’t looked at each other and say “what do we do now?” No, they do exactly what they had already trained and planned ahead of time that they would do. This is how we need to look at some choices and decisions in our lives.

Make a decision today that you will only say edifying and uplifting things to yourself and that you will be careful how you speak to yourself. KT

Christmas 1989

Family

Last night Elaine and I watched an old video of the family Christmas in 1989. Our girls were 6 and 2 years old and Elaine and I were 31 years old. What is humbling is that in the video, Elaine and I and our girls were the same age as our older daughter and her family is today.

It seemed like last year that the video was taken. The 26 years have flown by.

In 1989, as a young family we had many dreams and plans for the future and now the future is here. I don’t know how I missed it, but in case you didn’t know, life is moving at a rapid pace. There are stages to life and sometimes you just move from stage to stage without thinking about it.

In life I think one of the most incredible things we all need to do is finish well. History is full of people that had it all once and then lost it. There have been many people that just could not go to the next stage and handle life correctly.

As I watched that video, I was reminded how important life is and the examples you set for your children. Many of the people in that video are not with us anymore and some I miss dearly because they were great people that influenced our lives.

So live life honestly and with purpose because some day, your children and grandchildren will be watching old movies of you and it is important that they remember you as someone who positively impacted their life. KT

I will see the goodness of the Lord in the here and now

Career, Family, Life

My oldest daughter, Lanie Beth, shared a scripture with me that is really really powerful. The passage is Psalm 27:13. In the New International Version it reads, “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

Translation, “I will see” the goodness of the Lord in the “here and now”

So many people go to church all their lives and only expect to see God’s hand and his goodness when they die. This passage says that I will see it, meaning while I am alive in the here and now.

In Psalms 23, it says in verse 5 that “he will prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Well, your enemies are not in heaven rather they are right here on earth in the living. Get the image of the Lord preparing a table/feast for only you in front of the people that mean you harm while they have to watch. Your enemies will know that God is with you.

In Malachi 3:10 &11, says “If you are a tither, he will rebuke the devourer for your sakes.” This means if you are a tither, God will have your back and rebuke and handle those people who try to bring you harm.

I heard a Wall Street portfolio fund manager say during an interview that tithing was the best investment you will ever make. I believe this is true. The bible speaks to people that make money and lose money as though they had holes in their pockets. I believe tithing is the umbrella of God that will cover you over a life span. It doesn’t mean you will always make the right decision and never make a mistake, rather it means that in your later years you will look back on your life and see that God was with you and your decisions more times than not and that he protected and insulated you.

All three of these passage speaks to God being involved in our lives in the here and now and not just when we get to heaven. He loves you as a father and wants the best for you and your family but he will not force himself into your life, rather he will wait for you to call on him. KT