Category Archives: Life

New Normal

Life

It seems like we have been in this current COVID situation for several years, but it has only been five weeks. Five weeks ago, I flew to Baltimore to speak at a hotel investor conference and the room was packed with people everywhere and all in your (what we now know) personal space. I did not think a thing about going to the airport with hordes of other people, riding on the subway and getting on a packed plane and being in a conference room with 500 people.

That was five weeks ago. Today the world has changed, and the way people think about being around other people may change long term. Our company has been working from home for four weeks now. I still go into the office because I am the only one there and the sad part is, I seem to be getting used to it. I get to park right in front of the door, don’t have to wait in a line for coffee, no one interrupts me asking questions, no meetings, no counseling, no drama, nothing. I just come in and do what I can and then go home and eat a quiet dinner with my wife and take the dogs for a walk. Ha

Clearly our world as we knew it has changed. Going to church, ball games, shopping, restaurants, movies, etc. we have a new normal that no one saw coming. It is like God reached down and said, I will make you lay down beside the still water (Psalm 23.)

Be safe and use this time away to better yourself with exercise, reading, reconnecting with love ones and finding a new balance in your life. KT

Psalm 23

Life

This blog is being written five weeks after the start of the Coronavirus pandemic in the US.

There is probably not a more current and applicable passage of scripture today than the 23rd Psalm.

It reads, the lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul and leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea through I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou are with me; thy rod and staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the lord forever.

I could write for ten pages about each section of this passage, but read the part again that says, yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Most of the day (except for around noon) the shadow of a thing is larger than the thing itself. The shadow may look large, but it is just a shadow. A shadow never killed anyone; it just scares them because it looks so imposing. Today, we may be walking though the valley of the shadow of death with this COVID-19 virus, but the passage says to fear not, for thou are with me.

Take some comfort in these words today, and I trust you and your family are safe, heathy and well. KT

Unconditional love

Life

The only glimpse we get in this life of true unconditional love is for our children. When God looks at you, it is with the same unconditional love.

Let’s take a brother, sister, spouse, etc. These loves, while tremendous as they are, unfortunately are still conditional. By way of example, let’s say a brother whom you love, harms one of your children in some way. Well guess what, you will find that there are conditions to the love of that brother, and it will probably forever change your relationship with that brother. You see where I am going with this.

With your children, the love is perfect, all forgiving and literally unconditional. The child could do every bad thing possible and even land in prison but even then, you will still tell them you love them.

When God looks at you, it is with that all forgiving love that never changes regardless of your actions. His love is the place of refuge that is always there and always welcoming and always consistent. It simple never changes.

The story of the prodigal son is a very powerful image. When the son has done everything to push the father away, the father is still waiting and watching and searching for his son to come home. Not home in the literal sense, rather home to his forgiving love. At the end of the story, the bible says the father sees his son from a far off and runs to meet him. The only way the father could see his son from a far off is because he was continually searching and waiting for his son to make the decision to come home to his love. It is one of the most beautiful stories ever written about what true unconditional love looks like. In the story the father is God and the son coming home, is you.

Like in the story, it doesn’t matter how far you have gone and how deep the chasm, God still waits. The interesting imagery of the story is that God runs to the son once he made the decision to come home. The father didn’t stand on the porch and make the son crawl all the way to his feet to ask forgiven. No, the father saw the son’s decision and ran to meet him. You could be in the depths of trouble and despair, but the image of the story is that God meets you right where you are. KT

George Muller, the book from 1873

Career, Family, Life

In 1988, we bought four restaurants and I made the worst financial stumble of my life. By 1990 we were so badly in debt I really could not see my way out of the financial disaster I had created. Our financial situation had literally brought us to the point of filing for bankruptcy. We ultimately choose not to but were at the point where that looked like the only option.

As a side note- If anyone ever wants to open their own restaurant, I have three words of advice: “Don’t do it.”

It was Thanksgiving that year, and we were at my mom and dad’s house in Virginia for the holiday weekend. At the time my mom was working for the Fredericksburg Bible Institute in Fredericksburg, Virginia and there was an elderly gentleman that had passed away and left his book collection to the Bible Institute. My mom was looking through the collection and saw a very old book by George Muller printed in the 1873. She wanted to look at the book a little closer and happened to bring it home that weekend we were there.

Listen to me here. God always has a plan for your life if you will just ask him and then trust him.

So, we were in Virginia with my parents for that Thanksgiving weekend, and Mom shows me this old book she brought home. I had never heard of George Muller and knew nothing about his life, but I opened that book and was just going to skim a few pages and look it over. When I started reading, I understood the book was his story and his daily and sometimes weekly memoirs. George Muller had felt led by God to start a children’s home in Bristol England for the growing population of homeless children. As he tells his story, he didn’t want to do it and in fact, he told God he wasn’t going to do it. Finally, God got through to him and he agreed to do it with one stipulation.

Imagine right here, having a prayer life so strong that it is like having a dialogue or conversation with God. That is the way it was with George Muller.

The stipulation was that he would do his part if God provided all the resources and expenses for the children’s home. Think of the audacity George Muller had to actually call God on his promise and put God to the test. He told God he would never borrow money for the children’s home and never put any amount on credit. He told God he would literally trust him to provide every dollar because he never wanted to have any individual or banks get the credit instead of God. The book was his periodic diary of how much money they had and what they needed for that day or that week to survive. It gave almost a daily detail of how much money he called on God to provide down to the dollars and cents. Without fail, God did his part in George’s life. By the time George Muller died, he had founded many children’s homes that looked like college campuses that were completely paid for. The homes served as an example to a country ravished by poverty of what God could do though one man.

The book literally changed my life.

I went back home and began to imitate what George did; I wrote a daily diary of the debts, payments due, and how much money I needed for that day, that week or that month. My deal with God was that I would tithe every dollar he allowed me to make, and I would always point to him as the source and the reason how we got out of debt and salvaged our financial life. Long story short, at about that time, I had begun to sell hotels and we did not file for bankruptcy, but rather we chose to pay all the money back. I met with all the creditors and told them my plan; it took us eight years, but we paid it all back. God saved us from financial disaster.

Every situation is different, and every cause is different but in my life at that moment, it was what I believed God wanted me to do.

Many years have passed since this period in my life, but even today, I can pick up that diary I wrote during that period and I cannot read it without crying because it is so raw, it takes me right back to those moments when I didn’t know how we would survive. When I read it, the emotions rise within me, and I know it was God that did it all.

Mom got the Bible Institute to sell her that book and she gave it to me a couple years later. I still have that book today in a very safe place. Should our home ever catch fire, after all the ones I love are safely out of the house, I will be going back into the house to get that book. KT

Highest, Biggest and Worst

Career, Life

Within the last 30 days we have witnessed three of the biggest financial swings in US history. Nothing like this has ever been seen before. It not only has never happened before, no one ever thought it possible.

30 days ago, the stock market was literally at the highest peak of all time. The Dow, S&P. Nasdaq etc. All were at the highest level they had ever been. March 16th, 2020 was the single day greatest point drop decline in history and this week saw the greatest single day point increase is history.

You ask, how is this possible? I don’t know. You could go for decades and not have one of these events. We have had all three in the last 30 days.

God created several (probably more) type personalities when it comes to money. People say things and tweet things and give opinions they would never do in their own life. Its for show and influence. When a person is deciding about their own money, all that goes bull goes out the window. It could be 500 dollars or 5 million dollars, the decision still comes down to what you are the most comfortable with.

It is about risk, anxiety, peace and sleep. I have a good friend who just loves, loves, loves to trade stocks every day with all the ups and downs. Then I have friends that only earn set interest at the bank. I will tell you though that the person who is getting 2% fixed interest on his saving account, to some people, might have look a little silly 30 days ago. Well, 11 days ago that same person looked like an investment genius.

The point I am making is to really ask yourself which approach will bring you the most peace and that is the way you should go. If trading stocks helps you sleep better, go be mister wall street. However, if is the slow and steady approach that helps you stay more comfortable, that is what you should do. Choose well. KT