When issues arise in your life, you need to find the place where you can dig in and hold on. I am speaking of the place (metaphorically) where you have a firm foundation. These life issues can be physical, relational, financial and various other areas of our lives. You want someone or something that is unmovable. A place to hold on until you get through whatever the issue is. Psalm 91:1 says; whoever dwells in the shelter of the most high will rest in the shadow of the almighty.

I remember the first time I took an overnight train trip. My old business partner talked me into taking a train trip for a business meeting instead of flying. Dumb idea. We boarded the Amtrak train at 8pm at night and truth be told, it was kind of cool. You had your own private sleeping room with a private bath and all the amenities. We got on the train and unpacked and then went to the dining car for dinner. It was an experience and it was a blast,,, until about 2 am. Unless you are used to going to sleep while constantly moving, you are in for a treat. I don’t mean a little gentle rolling from side to side like on a cruise ship. I mean flat out jerking back and forth like you were in ski boat. To go to sleep, you had to take 120 Tylenol PMs, get on the bunk face down and wedge your feet and your arms in at the four corners just so you could hold on. The sleeping part was terrible. The rest of it was kind of fun.

My point is, when faced with adversity. You need to find the place (metaphorically) where you can dig in and hold on. Many people don’t think they need God until they do. When everything is going good, some people think they are in control. It is only when something happens, do they call on God.

My suggestion is to find that place where you are secure and the foundation is firm so that in a time of need, you will know where to go. KT

Psalm 119:130 says; the entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple.

The word simple in this passage doesn’t mean a person weak of mind. It means people that simply believe the word and are strong in spirit. It speaks of the person that is steadfast in their belief that God is God and he knows best for our lives. The person is strong willed, very decisive and yet will listen to God’s leading through the Holy Spirit.

When the passage says, the entrance of thy words giveth light, it is telling us that when we read his word, he will give us light in a dark place. He will give us understanding and wisdom to know what to do. I don’t know about you, but many times in my life I have been in a place where I didn’t know what to do. Could not figure a way out. His light is the wisdom we all need in those situations.

In the world you have heard people say things like, it dawned on me or it was like a light switch that turned on. These are the world’s references to finding the answer to a problem. It is light (his understanding and wisdom) that we all need.

Many people think that to have answers from the bible you have to find a passage that deals with your situation. Not so. It is good if you are reading a passage dealing with your situation but it is not necessary. When you open the bible to read his word, it is like you are opening a door in you heart and telling him to come on in. It is your invitation for him to give you his wisdom and understanding in a time of need. KT

I have a 3 years Sheltie that was supposed to be 15 lbs. fully grown but is now 30 lbs. I am certain that this has nothing do with the treats, cheese and table food he receives. I don’t mean table scraps as in what is left over. I am talking about cooking a little extra so he can eat with us. If they made a dog seat for the table I might be tempted to buy one.

Anyhoo, his fat little neck is the same diameter as his head so when he doesn’t want to walk on the leash, he just backs up and pops the leash off. When he is on the leash he thinks he is the alfa male in control of our walk. I have to tell him, not so fast chubs. I am the leader of our little walk and I will decide how fast we walk.

I try to train him on what the word heel means. I say it 50 times when we are out. When I say heel, I think he thinks I am saying meal. What is really funny is that he is the fat dog version of Secretariat the winning race horse. When he running, he has to be the lead dog. (It’s a metaphor, he is the only dog.) So when we come around the last bend in the road before we get to our house we start to run. The faster I run, the faster he moves those short little fat legs. Ha. The other night I was running flat out and was still a nose ahead of me. When we got through running my little fat buddy was tuckered out and he scrapped his tongue on the curb. Ha.

So I guess the point is that if you want a beautifully well trained obedient show dog, don’t get one like mine. If you want a fat dog that lays on the couch and wants to rub his wet nose all over you, get one like mine. KT

Wouldn’t it be a shame to die perfect having never accomplishing anything for someone else? I heard a pastor speak on this the other day and it struck a chord in my heart so I thought I would add a couple my thoughts to the subject.

What if your whole life was about you? The perfect house, the perfect friends, the perfect car, weighing the perfect weight at death, wearing your perfect cloths, your perfect education, your perfect church, your perfect job, trying to make your children perfect? The point is to do all of this and having spent your life only focusing on you. What a shame and a waste of a life. There is nothing wrong with houses, cloths, jobs, friends etc. but when that or they become the center focus of your life, it is at that point that we should all wake up and start the process of changing our focus.

I have a friend of mine in Dallas who is the same age as I am and his wife unexpectedly passed away recently. It broke his heart. The main word in is “unexpectedly.” I would guess that many people pass away unexpectedly. Many people think they have time and years to change and put off doing and being the kind of person they really want to be. Once the unexpected happens, there is no going back, no fixing it and there are no extensions.

Live life on purpose and find a purpose that moves you to look beyond yourself and beyond physical things and do something with your life that will outlast you. Shannon Alder said “carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.” KT

The advice to do the thing that you fear most is good advice some of the time. Let’s say you have an unusual fear of being a bank robber. I would not advise you to go rob a bank. Let’s say you have a fear of being a drug addict. Good advice would not be to go get some drugs and prove you are not afraid.

Outside of obvious examples such as the two above, fear is usually much more personal. Mark Twain said “do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.” I think this is generally true but not always. What I am talking about in this blog is a paralyzing fear of the common. Let’s say you are salesman and you have a fear of sales calls. Let say you want to publicly speak but you have a fear of speaking in front of people. Let’s say you are afraid to engage in conversations because you might say something wrong. Let’s say you are afraid to try or do something new at work because you are afraid you might get laughed at. Let’s say you are afraid to get too close to someone because they may find out who you really are. This list could go on and on to cover the quite fears many us have but never reveal.

I was at a hotel conference one time in Richmond and saw Bill Marriott walk in across the room. The first thought was that he would not even shake my hand much less talk to me. The easy thing to do was look busy with my phone or start looking at something I had in my briefcase like it was important. No sir. When that slight fear inside said don’t do it, I did the exact opposite. I went up to Bill Marriott and had a conversation with him. Just a guess, but I bet he put his pants on the same way I do. I enjoyed the brief meeting so much we had our picture taken together.

I have never been afraid to ask someone his or her role in their company. One time I was sitting at a table next to the chairman of the largest hotel company in the world. I am telling you the truth, I didn’t know who he was,,,,, so I ask him what he did for the company. Ha. He got so indignant with my little bitty question that he almost embarrassed himself. I had to turn my head to keep from snickering out loud.

What are you afraid of? I bet if you really broke it down as to why you are afraid of it, you would see how meaningless and controlling the fear it. So if your fear is about what you say, where you go, how you look, how you talk, how you respond, it is my guess that if you did the very thing you are most fearful of, you would not be afraid of it anymore. KT