Good voice messages are a gift and a great memory to keep but negative voice messages need to be deleted.

This morning I replayed old, saved voice messages from my mother, stepdad and younger brother, all who have gone on to be with the lord. Listening to my little mom’s voice today, almost brought me to tears and listening to the messages from my recently deceased younger brother, really almost made the water works start.

Hearing those voice messages, it was almost like they were still alive and I could just pick up the phone and call them. I still find fault in myself for not just going to see my younger brother when I knew he was starting to spiral. Oh, my excuse was I have this meeting or that call or that sale I was working on, all of which I would gladly trade for another chance to look him in the eye, face to face, and get him back on the right track.

12 years ago, my youngest daughter created a blog website (you are reading it now) for me to write down a few thoughts. 12 years later I have written close to 1,050 blog posts that will hopefully stand the test of time for my family to read long after the lord calls me home.

I guess the message today is, don’t put off doing the important things, especially if it is your family. Leave voice messages, keep voice messages of those you love, and by all means, write down things you would want your family to know about you. What I wouldn’t give to have the written words of my grandparents, greats and double greats. What a gift that would be to really know who they were and what they believed. Don’t put off telling those you love that you love them. KT

Sometimes, we think life should be a steady climb that is always reaching new heights. Things improve, jobs improve, investments improve and they are always growing. As any of us know, who have been around for a few dozen ice cream seasons, that is not the real-life experience.

Take a farmer who plants his field. For weeks and maybe months it doesn’t seem like anything is happening, but the truth is, that is when the real roots are growing. It seems like nothing is happening but one day there is nothing above ground and the next day the field of green is springing up. It just looked like a plateau, but it was really just getting ready.

We started going to the gym back last fall and I never felt so old, fat and weak. I saw this dude who was 73 doing pullups, which as anyone knows, is probably the hardest exercise in the gym. He was doing them Rocky style, palms out. Well, I got to talking to him one day and we became friends as well as about 10 other guys who are all around my age. He told me it takes time to condition your body and your mind to do pullups. For months I worked on that one goal, and it seemed like a long plateau, but I just stayed with it and now I start every workout with a few pullups. It makes me feel accomplished. I still look fat and old but at least I don’t hear Joe-Gym-Body snickering behind me. ha

There are plateaus in life and many people quit during those seasons when it seems like nothing is working like it is supposed to. More times than not the one who succeeds is not the smartest, best educated or best trained. It’s the one who wouldn’t quit. The plateau may just be where character is built, wisdom is gained, patience is developed and faith is tested.

The truth is that the plateaus are not the permanent destinations, they are the training ground for what God has planned for your life.

If you are in a plateau season of life, take heart and stay faithful to your objective because what feels like a standstill, may actually be the preparation for the greatest growth of your life. KT

You have heard people opine about what they think the secret (s) to success are, but I want to tell you what I believe the secret to failure is.

The secret to failure in my humble opinion is trying to please everybody. It’s a recipe for failure because I don’t care how great your leadership skills are, you never make everyone happy with your decisions. There will always be the naysayers, the complainers, the argumentative group, the disenfranchised, the ones that always seem put-out, angry, disgruntled and the ones that simply live to create strife. They are everywhere and, in every organization, and unfortunately in many families.

At the end of the day, all you can do is make the best decisions you think are correct and just try as hard as you can to anticipate conflict, but still do what you think is right. It’s great when our national leaders do the hard thing and make the hard decisions knowing full well that there will be a push back.

There are some people that no matter what you do, they will talk badly about you. We have a few leaders today that could come out and find a cure for cancer and people would still talk bad about them. At first that concerns you but after the 10^th time they counteract you and talk bad about you, they simply lose all their credibility. That in a nutshell is what is happening to many of our national leaders today. At some point you know you will never make the other side happy; you simply quit trying and that unfortunately is also what is happening across American today.

Mathew 5:9 says, ‘blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” There is a big difference between peacemakers and peacekeepers. Peacemakers are the ones that make the long-term hard decisions that may seem wrong for the moment but over time will be proven to be the right decision. They are the peacemakers that hopefully will be followed by peacekeepers. It’s the makers that do the hard work hoping that the keepers will continue the peace.

So, the secret to failure in my albeit humble opinion, is to try to please everybody all the time. You have to take a stand every now and then and then when you have done all you can do to stand (Ephesians 6;13), you stand, therefore. KT

My granddaughter (3^rd one) was almost named Shelby but in the end, she was named Eleanor. If you have every seen the movie “Gone in 60 Seconds,” you know what the name Eleanor means. It’s synonymous with Shelby. Needless to say, I have a granddaughter named after my car. You got to love the Lord for things like this.

I got the ole Shelby out the other day and blew the soot out and almost got stopped by a cop, which would have almost certainly led to a brief tour of the inside of the Forsyth County jail.

When the bible refers to “grid up your loins” it could have meant driving a Shelby. Ha. Anyhoo, I pulled the ole girl out and turned off the traction control which was designed for weenies and had it in first gear going about 30 when I decided to see what it would do. I poked it at 30 and she barked the tires like a hound dog, then I caught secod and she howled again and again in third gear. What a car, but that wasn’t what almost got me caught.

On down the road there is an old church where cops sometimes will sit under the shade tree. As I got near the old church, in from of me was a lady in a minivan going about half the speed limit. I kicked the Shelby down in second gear and blew by her so fast she couldn’t process what had just happened. The problem was,,, on the other side of the minivan was a cop car sitting under the shade at the ole church.

My Shelby is super charged, not turbo charged, super charged, and when it kicks in, it lets out this loud whine that sounds like a jet. Well,,,, as I blew past the lady in the minivan, I caught a glimpse of a cop car in my peripheral vison and was like, “oh no” until I saw the cop standing outside the car with his back turned away talking on a cell phone. Don’t laugh, but the dude heard me go by and almost hurt himself when he whipped his head around. There wasn’t anything he could do except watch me. ha

So, since the road past the church is the only road leading back to my house, when I got close to the ole church, I was the perfect citizen driving under the speed limit! KT

Fear is often like a Halloween decoration—loud, intimidating, and designed to make you stop in your tracks. Most of the things we fear in life are “all boo and no bite.” Fear magnifies problems, creates doubt, and convinces us that obstacles are bigger than they really are.

The enemy uses fear to keep us focused on what could go wrong instead of what God can do. Yet Scripture repeatedly tells us, “Fear not,” because God is with us. The same God who parted the Red Sea, defeated giants, and raised Christ from the grave is the God who walks beside us today. When we choose faith over fear, we begin to see that many of the things that once terrified us never had the power we imagined they possessed.

As believers, we are called to walk in victory and boldness, not because life is free from challenges, but because God is greater than every challenge we face. Boldness comes from knowing who goes before us and who stands beside us.

When fear whispers, “You can’t,” faith declares, “God can.” The obstacles in front of you may look intimidating, but appearances can be deceiving. Many of life’s fears are all boo and no bite when placed beside the power and promises of God.

Instead of shrinking back, step forward with confidence, knowing that the God who called you is faithful, and the God who leads you has never lost a battle. Read the last part of that sentence again “and the God who leads you has never lost a battle.” KT