Don’t let emotions ruin the moment. I’m an emotional person. I have no problem admitting that, and emotions can be a fabulous part of who we are, if used correctly. If emotions are steering the course, though, the outcome is normally not the best. When I am golfing and I allow my emotions to take control, my focus is in the wrong place and what I set out to achieve normally falls short.
I encourage you, to keep your emotions in check (good and bad), as you work towards what you’re trying to achieve. That doesn’t mean to not have any emotions, but as they say, you have to keep your head in the game.
You will have plenty of time to rejoice later, or to possibly feel bad over what could have been, but at least you’ll know that you gave it your all.
While one is doing what must be done, take time to enjoy the view. One of the big reasons that I love golf is getting to be outdoors. I love seeing God’s creation. It’s absolutely amazing! Most of the time, as I am at work, at home, at the store, at church, at the gym, or wherever, I’m indoors. Golf gives me the chance to be outside! It’s awesome.
So, as I end this blog series, let me encourage you, one last time. As you believe in yourself, follow through, try to improve, pay attention to the details, work through your plan and not let your emotions ruin all you’ve done, take the time to look around. What’s the point of the journey, if you missed out on all the great points of interest along the way? The end goal is necessary, but life is lived in the seconds and minutes. Make the best of them.
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One may have the best of intentions, but without a plan of action and a means of executing that action, those intentions are going nowhere. When I set up to hit a golf ball, I have the best of intentions. I have a goal in mind that I aim for, I think through my movements and placement (most of the time anyway), and I do the best I can to recall and repeat what has worked before. However, I admit that I don’t practice enough, and I don’t look enough at those who know what they’re doing, so I can improve more quickly.
So my intentions may be fantastic, but if I don’t have a plan of action, what do my intentions matter? Like with any sport, I need to plan out what I’m going to do, if I plan to have more success. This is so true to life, as well. How many times have you heard someone say they were going to do something, and you know they had every intention of doing it, but they failed to plan it out?
You know what happens to those who fail to plan. It’s great to have a positive attitude and want the best, but success doesn’t usually just happen. If it is worth it, then it is worth taking the time to plan out how to reach that goal.
When facing a tough situation, go into it prepared.
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Details matter. Something else that I’ve learned, as I’ve worked on improving my game, is that details are extremely important in the game of golf. Wrong foot positioning, incorrect movements of the head, wrong analysis of angles, even if slightly off, will affect the entire trajectory of the ball and ultimately, your game.
We often go through life, oblivious to many of the details around us. People can walk in and out of our day, without us even noticing. The emotions played out on their faces, evidence of who they are and what they’re going through, ignored. The beauty of nature, art, and so many other things are too often replaced by our electronic devices and a myriad of other distractions.
The impact we are truly meant to have on one another, even if it’s only a small impact, may never happen. Those seemingly small details can and do change the trajectory of a person’s day, and at times, a person’s life. We often underestimate the influence our actions have on others, let alone ourselves.
That is a huge mistake, because it is no longer some game of golf. When we ignore details in our everyday lives, the impact is one that ripples to those we may never meet. Golf is fun, but life is important. Don’t let it pass you by.
“Don’t look back at tomorrow and say you could have done more.” – a fire chief on “Chicago Fire”
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Each moment is another opportunity to be better than you were before. One of the reasons I enjoy golf is because even though you are playing with others, your real competition is yourself. You’re typically not part of a team, like in baseball or basketball. Your level of achievement is truly measured by knowing how you’ve done before, and comparing yourself at that moment to what you did the last time and who you were before.
With the help of my husband, I spend time analyzing what I’m doing well and what still needs work. Though I need to do this more, I stop to watch others achieve what I’m trying to do, as a means of learning. I know that the next time I face the same hole, I can do what I may not have been able to do the last time. Even if I have been stuck in neutral, on a specific hole of the golf course, as I learn more, I have a new chance to improve. That’s pretty awesome!
I know that life isn’t always easy. However, each day is a fresh start, another chance to improve upon the person who went to bed the night before. Mistakes can be learned from. Achievements already made allow us to know what’s working, so we can continue in the right direction. New experiences can be had.
Really, it’s kind of exciting to know that yesterday wasn’t the end. As long as we have breath, we have the opportunity to improve upon ourselves. We live in a country with many opportunities afforded to us, no matter where we came from or what lies people may have tried to get you to believe about yourself. Seize the day! Heck, seize the moment! I promise you that it will be worth the effort.
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Our actions are worth nothing, without follow through. As much as I’ve improved in my game, one of my biggest problems is not following through. My club will hit the ball, and almost immediately my momentum stops. If you know anything about golf, continuing to follow through is necessary for the ball to go the distance in which you initially sent it.
The same is true with anything we do, in life. We may start off strong or gain some great momentum along the way, but following our actions through to the end is what counts. Often, obstacles get in our way. If what was once started truly matters, those obstacles will strengthen us. Just like the follow through, in golf, provides the rest of the power to take your game where it needs to go, as we are strengthened through overcoming each obstacle, our overall ability increases and we come to realize that our potential is much greater than we ever imagined.
Is there an area of your life where you began something, something important and gave up along the way? Or have you achieved a certain level of success, in some part of your life, but then stopped reaching higher, stopped believing that you could do more?
Follow through, all the way. See all that you are capable of doing. Don’t slow down. Don’t settle. Don’t quit.
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Lately, I’ve gotten back into playing golf. I’m not saying that I’m all that good at it, but I do my best and I enjoy it very much. As I’ve been playing, life lessons have seemed to surround me. Even if you’re not into golf, these can apply to anyone.
Ability can only take you so far. Believability will get you where you need to go. Whether I’m hitting the ball, or my husband is, this has proven true. Whatever our ability is, it means nothing if we don’t believe we can do what we set out to do.
Don’t you find that true in life, too? Think about all of the people you may know, you may even be one of them, who have so much potential, but who doesn’t seem to achieve as much as those around them know they could. So much of what we accomplish in life starts in our own heads. We may know what we need to do, we may even know how to do what we need to do, but if we can’t envision ourselves at the end of the finish line, all of that ability and knowledge means nothing. But, when we can see ourselves crossing that finish line, even if you don’t end up coming in first, you begin to realize that anything is possible!
What have you been wanting to do, but you stop yourself before you even begin? What dream do you wish you could accomplish, but your past attempts have failed? As long as you have breath, and especially if you have the ability, you need to start believing and do it!
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This blog may be one of my longest ones to date. Over a long time, God has shown me to dream beyond my imagining to dreaming God sized dreams. I can remember a time, as a teenage girl, when my youth pastor encouraged us to pray for our future spouses. He wasn’t encouraging us to focus on looking for the one God might have for us. He was encouraging us to pray “for” that person now, not after he/she entered our lives. I can still remember him saying, “You never know if you are the only one praying for them.” Powerful words!
Well, as I prayed for the man who would later become my husband, God showed me the attributes that this man would and should have, if he was to marry me. They seemed way beyond what even other Christians were hoping for, but as I continued to study the Word, I saw that they lined up directly with God. Not only that, but focusing my eyes on who God would have for me, kept me from making some major mistakes. Years later, when I did meet my husband, I learned that he came to know the Lord during his teen years, in a powerful way! God only knows how much my prayers may have helped to shape him into the man he was and would become. Even more, my husband is all God wanted for me, not an impossible dream.
I can also remember the time when I had to decide which colleges to apply to, and though I’m not advocating applying to just one school (unless God makes that VERY CLEAR), I knew that I knew that I knew that I was meant to go to a specific state college. Others, especially family, thought I was nuts. How could I put all my eggs literally in one basket? This was my future, we were talking about!
To help provide a peace to my loved ones, I decided to apply for early acceptance, which meant I would know months before others if I was going there that fall, but most importantly, I would know ahead of having to submit more college applications, before the deadlines to other schools. Though I did fairly well through my school years, there was no logical reason why the school God wanted me to attend would send me an early acceptance.
As God would have it, I got early acceptance, and He did one even better. They offered me a good-sized scholarship. What had already been clear to me, became clear to others. What’s more is that I grew more spiritually in that place, than ever before, not because it is some special school, but because of daring to dream and trusting God for the results.
I can also tell you of the numerous times I would feel God showing me who He wanted me to be and what He wanted me to do, down the road. However, the location of where this would occur, was completely foreign to me. Then, many years later, as my husband and I were traveling from the airport, for his final pastoral interview and for my teacher interview, I couldn’t help but notice something. Outside the car windows, for miles and miles, I was looking right at the location of my dreams. As we arrived, and did some exploring, more of what God had shown me for so long, were now right before me, in living color and in some cases, in flesh and blood! I cried joyful tears, many times during that weekend.
I have long felt an affinity for Joshua, in the Old Testament. He was a man who clearly dreamed God sized dreams. As he was mentored by Moses, it spoke to me when I read, “Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting,” in Exodus 33:11. Here was a man God was shaping to see the Promised Land before he would ever step into it. Twelve men had been sent to scout out the Promised Land and report back to Moses, Aaron and the rest of the Israelites. Ten of the twelve could only see what was in front of them, and they passed along their fears to the others that this was not of God, without consulting Him. However, in Numbers 14:5-9, we see Joshua and Caleb not only dreaming God’s way, but truly seeing His reality, before they entered into all God had for His people:
“Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel. Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. They said to all the people of Israel, ‘The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
That’s what’s so amazing about dreaming as God desires us to dream. We can’t always see what He places in our hearts and dreams. They don’t always make sense. Many times, they don’t, because they involve His intervention, rather than man’s, in order for them to come to fruition. But God tells us in Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” That’s exciting! If we can think it, He is able to do even greater!!! That’s what He wants for us.
Even though that piece of Scripture was written many years after Joshua, Joshua knew the heart of God. This is probably why in Joshua 10, we see five kings send their united armies to fight against Joshua and the Israelites, out of fear for what they had seen God deliver them from, in prior battles. This would causes most people to run the other way. Yet, God had given Joshua big dreams, dreams of who He is and what He wanted for His people.
In Joshua 10:9-14 we read:
“Joshua traveled all night from Gilgal and took the Amorite armies by surprise. The Lord threw them into a panic, and the Israelites slaughtered great numbers of them at Gibeon. Then the Israelites chased the enemy along the road to Beth-horon, killing them all along the way to Azekah and Makkedah. As the Amorites retreated down the road from Beth-horon, the Lord destroyed them with a terrible hailstorm from heaven that continued until they reached Azekah. The hail killed more of the enemy than the Israelites killed with the sword.
On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, ‘Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.’
So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies.
Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day.There has never been a day like this one before or since, when the Lord answered such a prayer. Surely the Lord fought for Israel that day!”
Wow! How many of us would ask God to stop time, the revolution of the Earth around the sun, even stop time, very unnatural things, because His people needed more time, and Joshua knew that if he could think it, God could do greater, and God did! He allowed His people to get physically involved in the battle, and as if the sun standing still wasn’t enough to show them who was really at work here, God destroyed those who tried to escape, with a hailstorm. That’s the God we serve, a God who wants us to expect great things from Him.
Looking back at those who dared to dream God sized dreams in the Word, in the lives of others I have known or met, and in my own life, I couldn’t say this better than Paul did in Ephesians 1:3, when he stated, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.”
Did you catch that? He has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms! It isn’t future tense. He has already done it. All we have to do is enlarge our vision and dream as God wants us to, because He has already ensured us that He is able and has already made a way.
This is why the Dream Centers, which began in LA, came into being and spread world-wide. This is why the “National Community Church” in Washington, DC stands today and its pastoral staff and congregation continue to be testament to dreaming God’s way. This is why the Assemblies of God exists today. This is why Wayne Tesch, an ordinary man (like all of God’s big dreamers) began Royal Family Kids Camp, a camp for abused foster kids, which is now over 150 camps strong world-wide!
Are you getting it? God wants us to dream big enough for Him to do even bigger things! Jesus Himself told us in Matthew 13:23, “The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” He wants to go WAY beyond whatever we dream.
So start dreaming, but keep God in the equation. Ask Him to enlarge your vision. Dream in accordance to who God is and who He says we are in Him, because we serve a BIG God. Dream, remembering that what is impossible in our eyes is VERY possible in His, and feel free to share with me and my readers about God’s big dreams and what He’s done since you dared to dream! Not only does it encourage all of us, but each testimony gives glory to God, the giver of great dreams.
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People enjoy messages of love from others. For some, they prefer these messages verbally. Others enjoy receiving it in a written or a typed format. Still others enjoy messages of love through gifts, acts of service, and the like. We all want to be loved and know for sure that we are loved.
Whether or not we enjoy eating them, many of us even like those heart shaped candy hearts that come around Valentine’s Day. Why? Because with each heart, they tell us that someone cares for us, wants us in their life, possibly even loves us.
No matter how many messages of love we receive from anyone, in our lives, there is a love message that was written to us long before we even drew a breath. It is a message of love that has withstood the test of time. It is a message said in many ways, so that we would all understand that it is for real, and it is for us.
God has a message of love for us that surpasses any that anybody could give to us. It’s found in His Word. Continuously, He tells us that He loves us, from cover to cover. These are just some:
“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” – Genesis 1:27
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me,O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” – Psalm 139:13-18
“Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.” – Psalm 36:5-7
“Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.” – Isaiah 49:15-16
“For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11
“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears.He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” – Zephaniah 3:17
“What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” – Luke 12:6-7
“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, ‘For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.’) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” – Romans 8:35-38
The wonderful thing is that we don’t have to wait till February, our birthday or any special occasion, to receive these messages of love. He looks at us, and He says, “Be mine,” constantly. Can you imagine being that adored? That loved?
Circumstances will fail us. People will fail us. We will fail ourselves. But, God’s love never fails us. That is sweeter than any candy I could ever eat.
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It’s troubling how many marriages, both in and outside the Christian population, are failing. I know this is Valentine’s Day, but when I think about love, it makes me think of many things. How so many people are settling for less than what love really is.
I understand that life is easier when you have the support of others, but we were made to be loved fully, unconditionally. Yet, how often do we “fall in love” with those who only partially or under certain conditions, love us in return? How many choose to love others selfishly, rather than selflessly, like we deserve.
How can I say we all deserve that type of love? Because God gave up His only son, to love us as we were meant to be loved, fully, unconditionally (John 3:16). He didn’t demonstrate His love to us, after we got all perfect and loved Him back as we should, as He is meant to be loved. He loved us with all of Himself, in spite of ourselves.
What better example do we have than that? You may be thinking, “Yeah, that’s God. How can we be expected to love like that?” We do it all the time. It doesn’t matter what my kid does. I will ALWAYS love her. As often as I screw up, my husband still forgives and ALWAYS loves me, anyway. We are even told that it is possible in 1 John 3:16, which says, “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
Too often, we believe the fairy tales fed to us in movies and books, but we settle for whatever we can get, from others. It doesn’t have to be that way. It shouldn’t be that way.
Proverbs 30:18-19 tell us:
“There are three things that amaze me— no, four things that I don’t understand: how an eagle glides through the sky, how a snake slithers on a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, how a man loves a woman.”
Do you know love that like that, love that just amazes you? I’m blessed and so very thankful that I have a husband and others in my life who love me in a way that often amazes me. That’s a gift, but it is a gift my Heavenly Father says I deserve, that He desires for us. It’s a gift I know I deserve, because I’ve experienced it from knowing Him, and you deserve like that too, because He created you for it.
I may not always include a video like I did in my last blog or I am doing in this one, but this one is so perfect for this day, and for what I felt led to share with all of you. It’s by a young man named Jeff Bethke, who figured out what true love is all about.
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If people are honest, most want to be known, but are also afraid for too many to fully know them. Seems kind of odd, but really, it makes sense. For some people, they are afraid of revealing too much and not being liked. For others, they’re afraid of someone getting too close and then getting hurt by them, because it has happened before. Whatever the reason, every single one of us is known and loved.
Some of you may be reading this and thinking, “Yeah, right.” But, it’s true. Our Creator knows us better than we know ourselves. God loves us, even when we act or do things that others may find unlovable. Even when Christ was looking down upon those who despised Him, He looked up and cried to His Father, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:24) That is beyond our comprehension to look at others and feel such immense love, even when they feel none in return, but God feels that way about us.
In fact, even before you were born, you were seen by Him and loved dearly. “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” (Psalms 139:13-18 NLT)
There’s a story in the book of Genesis about a servant of Abram (later Abraham) and Sarai (later Sarah), named Hagar. God told Abram and Sarai that they were going to conceive, but when it took too long, Sarai decided to take matters into her own hands. She gave Sarai to Abram, so they could have a child. Then, what does she do? After Hagar became pregnant, Sarai became so bitter with her that she treated her cruelly, to the point that Hagar left.
At one point, in the midst of fleeing, God sent an angel to speak directly to Hagar. In Genesis, 16:11-14, we learn, “And the angel also said, ‘You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives. Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, ‘You are the God who sees me.’ She also said, ‘Have I truly seen the One who sees me?’So that well was named Beer-lahai-roi (which means ‘well of the Living One who sees me’). It can still be found between Kadesh and Bered.”
A woman, who is never mentioned as knowing God, is not only shown that He saw her and He cared about her and even her unborn son. Likewise, no matter where you find yourself in life, and no matter what you have ever done, God sees you. He knows you. He loves you.
If you don’t know Him and would like to, please feel free to leave me a message. Having a relationship with God is one that will never fail you. If you already know Him, but still struggle with the idea of others fully knowing you, ask God to help you. You are His precious creation and worth being known.
Are there those who will desire to hurt you? Always, but there are also those who desire and will love you, for who you are, imperfections and all. Those are the people who look at you, and see all the amazing things you have to offer others and to the world.
You are here for such a time as this (Esther 4:14), because God has a purpose, a plan for you and your life (Jeremiah 29:11). This requires you to be known by others. Why? Because as they get to know, His desire is that they will see Him in you and want to know more about Him.
As my final word on this subject today, please check out this terriifc video that really shows the relationship God wants with us. It comes from the story of the woman at the well, in John 4:
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Rachel's Reflections 