Is Your Word as Good as It Gets? Ask God to Help You.

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."


Today as I was talking on the phone with my brother I was reminded of something that I hope is true of all of you. That when you tell someone you will do something, I pray they find you doing it. I would rather not go into detail about what it was but my brother was thanking me for doing something I told him 2 years ago I would help him do. It has taken me 2 years but I didn’t back out on him. I believe when we love people and we tell them we will do our best to do something for them we should do it. And it isn’t because we want the praise and glory for doing it either, I did this because I love my brother about as much as I’ve loved anyone in my life. He means that much to me and I know I mean that much to him. Yeah, we’ve been getting along great lately…I told you my smoking habit I had for about 3 weeks was destroying a lot in my life. Thank God I broke free from it quickly. I don’t ever want to be in a hospital that allows smoking in it again!

So I checked out a book that Bill Gates, Sr. wrote. That’s right, he is the dad to the Microsoft Millionaire excuse me Billionaire, Bill Gates, Jr. The name of the book is Showing Up for Life and it is really insightful b/c this guy is probably a few years older than my own grandfather. If any of you know me personally you know how much my grandfather meant to me. I was his constant shadow when I was a kid. He doted over me and taught me a lot about how to treat people and how to be treated b/c of his business. Bill Gates, Sr. recalls a story from his childhood and a man named Dorm Braman who was his scout leader. The chapter of the book is called “ Showing Up” and Mr. Gates recalls how his parents showed up for causes they believed in and you always showed up for people that you loved and mattered to you. This man named Dorm had the boys build a log cabin to be able to camp out in. I was reminded that my grandfather built a building from the ground up also. As teenagers we helped step off the perimeter of the building and we also drove a few nails into the wood used to build what would become my grandfather’s dream of having a nice place for his customers to sit down and eat their BBQ sandwiches, ribs, and chicken. The building my grandfather built is where Dr. Lott and Dr. Young have Tri-County Animal Clinic. I will never forget the lessons I learned growing up under such a wise business man like my grandfather, Leon Wood.

The following is an excerpt from Showing Up for Life, “After three summers of labor (plus that of countless weekends during the school year) we had our log lodge in the woods. It was an imposing twenty-five-by-forty-foot structure with a main floor larger than most of our homes and a massive fireplace built by the father of one of the boys who was a stonemason. It had a large kitchen and sleeping loft. It is difficult to convey the extent of the work it took to build Sundown Lodge - or our sense of achievement in getting it done - to anyone who has never built a building from the ground up. In the narrowest sense, it would be true to say that we learned to use a variety of common hand tools, build a complex structure, and grow calluses and a few scars where none existed before. In a broader sense, we were witness to an example of visionary and inclusive leadership and the amazing power of people working together toward a common goal. All the showing up Dorm did in our lives gave shape to more than a log lodge in the woods. It gave shape to a place in our minds where we believed anything was possible.” That was what my granddaddy did for me, he helped shape my mind into believing if I could think it up, I could do it. He also taught me that it took hard work to have anything worth having in this life too. Many may laugh thinking I know nothing of hard work but by the time I was 6 or 7 years old I was toting wood from the wood pile into the BBQ place to be put on the fire. I remember hot, hot summers being inside my grandfather’s old place and ringing up customers and sweat dripping from my nose as I was able to cool off with a cold Pepsi. I was raised being taught what hard work was all about. My cousin’s wife made a comment one day that our children sure needed that restaurant to be able to learn about hard work b/c we(myself, my brother, and two 1st cousins, Brian&Matt) learned it through the BBQ restaurant. That was flattering for her to remind me that I was taught about work from a young age and my teacher was the best.

I’ll end with a verse I read while proofing my friend, Tracy’s book. Matthew 7:8 “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Have you got a request for our Heavenly Father? Ask and believe that He will open the door for you. I have a huge issue with doubt right now but the Lord is showing me daily that I no longer have to doubt what He has promised me.