Preparation (with podcast episode #15)

You know where some of my passion for encouraging others comes from? For a long time I didn't realize what God really had for me. I was just getting by with the crumbs that everybody else had left laying around. I didn't really understand that God had more for me and it was right in front of me. All I had to do was reach out and grab it. I knew that reaching and grabbing it would take work and I wasn't willing to do the hard smart work to get to it. I was just waiting for it to come to me and guess what? It never came.

Why? Because I didn't prepare or I didn't do what I needed to do and I wasted lots of time waiting for everything to line up perfectly. I finally learned that God wants us to step out in faith and He will do the rest. Now I'm passionate about reaching people and telling them about my mishaps and mistakes. I figure my story and my journey will help people if they realize they're not alone. And now I am doing the preparation I need to do and nothing is going to stand in the way of that. I'm doing that through this podcast, as well as, my blog and everything else I'm doing. Stay tuned for the talk show I will be doing soon that will help people through the testimony of others' lives.

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine the other day. Let's just say that person was a he named...hmmmmm, Jim Bob. Jim Bob was content, because of the few materials possessions. He owned a house, a car, was able to travel a little here and there. What I noticed what that he really wasn't as fulfilled as he thought, because it took one to know one. And it was clear to me that he wasn't living on purpose and he wasn't preparing for the future. He was simply taking one day at a time and wasn't ready for any opportunity that would come his way. He was ok with being mediocre just as I was once upon a time. That's a sad thing if you ask me, so now I'm coming to tell you that with preparation and smart/hard work, we can get what God has for us. It's not going to come easy, but we can get there by doing the things that make us uncomfortable, by doing the things that inconvenience us, and by doing the things that make us get off the couch. And what I'm coming to realize more and more is that if we do not do those things we're going to see others doing them. And we're going to see others living the dreams God had for us. I don't know about you, but I don't want to live that way and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.  Proverbs 10:4/5 says, "a slack [or whack] hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame." Reminds of the ant. 

Just about everyone knows the story of the ant, right? The hardworking insects who puts all their effort together to build and are then able to take pride and comfort in the fruits of their labor. Those smart little critters put the lazy to shame by using their industrious, hard-working acumen to make things happen. We have to give those ants credit where credit is due, right? The ant pretty much epitomizes Proverbs 10:4/5, because they gather in the summer and they are able to sleep well in the winter, because they can sit on their wealth (whatever that means to them, that is). What a tidy little case-study in using one's intellect and wisdom to go from A to B to Z. Just goes to show that God will use anything to get our attention. The ant, if we would study to show ourselves approved, can teach us alot. Proverbs 6:6-8 says, "Go to the ant, O sluggard [lazy person]; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest."

That little ant is something. So, there's no excuse for us really, because if an ant can prepare for a better life, so can we.