Right now I’m sitting in our hotel room in Fort Lauder-dale, FL! It is ridiculous! In fact, I’m staring at the ocean out of our window! It’s incredible!

Up to this point in my life, God’s been very good to me. I’ve been privileged to get to go to some pretty cool places. Bar Harbor, Maine, Africa, Peru, Costa Rica, New York City, any many others.

What I didn’t tell you was that until I was 19 years old, the only place I had gone out of state was Disney World when I was 7 years old. I never really thought I’d get the opportunity to travel. A lot of my friends growing up got to travel a lot and to a lot of really cool places. I didn’t.

To be honest though, I never once thought I missed out on anything growing up and not having the same opportunities my other friends had. I loved my childhood. I’d argue that I had a better childhood than anyone! I loved every second of it. I just loved life. As a result, I have thousands of wonderful memories of growing up.

So what’s my point? This:

It’s not where you go or what you have that makes you have a rich and awesome life. It’s who you’re with, it’s what you do with what you have, and it’s where you are that matters.

Now that I’ve traveled a bit, my life is no different. I still have to choose to enjoy the journey. I have to choose to make memories. I still love my life just as much as I did when I wasn’t traveling or doing “cool” things.

Make the most of your life right now. Quit wishing you got to go everywhere everyone else does, you had everything everyone else has, etc. None of that really matters.

All that matters is who you’re with and the memories you intentionally choose to make.

If you’ll get that, it won’t matter if you’re in a dessert or Hawaii, you’ll enjoy your life more than you ever have!

Thoughts?

Serve Your Way to the Top – 7 Lessons I Learned While Serving My Way onto a Church Staff

Lesson 7 – You’re not that Bad

⁶ And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. – Phil 1:6

I heard John Maxwell say this to young leaders once, and it’s encouraged me to this day: “In the beginning, you’re not as bad as people think. Don’t you just want to say that sometimes to people, “You know I’m bad, but I’m not that bad.” But if you do things right in life – in the end, you’re not as good as people think. Somewhere in between those two, is where you should live.”

“I’m not where I’m supposed to be, but Thank God I’m not where I used to be.” -Joyce Meyer

When we’re young it’s so hard to get this, I know it’s a struggle for me. We place huge expectations on us that often, aren’t fair at all. We expect to be where others are, without recognizing it took those people 30 years to get there. Here are a few thoughts:

1.) Just Get Good – A mentor once told me, “Your 20′s isn’t for fruit, it’s a time to be developed. Follow your passion and grow as much as you can.” Get good at what you’re doing – it will pay off down the road.

2.) Remember the Faithfulness of God – it’s so easy to forget that God’s been faithful in the past isn’t it? However, when we look back, none of us can say that God hasn’t done incredible things in the past, He’s doing them right now, and He’s faithful – He’ll do them in our future if we’ll follow Him with everything we got.

3.) Surround Yourselves with Encouragers - We all want to throw in the towel at times. Make sure you have safe relationships in your life. People you can share struggles with, and don’t be afraid to ask for encouragement. Everybody needs it, and in reality – encouragement will push you through the toughest moments in your life.

4.) Enjoy the Journey – easiest thing to talk about, hardest thing to live out. Success is never a destination, success is living everyday giving God your best. Take time to enjoy where you’re at right now, because in just a little while, you’ll be saying “I love that season of my life, I wish i enjoyed it more than I did.”

So there you go – 7 lessons I learned while serving my way on staff at a church. I hope it blessed you!

What lessons have you learned through serving?

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see. ~ John Burroughs

What Are You Doing to Enjoy the Journey?

I heard a lesson by John Maxwell last year called “14 ways to Jump Start Your Life” that has really helped me stare to enjoy my journey through life. He shared about how there are 10 areas in our life that will “nourish us” or help  us to enjoy the journey. They are all very simple, but it’s always the simple things in life that are the richest anyway right? My hope is that everyday you’ll take a little time each day to either reflect on these or act on them. I promise you that you’ll find yourself enjoying your life more than you ever have before.  Here they are  . . .

Self Nourishment Centers:

• Music – What songs lift me? What songs enable you to really enjoy the moment and reflect on the past? Listen to them daily.

• Thoughts - What Thoughts Speak to Me? Have your favorite thoughts recorded in a notebook, memorize them, think on them daily.

• Experiences - What experiences rejuvenate me? What experiences are you creating today, that you’ll look back on with a smile tomorrow?

• Friends – What people encourage me? Call them on the phone… Take 2 minutes a day to say hey and check in.

• Recreation - What recreation recreates me? Makes me feel like a new person? Are you having fun? Do you do things you’ve never done before often?

• Soul - What spiritual exercises do you have in your life? Spend time in God’s Word, in prayer, and in worship.

• Hopes - What dreams inspire me? Are you taking time every day to dream crazy big dreams for  your life? You should be!

• Home – What family members care for me? Do they know you care for them? When’s the last time you called them just to say hello?

• Giftedness - What gifts activate me when I use them? Are you doing things everyday that you’re passionate about?

• Memories – What memories make me smile? Look thought old photo albums, journals, call up a friend from high school, or a sibling… Just take time to laugh and enjoy how good your life has been.

What are some things you do to enjoy the journey?