It’s simple…but oh so important to remember…

It’s a principle true in leadership and life

People don’t know what they don’t know

It’s hard to hold an employee accountable for something they never knew

You can’t expect your spouse to remember things you never told him or her

It’s hard to be disappointed no one comforted you in your pain if they didn’t know you were hurting

Your child can’t live up to a standard you never set

People don’t know what they don’t know

If you want them to know…don’t assume they do…tell them

I have a hard time saying something is my “favorite” of anything, but perhaps especially a Bible verse. There are so many.

What about you?

Do you have a favorite Bible verse?

What if we shared some of our favorites with each other? It could be an encouragement.

I’ll go first. As I said, not sure I can land on just one, but here is certainly one of my favorites:

There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1

Now your turn.

The trees of the Lord flourish…

I was reading the sixteenth verse in Psalm 104 recently and this phrase appeared to jump off the page at me.

The trees of the Lord flourish…

I was reminded:

Whatever the Lord touches…

Whatever God decides to do…

Wherever God places His stamp of approval…

Whatever God chooses to bless…

Whatever God builds…

Wherever God dwells…

Whatever God plants…

F L O U R I S H E S

God is God and there is no other.

Are you looking for success in life? Are you chasing a dream?

The trees of the Lord flourish…

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3

This week I woke one morning to a text from my 20 year old son Nate. It simply said, “I don’t know why, but I think you should go see great grandma and great granddaddy.”

My grandparents live in a nursing home. At 48, it’s amazing that I have 2 grandparents still living. My grandfather is 99 and grandmother is 94. I realize I should go see them more often, but I took Nate’s advice and went the same day.

My grandparents stay in different rooms, even though they are still passionately in love. My grandmother says he talks too much and would keep her up at night

When I arrived my grandfather was in the hallway. I stopped, kneeled down and talked with him for a while. Then I pushed him where he was headed, just outside the dining room. He likes to sit and wait until they bring my grandmother to lunch. We sat in front of a big picture window and talked.

My grandfather’s body is still strong. His mind comes and goes but his long-term memory is great. My grandmother’s body is weak, but her mind is excellent.

Our conversation was random most of the time, but I decided to take out my phone and record some of the nuggets of awesomeness from my grandfather.

Here are random thoughts from a 99 year old:

I’m just looking for Pauline (Shortly after I found him wandering the halls. Pauline is my grandmother. They’ve been married over 70 years. I wrote about that HERE.)

I was born in 1912. That was a long time ago now. (When I asked how he was feeling. I suppose that was enough of an answer.)

Time flies so fast (When I talked about his upcoming 100th birthday. I guess that’s true regardless of age.)

I remember fishing in a pond down from our house when I was a boy. (Reminding me to make memories that last.)

I feel a lot older than that (When I asked him if he felt 99)

You turned out to be a handsome man (I guess grandads have to say that.)

What do you think about Pauline? (He asked this several times. I told him I liked her a lot )

She’s the prettiest girl I know (Speaking of my grandmother. He’s been saying that all my life)

That window used to be a door I bet. Those are not hard to replace. (As we looked out the window.)

I miss John Reid (Speaking of my father who died a couple years ago)

He never caused me any problems. (Again speaking of my father, who rebelled for many years. Reminding me we mostly remember the good days.)

I don’t think I ever spanked him. Well, maybe once. (I suspect he forgot a few times )

I wish Pauline felt better. (He appears to worry about her.)

Those bugs are hard to get rid of (Random thought while looking out the window. He then proceeded to tell me how he would get rid of them. It involved some sawing, a drill, a hammer and some nails.)

I can’t believe the Lord blessed me with someone like Pauline. (Here’s a man who dearly loves his wife. It was challenging.)

We didn’t use to write like that. (Speaking of me typing into my phone taking notes on what he was saying.)

It must have a good memory (Not sure he was using memory in the same sense I would, but it made sense.)

I need to go find Pauline… (I told him I’d help him find his sweetheart.)

Grandparents are awesome!

Surely it’s Grandparents Day somewhere…Tell me about your grandparents…or what it’s like being one!

God is not afraid to stretch you to fit His will

God is patient

God never lacks for resources

God has creative ways of accomplishing His will

God is never stressed by my current situation

God works bad for good in its time

God loves a good redemption story

God is never interested in a halftime commitment

God’s power knows no bounds

God loves with an everlasting love

God never wastes an experience

God forgives thoroughly

Which of these do you need as a reminder today?

My good friend Daniel Doss gets real and vulnerable to share how his popular song “Stained Glass Windows” became a song. (Daniel helped plant Grace Community Church as our first worship pastor.) If you’ve ever struggled to understand the hand of God, watch this:

To download the song, click HERE.

Thank you Daniel!

Today I’m challenging my church to join me in the Grace 10in10 Challenge. The goal is simple. Lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks. It officially starts tomorrow, but you can begin at anytime.

We are in a series called “All In”. This year, we want to be all in to whatever and whoever God calls us to be, with every aspect of our life; physically, mentally, spiritually and relationally. This challenge is a part of physically being all in.

I’ve learned by experience that I’m more productive when I feel better physically. When I’m at my optimum weight, I have more energy. Most of us could benefit from losing 10 pounds.

Could you stand to lose 10 pounds?

Join us for the Grace 10in10 Challenge.

It’s simple. Go to the Facebook page, “like” us, and play along. If you have suggestions or tips on how to lose weight, feel free to post them there. This is for accountability, not to sell a product. I’m okay with letting us know about products, videos or programs to help us, but will monitor the site and those who are clearly only here to sell or who misuse the site will be deleted. A great help will be to share low calorie recipes or exercise tips. Feel free to post your progress.

Are you in?

(Please keep in mind, this is not an offer for physical counsel or help. Don’t participate if you have any question about your health. Check with a physician if in doubt. The page is for fun and accountability only and cannot warrant or vouch for any information others post.)

Here’s a guest post from 11 year-old Mallory Fundora. Mallory and her family are active members of Grace Community Church. I love her vision and passion. She reminds me of Isaiah 11:6 “and a little child will lead them”. Be inspired…

Here are the words of Mallory Fundora:

In October 2011 I sat down to write my Christmas list for my parents, I looked around my room and I realized there was nothing I needed, nothing I wanted. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought about the children in Africa, and how they weren’t going to get Christmas presents, and there was a lot of things that they needed. So, I sent my mom an email with my Christmas list, one thing on it, to help Africa.

See, in August of 2010 the Ugandan Orphan Children’s Choir came to my church to perform, and I got to meet the children, and they were amazing. They were so loving, and just wanted to hug me and hold my hand. My mom had also started doing work for a couple of organizations that helped in Uganda, so she had taught me about the children there.

The day after I sent the email my Mom and I sat down and talked about what I wanted to do, and how I wanted to help. I contacted Amazima Ministries and Project Have Hope and I told them what I wanted to do, and I asked them how I could best help them. That is how Project Yesu was born. My goals at first were simple, I wanted to raise $600 to sponsor 2 children, one from Amazima and one from Project Have Hope. When you sponsor a child, it pays for food, medicine and sends them to school. I also decided I wanted to send Christmas cards to the children in Uganda, I mean who doesn’t like to get a card, it makes you smile. So I drew two different card designs and I contacted a local printing company and asked them if they would donate the printing of 650 cards, they did.

So I started to tell people about Project Yesu, and my mom helped me start a blog so people could read about it. I met with my Children’s pastor and asked if our youth group could help me with the cards, because I wanted them to be personal, so I needed a lot of help to write out 650 cards. I also spoke to my youth group, and told them about Project Yesu and about the children in Uganda and asked them to help me raise money. Every week I set up a booth at my church to tell people about my project, and the word spread.

In only 8 weeks I raised over $2,400 and I was able to sponsor 7 children. It was way more then I had originally planned on and it was great. I got to meet some wonderful people, and tell them my story. I was invited to go to WAYFM a Christian radio station because they learned about my project, and I was even on TV. The NBC station out of Nasvhille did a story on Project Yesu.

I read a quote one day from Mahatma Ghandi that said, “Be the change you want to see in the world”. That’s what I want to do, I want to be the change, I want to make a difference, I want to help people. Everyone thinks kids are selfish or that we’re just kids and we can’t do anything like this. I want to show people what a difference one person can make. If someone, because they heard about me, or met me, decides that they can be a change too, then it will spread from me, to that person, to another person and so on. Kids have good ideas, and you know what? We don’t know all the reasons why it won’t work, we just know we what we want to do.

I know with Project Yesu, I am making a difference, not only in the lives of the seven children in Uganda who now have food, medicine and can go to school. But I am making a difference in the lives of my family, my friends, my teachers and even people I have never met before.

I want Project Yesu to continue to spread and grow, and to do that I need people like you, who are reading this post to spread the word and to help me. My goals for 2012 is to raise $4,500 – who knows maybe I’ll double that this year or even triple that and be able to help more and more children in Uganda. I plan to travel to Uganda in December of 2012 to hand deliver the Christmas cards to the children, to meet my sponsored children and to love on the children of Uganda who have changed my life.

If you want to know more about Project Yesu, or how you can help you can find me on Facebook – www.facebook.com/projectyesu or go to my site www.projectyesu.org.

I am selling T-shirts and wristbands to raise funds, and I am also looking for families, groups, classrooms or anyone to be a part of the “Be The Change” campaign by collecting coins to donate towards Project Yesu.

So I have accepted the challenge to be the change…. Will you?

You’ve probably seen this on Facebook, but just in case you haven’t…