Hope

Last night I watched part of the Country Music Awards show.  I enjoyed much of the show, great staging, some great artists, and it was live from Nashville, my home town.  One song I enjoyed was the song by Sugarland called LOVE from there most recent release.  Great song, lyrics, it was nothing short of Epic.

As the song closed, on the screen behind them was the word HOPE.  As soon as I saw the word, I realized that I had been hearing and seeing that word alot lately.  We just finished a presidential election in which candidates promised HOPE for the future.  “Vote for me, I will give you hope” is what we have heard for months.  Earlier this year, my marketing team created a video in which we share many of the struggles teenagers face, and our answer is also HOPE, hope in the church and families to change the direction of Faith amonth teenagers.

I realized that we all find HOPE in so many wrong things.  What is HOPE? Dictionary.com says it is ” the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.”  Psalm 20:6-8 talks about where we put our trust, our hope (The Message).
6 That clinches it—help’s coming,
an answer’s on the way,
everything’s going to work out.

7-8 See those people polishing their chariots,
and those others grooming their horses?
But we’re making garlands for God our God.
The chariots will rust,
those horses pull up lame—
and we’ll be on our feet, standing tall

I am putting my HOPE in God.  Not in men.  That means no matter what man does or tries to do, no matter what deicisions are made on this planet, that my HOPE is in God for today and for tomorrow.  When my HOPE is in Him all else loses its power, it is temporary, it is not strong enough to stand up against the HOPE that I have.  Love does bring HOPE.  Love of God, Love of all that is good does bring HOPE.

In the midst of tough economic, political, and spiritual days, we must put our HOPE in the one who stands above it all.

Thank you President Bush

Mr. President, I want to thank you for leading our country the past 8 years.  I have never seen a leader more scrutinized, made fun of, simply raked over the coals.  You have stood strong and exemplified a leader that does what he believes in spite of the many critics, the people who want you over thrown, and Americans who do not really understand what it means to be President and the pressure you faced every day the past 8 years.

I am not sure I could ever handle the pressure you have been under.  Terrorist attackes on the country you lead, economic struggles that have been brewing for years, but blew up under your guard.  Thank you for looking forward, for not complaining about those who attacked you, for sticking to the work of protecting us, trying to find solutions to our problems, and for having strong faith in the midst of turmoil.

I pray your legacy will one day show the great resolve you had in the face of such turmoil.  The focus on keeping the American homeland safe by taking the battle abroad.  I pray that you are remembered for standing strong for what you believe in and for working hard to bring this country together, being successful many times during your presidency.

I pray for you and your family as you begin the next Chapter of your life.  May God richly bless you!

High 5 Update #2

5 days in to the High 5 Challenge and things are progressing nicely.  I have 1 book completely finished, Sampson and the Pirate Monks.  Good books for guys to read about accountablility and honest living among a brotherhood of guys.  It is challenging me right now thinking about this part of my life, honesty #1, and then having some guys to do life with, guys who understand what it is to be a guy and the struggles we face.  Good book for women to read if they want to see into the life of a guy.  Might do some good!

Also, I am a week into the Couch to 5K.  I enjoyed the first week and begin week #2 tomorrow.  My legs hurt, but I guess that is simply because they have not done anything for along time!  They tell me after week 2 the pain begins to subside.  We will see.

Still need to get the diet under control, but have made a few strides here.  Will keep working at it.

This is alot of fun!!  Focusing on many areas takes has taken the attention of weight loss and excercise so much.  Being successful today in some areas helps me stay on track in the other areas.

High 5 Update #1

Tomorrow is the official start of the High 5 challenge.  I started early!  I started reading 2 books on Wednesday that include: Business:  22 Immutable laws of Marketing; Faith:  Sampson and the Pirate Munks.  Both are very intrigueing and I am very engaged in them both.  Going to buy Crazy Love this weekend as my next Faith book, and will probably get the new Seth Godin book – Tribes – for business.

I also hit my first Couch to 5K workout yesterday.  I am now officially off the couch, now it is 9 weeks to the 5K.  It went pretty well, as you can imagine, it hurt a little!

Off to a good start, focused one day at a time.  I am finding that taking a positive look on what I am doing rather than not doing helps.  For example, when you diet you DO NOT eat things to lose wait, rather than choosing to eat good things which is a more positive outlook.  I am not giving anything up, just adding some really good things to my daily life.

The High 5 Challenge

So, I have been thinking alot about my life, about the discipline I have and don’t have in various areas.  The number 5 popped into my head as I was thinking about this and the idea came to me to build some challenges into my life around this number.  So here it goes…

In 5 months I will do these 5 things…

*  5k run – I am going to follow the couch to 5k program

*  50Ibs – Self-explanatory

*  $5,000 – I will try to save extra money

*  5 books – I will read 5 books that will help my faith journey

*  5 books – I will read 5 books to help me grow in my profession

Faith, career, health, finance seems like that is all there is in life doesn’t it?  Well, these are the areas I want to tackle and I will be blogging about this journey which I hope helps me be accountable to finishing.  I am excited about this challenge.  Nearing age 40, it is about time to get things on track!!  Please pray for me if you think about it and maybe you would be inspired to do something similar – pick a number and build your own personal challenge.

This challenge begins November 1 and ends March 31, 2009.  I am going to give myself a high 5!!

The road travelled

Do you ever look back on your life and wonder how you got to where you are?  Good, Bad, and the Ugly?  Recently I have been thinking about that.  I think seeing old friends on Facebook from different parts of life got me to thinking about it.  I mean, so many decisions that are made have life altering results.

Where I went to college, who I met, who I dated, what my major was, the friends I made.  All of these things set up the next step and then the next.  God’s plan is amazing and perfect.  He knows the choices we are making, and I believe is pushing us in various directions as he orders the steps of our lives.  Life could be really different if we make different choices, but I have to trust Him that I am making the right ones at the time and following His hand.

Another benefit to looking back is seeing how Faithful God is to us.  I am amazed at the people I have had a chance to meet, from so many walks of life, some are humble servants, some celebrities, all having an impact on who Scott Mills is today.  Thanks to all who have impacted me, who have invested in me, who have taught me things even when you didn’t know you were.  I am blessed and very thankful!

Marriage is not easy

It is amazing as we enter the mid part of our life, how many friends we have who are struggling with their marriage.  I mean, we have our own share of struggles in our own relationship.  Marriage is hard, and as I begin to think about why, I have realized something.

WE ARE SO SELF-CENTERED.  This is why we do not give everything to God, and why we don’t give everything to our spouse.  We have our own lists of needs that are never met by our counterpart, things we expect to be met, but never are.  This builds resentment in our relationships and all the while our spouse is going through the exact same thing.  They have unmet needs and expectations.  We are focused on our own needs…

Try this for once – take your eyes off yourself and put them on the person you fell in love with years ago. 
What do they need?  I would be willing to bet that if we could work hard at meeting our spouses needs and expectations, we would quickly forget that ours are not being met, in fact, I believe that our spouse would return the favor – now that cannot be your motivation because that gets us back to being self-centered.

I heard a speaker at Promise Keepers one year talk about out-serving your spouse.  Iron your wife’s clothes (please don’t ruin them), make her breakfast while she is getting ready for the day, you take the dog out, get the kids ready – work hard at making her life easy.  Ladies, make your husband feel like he is the king, if he is watching a game, bring him a drink, make him a sandwich, watch it with him. 

I believe all our relationships would flourish is we could just keep our eyes on serving our spouse.  I am going to try it…

Disappointment

You know, life can really throw some curve balls at you.  We recently had some thrown at us in our quest for a new house.  It resulted in us starting our search over again and caught us scrambling to take care of some things.  The biggest is that the process became a real stressful point in our house.  Fun was nowhere to be found.

In the midst of this disappointment, I have been involved in a thing called super summer at my church.  This is like going to youth camp, but without the smelly cabins, group showers, and bug juice (kool aid for those wondering what bug juices is).  As I sat listening and engaging in worship (Aaron Loy led worship, very awesome) I realized the only place I was finding peace, the only place I could lay it all down was when my focus was on Him, when the songs and spirit in the room took me beyond my temporal issues, and I entered the presence of the King of Kings.

Last night we sang…

I’m trading my sorrows; I’m trading my pain; I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord.

No matter what life is throwing your way, the disappointments, unmet expectations, maybe a human being let you down, or you feel worthless, you can lay it down.  You can choose to have Joy in the midst of it, or you can let it get the best of you.

I choose joy!!

Haiti – Part 3, The Final Chapter

I have a closing thought on the Haiti trip.  Why is it so much easier to share our faith when we go on a mission trip to a far away land, than it is right here where we live?  I remember being in Haiti and having no trouble saying to some stranger – Jesus Loves You.  Yet, as I go about life at home, I never say that to anyone.  Is it the busyness of life that blocks my thoughts about Christ, is it fear of the response, what is the problem.  I have no reservations about telling the world how much I love my wife, daughter, and even my dog.  I just have a hard time exclaiming how much I love the Jesus, the one that should truly matter way above all else.

I think that we are so focused on our self in our daily lives, we simply forget that there is more going on around us, that God is at work, that he deserves our undivided attention, and that it breaks His heart when we don’t see him, and don’t talk about him.  When you are on a mission trip, that is your primary focus, when we are at home we are focused on everything but Him. 

What if every day we woke up in the morning and decided to have the mind set like we are on a mission trip.  We would spend time with God getting ready, we would pray and ask for His protection and direction, then we would set out on our day telling people about Him all along the way.  Our focus would be on Him, not on all our problems.  Imagine what a life that would be, what a blessed life!  I challenge you to put your eyes on Him, encourage others today with some simple words – Jesus Loves You – and see what happens.

I am so thankful for my trip to Haiti.  I learned more than I ever thought I could.  God is awesome, He is at work all around the world and right here in my life.

Haiti – Part 2

It has been a crazy week getting back into the swing of life in the grand USA.  I missed alot of things about home while I was gone – ESPN, my bed, and mostly my little girl.  I also miss alot about Haiti right now – no cell phone, email, and a simpler life.

Something crazy happens when you unplug for a week.  It is hard to do that anywhere in our country because you almost always have a mobile phone signal.  When you unplug you are not distracted, you can really focus on more important things, you have fewer worries about work, even stuff you have to get done around the house, balancing your checkbook, or if the Cubs are winning or not.  You just can’t check on that stuff.

One thing that I began to focus on while I was in Haiti was my family.  God really had me look at the relationship I have with my wife.  I realized that we have been under a lot of stress.  This year has been a trying one for our church in many ways that have weighed very heavily on us and have monopolized our conversation.  We have been trying to sell our house for the past 3 months with hopes of moving to a new one, and no bites yet.  This also impacts where our daughter will go to school, and a month out from the start date we have no idea.  I simply had been blinded by all of lifes stuff and have failed to care about our relationship.  So, God has shown me the importance of her and my daughter and how they need to become more important than anything else on this planet to me.

I have begun the journey to become a better husband, a journey that will probably never end.  Thank you Haiti for the opportunity to unplug and evaluate life at home.