Back In The Saddle

Last blog - May 2013.  Wow, what a long time in between meaningful correspondence!  It's good to be back in the saddle.

Life is surely made up of surprises, and in the life of someone with a passion for speaking there is always, ALWAYS, new material.  Take my life in between the last blog and this one, for example.  When last I penned this blog I was fresh from an amazing trip to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, separated from my second wife, working very long hours in an inside sales job, speaking infrequently at best, and my second book was just a few months old.

Today,  I am preparing for a return trip to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia this coming May, am remarried, and loving life with the very special lady with whom I hope to spend the rest of my life!  I am no longer with the company for which I worked the inside sales job, having only recently left to concentrate on writing and speaking (Hallelujah!).  Prior to my resignation, I had become a trusted voice for the company and hardly went a week without being in front of an audience (need another Hallelujah! on that...) which broadened my audience as well as potential employers of my talent.

My second book, 'Be Known For Your D.E.E.D.S.', has been picked up by The Literary Club as the May Selection for their Atlanta Chapter, and I will be speaking at their National Conference in August!  Feel free to sprinkle in the Hallelujahs as you read :)  Yes, much has changed!  Finally, I am still working through my first novel, Jonny Pleasant. 'Jonny' has been with me since 1992. He came to light as a short story 20+ years ago, and has been growing and developing since.

A lot happens in the in-between!  It's like the heartfelt story we have heard about 'the dash'.  Most often the dash is told during someone's memorial service.  The dash on a grave marker separates the date of birth and the date of the person's death.  As told, the dash is representative of the life lived by the deceased, and the relevance to the congregation is expressed as a challenge to make 'the dash' (life yet to be lived) count for something.

In between May of 2013 and today (April 2d, 2014), I have experienced the great highs of preaching in St. Lucia and getting married.  I have also lived through the great lows of seemingly endless 80-hour work weeks and divorce.  All around me have been friends, relatives, co-workers, acquaintances, and strangers living out their own in-between moments, and all of us are either in the saddle or looking forward to the day when we ride yet again!

Being in the saddle is that period of our lives when it all seems to have come together.  That period may be brief, and it may endure for many years.  All we can do is ride, make the best decisions we can given the information at the time, and hope to stay on the horse!  If by some chance we find ourselves walking instead of riding, then let us not despair of the journey on foot.  It is a different perspective to be sure, but one with lessons from which we can learn if we pay attention, and then mount up to ride again.

I leave you today with this blessing:  "May your time in the saddle point to the sunset knowing your in-between was fruitful and the dash was better than you planned."

Fearlessly,
JD

Where Fearless Is The Norm

I have had many unique speaking opportunities in my life.  There was the time I was thrust in front of the camera with no warning, script, or time for rehearsal to do a commercial spot.  On another occasion, and with plenty of rehearsal, I led a Fearless Speaker Clinic for children ages 5 to 16 for 2 hours, and losing the audience’s attention was not an option!

But I have to say the most unique opportunities have come because of my life as a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In 2002 I became a card-carrying licensed Minister under the apostolic covering of Foundations International Ministries (FIM) thanks in no small part to an initial referral from my brother in Christ, Steve Brown.  Just 18 months later I was part of FIM’s delegation to the All Nations Conference of Ministers in Cape Town, South Africa.

The Founders of FIM, Rob and Melinda Brondell, are an amazing couple who had apparently ‘preached’ me up to the South African Host Committee.  Two days before leaving a call from Rob let me know that after landing I would have time to shower before preaching that night.  Except that I had not so much as led a Bible Study in more than 25 years I was ready… not!  Turns out I was not only preaching, but closing a revival.  A revival.  In Africa. No pressure!

Fast forward 10 years.  In February of this year I got a call to deliver a word – except this time the call came through Sisters in Harmony, founded by Edmund Herman.  The call was not to preach but to participate in an Author’s Workshop and Roundtable with my second book, Be Known for Your D.E.E.D.S., one of the featured texts.  The location for the workshop and roundtable?  Rodney Bay in St. Lucia, West Indies!  Can I have an amen on that?!

It was just a few weeks later on 6 March that Ed asked if I would be willing to preach on a Sunday during our stay on the island.  My thought?  Are you kidding me? Absolutely, I want to preach in St. Lucia!

Talk about unique opportunities?  Instead let’s talk about unique funds.  I didn’t have the money to go!  All available cash was already committed to bills, a few repairs to my classic ’95 Bronco, and being smart about saving and spending.  So ‘want to go’ was very much tempered by ‘money to go’ and ‘money’ was winning, so to speak.

My prayers about the opportunity became reason sessions as I reasoned through whether or not this was in fact a call of God to preach in St. Lucia, or just an invite from well-intentioned peers. Then I went to my friend Steve Brown’s house for coffee.  Yep, the same Steve Brown who referred me to Rob and Melinda Brondell in 2002.

I could only cover my face as tears streamed down my face when Steve handed me a check for an amount that caused me to no longer question Who was inviting me, or why I was to go.  When you see the love of God manifest so clearly, emotions will get the better of you! I was being called to St. Lucia and without doubt it was God doing the calling.  Not unlike Cape Town in 2003, I would stand in front of a congregation with whom I had no prior connection.  The Pastor, whom I had never met before, gave me the mic to speak a word of great encouragement to his congregation.

Two days later I would preach to another congregation, and in between I would be invited to attend a Prayer Meeting, and once there – without advance notice – be asked to lead the meeting.  Three unique speaking opportunities all to audiences I did not know before stepping in front of them.  All ordained by God to speak His Word to those He loves so very, very much.

When blessed to represent the Christian faith, in the pulpit, at a prayer meeting, in a Bible study or some other venue, the responsibility to disseminate the truth of Scripture is not to be taken lightly or ill-advisedly.  And concerns about adequate time to prepare can be filed away!  I had started developing a lengthy discourse on paper which would have become the foundation for a few sermons – until the Lord had me abandon the project, and leave the work behind.

When the Lord calls you go where you are led to go, stay where you are led to stay, speak where you are led to speak, and say what you are given to say.  And for my brothers and sisters in Christ you’ll get a kick out of the following:

The airfare to St. Lucia was not booked in March, well in advance of the 8 May departure.  No, airfare was booked on 7 May, hardly in advance of the 8 May departure.  Knowing Who was calling had me prepared to go to the airport without a ticket because I knew God had it under control, and, after all ... I was headed to St. Lucia.  Crazy?  Not really.  Just unafraid to be a Disciple.

 

You see, in this realm of being a mouthpiece for the one, true Living God - fearless is the norm.

Fearlessly,

JD