Three thoughts for the weekend

After our first full winter in northern Michigan, I’m enjoying the warm spring days that remind me that summer is really coming to Michigan, and that soon I will tan up, be enjoying late night walks in the warm summer air with my wife and be soaking up the fun at the lake we are privileged to live on. I am, without a doubt, a warm-weather kind of a guy.  

But when God opens the doors and leads you some place that experiences six months of winter, you buckle up your snow pants and follow Him!

So now that winter is officially over (it only took until May 15th for me to feel confident enough to say that), I thought I’d share three lessons I’ve learned about the weather while living with 225” of snow!

Everyone seems to complain about the weather...but I don’t have to: Have you ever noticed that anywhere you travel, people will find something about the weather that they don’t like? I remember a few years back, Traci and I were in Hawaii in January. We had just left Portland after a significant snowfall (ok...significant by NW standards; now that I live in Michigan, I would barely call anything less than ten inches in ten hours “significant!”), and landed in Salt Lake City, Utah where temps were several degrees below zero! You can probably guess at how thrilled we were to be in Maui where the skies were sunny and blue, and the temps were in the high 70s.

Imagine our shock when we heard people complaining about “the unseasonably high

temperatures” and how ready they were for some normal “cooler” temps. Seriously?! If they had just come from the West Coast, they would not be complaining about warmer temps, but because they lived locally, the temps were somehow bothersome. (As a warm weather guy, I’m still struggling with this concept overall, but I’m trying to practice being gracious...it’s not working!)

In the same way, Traci and I found ourselves laughing repeatedly at how often people here griped about the snow, really beginning after the New Year. Yes, it snowed a lot this year, but it’s NORTHERN MICHIGAN! It’s going to snow here, and some winters (like the one we just had) are going to be really bad. That’s the way it is in NORTHERN MICHIGAN! If it was snowing for days on end in Miami, you might have something to complain about (and something to be very worried about), but in NORTHERN MICHIGAN, you can anticipate the possibility of snow from October to early May.

Part way through winter I realized I was starting to develop the same whiney attitude. That’s when I made a choice -- I chose not to complain about the weather. If people in Hawaii complain about the winter warmth, if people in Oregon complain about the spring rains, people in Arizona about the oppressive summer heat wave, if people in the Midwest complain about the humidity and people in Colorado complain about the psychotic temperature changes, the reality is that there is no perfect weather system or location. No matter where you live, at some point or another, the weather will give you something to complain about. I made a choice not to gripe. I didn’t always love the weather, but I refused to gripe.

Griping about the weather affects everything else: The reason that choice was so important was because starting my day in the dull drums about the weather had significant influence on how I approached the rest of my day. You know what I’m talking about. If you’ve ever rolled out of bed and heard the rain falling outside, seen the new layer of snow on your freshly plowed driveway or felt the oven-like heat already coming through the window into your non air-conditioned house, you started your day with a big bucket of “Blahhhhh!” You’re already grumpy and nothing has actually happened.

When I made the choice to accept the day’s weather as simply a backdrop to my day instead of the primary influencer on how I would start (or end!) my day, I had a much better day. Attitude is always a choice, and when I start my day chirping about the weather, I’m giving my choice away to one of life’s many facets that I can’t control!

The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to, “be joyful always.” What a statement! It’s such a simple, yet profound, command, and it implies that I actually have control over my joy. When I gripe about the weather, the rest of my day tends to follow suit. When I choose joy regardless of the weather, my day tends to follow suit. Are you sure you want the course of your day to be directed by a climate you can’t control and one which, in most cases, will never be “perfect” regardless of where you live?

Opportunities are lost when we live grumpy: The ultimate reason this attitude change is so important, is that opportunities to live the Overboard Life are lost, when we’re living grumpy! Think about it, when you’re living ticked off about the weather (or about your boss, fellow employees, debt payments, parents, children or broken down car) you are focused primarily on you. You thoughts are focused on how you’d like your day to change, on what you think you need to be happy instead of looking up at the opportunities that are all around you.

We end up being like the people riding the New York subway a few years back. You’ve probably seen the video of a world-renown concert violinist playing the most beautiful music in one of New York’s subway tunnels. He set up his instrument, opened his case as if he were a street musician asking for money, then played his entire concert for those scurrying from stop-to-stop in New York. Few people paid any attention. Hours later, that same violinist was commanding hundreds of dollars per ticket as he performed in one of New York’s famed concert halls in front of thousands of admiring fans.

The chance to enjoy the beauty of music, to hear a world-class musician, was lost because most people were too focused on their own schedules, deadlines, meetings, hunger or the day’s early frustrations to take time to notice the opportunity that was right in front of them. When we live grumpy, we miss chances that are right in front of us. We miss God’s beauty in our lives, we miss an open window to serve others or the joy of being served by others. Being grumpy drastically affects our outlook on life.

So if we get a chance to spend some time together, and you happen to catch me grumbling about the weather, remind me of this blog. Remind me that I can choose not to complain, remind me that according tot he Bible, a joyful attitude is my choice and remind me of what I’m missing when I live grumpy. You might also mention that I’m really not that fun to be around when my attitude is stinkin’ it up.

Go ahead and take the plunge, your attitude is better on the water!

What are you thankful for?

By Joe Castaneda We moved to Michigan in March of 2013. There was snow on the ground. There was snow on the ground in April. We actually celebrated our first Michigan Easter by visiting a church, and Celina did an Easter egg hunt with snow boots, heavy coat and gloves. On Mothers Day, May 12, 2013, we had a huge snowfall with big flakes and an inch of accumulation.

The snow was gone in June, July, August and September, but in October of 2013, we had our first snowfall of “winter”. It didn’t last, but we had several days of snow and understood that when people in northern Michigan said, “Make a Halloween costume that can fit over your snow gear”...they weren’t joking. The snow came to stay in November, and that means, as we near April of 2014, that in the 14 months we have been in Michigan, we have had snow on the ground in ten of those months!

I don’t love the cold and snow like some, but I have certainly come to enjoy it. The snow is beautiful while it is falling and our family has learned to have a lot of fun in this Winter Wonderland we now call home. This particular winter has been very snowy and particularly cold, so that even the most diehard winter fans are ready for the warmth of spring and summer to hit.

When we chose to follow God to Michigan, I knew that I was probably going to be the family member that had the biggest adjustments to make. Tati, our 16-year-old, probably dislikes the cold even more, but she and I have both had ample opportunity to be stretched by this experience. My wife has great childhood memories of the snow, and she has brought a fair amount of joy to all of us as we’ve experienced real winter. But the reality is, cold or no cold, snow or snow, my ability to thank God for my circumstances rests entirely in the freedom God has given me through Christ.

Bottom line, every single moment of every single day, my state of thankfulness is does not have to be hampered by the morning’s weather report.

Since we moved, I’ve prayed and worked hard on being thankful for our situation. Today, for example, thinking about another month of cold and snow, I intentionally thought about those things for which I’m thankful. My list? I am thankful for the amazing beauty of the snow, especially in the morning as the sun comes up over our frozen lake and shines in our kitchen window. I’m thankful for my awesome family that has embraced this journey with courage, joy, laughter, faith and commitment to each other. I’m thankful now -- probably more than ever! -- for the warmth of summer and sunshine. I doubt you’ll ever read a post on this blog about the oppressive heat of summer (please feel free to digi-slap me if you do!).

Paul commands in 1 Thessalonians 5 to, “be thankful always.” One translation says it this way: “Be thankful in all circumstances.” If thankfulness is a command, that means it is also a choice. I can choose to be thankful for where I am in God’s plan, or I can play the victim, and whine and complain about the things I can’t change. You can’t live the Overboard Life as a victim -- you must embrace the journey with thankfulness!

What do you need to thank God for, today? Whatever your state or present circumstance, can you list five reasons why you can give thanks to Him?

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!

Three thoughts about running

By Joe Castaneda I’ve started training for my first 1/2 marathon. When I started 5 weeks ago I didn’t like running. Ok, that’s a bit of an understatement because I once told a guy “I’d almost rather have all four of my wisdom teeth pulled out again, then run for any length of time.” True story. But now, after 25 miles on the treadmill...I still pretty much hate it. Honestly, running just isn’t my thing.

But the discipline of running has helped me learn a few lessons, and for today’s three thoughts for the weekend, I wanted to share what three lessons I’ve learned from running.

1. 

   It’s ok not being able to run as fast as others: I like excelling at what I do. When it comes to running, however, I’m not at the front of the pack compared to my running friends. A few weeks ago my friend Aaron posted on facebook, “It felt good to run for the first time in 9 years [slight exaggeration], and the fact I ran a 5k in under 21 minutes made me feel pretty good. Can’t wait until I get a 5k back under 2 minutes [slight exaggeration].” Some of you running types chuckled at a 21-minute 5k, but Aaron will get that down, mainly because his wife runs a 15-minute 5k [pretty sure that’s NOT an exaggeration!] and he’ll want to keep up. My best 5k so far? I barely ran it in under 11 minutes/mile -- my best 5k was 33 minutes and 59 seconds! Aaron’s wife Evey would have lapped me, then handed me a cup of water at the end of my run after she had run a 10k, painted her toe nails and mowed the lawn while waiting for me to finish. She’s a runner. She loves running. And it’s A-Okay with me! I’m learning that my running isn’t about beating anyone else but me. I’m just working to get out of my own head so I can “run my race” and finish the course in front of me. It’s ok not being able to run as fast as others. My growth will happen as I work to finish the race -- not as I work to beat any particular runner. Aaron and Evey, I guess you’re safe for now!

2. There can still be joy in running: Have I mentioned that I still don’t like running? Even as I write this I’m dreading the fact that I am choosing to work out again tomorrow, and that means another 25-35 minutes on the treadmill. Yea. Here’s a bigger problem -- I don’t have to like running but I can still choose to receive joy from this activity. This is where I can really dislike the Bible, because it reminds me how much choice God has given me in the joy and happiness I experience in life. Most people equate joy with circumstances -- if things are “going good” then they are happy. The Bible however, reminds us that joy is a choice. “Rejoice in the Lord always” said the Apostle Paul, “again I tell you, rejoice.” Joy is a choice not a reaction to my journey. That means when I put myself on the stationary torture device tomorrow, my attitude will have nothing to do with the speed at which I’m running or the ease -- or lack-of-ease -- I’m feeling in my pace. My attitude will be decided long before I step up.

3. 

   Running is challenging my mind to be stronger: Have you ever heard of a “runner’s wall”? It’s the mental barrier a runner has to get through in order to reach their long-distance goals. My wall used to hit me in the first 100 feet of running [NOT an exaggeration!]. Now I can run a mile without straining too much, but from mile 1.5 to 2.5 I hit this mental barrier that slaps me silly every time. It’s almost embarrassing to admit how much I want to quit running during that mile stretch. My feet start complaining, “ouch…running hurts us” and then my calves chime in, “Hey, you feel this strain? You’re not going to be able to use us for walking for a year if you don’t quit RIGHT NOW!” Don’t get me started on my hips, my abs and my lungs -- the higher you go the worse the whining gets. I start out with the desire to run 3 miles and at 1.5 I’m thinking, “Maybe I should just stop now and lie to all my friends about how far I’ve run.” Seriously, I’m pathetic. However, the experience of getting through that wall and choosing to get past my feeble attempts at stopping are powerful tools in my arsenal. Every time I choose to keep going when I want to stop, every time I press on through the discomfort, and every time I choose to go another 1/4 mile and another 1/4 mile and then another 1/4 mile…I give myself confidence for other, non-running barriers, too. Like those days when marriage feels too hard, I’m able to remember what it feels like to kick down a barrier and I can step up my game and press on into my God-given role as a husband. "Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church" is much more about choice then about how I'm feeling! Have you ever wanted to just give your kids away and be done parenting? In those moments I need God’s help to be mentally strong, to choose to make good parenting choices even when I’d rather take a shortcut. It’s not easy, but running has helped to strengthen my resolve.

I don’t like running, but I’m thankful for what I’m learning. I want to keep pressing on in this training, because this 1/2 marathon is so much bigger than just a road race. It’s a big metaphor for God’s work in my life in 2014, and every time I step on the treadmill I remember the words of Hebrews 12:1-2, “let us therefore throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. And let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…” And with those words bouncing around in my head tomorrow, I will keep running my race with joy, even though I’m slower than many, because I know I’m getting stronger.

Go ahead and take the plunge, life -- even running! -- is always better on the water!

When life gives you 200" of snow…make Snice Cream!

Traci and I are experiencing our first full winter here in Northern Michigan. The snow hit the ground for good in early November, and here in mid-February, it’s still falling strong (another 6” fell yesterday). For the year, over 200” has fallen on our 320 acre home, and we sill have the rest of February and all of March (and probably some of April) (ok…maybe the first part of May, too!) to experience more. For our family, we’ve never seen this much snow.  

Of course, in order for so much snow to fall, temperatures have to drop below freezing. I realized the other day that we haven’t seen a day of temps above 32 since December. In fact, we’ve spent a lot of this winter with what locals promise us us is “unseasonably cold” weather; weeks where the temp stays in single digits. It can be a little bothersome at times -- especially since the van heaters don’t ever quite get warmed up -- as you end up walking around the house wearing a light coat, sweatshirt or hoodie.

Then on Saturday as I was doing my morning Bible reading I came across this passage in 1 Timothy 6: “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” In the immediate context, Paul is talking about how easy it is to love money and to make the pursuit of money the highest goal in life, but the application is much broader. Contentment applies to every of life, even weather.

We have actually really enjoyed the winter here, but have marveled at how often people complain about the cold or snow. We live in northern Michigan…it’s going to be cold and snowy! Back in Oregon, though, we remember how often people would complain about the rain. I remember how often I would complain about the rain! Just how our snow starts in November, Salem rain would start in November and go through the first part of July. But that’s the price we paid to have year-around green, gorgeous summers that lasted into October and mild winter temps.

The more Traci and I talked about the weather, the more we realized we’ve heard people complain everywhere, about everywhere weather pattern. We’ve heard complaints of snow in northern Michigan, of rain in the Willamette Valley, of sun in Maui, Hawaii and of wind in the great plains states. I’m sure we’ll be murmuring around here when summer comes and we get our first big dose of heat and humidity on the same day!

I don’t think this weather whining phenomenon points to a sudden increase in local meteorological interest, I think it stems from a chronic problem of a lack of contentment. I don’t have to listen to another Lake Ann local complain to see this reality, I can listen to myself to talk to know this is true! Contentment is a hard virtue to embrace.

First of all, let me be clear about what contentment is not. It’s not loving every situation you’re in, and the virtue does not require you to abandon any hope for a different future. In other words, you can be content, while working toward something different. Contentment does, however, include the following ideas:

* Being okay in whatever circumstances you are presently residing

* You don’t have to be a Pollyanna (does anyone know that reference anymore?!) but you can’t be a complainer

* Embracing your current reality as opportunity from God for you to grow, and to help others grow, too

* Recognizing that you don’t know the end-game, only God does. So being content requires faith in God’s ultimate plan for our lives, even when we can’t see what He’s doing!

So last week, we had another school closure because of snow and below zero wind chills. We’ve had 7 this year (“an unusually high amount” according to locals), and they aren’t always at the most convenient of times. However, my wife is amazing and she chose the path of contentment despite the significant disruption the snow day caused in her work flow. What did she do? She scooped up piles of the freshly fallen white powder and showed the kids how to make Snice Cream (CJs name for ice cream made from snow). And now, almost every day since, we’ve enjoyed Snice Cream (especially tasty when made with frozen strawberries!) in our Winter Wonderland.

Are you living in contentment? Maybe you’re struggling with the weather, or maybe you’re experiencing something more severe. You don’t have to love the circumstances you’re in to be content, but you do have to choose to trust God’s hand in these moments. I wish contentment was always as easy as making Snice Cream, but somedays I have to face my worst fears, my biggest heartache or my greatest failures and have to make the same choices to trust God, while I pray for, and work toward, a different future.

How would you rate your contentment today?

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you take today to refocus your life toward gratitude. In my own life, so much more has been accomplished through the joy of thanksgiving than through any other motivation or attitude. When I am living with a heart of thanks, I’m at my creative and energetic best! Thankfulness turns pain into joy, turns disappointment into opportunity and turns failure into success.

Imagine if we created a physical token of what it means to be thankful. What if every time you and I were tempted to complain, grumble, blame, play victim or turn to our vices, we instead pulled out this reminder and lived in thanks? What if that token was a chair? Maybe our lives would look like this:

Thanksgiving Chair

Live in the Thanksgiving chair today. And then pull it out again tomorrow. “Give thanks in all circumstances…” (1 Thess 5:18).

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water.

Do the unthinkable

A few weeks ago I came across a great blog about faith and the arts. I really want to encourage you to check out Joey O’Conner’s blog. I highly recommend you sign up for his email list and receive a free copy of his book, “The Longing”. It’s outstanding and I think you’ll find Joey’s writing is very compelling, entertaining and super personable. Here’s the link to Joey’s blog: http://www.joeyo.org

As I started scanning his blog page, I realized that he was the director of one of my favorite mini-movies, ever. He did the biographical piece on Scott Rigsby. I mentioned Scott in my first book, and in fact, referenced Joey’s movie. Scott was an 18 year old Georgia kid, fresh out of high school, working in the summer while he was getting ready for college in the fall. A freak accident involving a trailer and a semi put Scott in the hospital, made him endure countless medical procedures and surgeries, and over several years, eventually cost him both of his legs.

A former high school football player and athlete, Scott’s life took a nose dive. He battled depression, fear, anger and bitterness as he dealt with his new life. However, in the depths of his struggle, Scott came to terms with his faith in God and Scott’s life took on a whole new story. You could not spend a better few minutes today, than the few it will take you to watch this story:

Scott Rigsby

Scott is truly living the Overboard Life. How about you? Will you do the unthinkable for God?

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!

What Motivates You?

Have you ever identified your motivators? You know, why do you do what you do?  

This is an interesting exercise, and I’m always surprised, sometimes disappointed, and often encouraged when I figure out what compels me. For example, why do you work? Some common answers might be:

1. Need to pay bills
2. Love of what you do
3. You’d be bored if you didn’t
4. Not many other opportunities -- you take what you can get when it comes to work

While there might be hundreds of answers to the question (or to any question involving our intention behind an action: Why do you parent the way you do? why do you study? why do you work on your marriage? etc…), I believe there are three fundamental truths, one of which is at the heart of your answer. Which do you think most applies to you?

1. Fear: I make choices because I’m afraid of the other options
2. Status Quo: I choose to not make waves, living as much like everyone else as I can
3. Faith: I make choices based on who God made me to be, trusting Him with every decision

When your decisions are based on fear, you will be full of anxiety and doubt. You cannot live Overboard when you are worried about what might happen, or how things could turn out if… In Matthew 14, when Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on water, he was living miraculously…until the fear of the water made him sink. Ironically, making decisions out of the fear of failing, always leads to failing. You cannot please God when choices are made from fear (Romans 14:23).

Decisions based on the status quo are equally destructive. When you look around and choose to not make waves, you will usually succeed. But without waves, nothing ever changes. Status quo people get to the end of their lives and wish they had lived outside the box, wished they had dared to chase their dreams instead of stuffing them into little boxes and taping them shut.

However, when choices are based in faith, lives are changed. Faith allows us to make educational choices that are best for our kids -- not less worse than the other available options. Faith allows us to see the needs of others, and creatively find solutions to meet them. Faith empowers us to live according to our unique God-given design, not to be bound by social and cultural “norms.” Faith inspires. Faith turns everyday events into meaningful interactions. Faith brings joy. Faith can endure life-altering, routine-shattering events. Faith endures. Faith is at the heart of the Overboard Life.

Are you motivated by fear? Are you living life by default? Or are you inspiring others through faith? In the comments, tell us what has helped you to live more frequently by faith.

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is better on the water!

Pushing and pulling: the discipline of faith (4/7)

The Overboard Life is so rewarding, yet so challenging. There is such a pull to living life in the comfort of the boat, and very little push to get outside the boat, on the water, where Jesus is building His Kingdom. It seems like so many aspects of our lives are geared for our comfort, and “safety” -- not for our growth and personal development. That pull to stay close, to stay safe and to stay in the boat can only be offset by our ability to push beyond. Zig Ziglar has a great saying about this, “If you have enough push, you don't have to worry about the pull.” How much push do you have?

Like any gift, skill or talent, you can only make improvements by exercising the appropriate “muscles”. Musicians play better music by...playing better music. Pastors become more effective preachers by...preaching more effectively. Athletes develop skills by working hard to develop skills. Seems circular, but stay with me.

By contrast, a musician doesn’t improve her musical talents by spending hours on the tennis courts working on her forehand volleys. Her Musical talent is improved when she works hard at improving her musical talent. I do not know a good preacher who would correlate the quality of his preaching with the improved quality of his cooking. Preachers who spend their weeks developing their culinary skills will find they leave their congregations hungry after morning messages. Preaching gets better with better preaching. Music improves with improved music. It’s redundyclical.*

In the same way, your faith will only deepen when you exercise your faith. “Faith becomes stronger, when you exercise your faith” -- It’s redundyclical. It’s an issue of discipline.

Too often though, I think most of us want our faith strengthened by God zapping it. We want to wake up more eager to push ourselves out of the boat, and less eager to give in to the pull to stay put. Despite our desires and even God’s ability to zap us (which He can if He chooses), the truth of growing faith boils down to exercise: You must step out of the comfort of the boat if you want to learn how to step out of the comfort of the boat.

How disciplined are you, when it comes to exercising your faith muscles?

Here are three ways to work out your faith:

1. Create opportunity to grow. You can actually create your own opportunities to grow your faith. Create a service project that forces you out of your comfort zone, or participate in an activity that demands you exercise faith and trust in others. I often take my students to a local ropes course that forces them to trust God, trust the craftsmanship of the course-makers, and to trust their friends. Standing on a tower 50’ above the ground while your friends are holding your weight on a safety rope is faith-stretching! You can create opportunities to grow your faith.
2. See opportunity around you. If you look at the opportunities around you every day, I’m confident you’ll find chances to stretch your faith. When I was in college, I came home for Christmas and was heading over to my friend’s house to hang out after work. On my way to their place, I passed a young lady who was walking on the side of the road. Not that big of a deal right? Except that it was dumping buckets of rain that night, it was cold and windy and she was in the middle of nowhere in shorts and a small t-shirt! I passed her once, and then was struck by God that I needed to go back. So I did, and offered her a ride. She lived about 3 miles from where I picked her up, and she was headed home after her boyfriend kicked her out of his house because she wouldn’t sleep with him. She was only 15 (he was 20!) and she was left hoofing it back to her place. That girl had some serious issues (why is she dating a 20-year-old? why is she walking on a dark street in the rain at 11:30 at night? Why is she getting in the car of a total stranger? Where are her parents in all of this?!?!?) But in the 7 minute car ride to her house, I was able to share God’s love with her and stretch my own faith. I’m not saying picking up strangers is always (ever?) a good idea, but in that moment I followed God’s prompting in my life, and my faith was stretched big time!
3. Serve in your church and community. If you make it a habit to use your gifts and talents to serve in your church and community, I promise that you will have chances to stretch your faith. Serving others is always messy and always faith-stretching, but as you try to meet the needs of others, you will have the chance to step out of the boat.

Growing our faith needs to be a regular discipline. God will always give you opportunity (count on that!), but it’s up to you to seize it.

So go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!

*”Redundycle: It’s a compound circular word comprised of redundant and cyclical. Something that is cyclical is by nature, redundant, and to be redundant is to be cyclical. For example, the phrase, ‘working with middle school boys is crazy’ is redundyclical. “Working with middle school boys” is crazy. To say it “is crazy” is to say what is already known and to therefore, reinforce the obvious question: What is mentally wrong with the person you are talking with, to make them want to work with middle school boys? I know, because my wife and I have worked with middle school boys for over 16 years and have often been asked this question, in pity, by many a concerned friend or family member.

5 key phrase for remarkable living (4 of 5)

“Choose your thoughts” (Part 4 of a 5-part series on living a remarkable life. Click here to read part 1, part 2 or part 3)

I’ve read scientific estimates that suggest the average human thinks 30,000 thoughts a day after their 18th birthday! That means if you live to be 78 years old, you will think 657,000,000 thoughts in your life. “A penny for your thoughts” is suddenly a very profitable offer!

Those 30,000 daily thoughts define us. It is essential that if you and I are going to live remarkable lives, we must aggressively seek to choose the thoughts we will dwell on, as well as the thoughts we will eliminate. We must give careful attention to our thoughts.

The Apostle Paul told a group of believers that he would strive to take each one of his thoughts captive, bringing them into submission under Christ. He understood how important thoughts were, and understood that living remarkably couldn’t be done without remarkable thinking.

Here are five areas where we need to carefully choose our thoughts:

1. Forgive quickly: I’ve known too many people whose lives have been wrecked by a little seed of bitterness. At least it was a little seed at one point. But when a person chooses not to forgive hurts committed against them, that little seed soon becomes a root that penetrates every part of their lives. That root takes over and before long, life is marked more by hurts than by victories, more by the pursuit of revenge and ‘fairness’ than by the pursuit of remarkable, Overboard living. Forgiveness is a choice, and when we learn to choose it in our thoughts early and often, we can find great freedom to pursue what God has put on our hearts.
2. Joy is an option: Joy is not a byproduct of good circumstances -- it’s a byproduct of daily choices, regardless of our circumstances. The Bible commands us to choose joy in our trials (James 1:2-4), not because trials are fun, but because trials produce in us something of eternal value. Victimhood is easy and is not for those living remarkably. Joy is one of the great indicators of those who are living remarkably. We must choose joyful thoughts each day, in each circumstance.
3. Think the best of others: I’m often guilty of reading into peoples’ actions and assigning a meaning that I perceive is correct. In other words, I’m guilty of thinking I know others’ motives. In 1 Corinthians 13, the great love chapter, Paul tells us that “love always protects, trusts hopes and perseveres” (1 Cor 13:7). I’ve had someone explain to me that “always trusts” means to believe the best in others. If you are going to live remarkably, you can’t waste some of your 30,000 daily thoughts on the motives of others. Instead, start by thinking the best of others until circumstances clearly direct you to do otherwise!
4. Load up on truth: Philippians 4:8 instructs us to think thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. The more you load up on the truth, the more you’ll begin to recognize things that aren’t true, or noble or right or pure or lovely or admirable or excellent or praiseworthy. The best counterfeit agents in the world don’t waste much of their time studying counterfeits -- they study the real deal. The more they know what the real thing looks like, the more easily they recognize a fake. Load up on the truth, and you’ll start to see right through the lies this world has to offer. The Bible is the greatest source of truth that we can fill our minds with.
5. Inspire others: What thoughts do you have that are about inspiring others? My friend Danny Ray is a world-class magician who inspires others every time he takes the stage. His magic is unreal. But if you spent just one afternoon with Danny while he’s not on stage, you’d see that what he does on stage flows out of what he does as a matter of intention. He thinks of ways to inspire others through acts of kindness, words of encouragement or through living as an example of selfless service. His thoughts are constantly circling around ways to make people laugh, think, smile or be blown away. He wants people to know God as he knows Him, and he does it by inspiring others.

If you are going to live remarkably out of the comfort of the boat, following Christ onto the water even in the midst of the storm, you will have to carefully choose your thoughts. I’ve given you my “Big-5”, what thoughts or categories would you add to the list? (Feel free to leave some of your ideas in the comments for others to consider.)

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is better on the water!