When a season ends on your favorite show

Over the years, Traci and I have found a few shows that we’ve really enjoyed. You know, the kind of programs that keep you coming back week after week to see what happens next. Or, in the case of Netflix, DVD or Amazon Prime, the kind of show you binge watch over the weekend. (Here’s a funny little skit from Portlandia about what happens when you get sucked into binge-watching a show.) What makes a show so appealing? For our tastes, a series we enjoy has good drama, strong character development, unexpected plot twists, surprise guest appearances, shocking revelations and unexpected deliverances. As I was thinking about the qualities of a good season of a TV show, I began to realize that those same attributes have contributed to our story this past “season.” Season One is coming to an end, and season two is about to begin.

Drama: We always tell our daughter Bethany that we want to avoid unnecessary drama. She, on the other hand, loves drama. In fact one night, not too long ago, she and I were talking about some drama at school and before I could say anything she said, “You know what dad...I really love drama with people!”

What BJ loves about drama is the meaningful interactions with others that are full of emotions, sometimes raw, sometimes boisterous, always expressed. She loves the intensity of the moment and God has wired her to experience life to the fullest. She grieves fully. She laughs whole-heartedly. She feels intensely. She expresses without hindrance.

Since January (even before), we have experienced a wide range of drama in our lives. We have wept together as a family. We have rested and experienced joy together. We have laughed, we have sang, we have prayed and we have grieved and through it all, we have felt the cycles of emotions. This season of life has had a lot of drama!

Character Development: Over the past 10 months, we have definitely found ourselves in the crucible of character development. I can say without hesitation that I’ve searched my heart more, probed my motives deeper and spent more time unpacking my heartache with others in the past 10 months, than I have in any other period of time in my life. There has been a lot of hurt, a lot of processing and a great deal of growth that has taken place and I know that more is still to come. Traci and I are not the same people we were on January 16th.

Unexpected Plot Twists: The past season has been full of unexpected plot twists, too. On January 16th my job ended abruptly. On March 12th, we began a tour of houses, that included sleeping in over 30 different locations. When June 19th rolled around, Traci took off on a mission trip to Thailand to gain first-hand experience into human trafficking, and I -- and the three kids -- started of an 11,000 mile road trip. Traci eventually joined up with us, and the trip gave us opportunity to speak to dozens of people and families about Overboard Ministries.

When we returned to Michigan, we returned to unknown answers to big life questions: Where are we going to live? How will we make ends meet? Where will our children go to school? Literally, when we left Wisconsin on Saturday August 8th, we didn’t know where we were going to be spending the night when we arrived in Michigan. Yeah...there were some big plot twists.

Surprise Guest Appearances: In a recent blog, I called out a number of special guests who showed up big time in our first season of Overboard. The list is long and diverse, and yet God used each guest appearance to encourage us on the journey and keeping us moving forward in the Overboard Life.

We had friends provide food and shelter. We had friends give us special gifts and financial blessings. We saw God use others to put gas in the tank, provide back-to-school clothes and supplies, give our family unique memories, spoil us with special outings and lavish us with prayers and grace. The end-of-show credits for this season of our life will take hours to scroll by! The end-of-show credits just featuring our families would be hours long!

Shocking Revelations: When you experience a sudden U-turn in life, you see shocking revelations all around you. We experienced revelations in our lives (things we liked and things we didn’t!), as well as revelations in the lives of others. We saw things revealed in the the way others interacted with us, as well as a new understanding into the lives of others. I saw some ways I missed the heartache of some dear friends (because now I had a personal understanding of their previous experience) and we understood the harshness of others as we healed from open wounds.

Unexpected Deliverances: I was watching one of my favorite shows recently, while I was folding 3 tons of laundry. (yes, it was 6,000 lbs of laundry!) There was a moment I held a shirt in mid-air as I watched a suspenseful scene play out. The hero was a goner for sure, pinned down in a science lab with no way out. As he prepared to make his last stand while trying to save the one person he came to help, a last-second appearance by a friend allowed busted him out of his predicament and out to freedom.

I can’t tell you how many times God sent someone, at just the last second, to bust us out of a predicament and into His freedom. Like the time...Three days after I was released from my job, Traci and I were sitting at the table talking about upcoming bills. She was looking at the banking book, and I was contemplating a life as a crime boss in Lake Ann, Michigan. I asked her how much we needed and she replied, “$600.00 would take care of it.”

We sat there for about 10 more minutes when Traci said, “There’s someone in the driveway. It’s a car I don’t recognize.” Moments later, our friend John was knocking at the kitchen door. We had only known John for the 22 months we had lived in Michigan. I wouldn’t say we knew him super well, though we certainly considered him and his family friends. I had visited with him on several occasions, but this house visit was most unexpected.

John came in, gave me a big hug and expressed his condolences over my job loss. He then shared a story about a work God had put on his heart to do several months prior, but how the thing had kind of fizzled out. Perplexed, he stopped and waited for God’s leading. The day before he came to our house, he heard what happened to us, then he knew how to finish the task he started months before. So there he was on Monday, telling us this story. He concluded, and almost as quickly as he showed up, he prayed with us, shook my hand, and then left the house asking us not to share a word about this story.

When I opened my hands after he left, I pulled out -- you guessed it -- $600.00 in cash. The exact amount that Traci, just ten minutes earlier, had said we needed. This is one story in a hundred (or more!) that illustrates how dramatically some of our needs were met in the most unexpected ways. And don’t worry, I didn’t break my word with John. Since he unexpectedly left this life to join God in the next, I figured I’m free to share, yet another story, of how this man blessed the people around him.

In conclusion... The point of all this? In the book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller asserts that the qualities that make a movie great, are the same qualities that make a life great. In the same vein, the qualities that make a TV series worth watching week after week, are maybe the same qualities that make a life worth living. A good TV series changes pace, allows characters to develop, keeps you on your toes with new insights, provides lots of good drama and last minute rescues, and makes you smile (or cringe!) when special guests show up.

Don’t forget the most important ingredient of a great series at any season in life: make sure it all points back to God. I certainly wouldn’t boast that we’ve done that flawlessly during this season of our lives, but even when we’ve fallen off the trail or stumbled along the way, we’ve always tried to get back on track. It helps to have great co-stars on the journey with us, people who have repeatedly pointed back to Christ when we’ve lost our way.

So if you feel your life is like a dramatic, gut-wrenching TV series that gives you the sensation of riding on a roller coaster with all of its ups and downs, you might be precisely where you need to be in God’s plan! The drama, unexpected plot twists, surprise guest appearances complete with shocking revelations, unexpected deliverances and deep character development is part of God’s way of making you who He wants you to be, so that you are ready to do what He wants you to do!

And don’t forget to take a look around at others who might be participating in a great season of drama -- your guest appearance in their story might be the way God provides an unexpected deliverance for them!

Go ahead and take the plunge, your season will be better on the water.

You ever watch a child run into traffic?

Last month, Traci and I, and our three amazing kids, were on our West Coast road trip from Michigan. During six weeks of travel, we logged 10,860 miles and countless hours of fun with friends and family. It was a great trip to rest, recruit supporters for Overboard Ministries and to prepare our hearts for the work God has for us here in Michigan. A week after my oldest niece’s wedding, we spent 7 days with my brother Dan (it was his daughter’s wedding) and his two youngest children. It was a fantastic week for all of us. The hundred degree weather made his pool perfect for daily swims and time with his family was a real treat.

Dan’s youngest -- my nephew Steven -- is a great young man, today. 20 years old, he loves the Lord, and loves adventure in life. He’s a lot of fun to be around, and my son AJ especially enjoys hanging out with him.

One sunny afternoon while watching him play games with my kids in the pool, I took a little stroll down memory lane. I have a lot of memories of Baboochka (that of course, is his preferred name!), and one in particular that still makes my heart race when I think about it.

Steven was probably just three or four years old, and all of us took an afternoon to visit Bush Park in Salem, Oregon. We were walking along Mission street (a particularly busy street) preparing to enter the park, when Steven, suddenly and rather inexplicably, bolted toward Mission street. It was moment of sheer terror for everyone as he scooted between two parked cars and prepared to emerge on a street with vehicles traveling 35-45 mph.

My brother’s parental instincts kicked in, and he jumped down a little embankment and bounded between two cars to catch Steve as he was a step away from entering into a lane of traffic. Honestly, a second or two later, and that might have been the last memory our family would have had of Steven. My brother saved his son’s life.

Watching Steven jump in the pool as a 20-year-old man, I’m thankful for my brother’s quick thinking, and his decision to grab Steve’s hand and yank him to safety. There was no debate, there was no, “Steven, you get back up here right now, or you’re gonna get hit by car. Oh yeah, young man, when you get hit by a car doing 45, you’ll be sorry you didn’t listen to me!” No. He jumped into danger, grabbed his son’s hand and pulled him back to safety.

I’m thinking about that story again today, as I’ve been meditating on Isaiah 41:13: “For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you’” (NIV). I like how The Message paraphrases it: “That’s Right. Because I, your God, have a firm grip on you and I’m not letting go. I’m telling you, ‘Don’t panic. I’m right here to help you.’”

I love that verse. God “takes hold of [my] right hand” -- He has a “firm grip on [me]” -- and He’s here to help. Like my brother jumping out to help his son avoid serious injury, God is taking hold of you and me, and notice that He’s not waiting for us to reach out to Him! My brother Dan didn’t wait for Steven to realize the gravity of his situation, and likewise, God isn’t waiting for you and I to come to our senses before He offers help. He initiates. He grabs our hand. He helps.

Of course, we can resist His help, we can reject His work in our lives, but thankfully, He still doesn’t give up and He doesn’t quit. Sure, He might up the ante, He might increase the pressure to help persuade us to trust Him, but He doesn’t give up helping us. He wants us to grow to be more and more like His Son, Jesus.

I’m thankful for God’s help. I’m thankful He keeps grabbing my hand and I’m thankful for His reminder that I don’t need to fear or panic; He’s here to help.

How can you surrender to God’s help today? How can you redirect your focus from fear of circumstances, to faith in a God who helps? From anxiety to peace? From fear of the unknown to trust in the One who knows everything?

He’s taking hold of you, and He wants to help.

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

God loves a grand entrance!

I read a book by Mark Batterson this past year. Actually, I’ve read the book a couple of times, and finished it up again toward the end of 2014. In the book, Batterson has this great line about God’s timing. He talks about how God loves to make a grand entrance into our lives, showing up in “just the nick of time...” in order to display His grace, His power and His divine sense of timing. When it comes to our struggles and questions, we usually have a vastly different timeline than God does. We want answers now, we want His provision well-ahead of time, and we usually want miracles in our timing, not His. God sees the big picture, though, and He knows the exact best moment to provide, bless, answer or show up. So as Batterson writes, “Rarely is God early...but He is NEVER late!”

Have you ever found yourself in God’s waiting room? Have you walked thru a health difficulty and wondered if God would step in? Maybe you’re going thru a job change like Traci and I are right now, and you’re wondering how to pay the bills or find a place to live when you don’t have any income? Are you experiencing heartache in your marriage right now, and you’re asking God to step in and “fix” it? Do you have a child that’s making some really poor decisions? Are you worried about your education, wanting God to intervene as you look to the future? Is your job situation lousy and do you find yourself asking God to give you another option so you can leave? Do you have more going out then coming in to your checkbook each month?

We’ve all been there at one time or another, waiting on God to show up and do His thing. Waiting for Him to intervene in our lives and to take a hurt and mend it, turn a wrong into a right or just plain help out when we don’t know where to turn next. I’m there right now, asking Him to clearly reveal the next step in our lives as Traci and I embark on this unexpected new chapter in our lives.

This one thing I know while I wait: God loves a grand entrance.

Overboard Ministries was forged out of a message I prepared for camp, from Matthew 14. After Jesus has preached an all-day message and performed a miraculous feeding of over 5,000 people, he ends the long day by dismissing the crowds, sending his 12 disciples home on a boat, and then heads up a hillside to spend some time praying to the Father.

While He is up there, and while the disciples are lazily crossing the Sea of Galilee, a storm comes charging over the top of the mountains and crashes hard on the water. A reasonably tranquil trip is suddenly thrown into chaos and the 12 disciples become fairly concerned about their own safety.

Think about how God could have handled this:

1. He could have prevented the storm from the beginning.
2. He could have stopped the storm shortly after it formed.
3. He could have made the disciples fall into a deep sleep, and slept through the storm.
4. He could have teleported them to the shore and boycotted the storm all together.
5. He could have provided better seats, in-boat food service and a large bucket of ice cream.

Instead, what does God do? He sends His Son to make a rather grand entrance!

When Jesus finishes praying on top of the hill side, He heads down to the water and takes a stroll across the lake to see how the boys are doing. In John’s Gospel we find out that He actually wasn’t going to visit the boys in the boat, He was walking to the other side to meet them at the shore. Suddenly the disciples see a figure walking on the water and their night has just gone from bad to worse, because now there is a ghost walking on the turbulent lake!

Matthew 14 says they “cried out in fear” [translation: screamed like little girls!] believing the end was in sight.

And isn’t that where we sometimes find ourselves? We look around at our circumstances, the storms in our lives are raging at full scale, nothing seems to be going our way, and we’re fairly certain that we’re at the end. We cry out in fear. You ever been there? Are you living there now? Are you living at that point where you’ve hit the end of your rope and you feel like there is nothing left to do but cry out in fear/anger/disappointment/confusion and hold on for dear life?

Suddenly God makes a grand entrance into the Matthew 14 story as Jesus reveals Himself. Peter miraculously walks with Him on water. Jesus calms the storm. He climbs in the boat and then takes it to the other side of the lake. Life continues with the dawn of the next morning.

If you’re in one of those seasons right now, let me encourage you to keep your faith rooted in the One who loves to make a grand entrance. Let me encourage you to trust the One who says, “All things work together for good, to those who love [me]...” and is quoted as saying, “[I] will supply all your needs according to [my] riches in glory...” and was even once quoted with these words, “[I] can do anything you know, fare more than you could ever imagine, guess or request in your wildest dreams...”

Believe me, I wish God would more frequently show up early (according to my schedule)! But when everything is said and done, I’m always glad He showed up on His schedule because I know, that He knows, the very best timing for me -- the time/place where my faith will be extended, my character will be forged and where I will become more of the man He wants me to be, better prepared for what He wants me to do.

I’m learning to trust Him more and more each day, even as I’m awaiting His grand entrance onto the stage of my story. If you’re in a pinch today, will you reaffirm your trust of God and His timing in your life? Will you pray like crazy for answers/money/miracles/jobs/children/spouse/health but be willing to wait for God to answer on His schedule? It’s not an easy task but the future will be best after God makes His grand entrance!

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

Don't give up...give out!

I’m not much of a natural history buff. Not talking about human history, but natural history -- the history of planet earth, the story of animals etc... So when I was recently asked, “What is the greatest discovery in natural history?” I didn’t have much of an answer. I hemmed and hawed and thought about a couple of big events. Oddly, the near extinction of the buffalo in America popped into my mind (because of a recent museum display I had seen about that particular topic), and the biblical account of the flood came to mind. If you had given me 100 chances, I never would have guessed the answer that a 3D movie at the Chicago Museum of Natural History gave me.

Any guesses?

The discovery of the winter resting haven of the Monarch butterfly.

Duh.

I’ve never studied butterflies much, but the story of this discovery is actually pretty interesting.

Growing up in Canada in early 1900s, Fred Urquhart became enamored with the Monarch butterflies that invaded his home every summer. He was captivated by their color and their flight, and soon began to notice patterns in their behavior. By the age of five, he would spend hours (yes hours!) a day watching them. In particular, he noticed that late in the summer, they all left the area at almost the same time, and crossed Lake Huron on their way south out of Toronto. He wondered where they went.

As he grew older, his curiosity grew with him and so did his capacity to explore this phenomena. His future wife, Norah, joined him in his passion of discovery and the two of them set out to find answers. So by 1940 (Fred was thirty years old) they finally found a way to tag Monarch butterflies with a sticker that wouldn’t hinder flight, but could endure rigorous travel. And here, the Urquharts ran into a new problem: even if they tagged ten thousand butterflies, how could they ever track them?

They didn’t give up.

Instead, they gave out recourses to others, and invited people to join them in their journey. Norah and Fred placed ads in papers around the country and even into Mexico. They urged people to join them in their quest to find Monarch butterflies and to mail found tags back to their offices in Toronto.

People around the country were excited to join this new adventure, and thousands and thousands of volunteers (called “Citizen Scientists”) began searching for butterflies and requesting tags. Now butterflies were being tagged all over the Great Lakes region and as the years rolled on, data was being collected from people finding those tags as far south as Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas.

In fact, seeing a migratory pattern that centered in the deep south, and believing that the Monarch was wintering in Texas, Fred and Norah actually spent a winter in the mid-60s trying to find the Mondarch's illusive haven. They didn’t find millions of butterflies in Texas that winter, and both of them returned to Canada a bit disappointed.

But they didn’t give up.

Instead, they gave out even more ads and reached out to more people. By the 1970s, Fred and Norah now had Citizen Scientists as far south as Mexico, and in fact, it was their first south-of-the-border Citizen Scientists, Ken (an American) and Catalina Brugger who made the initial discovery of the Monarch butterfly’s winter home in the mountains of  Cerro Pelon. By following the lore of local villagers and the rumors of massive butterfly sightings, they eventually found millions of Monarchs in one place.

This was 1974, and Ken and Catalina called Fred who was instantly ecstatic, then urgently insistent that they find one more thing: a tag to verify that the monarch’s of the north were indeed migrating to Mexico. He had to know that the Canadian butterflies around his home were the same ones showing up in Mexico. Ken and Catalina. along with several other Citizen Scientists, searched through the heavily wooded trees of Cerro Pelon but they did not find a single tag.

But the Urquharts didn’t give up.

Instead, Fred and Norah headed south to Mexico in the winter of 1975. As Fred, Norah, Ken, Catalina, a local hispanic farmer and a photographer from National Geographic climbed the 10,000’ peak to see the butterflies, not five minutes after arriving, a branch from a large pine tree broke and almost landed on Ken’s head. As he stepped back slightly stunned and thankful for the near miss, he noticed something. As though it was written like a hollywood movie script, he saw a butterfly tagged with the code, “PS 397;” a code given to a school in Minnesota. Fred had his proof.

Many zoologists of Fred’s day were convinced butterflies didn’t migrate. And certainly if they did, they didn’t migrate over 2,000 miles just to avoid winter (from Minnesota to Mexico, PS 397 flew well over 2,000 miles, probably requiring close to 2 months of travel!!). But Fred didn’t give up in his quest and after 60 years of curious exploration (which included 40 years of formal research) he ultimately made, what many natural scientists have since called, one of the greatest discoveries of natural history.

You see, each time Fred and Norah hit a problem, they chose not to give up, but instead, they gave out. They gave out resources to empower others. They gave out freedom for others to join them. They gave out the opportunity for someone else to be first, in order that the greater cause might be achieved. The Urquharts were far more concerned about the final truth of the matter, than they were the personal fame or recognition. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Norah’s ad placed in a Mexican newspaper, the Urquharts might have died before the winter home of the Monarchs had been discovered.

I wonder how often you and I give up when we should give out? How often we surrender when we need to call for reinforcements? I think too many of us have bought into the American story that urges us to seek alone, to claim the fame and to be the force that changes [insert your situation here], instead of believing that there are others who should also be a part of our story.

The Scriptures would certainly give us the impression that it’s the team that succeeds best, and that individuals thrive when they recognize their part of the bigger story. For example, in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul states that each of us is a member of the Body of Christ. Christ is the head and is the one giving direction, but for those of us who have put our faith in Christ, we are co-workers with Him and represent that different facets of His body. Some of us have more prominent roles (the eyes, they heart, the hands) while others of us are less noticed (the liver, the pinky toe, the inner ear). But a hand cannot do the work of the ear, and without our hearing, where would we be?

Likewise, I wonder how often we try to do something we’re just not equipped for, and then give up? How often do we try to tackle a task alone, that actually requires the help and work of others? We don’t have much success and we quit, when in fact, we just need to reach out to other members of the body. We just need to be like the Urquharts, giving out resources that empower others, or freedom so that others want to join us, or even opportunity to let others be first so that the greater tasks that God has given us, can be accomplished.

I can promise you that Overboard Ministries wouldn’t exist today if God hadn’t put it on my heart to give out. The ideas and plans and books of others have given birth to this ministry as much as my own books and ideas (more!). And as Overboard grows, I know that God will bring me along side others in a journey that will help the greater cause -- encouraging Christians to live their God-designed lives out of the comfort of the boat, and out on the water where Jesus is building His Kingdom -- reach out further than ever.

Embrace the Body of Christ and your role in it. Embrace the gifts and passions that God has given others and when you feel like giving up -- give out instead, and see what God will do through others.

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

Thoughts about the tragic death of Robin Williams

Last Monday I was enjoying the great city of Seattle, Washington, watching Felix Hernandez take care of the Toronto Blue Jays in classic Felix fashion. He was as dominant as always, and I was pumping my fist as the Mariners put up seven runs in the sixth inning when I heard the news: actor/comedian Robin Williams had tragically chosen to take his own life. That news certainly dulled the moment, and then later when I had a chance to watch a little news and read a couple of headlines, the facts of his death underscored the tragedy of the moment. The comedian who could make anyone laugh, famous for his many Hollywood starring roles and off-color standup comedy, struggled to find lasting happiness in his own life. News stories emerged detailing his history of substance abuse and addiction, as well as a fairly constant struggle with depression.

On Tuesday morning, Facebook and Twitter were ablaze with comments about Robin’s death. People were sharing their favorite Williams’ jokes and movies, posting memes of him from many of his famous movie characters and linking to Youtube videos of their favorite movie moments. A comedy icon had died and no one was laughing.

By Tuesday afternoon the blog world was buzzing with reflection on Robin’s death (apparently I’m a couple days behind!). Many people began sharing their identification with Williams’ struggle with depression while others just shared heartbreak over his passing and the tragic sense of hopelessness that must have filled his last days on earth. It seemed like few people had any kind of beef with Robin, as a comedian, humanitarian or actor.

I’ve spent the last few days reading blogs, new stories and Facebook posts about this event and have reflected a lot on the sadness of his death. In doing so, I’ve had four thoughts going through my head that I want to share with you. I would love your thoughts and input to develop these even further.

First, and maybe most importantly, Robin’s death reinforces the value of every life. As a pop-culture icon, Robin Williams taking his own life carries with it a tragedy of news-worthy proportion, but it represents a story that repeats itself 110 times every day in the U.S. While his death makes more news because of his international fame, it doesn’t mean that his life was more valuable than the 16-year-old who suffocated himself because of intense bullying, the 13-year-old cheerleader who overdosed because of a naked picture of her gone viral or the 42-year-old dad who shot himself because of a lost job and the shame of telling his wife that he’d been out of work for months. Every life is valuable.

I wish all people who feel so grieved about the loss of Robin’s life, felt the same grief about the loss of every life! Created uniquely by God, humans stand distinct in the universe as carrying the marks of Image Bearers of the Almighty (Genesis 1:26-27). According to Psalm 139, that means God was intimately and personally involved in the inside-out creation of every human being ever conceived. And that means no life is made more valuable because of what it does or doesn’t do, any more than the value of a life is diminished by what it accomplishes or fails to achieve.

To be human is to be valuable.

Secondly, the tragic death of a celebrity always reminds us that people are, at their core, just people. Celebrities are not the iconic figures they represent on the stage or big screen, they are simply gifted people (in most cases) in a particular aspect of pop-culture. Something has made them popular to a large segment of the world around them, but that doesn’t remove them from their fundamental identity as part of the human race. We may try to make them more than that, but all our efforts will fail in vain regardless of the fame or “bigger than life” status that person may achieve.

Being human means being broken and having needs. Celebrity status seems to create an impossible image of someone; an image that may come from our own perception of what the perfect “us” would be like. In other words, if we could finally arrive at the perfect person, it would be the celebrity singer, actor, model or athlete that we elevate to near god-like status. But that person doesn’t exist, instead, all persons face the same reality from a sin-soaked world -- we are a broken race. A casual glance at the world around us reveals the brokenness in which we all live: you, me and sadly Robin Williams, too.

To be human is to be broken.

Thirdly, every human being longs for deep and meaningful connection. In a day and age when connection is readily available, we seem hard-pressed for intimacy and transparency. I’m always amazed when I read the story of creation in Genesis 1-2, that after God created Adam, a perfect man in a perfect world engaging with a perfect God, that our God utters these words, “It is not good for man to be alone.” In fact, it almost seems sacrilegious to imply that being close to God isn’t enough to sustain us, but it's a fact that God created us for connection, not only with Him but with our fellow man as well. And not just as a good idea, but as a necessary and fundamental component of our existence!

Today I spent a little time surfing Facebook, and I was shocked to realize how many posts were made in an attempt to make some sort of significant connection. One young lady’s post was truly a cry for help, as she begged people to engage with her thoughts or ideas. A platform that allows for unfiltered personal expression is not the same things has having intimate connection. (And no, I’m not making any judgment on the various forms of social media, I’m simply stating that mass personal exposure doesn’t expressly translate into intimate personal connection.)

To be human is to be in need in intimate connection.

Finally, as the details of Robin’s suicide surface, we must be compelled to see the people around us with new eyes. I wonder how many people noticed something was off with Robin, but chose not to reach out, or assumed that he must be fine because he is the wildly loved and successful Robin Williams? How many people do we know, do we see, do we speak to and do we pass every day who are “fine on the outside” but screaming for help on the inside? How many people reading this blog wish someone would care enough to look them in the eyes and ask, “how are you doing?” and then actually stick around for the answer?

As I’m sitting here at the airport writing this, thousands of people are marching by en route to some appointment, somewhere. Some are probably heading out to meet family, others flying to a business appointment, while still others, like me, are just trying to make it back home. Despite walking shoulder to shoulder with scores of people and making eye contact with thousands of individuals while walking the concourses at the world’s busiest airport, how many of them feel as alone as if they were they were the only person in the terminal?

To be human is to be aware of the problem.

To be super-human, however, is to do something about the problem.

Lasting change happens when people have a personal encounter with the personal God, and often, that personal encounter happens when one of God’s people embraces the Overboard Life and reaches out to someone in need. No, I’m not suggesting that every problem we face is simply resolved as a spiritual matter. Yes, I am suggesting that a relationship with God is vital to long-term health and true healing that occurs from the inside, out.

Because we are a broken people, we must find healing from the One who experienced the reality of our brokenness, without personally being broken. Jesus Christ came to experientially understand our condition, by knowing hunger and pain, heartache and loss and even betrayal and anger (Hebrews 4-7). But in His experience, He never once sinned or violated God’s sacred Law. As a result, we have a compassionate God who sympathizes with us in every way, and longs to fill us with hope, love, grace, mercy and healing. That super-human filling frees us to reach out to others who need the same touch!

Will you be the one to reach out to someone desperate for help, someone who needs more than a smile and a casual “how are you doing?” Will you embrace the value of every life and ask God to help you reach out?

Go ahead and take the plunge, others are in desperate need of what you have to offer!

Thing I'm really bad at

Today’s culture almost makes it impossible for people to be labeled as “bad.” Whether it’s a particular skill, a subject at school or some kind of athletic competition, our culture tries to capture the good in everyone, by eliminating the bad. There are definitely some upsides to this.  

For example, I think kids growing up today are willing to try more things. My own children have had significantly varied experiences without the fear of being labeled as bad -- they’ll try to sing, enter a talent show, play a sport and so forth. In the same way, the “everyone is a winner” concept also creates confidence so that children who struggle in one area can be encouraged to grow since they are “good” at that particular event/activity/subject etc... Not being bad can be good.

But not being bad, can also be very bad. Telling everyone they’re good can eliminate the desire for excelling. In the Pixar movie about a family of superheroes who are trying to live normal lives, The Incredibles, Mrs. Incredible tries to encourage her son Dash (who is frustrated because he can’t enter school races because of his super human speed) by saying, “Dash, everyone is special.” Dash turns away and mutters under his breath, “In other words, no one is special.” He understood that when everyone is labeled good at the same thing, than no one can really rise to the top. The motivation for excelling is taken away.

There also seems to be a lack of overall personal growth when I’m already good at something. For example, if I’m being told I’m really good at math and, with little effort I’m getting a C-, why would I work any harder to improve my grade? Barring just a natural desire to do better, receiving praise and awards for a C- may be sufficient for my psyche. I’ve seen this response to praise from many more students over the past 14 years, than I’ve seen students try to up their game because of being good.

At the end of the day, I believe being bad at some things is probably one of the best realities we can face. It’s good to know, and to think about the things at which we aren’t very capable. The problem is, most of us don’t like to see our flaws, or at least when we do, we certainly don’t like dwelling on them for very long.

I am confident the Overboard Life requires constant, and honest evaluation of our own lives. And here are three benefits to honestly evaluating our abilities:

1. Humility is crucial for our spiritual, mental and emotional growth. We live in a world where egos abound, but the source of GODliness rests in “God” not in us! If you want to live an Overboard Life that reflects God more than you, you’ll have to embrace a healthy dose of humility to keep the right perspective. Both Peter and James reminds us, that “God opposes the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.” Humility is the starting point for personal growth.
2. Health comes from understanding the whole picture. When you think about your physical body, you are most healthy when you are addressing issues in every part of your body. You can’t just exercise and eat garbage. But eating well without exercise is also a no-win prospect. Total health comes from observing good nutritional habits, proper supplementation, regular exercise and healthy amounts of sleep and rest. In the same way, understanding your total person, strengths and weaknesses, leads to a healthier you. When you know what you can or can’t do well, you’ll be better able to tackle projects and work with others. I also find I beat myself up less when I’m honest about struggles. If I know I can’t cook, I don’t beat myself up when I’m in the kitchen and things don’t quite turn out right.
3. Help will come when you know where you need help! By honestly assessing my personal areas of weakness, I can seek the help I need for growth. Back to the body for a second. When I announced I was going to run a half marathon with my wife in October, I reached out to my running friends and asked for help. I didn’t know how to train, how much to run or not run, how often to rest and so on. My running friends (a psychotic group if ever I’ve met one!) have helped me beef up my running regimen so that I will be ready in October. If you are able to identify some character flaws or areas where you struggle to succeed, finding help is a whole easier when you know what you need help with!

By recognizing these three benefits to personal evaluation, I eliminate the need to beat myself up for my mistakes or shortcomings. Being humbled is a good thing. Improving my overall health is a good thing. Finding help is a good thing, and all of these will ultimately help me live life outside the boat more effectively.

A few months back Traci and I visited Southern California for a personal growth seminar called “Ultimate Leadership.” It’s put on by Henry Cloud and John Townsend and is a great experience for honest, deep and deeply personal self-evaluation. Before we went out to the 5-day event, we were given a large questionnaire to fill out and one of the questions dealt with our flaws and weaknesses. Here is how I answered their questions about being self-aware regarding my flaws:

“I’m pretty self-aware when it comes to my flaws. I try to surround myself with others who can fil in the gaps. Biggest flaws that affect my leadership style:

*Crappy with details

* Enjoy pressure...so I wait to the last minute

* Overly optimistic

* Lousy with time boundaries

* Not confrontational enough

The list could certainly be longer, but those were the first five to pop into my head. I have to work really hard to keep details organized in my life. I can manage them, but it takes a lot of effort and often requires help from my wife. I excel under pressure, but sometimes I put everyone under the same burden of pressure simply because I put things off for too long. Optimism is a good thing, but it’s possible to be overly optimistic. I would have been one of those guys playing music on the deck of the Titanic believing that everything was going to work out ok! It’s easy for me to stop everything I’m doing to help a friend or just to enjoy hanging out and swapping stories. But staying up until 1am, while getting up at 5:55am every day, can radically effect my productivity the next day. I can give too much time to some things/people, and not enough to others that are more deserving of my time -- I can be really bad with time boundaries. And my wife pointed out that I’m often not confrontational enough when it comes to certain relationships. Sometimes it’s far easier for me to just get it done myself, than to confront someone on their own mistakes (almost like not embracing the truth of this blog post for others!) or to hold someone’s feet to the fire when they have made a mistake.

So there, there’s a partial list of things I’m bad at. I’m ok with my flaws and if you really need to know more of them, feel free to ask! What about you? Are you ok with being bad at some stuff? Are you comfortable with your short-comings and weaknesses? Embrace those areas of your life where you struggle, as much as you embrace those areas of your life where you don’t. Humility, healthy and help await those who can evaluate themselves honestly and it will require all three to walk on water!

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

Ask for help

For most of us, asking for help is one of the most challenging aspects of personal growth. There’s something macho or American-Cowboy-esque about conquering the west on our own. In fact, we’ve almost made asking for help a sign of weakness.

However, there are three problems with trying to do everything yourself:

1. You will hit a ceiling that you cannot break through: In other words, you will only go as far as you can take yourself. Think about it, if you face a problem or challenge that you don’t know how to solve…you will never know how to solve it without someone else entering in to the equation!
2. The journey is lonely: Running your race alone makes for a lonely journey. A few weeks ago I was doing some team building with a local high school. During one our activities, two parents were locked back-to-back, sitting on the floor. They were trying an exercise where they push against each other, until they create the right tension and are able to stand from a sitting position. Everyone in the room had finished the task but them. As they struggled, they were alone, until a nearby mom saw their predicament. This woman realized that the wife wasn’t able to get traction on the slippery gym floor so she came over and stood on her toes. Immediately the wife had traction, but now it was clear that her husband was having the same issue. Another lady came and stood on his toes and then a group of about 30 participants gathered around them and encouraged them to finish. When they finally stood, the room erupted in applause and the couple smiled, laughed and clapped as the accomplishment of such a simple task. A task that would have been unfinished had no one joined them in the journey.
3. God didn’t call you to a solo life: God actually made you and me for relationships. First and foremost, He wants us to be right with Him, but after that, He wants us to live in community with each other. In the Bible’s account of creation in Genesis 1 & 2 it’s astounding to think that after God made Adam, He said, “It’s not good for you to be alone” -- in other words, Adam was incomplete in a perfect world, with a perfect God, as a perfect man. But when God made Eve, Adam was made complete (as was Eve!) and now the perfect couple could enjoy their relationship with God and with each other. That’s what God had made them for.

So if you’re journeying alone, let me offer you 3 people you should you seek as partners in your journey.

1. Ask a “pro” for help. Whatever you are working on or growing in, ask someone who has already made headway, for help. If you are working on a blog, talk to a blogger to get ideas how to be more effective. If you are starting a business, talk to a successful business owner to get help. When I was writing my first book, I spoke to several authors about how they wrote their books. I’m amazed at how often “busy” people made time for me when I simply asked for help. Don’t be shy -- be bold in seeking the counsel and advice of those who have gone before you.
2. Find another running mate. As you journey, you’ll notice others heading the same direction you are. As God started to put Overboard living in my heart, I started to realize others who were already on that journey. Men like Andy Hartfield, Danny Ray, Kevin Moyer, Kevin Hearne, Tim Walter, Jeromy Puckett and Richard Muntz (and many others!) have been huge parts of my own journey. Women like my wife and Brenda Noland, Jodie Hartfield and others have also inspired me to pursue more. The point is, as you journey, look up and see who’s traveling with you. Invite others to the journey…you will be amazed at who will join the run!
3. Stay close to those closest to you. I cannot imagine having experienced this amazing life without my wife Traci. She runs with me, and often is the one who picks me up when I’ve stumbled and fallen along the way. If you’re married, I hope  your spouse is with you on the journey toward Overboard Living. If not, lead by example, pray like crazy and keep being transformed into the spouse you need to be. If you’re not married, make sure your closest friends are living the Overboard Life. The greatest richness of relationships here on earth will never be felt through shared-experiences or common hobbies. Instead, the greatest richness is experienced in living life with purpose. If your closest friends aren’t interested in Living Overboard, your chances of walking on the water with Jesus are slim. Challenge your friends, and learn to let them challenge you, as you seek the life of faith.

There’s no such thing as DIY when it comes to Overboard living. If you want to get out of the boat, you will need the help and support of others. Will you lead others out of the boat? Are there others walking on water who need your support -- will you join them? Let’s drop the idea that we can do this alone, and let’s embrace the help that God has made available.

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

Bullies (2 of 2)

While people are still processing the suicide of a 12-year-old Florida girl over apparent bullying, today news comes of another school shooting. Early reports indicate that bullying may have led a young middle school boy to pull a gun out in class, killing one teacher and wounding two other students. No official reports have been released but some who knew the young man (who also was killed, though police say they did not fire upon the student) say he was a victim of bullying.  

Thursday we took at look at one of the realities of bullying: the world is in desperate need of Savior. Today we’ll look at the second reality: the world is in desperate need of Christians who will live like their Savior.

There are far too many Christians who pay lip service to Jesus, but don’t back up their words with actions. Jesus didn’t have time for those kinds of “followers” and writers like Paul, James, John and Peter spoke harshly against those who would profess Jesus with their mouths but fail to convey Him with their lives. James wrote the following:

“But some will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” James 2:18

“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” James 2:26

James is message is so clear: don’t claim you know Jesus with what you say, if you don’t plan to back it up with how you live. In other words, the world needs to see Christians who are striving to live like their Savior.

As a young youth pastor, just a couple years into my first ministry, a young man passed away in the community. He and several friends had gone to a party and all of them participated in underage drinking and were all substantially intoxicated. After the party, the girl who was “least drunk” agreed to drive home while two other passengers hopped in the car.

On the way home, the drunk teenage girl crossed a center line and struck another vehicle head on while driving on a small, two-lane, country highway. Her two passengers were killed. One instantly, and one several weeks later after several surgeries and medical procedures were unable to bring the young man out of his coma.

In the aftermath, several students talked about how they wished they had spoken up. I remember one young lady in particular who had been at the party, who had watched her three drunk friends head out to the car, and who said nothing though she was sober and knew their choice was a bad one. She was rattled with guilt.

I wonder what would have happened in Florida last month, if one student had stepped in and tried to live like Jesus. If one student had offered a little hope to a girl being overwhelmed by evil, I wonder if this story could have been different. Jesus was reaching out to people all the time, stepping into their heartache, and their pain, in order to offer hope. The world needs a Savior, and the world is in desperate need of Christians who will live like their Savior.

A few weeks ago my wife offered hope to a struggling young lady (read that story here). But how many times do you and I see some injustice, some deep pain inflicted on another human being, and we walk by as though it’s none of our business, or as though you and I don’t have the message of hope that is needed? Helping people is messy. Engaging hurting people will take up your time, sometimes your money, and always your energy and sympathy.

But isn’t the price worth it?

Let’s help put an end to bullying by living out our faith with actions. Let’s stop sitting passively on the side while others suffer, and step into the messiness of helping others just as our Savior did. The world needs Jesus, and often, the way they will find Him is through the lives of His followers who choose to live as He did. Will you help?

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

2 weeks later: what can we learn from the Boston bombings?

Two weeks ago our nation was hit with yet another tragedy of violence. Terrorists (because only that term seems appropriate) attacked innocent people without any pity, killing three and injuring scores of others. Even an 8-year-old child had his life taken when their bombs went off. In the aftermath, police officers were injured, a campus cop was killed and one of the two suspects forfeited his life, too. Nobody won in the tragedy at the Boston Marathon.

As I’ve sat back and tried to think through the sickness involved in this tragedy, it’s been interesting to watch how people have used this event for their own agendas. Politicians, for or against gun-control, quickly pounced on Boston as support for their position. I’ve read blogs and editorials on the need for immigration reform, gun bans, hardware store background checks on certain purchases (seriously!) and one tongue-and-cheek piece on new legislation for mandatory background checks and required registry for anyone wanting to buy a pressure cooker.

Whatever your angle, you can probably find some sort of support in almost any tragedy, and that in itself, is a bit of a tragedy.

But there are moments of compassion, kindness and courage that rise up in the face of adversity. What do we learn from these selfless acts of service: the powerful impact of people living the Overboard Life. People like…

The first responders. The men and women of Boston’s police force, and the many EMTs, nurses and doctors involved in the medical care of victims and survivors was unreal. Without concern for the possibility of more bombs, these people thrust themselves in the middle of the chaos to help save lives, and some with a goal to capture the perpetrators.

The runners. Many of the runners put themselves in harm’s way, by working to help move the crowds to safety. Imagine having run 20+ miles of a marathon, hearing explosions on either side of you, and then having the courage to not sprint away to safety, but instead, to make sure spectators are ushered away.

The other runners. Some runners did take off after they heard the explosions. They were the ones who ran to nearby hospitals and donated blood because they knew there was going to be an immediate need. That’s right…they ran 26.2 miles, then sprinted to a hospital to give blood I’m sure their bodies would have been happy to keep.

The volunteers: My wife and I have hosted a 6.21k race (about 3.8 miles) race. It takes about 20-25 volunteers to pull off that little race for 150 racers. Multiply that force by 100 in order to get what you need for the Boston Marathon and you might get close to the total number of volunteers walking the streets, holding signs, passing out water, marking memorials (for the Newton children) and cheering on racers. Hundreds of volunteers took time to help the wounded, to protect the fallen and keep themselves in harm’s way until help arrived.

The people of Boston. Did you hear how people in Boston just opened their homes to total strangers? As the chaos was unraveling, many people in the city opened their doors and welcomed runners, bystanders and anyone who needed shelter into their homes. They fixed meals while the city was on lockdown and there were dozens of reports of guests staying overnight in the care of people entirely unknown to them.

I could go on, but you’ve probably read all the stories, and know about the amazing men and women and children who helped while others ran; who stayed calm while a few crazies looted stores, and who risked their own safety in order to ensure the safety of others.

As I reflected on that I kept wondering, “what makes a person react in such a way?” Is it just a particular personality type? Is it just the fight-or-flight response to adrenaline? Then I listened more to interviews and read more conversations and I started to understand this: these amazing people responded that way, because that’s who they are.

When it comes to the Overboard Life, we have to learn to live Overboard all the time! That way, when those moments come and there is a need for someone to stand in the gap when others fall away, we’ll be ready. It won’t be a matter of trying to muster the courage for a moment of need, it will be a matter of doing what is already natural -- stepping out in faith because faith is where we already live.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the people who acted courageously weren’t scared, or that it was easy for them to respond so bravely. My point is, in the moment of fear, panic and uncertainty, those courageous individuals did what they already were used to doing -- reaching past their own worries, self-doubt and heightened sense of danger and reaching toward life-saving action. These were people who had passed the test in the “small things” of life, and they were ready when the big things came.

Let’s learn from this tragedy, and the one in West Texas, too (where in the same fashion, people sacrifice their own safety, and in many cases their own lives, in order to ensure the safety and life of others). We can never know when key moments will strike, but we can have a gauge to know if we’ll be ready when they do. How? By practicing Overboard living in the small details. You see, we don’t know when God will give us opportunity to show our faith, but by practicing daily -- we’ll have a much better chance of being ready.

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

The 30-day Overboard workout

The late Brian Klemmer wrote a book called, “If How-To’s Were Enough, We Would all be Skinny, Rich and Happy.” Knowing how to do something, and actually doing that thing, are two very different beasts.

Think about your first kiss. You knew how to kiss. You knew that two people would do that awkward head tilt, close their eyes, and then press their lips together. All of that was in your brain.

However, the actual first kiss is an entirely different experience than what you know. My wife and I still laugh at our first bungled attempt at a kiss. Although since then, I’m happy to report, we have become quite proficient.

Living the Overboard Life can be the same thing. We know what we should do, but doing it is another issue entirely. Maybe for you the task seems entirely overwhelming, so you just plug along and hope you’ll find yourself overboard, soon.

Working out is like that for me. I know what I need to do, but actually getting out and doing it is the problem. In fact,  it’s not even so much the doing, it’s having a program that I can follow that will help me stay on track. I love doing workout videos and being a part of group classes for this very reason -- it gives me a general plan to follow so that I can get the habit developed. Just going to the gym and “working out” doesn’t cut it for most people. That’s why “30 days to a leaner you” and “the 45 minutes workout for washboard abs” are all big sellers.

If you’re struggling to get overboard in your life, here are five ways you could make the plunge over the next 30 days. By intentionally making each of these activities a daily habit, you’ll soon find yourself stepping out in big ways, following Jesus!

1. Spend time with God, every day: Seems like a no-brainer, right? Yet I know so many God followers who never spend time with God. Sometimes I get so caught up in what I’m doing that I forget to connect with HIm! It’s so easy to do. But if you want to live the Overboard Life, God has to be a regular part of your daily schedule. I recently interviewed a young woman who said, “I connect with God every morning before my feet hit the ground. I finish my day by chatting with Him before my head hits the pillow.” What a great life pattern!
2. Be inspired every day: Let something, or someone, capture your imagination, every day. Yes, every day. There is so much to be captivated by, but we miss it because of our crazy lifestyles. I’ve been working on this a lot in my life lately, in fact, here are my last four days of inspiration:
   • I was captivated by the science behind some running pants (it’s true!)
   • I was struck by the joy of my seven year old daughter over something so small
   • I spent 15 minutes reading about the interesting history of our local train station
   • I played 4-square with 6 kids, and spent a lot of time laughing and having fun
3. Help someone else achieve a goal or dream: Help someone else live Overboard. Each day I try to find a way to help my wife achieve her goals and dreams, even as I’m working on mine. Sometimes it’s as simple as heating up dinner, or taking the kids for a walk while she works. Other times it means sitting and brainstorming with her, or taking time to help her craft an email. I also like to call other people who are living Overboard, encouraging them through prayer or texts or coaching (if they ask for it). Whatever it is, a call, a note, and email, or a service project -- help others reach their goals.
4. Be thankful. Take time every day to thank God, and to thank the people He has put in your life. My least favorite people to hang out with, our ungrateful Christians. After all, we should have the most to be thankful for, and the most for which to give heart felt, genuine and regular gratitude. Spend some time being intentionally thankful, and watch how your Overboard Life improves.
5. Read a good book. Few things work more quickly to challenge your Overboard living, than reading a book. I have four quick recommendations. Read one of these over the next 30 days:
   • “40 days to a Joy-Filled Life”: Ok, you’ll need to squeeze an extra ten days in there, but I think you can make it work. Tommy Newberry’s book is awesome, and worth reading if you want to experience life-changing joy.
   • “Leadership and Self-Deception”: This is an outstanding book that will challenge you to think about how you view leadership, how you lead others, and how you are led. Very complex principles put into simple terms.
   • “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years”: Donald Miller’s book is fantastic, especially as it pertains to expanding your dreams and goals for God.
   • “The Longing”: This is a new one to me, written by author/speaker/blogger/coach/dreamer Joey O’Conner. You can download it for free from his site, www.joeyo.org. The Longing will challenge you to pursue the one longing we all have -- a fulfilling, life-changing relationship with God.

So take this 30 day Overboard workout challenge and see what happens. It’s so easy to get comfortable in the boat, floating around “waiting” for the right opportunity to jump out and follow God. But Jesus is already on the water. He is already calling you and I to trust Him, and to grab the sides of the boat and jump -- to walk on water like Him! But the best life you can live isn’t found in the boat.

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

2013...Are you in?

What are your goals and dreams for 2013? Have you started to write them out and think through how you will achieve them? One of the realities of life-changing decisions is this: the more help you employ in embracing your dream or goal, the more likely you are to achieve them.

We have a good friend who just recently was released from jail. This wasn’t her first trip to prison, however, this time out has already been significantly different. Why? Because on this go around, she is asking for help, and accepting it when it comes. Traci and I have had multiple conversations with her and she will be the first to tell you, that in previous years, her attitude was that she was all she needed for success. Today though, she recognizes that God’s help often comes in the form of others.

This is such a key principle for Overboard Living -- we need others to help us on the journey. I’m so thankful for the scores of people who have invested in my life and my dreams, people who have known how important teamwork and accountability are in the pursuit of their own dreams. Here is a small glimpse of those people:

Traci, my wife, who stands by me in every trial, joy, success and experiment.

Danny, my dear friend who dreams like no other, asks hard questions, and holds my feet to the fire.

Andy, one of my best friends, who has never shied away from asking questions that defy convention.

Brenda, the only editor I knew early-on, who was silly enough to believe in my book and Overboard Ministries.

Kevin, one of the most level-headed, clear-thinking friends that I have.

PK, a mentor and teacher who, 20-plus-years later is still investing in my life.

Phil, my brother, who relentlessly pushes me to step into the way God has designed me.

I could go on and on, and I hope you don’t feel shorted if you’re not on this list. The point isn’t to name all the people who have invested in my life -- but rather to illustrate how we all need others as we pursue our God-given paths!

As you look to 2013, who is enrolled in your future? Traci and I really want to share in what God is doing in your life, and we believe the 100 Day Challenge could be a powerful tool in your arsenal. We have both benefited from this proven system, and we want you to join us in 2013 as we pursue another year of dream chasing using the video/online program as a guide.

Join our team today. Click this link and get more information from founder, Gary Ryan Blair. The information and follow-up videos are worthwhile (even if you end up not using his program!), and I believe will explain the value behind the 100 Day Challenge. Traci and I would love to be on your team in 2013, so check out the link to see if this system will work for you!

Will you take the plunge in 2013? Life is always better on the water!

P.S. You can save $50 by signing up through our link! Sign up today!