Paper Towel Dispensers "Give Me More"

     As I started thinking about the topic for the FTM Thought this week I really had two different topics that kept coming into my thought process, yet one of them continued to surface, so I have come to the conclusion that this must be a direct message for someone out there so here we go!   
     When you visit any restroom best practice is to always wash your hands. In today's automatic dispenser world that practice has become one filled with mechanical assistance designed to eliminate waste and promote healthier conditions to boot. The problem is in most cases one wave of our hands under the magic sensor does not usually produce enough substance to get the job done. I cannot think of many times that I have not waved my hand multiple times for additional soap, water, or paper towels.(In most cases my efforts are justified as it appears the settings on these machines are designed to cut expenses by providing a minimal output.) When we wave our hands under the sensor we are basically saying "I want more". Our society is stuck in this "give me more" mentality as this is the prevalent "modus operandi". Many people are programmed to want more and not be satisfied with what they have. When this is put into a material world context it is usually not a good thing. A bigger house, faster car, bigger toys, more wealth, the list goes on and on you get the picture. But, on the flip side of that there is a way that the paper towel dispenser / "give me more" mentality can be fruitful and beneficial. What if we started thinking "I want more opportunities to help others", or "I want more time to spend with my wife or my children". What if we all started thinking I want more faith, more seeds to sow, more positive messages to share with others, or more love to give in all areas of our lives? 
     What would happen if each time we were standing at a sink in a restroom and as we were waving our hands under the automatic dispenser of whatever we gave a thought to what we want more of that will help someone else and not just ourselves. I believe it's worth a try, how about the next time you're waving your hand under that sensor for some of that foamy soap, or waiting for the warm water to activate, or maybe just seeking an additional piece of paper towel to fully dry your hands you gave just a moment of thought to what you truly want more of to help others more than yourself. More positive messages, more knowledge, patience, endurance, hope, faith, charity, or even peace. Then as you begin to gather your thoughts and channel them into a focus, start looking for ways to make your thoughts become reality. Read more, listen to positive messages more, find positive people to support you in your efforts more, pray more, and place more trust in our Father and less on man. 
     If you truly want "more" it takes effort. You can stand in front of that paper towel dispenser and nothing will happen until you wave your hand in the correct location on the dispenser. You can stand there and wish more paper towels would dispense, or you can possibly stand around long enough until someone else comes up and does it for you, or you might even give up and walk out of the restroom with wet hands and dry them on your pants leg, but if you want more you have to put that want into action. As for me I want the whole roll of towels! I want more chances to help others gain hope, I want more opportunities to serve God through my service to man. I want more of Him and less of me. John 3:30 states "He must become greater, and I must become less". Our lives should be fixed on it being more about Him working in us, than it is about us working for Him. Ask, seek, knock or in this case wave your hand under the sensor and you will receive! Have a great week, pray for me, and pray for more!
Coach Carter

Help Wanted - Apply Inside

Before the days of online job applications it was a pretty common sight to see signs hanging on business establishment doors reading, "Now Hiring Apply Inside". If a person passing by saw the sign it presented an opportunity to change that person's life. They would go inside, inquire about the position available, ask for an application, fill it out, and then possibly get an interview, and if the application checked out and the interview went well that person could very well end up with a new job. The point of today's message is that none of this happens if that same person doesn't take initiative. He or she could read the "Now Hiring Apply Inside" sign and just keep on walking down the street. That same person could possibly read the sign and decide to enter the establishment, but upon entering they find a seat, watch the employees working, have a favorable impression about what is going on in this business, but at the end of his or her visit decide to get up and walk out the door without ever applying for the job. It is pretty apparent to each of us that if this is the approach taken that same person will not be hired for the open position. As a matter of fact the business in need of help will never know that the person leaving the door would have wanted a job, and no one will ever know if that person could have been the hire that changes the dynamics of that businesses' future growth and success. In other words everything is left to the proverbial "I wonder what would have happened if I had only....."
     In life we are that potential person reading the "Now Hiring Apply Inside" sign. We read or hear positive messages, (hopefully you see Flat Tire Ministries as a thought that fits into the category of a positive message), we like the thought that the message invokes, but we just don't apply it to our lives. A message heard and not acted on will have little impact on your life. You may be inspired by watching a story about how someone changed their life by losing a vast amount of weight, or maybe you are a smoker and would like to follow a plan to quit smoking, or some of us are intrigued by the idea of eating healthier and exercising more, possibly we may even hear a message on how to make our marriages, our jobs, or our lives better. It is safe to say that many of us want to deepen our faith and develop a closer relationship with our Maker. All of these are worthy goals, yet as we established earlier none of these things will happen if we don't open the door and apply. We can do as the person seeking to apply for a job and enter the business only to watch and observe, never taking the necessary step to apply. It doesn't serve us well to be an observer and never actually apply what we see and hear to our lives. The principle that every action creates a reaction is very applicable here. How can we ever change our lives from our present state if we don't take the initiative to apply the necessary steps to create change.
     Unfortunately, many of us read the "Apply Inside" sign and we enter the door to get more information, yet once we see the requirements and responsibilities we decide that the job is going to be a little more challenging or it is going to entail harder work than we are willing to invest. We would like to change, we know we need to change, but we turn around and walk out the door without even applying and putting forth our best efforts to see what might happen.
     Listening to inspirational messages, watching television shows about people that have made life changing decisions that have altered the course of their lives, attending your church regularly, or even reading this blog can all be part of the first step in the process of change, but if you really want to see change occur you have to "Apply Inside".
     "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." James 1:22
When you make a change tell somebody, inspire others to action by your example. If you "apply" for a change in your life or in the life of others know that this blog is interactive. Create an action and see what the reaction is. Share your story. Enjoy the day that our God has given us to enjoy!
Psalm 118:24 "This is the day that the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!"

Don't Plan on Reaching Your Destination if You Don't Get Up and Go There

Sound advice, "Don't plan on getting there, if you don't get up and go there!" Simple enough wouldn't you say? Problem is too many people want to sit around and wait for some type of divine intervention or the day I win the lottery before they plan on setting forth to reach their destination. Destiny is a funny thing, many people think of it as something inevitable, predetermined, fate. If it doesn't matter what we do or even if we do or don't do something then we don't have very much control over our lives and I just don't believe that. I choose to think of it more in line with how the late American orator and politician William Jennings Bryan is quoted as saying, "Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for it is a thing to be achieved." We do not know our destiny, yet we have a plan and it is our responsibility to go out and work to see our plan come true. Along the way things may happen that alter the direction of what our plan was. What many may consider a stumbling block to our destiny may actually be the next step in reaching our true destination. We must not allow roadblocks to keep us from moving forward. As the apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 8:28 "All things work together for good". Then in verse :31 Paul provides comfort for us along the journey by adding that "If God is for us then who can be against us?" Believe me there is a plan for your life.
     Go forward today with the mindset that you want to  reach and fulfill your destiny. Do not be deceived thinking that your destiny is an one way street that leads to a final destination. Thank God for each diversion and even the stumbling blocks along the way, because that bump in the road might actually be the bump that places you on the path God intends you to be on to fulfill His plan for your life. Be willing to look at each day and find the good in it because, "This is the day that the Lord hath made I will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24
     Move forward, press on, and never give up, nor never give in!
Coach Carter

Being Thankful for the Apple Tree

     Appreciation. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as "an ability to understand the worth, quality, or importance of something : an ability to appreciate something". Another way to explain the concept of appreciation is found in a Vietnamese saying, "The next time you eat a piece of fruit, think of the person that planted the tree." As we move along through life it is so easy to get caught up in the drive for more that we forget to stop and be thankful for all the things we have right in front of us. I experienced a couple of instances this summer that really brought this concept home to me which is the topic of this week's FTM Thought for the Week.
     My wife Missy and I are blessed to have a sweet granddaughter named Ivy that we both enjoy spending time with and love making memories together. The only problem is Ivy lives in upper Virginia, near the Richmond area, which is approximately a fifteen hour round trip affair. That being said, when we get the chance to have Ivy spend some time with us, we like to extend her visit as long as possible. During her stays, I pretty much lose Missy as she devotes her full attention to Ivy, as she should, and they get so absorbed in each other that it is fun to just sit back and watch and listen to them interact. Ivy is Missy's joy. 
     Now back to our appreciation thought. Ivy has been visiting us from Virginia for a few years now and with her being so far from home she has always slept with Missy in our bed, and I have been relegated to the couch during her visits. Well I'm not getting any younger and although couches can be very comfortable, I wake up most mornings with a catch in my back and a neck full of stiffness during Ivy's stay. Not the way most of us desire to wake up from a night's rest. First thought on appreciation, be thankful for your bed! On any given night in the United States of America over 500,000 people are considered homeless. When we lay down at night  it is safe to say that not too many of us give thanks for the bed we are laying down in at that moment. Take a week on the couch or better yet go downtown and find a corner bench or a doorway of a vacant building and see how much we should be appreciative of something so little that we take for granted like our bed. 
     At another point this summer my brother-in-law Glen, that I introduced to everyone last week, had asked me to help him in placing rafters on a garage he was constructing at his house. Now by trade I am an educator and a carpenter I am most definitely not! With that being clarified, I do have a strong back and a strong capability of following directions and providing support where needed. The job itself wasn't too bad and we were able to place the rafters on the building in the span of one day so it wasn't such a daunting experience as much as it was one that made me really stop and think how appreciative I am for the work that construction workers do and how much I appreciated my profession as an educator! 
     The job of a construction worker or any other outdoor laborer during the blistering heat of summer or the sub-zero freeze of winter is something that we see happening every day, but I would guess most of us don't give too much thought to what these men and women endure so that we have roads to drive on, houses to live in, and places to shop and dine as we please. We not only take our jobs for granted, but we also take for granted the work of so many others, regardless of the type of work whether it be construction, plumbing, fast food cook, or ditch digger. We are probably guilty of taking the work they do each day, in conditions we would not want to be in, for granted. 
     The key to today's thought is to stop and appreciate what you have and what has been and is done each day for us. Your bed and your job are just two tiny areas of life that we need to bump up the appreciation bar. If you are able to read this on your computer or mobile device it is safe to say you are living a much better life than more than half of the world. If you were able to get up out of your bed, step onto your bedroom rug, and then venture into the kitchen for a cup of coffee and a hot meal of your choice then you should be appreciative. In our world there are countless numbers of people that will not eat today, period. When you go to work and complain that you hate your job, stop and think of those that are paralyzed or victims of a condition that has rendered them unable to get up out of bed. The list goes on and on, we are so busy trying to "keep up with the Jones'" or even better passing up the "Jones'",  that we have forgotten how blessed we are and how thankful we should be each and every day. 
      If we can only start thinking about all we have to be thankful for and then take it a little deeper to be thankful for all that everyone before us has done to make life better for us, then it might just change our perspective on our life. Like the old saying at the beginning of this week's blog, "When you eat some fruit think about the person that planted that tree." Think deeper, broader, and definitely think less of what you don't have and give thanks for all you do have. Have a great week, I appreciate the opportunity to share with each of you and I am thankful for the life I have been given to live! 
"give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus"
 1 Thessalonians 5:18