God has a Plan
Another way to read this verse is, perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.
Have you ever felt the spirit wash over you?
You know what I’m talking about here, you get goosebumps all over your body and know that the spirit is with you.
You can feel it.
I really notice this happening as I come to God.
If you know me you know that I love being on stage and helping others to learn. It might be learning about God, learning about leadership, or learning about DOT (yuck!!!)
I was also designed to grow businesses.
God designed me with a passion for starting and growing businesses beyond what I ever believed I could.
He gave me the ability to think BIG. I mean SCARY BIG. I think so big that mostly I scare others when they start talking to me about what I know I will accomplish. No, it’s not just the numbers, it is also taking our company into multiple countries!! WORLDWIDE!!!!!!!!!
I just got done speaking in Canada for a group of manufacturers. Next is Mexico, then Europe, then Australia!
It’s coming, I know it!
You see, God designed me for this. Much the same way he designed Jenna to be an amazingly supportive wife and mother.
She would burn 3 tanks of fuel a day running around for our kids and me, and never complain once! She is amazing at putting others ahead of herself.
Next look at my brother, Rusty. He was designed to be a diesel mechanic, a father, a horse lover, and someone who loves to show animals.
Me, not so much. I have a huge competitive drive, but it is not in the show ring with animals. And to be 100% honest, I have lots of knowledge of mechanics.
But..
When I wired in my automatic running boards into my new pickup, I called Rusty to come down and help me. Because I was unsure how to do it.
When he got down to the garage he literally said, what did you need me for? you are done already!
Sometimes it takes longer to figure out what we were designed for. Heck, sometimes we have to have someone else tell us what we are good at before we can accept it.
One place that I KNOW that I designed for is to be in front of a group of people presenting!
It amazes me how often the spirit washes over me when I take the stage. Every time I KNOW that someone has just had a ha moment, I can feel it.
I get goosebumps, and the hair on my arms and neck stands up.
You know what I’m talking about!
For the longest time, I wasn’t sure that being on stage was something that I was designed to do.
I mean I have always liked people and had no issues talking to them. My parents used to say that as a kid I could sell any fundraiser item because I had no issue talking to people about what we were selling.
As an adult when we first started Eclipse DOT, I really struggled to talk to people about what we do and what services we offered.
Even in a one-on-one setting.
Then one day it hit me like a brick wall.
If I really want to succeed, I can’t sell anything. I have to believe that if I don’t offer our services to companies who use trucks in their business, I would truly be doing them a disservice.
Then suddenly it wasn’t hard to talk about our services.
And then it got easier and easier to do it.
I was CREATED to help people. And one way that I can do that is by taking some weight off their shoulders so that they can focus on running their business without having to worry about compliance!
Then it hit me.
The best way to let more people know about how much we can help them is by getting in front of more people!
So, I started having my team reach out to our current clients and ask them if they knew of any conferences that we could reach out to talk about educating their members. (Notice I didn’t say sell to their members, my intention was not to sell. It was simply to educate.)
You see these were the moments that I was designed for.
Not everyone would love this.
I’ll bet there are some of you reading this right now who are like, what is this guy smoking? He is all over the place.
I’ll also bet that there are some out there reading this right now who are like, WOW I totally get this!
My whole point of this entire devotional is that you have to live in the moment.
EVERY MOMENT!
Even the ones that you aren’t sure you enjoy.
Because those moments that are tougher, are the ones that help you build the strength to do what God designed you for.
This weekend I went out and worked my butt off. I mean worked it off. Jenna and I spread over 20 tons of cleaned rock chips by hand, we moved a fence on our property, pulled weeds, cleaned out our duck pond (YUCK), & cleaned up our garage.
4 kids who are all doers tend to leave my tools out all over the place and NEVER put anything away! Not me though I ALWAYS put everything up. Ok, you can stop laughing now lol.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot we also silkscreened 15 shirts for our employees.
It was definitely not easy, there were times that I wanted to stop for the day and just quit. But I knew that if I pushed through the pain, it would be done.
Then I could take it a little easier during the weeknights and spend more time chilling.
Not to mention, it brings me so much joy to see what we accomplished this weekend.
The tough times help to mold us into the people we were designed to be.
So today, no matter what moment you are in. Pause and take a second to enjoy it.
Take Action
It’s that time again.
You know the time when I ask you to do something outside of your comfort zone!
Boy, I sure love this part. Lol
Here’s what I want you to do. Take a deep breath.
What do you smell?
Now take another deep breath in.
What do you taste in your mouth?
Do it again. This time what are you thinking about?
One more breath.
This time pause and say thank you for where you are right now. Feel the joy down in your heart for the very situation you are in right now.
Prayer
Lord, God, today we want to start by saying thank you. Thank you for designing us the way you did. Thank you for making us all different. Thank you for helping us to see the moments that you create for us.
Thank you for helping us to see what you need us to do and where you need us to go. Thank you for everything that you give unto us! Lord, we know that the moment we are currently in is exactly what you designed us for.
No matter what that moment is. We know that you are amazing and are always looking out for what’s best for us. We ask that you help us to enjoy the moment we are in. and help us to find joy in it.
Help us to KNOW that this moment is EXACTLY the moment we were designed for.
We ask all these things in your precious Son’s name.
Amen.
A Little More
I was about 25-27 years old when I got the opportunity to travel to Reno, NV, and do a 5-minute speech for the National Grange.
It was pretty darn cool to stand on a stage in front of the whole convention and give my speech.
A few things that you should know is that I bring a LOT of energy to the stage.
There was this one conference that I spoke at in Colorado for a group of about 150 people. We got there the night before and in the morning we sat there listening to the presenters of the morning.
They were all really great, but they were dry and nervous as they got in front of the group.
I was supposed to be on just after 10 am.
Sam from my team was there with me, I handed my truck keys and said, Hurry and run to the store and buy a candy bar for each person here! we start in 45 minutes, so don’t lolligag!
He literally ran to the truck and bolted to the store and bought enough candy bars for everyone in the room to have one.
He got back 5 minutes before I went on. We passed out the candy bars to everyone. They announced it to me, and I ran from the back of the room to the front and started the presentation.
I swear I used so much energy in that 45-minute presentation that I was literally drained for the entire rest of the day.
In the end, I had several people come up to me and say, You are a miracle worker. I was literally falling asleep before you got on, and then I took tons of notes while you talked. Thanks for coming!
Anyways..
Back to the story about my speech for the National Grange.
As we were getting ready they said, there is a podium. Take your speech out there and you can give it.
I cocked my head to the side (you know the look, the one like a dog listening to a high-pitched squeal. Yup that’s the one.) and said, can I get a handheld mic?
They said sure.
Then the lady in charge reminded me that I had 5 minutes! At the 5-minute mark, they were going to shut off my mic.
Sweet!
As I walked out on the same stage that so many other amazing singers had performed on, I could feel the presence.
Then all of a sudden all of my nerves left, and I started talking. The more I talked the more natural it felt.
By the end of the speech, I was on FIRE!
There was so much passion and energy in the delivery that everyone could feel it.
The speech that I gave was about why you need God in your life.
I sure wish that I had a video of it or just the audio from it.
Then, I finished up at 4 minutes and 59 seconds. I turned and walked back off the stage to applause.
That right there was when I KNEW that I was supposed to be in front of groups.
During that entire speech, I could feel the presence, the hair in my arms stood on end.
For me, the best part was afterward. So many people came up to me and said, I never knew you were such a believer!
That right there was how I could tell that God’s presence was on that stage with me.
He put the words into my mouth that I needed to say and that others needed to hear.
He opened their ears to hear the message that I was delivering.
Ever since then anytime I get on a stage I say a little prayer. God, please allow my mouth to deliver the message that you need them to hear. If you could just open their ears and minds to hear and accept the parts that they need to, I would really appreciate it!
Even though I don’t like attention, that right there is why I love being on stage. Because I know that is what I was designed for.
To help others as much as I can!