“Some people take pride in their humility…”
-Buck Buhler, my trainer, in a not-so-rare philosophical moment between exercises-discussing the difference between humility and the appearance of humility

“Right voices=right choices”
-Heard Jentezen Franklin make this comment recently, got me thinking a lot about who’s speaking into my life-and how frequently…who’s speaking into yours?  Are you listening?

“I’m like the fat kid who sits around the house eating the icing off the cake while everyone else has to run around the house and work…I mean, yeah, they get a Gatorade every once in a while, but…”
-My best buddy Eric (you’re not getting a link Eric, your blog sucks) reflecting on how blessed he feels to be a part of Elevation, I think

“If someone can walk away from you, let ‘em walk…”
-Bishop T.D. freakin’ Jakes I was up shouting…in my office…by myself…on this one

“One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth”
-Solomon, Proverbs 13:7-Laughed out loud reading this one, thinking about how our society has mastered the art of fronting.  We finance our image at high interest rates.  We’re broke but we’ve got bling.  Truly wealthy people have a different mindset, different priorities…I don’t want to be a poser.

When God takes you to a new level, you have to start back at the bottom of the class.  Like going from Elementary School to Middle School, or Middle School to High School.

When I was in 8th Grade, me and my buddies were king of the hill.  We ruled the roost.  (You get the point.)  Then we “graduated” to High School, which should have been like a promotion.  But being a Freshman in high school wasn’t nearly as glamorous as being an 8th grader, even though it represented an advancement.  Freshmen got thrown in the trashcan at my High School as an unofficial orientation: Welcome to High School.
Some promotion.

Often your promotion to the next level of your walk with God or your leadership will feel like a demotion rather than an advancement.
You’ll feel like you’re starting back at the bottom rather than moving toward the top.
Leading at the next level requires a new set of skills than the last level did, and it will take you some time to get used to it.
Hang in there.  Freshman year doesn’t last forever.
You’ll be walking across the stage in your cap and gown in no time.

Then, it’s time to head off to college…

Graham lets me throw him up in the air so high that he almost goes through the ceiling.  He loves it.  He just turned 1 about a month ago.
Elijah used to let me do the same thing.  He’s 3 now, and he doesn’t like it so much any more.  It scares him.  Didn’t used to scare him, but Holly says now that he’s more aware of his surroundings, being thrown in the air freaks him out.  I guess that’s understandable…

Sometimes our awareness of our surroundings can take the naiveté out of our faith in God.  When I first came to Christ, it was like I was letting Him throw me up in the air as high as He could (or would, more like it), and it never crossed my mind that this was dangerous.  It never crossed my mind that He might drop me.
If He prompted me to speak out for Him, I spoke up.  If He urged me to give something to Him, I gave.  If He wanted me to give up something for Him, I gave it up…

Then came mortgage payments, adult responsibilities and the like.  Now I’m more aware of my surroundings.  And it’s a little more unnerving to get thrown up in the air.
It didn’t frighten me at all when I didn’t know any better…and sometimes I think it’s better not to know any better.

As a child of God, and even more so as a leader, I don’t ever want to become so aware of my surroundings that I stop innately trusting God because it’s dangerous.
Not that we should stay in a state of perpetual childhood.  It’s good to grow up, to exercise wisdom, and to analyze the risks…

But when it comes time to jump, never let your awareness of your surroundings be the final factor when deciding how high to go and how much to trust.
Let that decision be dictated by the strength of the one who caught you the last time…and who is positioned to catch you again.