Recovery Minute

One of the great threats to our sobriety is the comparison trap. We want to be like someone else. But the truth is, God created you just right, in order to do the things no one else can do. Catherine of Siena said, “Be who God meant for you to be and you will set…

Setting goals is not the problem. The problem is setting the right goals, and then sticking with them. Make no mistake. God wants you to set goals and he wants you to be successful. We read, “May God give you the desire of your heart and make your plans succeed” (Psalm 20:4).  So why do…

The secret sauce of recovery is community. You cannot find recovery without it. You were made for community. To try to stay sober on your own is to mock the God who said to “be perfectly united [with others] in mind and thought” (1 Corinthians 1:10). Daniel Siegel wrote, in Aware, “Relationships are not icing…

“Some of you chaps should go home and take naps.”       – Dr. Seuss There are five primary triggers that make us want to act out. You can remember them with the acronym “B.L.A.S.T.” We tend to relapse when we are . . . Let’s talk about that last one – tired. One of the worst…

Psalm 137:2 “There on the willows we hung our harps.” The children of God had passed from the uttermost to the gutter most. Once proud inhabitants of the land that flowed with milk and honey, they were now enslaved in the land of Babylon. Their response was understandable: “By the rivers of Babylon we sat…

Life is short. Let me give you just a few examples. Why do I share these horrifying stories? Because I want to reinforce the fact that life is fragile and life is short. So what’s my point? My point is that each of us would be wise to measure the state of our sobriety, recovery,…

A 2020 study of 184 participants found that we have an average of 6,000 thoughts per day. Other studies take this number to 60,000 or 70,000. Another study found that 80 percent of our daily thoughts are negative. Our minds tend to run to the worst case scenario. We are consumed with thoughts about all…

What you do tomorrow will be determined by the voice you listen to today. Patrick Morley, founder of Man in the Mirror, says that throughout each day, we listen to four voices: We can’t always cut off these voices, but we do get to choose which ones we will listen to and which ones we…

One Sunday, when the pastor was out of town, the church bulletin provided this announcement: “With Pastor Johnson out this week, please give his massages to his secretary.” One letter can mean everything. In case you didn’t catch that, there is a big difference between a message and a massage.  In English, one letter can…

On this date in 1894, Coca-Cola was bottled and sold for the first time, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, by local fountain owner Joseph Bieden. Today, 1.9 billion servings of Coca-Cola will be served in over 200 countries. Annual revenues total $38 billion. Since its first offering, several new renditions of Coke have been introduced: Diet Coke…

“He said, ‘Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?’ Then she called on the name of the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are a God who sees’” (Genesis 16:8, 13). You may remember this story. Hagar was pregnant. She had fled from her nemesis Sarai. But the Lord…

Every person you know knows something that you don’t. So you have something to learn from everyone. And everyone has something to learn from you. That’s because we all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. Albert Einstein said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by his ability to climb a…

In 1966, the new Metropolitan Opera House opened in New York. It was one of the social events of the 20th century.  But imagine if the Board of the Metropolitan Opera had said, “For our opening night, with the greatest orchestra ever assembled, we’re going to invite homeless people, and as many down and out…

Here are some things you need to know. You yawn the most after breakfast. You lose weight if you sleep in a cold room. You are the tallest thing in the morning. Sharp knives are safer than dull knives. People with friends live longer. Wait. Let’s go back to that last one. People with friends…

In my world, people fall into one of two groups. They are either walking in purity and freedom or they want to be. Those who want to be may be holding onto old habits or embedded in unhealthy relationships. They want out, but they just aren’t ready yet. St. Augustine once quipped, “Lord, help me…

The next time you attend a recovery meeting, I can tell you how to tell who in that group has the most sobriety. It will be the person who got up earliest that morning. Sobriety is truly a one-day-at-a-time proposition.  Charles Schulz said it like this: “Life is like an ice cream cone. You have…

In 1931, Knute Rockne died in a plane crash at the age of 43. Having led Notre Dame’s football program for the last ten years, Rockne was recognized as America’s first great college coach. His lessons are still taught in locker rooms and on football fields today.  Here’s just one gem from the legendary coach:…

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) identifies four pillars of recovery: Let’s talk about the first one, which we probably focus on the least as addicts.  John wrote, “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health” (3 John 1:2). Self-care is absolutely…

The Bible says, “Rejoice in the wife of your youth” (Proverbs 5:18). I have been rejoicing in the wife of my youth for 40 years now. On February 26, 1983, Beth and I were married. That’s a long time ago. Since we said, “I do,” 40 years ago, a lot has changed. I have had…

For those of us living in the United States, this is a dark day in our nation’s history. On this date, February 25, 1913, Congress passed the 16th Amendment, which set the legal basis for the national income tax. No one enjoys tax day. Otherwise, they would pay more taxes than is required. But paying…

“Acceptance is the answer to all my problems.”      – Alcoholics Anonymous  “For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you’” (Isaiah 41:13). Recovery is a long road. The first step is always the same – acceptance. Step 1…

“Because I know He holds the future,  And life is worth the living,  Just because He lives.”      – Because He Lives        Bill Gaither Because He Lives was written by Bill and Gloria Gaither when they were expecting their first child in the late 1960s. They were going through a traumatic time, as Bill was recovering…

Four years ago today, Billy Graham died at the age of 99. Too quickly, we forget our heroes. I never want to forget Billy Graham. On my dad’s last birthday (June 13, 1979), Billy Graham preached in Houston’s Astrodome. I was a 19-year-old student pastor. I drove a large van, packed with close to 20…

When I was a kid, I often explained my resistance to doing homework with a timeless refrain. “I will never need this in real life!” I appreciate social commentator Fran Lebowitz, who wryly observed, “In real life, there is no such thing as algebra.” Perhaps Solomon was thinking about algebra when he lamented, “It’s all…

I heard someone say, “People say nothing is impossible. I disagree. I do nothing every day.” I have found that it is the people who do nothing that get into the most trouble. By not staying busy, they create a vacuum. And just about anything can fill an open vacuum. One of the five basic…

Adversity can be your friend. The older I get, the less I think I really know. But one tenet has been tested throughout my life, and has always been found to be true – Whatever God allows, God redeems. We see this play out in the life of our Savior. “Because he himself was tested…

An unobservant driver made an illegal right turn onto another street. Exasperated, he turned to his young son in the passenger seat and said, “That was stupid! I just made an illegal right turn!” His son offered encouragement. “Aw, dad, it’s okay. The police car right behind us just did the same thing.” That boy…

There was a young boy who struggled with profanity. His father took him to a field across the street from their home, where there stood an old fence. He gave his son a box of nails and a hammer. “Every time you say a bad word, hammer a new nail into the fence,” he said. …

“Regrets, I’ve had a few. But then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do, And saw it through without exemption.”       – Frank Sinatra, My Way Regrets – we’ve all had a few. Let’s talk about regrets. According to psychologist Tom Gilovich, there is a difference between short-term and long-term regrets.…

God does a lot of things. He creates. He saves. He redeems. He forgives. He protects. He leads. He provides. He overcomes. He heals.  But there’s more. God does something else. The old prophet declared, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with…

Recovery is about more than stringing together several days of sobriety. Recovery is as much about overcoming failures as it is about creating success. I read an interesting article in Forbes (October, 2020), which addresses seven ways to overcome failure. One of the keys is profound: “Don’t be tempted to lower your ambitions.” In other…

“According to the map, we’ve only gone four inches.”      – Jeff Daniels, Dumb and Dumber (1994) Have you ever felt that way? In my personal recovery, there have been so many times that I felt like, despite a lot of really good effort, I had only progressed four inches. But here’s the deal – recovery…

There’s an old saying in sports – “Records are made to be broken.” Well, here are a few records that might never be broken: Paul was a champion of breaking records, of reaching heights never achieved before. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Now, think “recovery.” What can you…

There have been a lot of definitions of the eighth wonder of the world that have floated around over the years. Albert Einstein called the eighth wonder of the world – ready for this? Compound interest. We overestimate what we can accomplish in a day, but we underestimate what God can do in a year…

Most of our readers are either sex addicts or are married to one. But some of you, while struggling with sexually compulsive activities, are not yet certain if you really qualify as an addict. Since there is no blood test for sexual addiction, a diagnosis will always include a level of subjectivity.  But for most…

My favorite sports are: American football, basketball, and baseball. In the first two of those sports, I’m amazed at the ability of athletes to play through injuries. With baseball, not so much. Here are just a few ways baseball players injured themselves badly enough to have to miss dozens of games. I think the lesson…

According to many professional wrestling experts, the greatest wrestling tag team of all time was The Road Warriors, known individually as Animal and Hawk. From 1983 to 2014, this ruthless tag team won dozens of titles, including the NWA World Championship three times.  Here’s how they did it. When Animal got into trouble, Hawk would…

Dr. David Deyhimy, Medical Director of The Edge Treatment Center, cites recent data on addiction. His findings include: Addiction is a pandemic on many levels. Your first job, if you are a sex addict, is to admit the magnitude of the problem. You must get honest and tell someone, “I have a problem, and I…

In 1959, Burt Pugach met Linda Riss, and it was love at first sight. But when Linda discovered that Burt was already married and had children, she ended the relationship. In retaliation, Burt paid three assailants to toss lye in Linda’s face, which nearly blinded her for life. Burt served 14 years in prison for…

On this day in history, 35 years ago, the great John Elway took his Denver Broncos to the Super Bowl, only to lose to the Washington Redskins, 42-10. For many, such a blowout would have been devastating.  But another January 31 would eventually come around, 11 years later, when Elway would redeem himself, leading the…

A friend suffered a recent relapse. “What do I do now?” he asked me. My simple answer was, “Do the next right thing.” Where we get off the rails in recovery is by making things too complicated. We don’t relapse because we don’t know what to do, but because we don’t do what we know. …

Underwater somersaulting is not yet an official Olympic sport. But that never stopped Marta Fernandez Perez from setting a world record in 2001, when she completed 28 backward somersaults underwater – on one breath.  How did Marta come to be the queen of underwater somersaults? I’m not sure, but I’m going to guess that she…

What role do rewards play in recovery? Dr. John F. Kelly addresses this in his article, Recovery from Addiction. He writes, “It is now well known that the repetition of rewarding behaviors produces changes in brain function and structure that facilitate habits and, for some, sustained compulsivity and addiction.” Dr. Kelly is saying that one…

“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”      – Jaws, 1975 Actor Rob Scheider played Brody in the movie. Citing the great shark, and contemplating what it would take to bring him in, he said, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” This famous movie line has become an appropriate metaphor for life. Many times, our biggest problem…

The Bible has a lot to say about anxiety. Jesus said, “Do not be anxious” (Matthew 6:25). Solomon said, “An anxious heart weighs a man down” (Proverbs 12:25). And Paul added, “Be anxious for nothing” (Philippians 4:6). So what is the problem with anxiety? Why is it such a bad thing? Author Amelia Aldao writes,…

In his fascinating book, Exactly What to Say, Phil M. Jones writes, “The real world tells us that people will work far harder to avoid a potential loss than they will to achieve a potential gain.” This is exactly why most addicts don’t seek help until they hit bottom. Their greater motivator is not the…

After retiring from coaching, John Wooden was asked what he missed most. I’ll give you a hint: it wasn’t the games, trophies, or championships. In a word, Wooden said what he missed most was practice. As a chaplain for the Houston Rockets, I often sat on the sideline watching the players go through their pregame…

In 1969, Dr. Denton Cooley performed the world’s first successful heart transplant. His iconic career was marked by unmatched recognition over five decades of groundbreaking work. As an aside, he performed heart surgery on my Dad, saving his life in 1960.  Dr. Cooley was not shy about his success. Once appearing as an expert witness…

A writer named David Redding told of his days growing up on a farm in Scotland. As a young boy, he was given a beautiful black puppy, which he named Teddy. Redding and Teddy were inseparable. When Redding had to go off to war, he was unable to return for more than two years. But…

“God is good, God is great, let us thank him for our food. Amen.” That was my first prayer. My family was not very religious, but we did pray before every meal. And that was our daily prayer. My brother and I took turns, day to day. But the prayer never changed. After I came…

Regrets. Let’s talk regrets. Psychologist Tom Gilovich says there is a difference between short-term and long-term regret. In the short term, we tend to regret the mistakes we’ve made. But in the long term? We regret the opportunities we’ve missed more than the mistakes we’ve made by a margin of 84 percent to 16 percent.…

I’m all about grace. We are saved by grace. We find recovery by grace. We must live by grace. To others, we must extend grace. So where do works come into the picture?  Martin Luther provides the perfect answer: “God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does.” Jesus said our faith would…

Hall-of-Fame coach Chuck Knoll won 68 percent of his NFL games – with Terry Bradshaw as his quarterback. When anyone else played quarterback, Knoll only won 47 percent of his games. With Tom Brady at quarterback, Bill Belichick won 77 percent of the time; with other quarterbacks, just 48 percent. And Marv Levy won 66…

One of the keys to making good habits is to establish good routines. But once the routine becomes routine, you have to change it. This is known as the law of requisite variety. For example, if you always work out the same way, your workout will eventually lose its effectiveness, as your body adapts to…

Let’s turn to R.C. Sproul for some great insight today. He wrote, “To know that God knows everything about me and yet loves me is indeed my ultimate consolation.” God knows you intimately and loves you fully. Until you understand that, recovery will be a mirage, something you long for but cannot touch. God promises,…

When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, they were faced with harsh conditions. When they became desperate for food, Governor William Bradford rationed five grains of corn per day for each person. When things got better, Bradford did not want the people to forget what they had gone through, so at every Thanksgiving…

God has given us three kinds of sight; we need all three. Let’s talk about that last one – hindsight. Sometimes our past is our best teacher. During his commencement address at Stanford University, Steve Jobs said, “You can only connect the dots by looking backward.” The Bible encourages us, “Remember the days of old,…

Are you a problem solver? While that can be a good thing, it comes with a downside.   Reflecting on his work as a psychiatrist, Carl Jung discovered a fascinating truth about seemingly insurmountable problems. They can’t be solved. They can only be outgrown. We all have problems that cannot be solved. For me that includes…

I’m not a student of Albert Einstein, nor do I have evidence that he battled addictions. But he said something that every addict should embrace. It is one of the most important principles in recovery from any addiction or destructive habit. “A problem cannot be solved,” said Einstein, “from the same level of consciousness that…

David Letterman said, “Halloween is the beginning of the holiday shopping season. That’s for women. The beginning of the shopping season for men is Christmas Eve.”  Here’s the bigger lesson. Men and women are different. In fact, I’ll go even further. Ready for this? Men and men are different. Women and women are different. You…

On September 2, 1892, a boxer named Gentleman Jim Corbett stepped into the ring with arguably the greatest boxer who would ever live, John L. Sullivan. Sullivan was the last heavyweight champion of the bare-knuckle era and the first champion who wore gloves. In fifty fights, he had never lost.  This night would be different.…

Three men all gave their elderly mother special gifts for Christmas – a new Mercedes, a new house, and a talking parrot. A week later, they returned for a visit, and asked how she enjoyed their gifts. To the first she said, “Thank you so much for my car. I love it!” To the second…

An elderly pastor was once asked, “If you were stranded on an island and could have one book with you, which book would you choose?” Of course, the expected answer was, “The Bible.” But the pastor said, without hesitation, “If I was stranded on an island and could have just one book, I’d choose a…

Sixty-four years ago this week, a young basketball player made his NBA debut. In his first game, he scored a rather unimpressive six points. But he kept at it. Over his NBA career, Bill Russell would win more championships than any player before him. In fact, the NBA Finals MVP Award is named in his…

I have a close friend who rides 12 miles a day on his bike, at age 70. I was pretty impressed with that until I read about Annie Cohen Kopchovsy. Annie was a mother of three, living in Boston. While she enjoyed riding her bike, she wasn’t crazy about it. That all changed when a…

A man was playing golf when he hit his ball into the woods. Retrieving his ball, he discovered a talking frog sitting nearby. The frog said, “I am no ordinary frog. If you kiss me, I will become a beautiful woman, marry you, and make you happy for the rest of your life.” The golfer…

French philosopher Paul Ricoeur viewed life as a series of three movements. First, there is orientation, when we feel at home and at peace. Then we go through a period of disorientation, when a life-changing event occurs, a catastrophe strikes and we feel disillusioned. Finally, there is a transition to reorientation, or the “new normal.”…

In recovery, the measure of success is not whether you ever have a slip or relapse, but how you respond. Don’t misunderstand me; you should never have another slip or relapse! But if you keep this verse close by: “The righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity”…

Are you completely satisfied with where you are with your life and recovery? If not, check out this formula for healthy change: Change of pace + change of place = change of perspective.  Perhaps you need a good road trip. The next time you take off across the country on a journey to find yourself,…

In the summer of 1957, 12-year-old Ed Catmull was on a cross-country trip with his family, driving on a crooked canyon road with no guardrails. A car driving in the opposite direction zigged into their lane, and Catmull’s dad zagged in the opposite direction. Their car came two inches from driving off the cliff. That’s…

Continue. That may be the most important word in recovery – continue. Have you been attending support groups? Continue. Have you been in therapy? Continue. Have you started working the Steps? Continue. What matters is not what you began, but what you continue. The great apostle never bragged on the start of his journey. It…

In December, 1874, a snowstorm hit the western United States. John Muire, a founder of the Sierra Club, left his friend’s cabin in the Sierra Nevadas to climb a 100-foot tree from which he would experience the full force of the storm.  Muir made a habit of doing things that took him to the edge…

The goal of recovery is to do the right thing, then let the results follow. Focus on recovery work, not recovery. If you do that – go to meetings, work the Steps, remain accountable – solid recovery will be the inevitable result.  The Bible calls this “sowing seeds.” Solomon said, “Sow your seed in the…

You can turn your darkness into light. In fact, you’ve got to turn your darkness into light! Aristotle said, “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” In his brilliant book, Survival, pastor Ben Young identifies five typical tactics of what he calls the shadow voice: fear, self-pity, self-indulgence,…

All recovery is spiritual. J.I. Packer said, “Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded.” Every day, I do two readings: something in recovery and something from the Bible. If I have to pick one, I choose the Bible. Why? Because every time I draw near to…

The most holy place you will ever be is in the presence of God, wherever you find that.  The old prophet said of the Lord, “He will be a holy place” (Isaiah 8:14).  The Hebrew root word for “holy” is qadosh; the Greek word is hagios. Both words, form the Old and New Testaments, mean…

You can take God’s promises to the bank.  Imagine that I gave you a check for a thousand dollars. Would you withhold your thanks until the check cleared the bank? No, you would express gratitude right away, assuming the check wouldn’t bounce, based on what you know about my character. God’s promises are better than…

Nothing matters more than the people you choose to spend time with. Author Jim Rohn said that we become the average of the five people we spend the most time with. Solomon concluded, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Proverbs 13:20). There are certain people you…

Epictetus said, “We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.”  Life must be lived in the moment. Every day, you will face challenges that can make or break you. British theologian John Blanchard nailed it: “For daily needs, there’s daily grace. For sudden needs, there’s sudden grace.…

The opposite of addiction is community. And today, that’s a problem, because most people aren’t too good at personal connection. Case in point: the average person checks his phone 96 times a day. There is nothing more annoying than sitting with someone, trying to hold a meaningful conversation, while they keep checking their phone.  The…

Award-winning actor Jim Carrey once wrote himself a check for $10 million – when he had nothing.  Early in his acting career, when no one else believed in Carrey, he believed in himself. So one day, he wrote a check to himself in the amount of $10 million, postdated five years. He was telling himself,…

As a young pastor, I read everything I could find about the great evangelist of the 19th century, D.L. Moody. I was once blessed to touch the pulpit he used in Chicago. To me, that was like touching the bat Babe Ruth used to hit his last home run. In Moody’s biography, I read an…

Humility is a key to success, in recovery or anything else. Malcolm Gladwell said it well: “We are better people when we are humble.” What is humility? Jordan Peterson defines humility as the “recognition of personal insufficiency and the willingness to learn.” I ask you three questions: Are you still willing to learn? Do you…

If your faith is strong enough, you will never be sick, you will always have plenty of money, and life will always be easy. And I will be the next quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. Of course, none of this is true. The uncomfortable truth is that, even if you do great recovery work, love…

In order to break the shackles of addiction, you must first break the shackles of shame. This is only possible for the man or woman who is sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit, for we know that “the unrighteous know no shame” (Zephaniah 3:5).  Jesus described the specific work of the Holy Spirit:…

Let’s talk about joy. Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, “Joy is the surest sign of the presence of God.” I agree. God is the author of joy. Even for the addict and the offended spouse, joy is an option. Paul knew a little about persecution and injustices when he prayed, “May the God…

An overcoming feeling of insignificance and isolation cripples too many of us. Spiritual formations teacher Richard Foster writes, “The most wonderful thing that can happen to any human being is to be loved.”  Our value is not measured by the depth of our addiction, but by the depth of God’s love. And that love is…

Twenty years after his graduation, a man visited his old college science professor. Looking over the tests the prof was grading, he observed, “This is the same test you gave us twenty years ago! How do you keep students from cheating? What if someone who had just taken the test a year ago gave the…

I like to talk. Most of us do. That’s why I found this Old Testament verse rather troubling at first: “The more words, the less the meaning” (Ecclesiastes 6:11). And this one from the New Testament: “My beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19). My…

For those of you living in the United States, today is election day. Millions of us will go to the polls and make a decision as to who should be our next senator, mayor, or dogcatcher. These decisions matter. There are other decisions that matter. Let me give you my top ten list of great…

An article by the Harvard Medical School identifies five action steps for quitting an addiction. One of those steps is to create a support network.  They write, “Talk to your family and friends and ask for their encouragement and support. Let them know you are quitting.” Helen Keller said, “Alone we can do so little;…

God allowed Moses to climb a historic mountain, where he did historic things.  Then God told Moses, “On the mountain you have climbed you will die” (Deuteronomy 32:50). We all like the “mountain” thing. But then we die? I offer three thoughts. We will all die sometime. It is better to die on the mountain…

I have this theory that we are all getting older. And with age comes change. For the sake of oversimplification, I’ll assign each decade of life a one-word description. These words describe most people at each stage of life. These are our priorities as we mature. 20s – survival 30s – success 40s – significance…

Life is like a vending machine. A vending machine gives you what you want when you want it. No waiting. Lots of choices. None of them are healthy. The better alternative, of course, is a well-cooked, nutritionally balanced meal.  Too often, we choose the vending machine. It’s much easier. Recovery is done in a crock…

The Old Testament tells the story of Esther, a Hebrew woman who became queen and rescued her people. She had three assets that God gave her to fulfill her destiny. She was intelligent, physically attractive, and had an engaging personality. Because of these qualities, “Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. She won…

If you’ve been in recovery for more than 30 seconds, you are familiar with The Serenity Prayer, written by Reinhold Niebuhr. You know the first part of the prayer by memory. But the second part of the prayer is equally impactful.  “Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship…

On September 7, 1888, Edith Eleanor Mclean was the first baby to be placed in an incubator. Developed by French obstetrician Stephane Tarnier, this was the first attempt to preserve the life of a premature baby. Though very costly at the time, the new invention was quickly embraced, out of respect for the lives of…

If you live for people’s approval, you will die from their rejection. Paul wrote, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of God” (Galatians 1:10). I’ll say it again.…

Mark Twain said, “I can live two weeks on a good compliment.”  I read somewhere that the average person needs to hear 14 statements of personal encouragement each day. Rarely does that actually happen.  Wise old Solomon understood the human experience well when he said, “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and…

Let me define successful recovery with three words. Keep. Moving. Forward. God says this about his children: “I will not remember their sins” (Isaiah 43:25). Do what God does. Move on from your past. Why? Because you can’t write the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.  Martin Luther King,…

When Microsoft launched Windows ME (Millennial Edition), the “system restore” feature caused a stir. If your computer suffered a system meltdown, you could select “system restore” and reset your computer to a point in the past. Problem solved. Everything you had somehow messed up on your computer returned to the way it was at that…

Your biggest sex organ is your brain. The road to your next relapse begins in your head. Forget about controlling your body until you learn to control your mind. It’s their thought lives that get sex addicts into trouble.  Ralph Waldo Emerson described the process brilliantly. “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow…

About 750 years before Christ, there was a man named Amos, who was a full-time fig grower and part-time preacher. Though he was from Judah, God led him to prophecy to the people of Israel, who were living in bondage to a foreign empire. He brought them this message directly from God: “I will bring…

How many hours do you need to work on recovery?  That’s a question I don’t hear much. I hear these questions a lot: What must I do to stay sober? Does sobriety get easier with time? What is the difference between sobriety and recovery? Let’s tackle that first question, though. How many hours of weekly…

“The Lord will dwell in a dark cloud.”        – 2 Chronicles 6:1 This passage had great meaning for C.S. Lewis. Lewis had tasted pain in ways that few of us can comprehend. He lost his mother at an early age, was emotionally abandoned by his father, suffered from a respiratory illness as a teenager, was…

God wants to transform your life, from addict to overcomer. But in the process, your uniqueness and personality are likely not on the table. God created you with a uniqueness that did not go away because of your addiction.  Rick Warren writes, “Christlikeness is all about transforming your character, not your personality.” The Bible says…

See if you can match the TV lines to their respective shows: The famous lines: “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.” “Live, from New York, it’s Saturday night!” “Survey says!” The television shows: Saturday Night Live Family Feud The Brady Bunch Okay, for those of you in the U.S., that was pretty easy. Now, let’s try a much…

Have you ever said, “It’s as American as apple pie”? Well, I have some shocking news for you. Apple pie isn’t actually American. Apples are native to Asia, and the first recorded recipe for apple pie was written in England.  Here’s something else you may not know. You have all you need to stay sober…

This may be the most surprising key to sobriety – family dinners. A study by Columbia University found that the power of communication and role-modeling during family dinner is hard to overstate. The study concluded that teens whose families dine together are four times less likely to smoke, 2.5 times less likely to use marijuana,…

The next time you play Poker, know the odds. The odds of drawing a royal flush are one in 649,740. The odds of a straight flush are better, at one in 72,192.  In cards, there is a chance you will find incredible success. But those odds are small. If you want to try your hand…

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon tennis champion, was dying of AIDS, which he contracted when he received infected blood during heart surgery in 1983. During his illness, Ashe received thousands of encouraging letters. In one letter, the fan asked, “Why did God have to select you for such a horrible disease?” Ashe wrote back. “Fifty…

We always seem to want what we do not have. A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of flying, while the pilot on the plane sees the farmhouse and dreams of returning home.  A man spends money he doesn’t have in order to buy a new car, while missing his…

On May 14, 2020, a bat once swung by Babe Ruth sold for $930,000. His 1920 jersey sold for $4.4 million, and his 1927 World Series ring sold for $2.1 million.  Joe DiMaggio’s hand-written journal sold for $1.5 million  A copy of the Constitution once held by George Washington sold for $9.8 million, while his…

The fact that you are reading this right now means you likely fall into one of three groups: (a) you are an addict, (b) you are married to an addict, or (c) you are reading someone else’s mail. In any case, you have known pain and heartache in your life. That is an inevitable part…

In my home, the most important light is not the large light in the middle of the living room. It’s the light on my phone that keeps me from stubbing my toe when I get up at night.  I’m an old chess player. Against a really good player, the key is not to capture the…

Ever heard of Sad Sam Jones, Pud Galvin, and Kid Nichols? Perhaps the names Tom3 Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and Roger Clemens are more familiar to you. All six were great Major League pitchers. All six are in the Hall of Fame. The three modern players (Seaver, Ryan, and Clemens) combined to throw an amazing 771…

Everyone loves a positive person. But if you are thinking about plopping down $100 to attend a seminar on success, let me save you that $100. The speaker will tell you to expect good things, keep your chin high, and to only see the sunshine, and never the rain. A positive spirit goes a long…

I get this question a lot. “Can God remove my addiction?” Or said another way, “Can I be completely healed of my addiction?” The short answer is “Yes.” Of course, God can heal any addiction 100 percent.  “This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer and…

According to research conducted by Columbia University, you probably know about 600 people. That means 600 people are watching you. To each of them, you make a difference – good or bad. Now, I’m not saying you know 600 people well, just that you know 600 people. The question is, what difference does your life…

I play chess. My son boxes. In fact, he boxes better than I play chess. In Finland, you can do both – at the same time. It’s called “chess boxing.” Players make a few chess moves, then engage in a round of boxing. They keep alternating between chess and boxing until 11 alternating rounds have…

President Theodore Roosevelt said, “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” Maintaining a positive spirit is key to success in any field. Especially recovery. Never let the failure of yesterday dictate the outcome of tomorrow. Max Lucado said, “Meet your fears with faith.” And Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers…

Can you name this person?  Born in Mississippi, he was raised in rooming houses. He wanted to be a musician, but never had any kind of formal musical training. When he tried out for choir in the eighth grade, his music teacher gave him a “C.” Undeterred, he bought his first guitar the next day.…

You’ve been hurt or falsely accused. You long for vindication. I get it. I’ve been there.  Oswald Chambers wrote, “Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.” Writing for Psychology Today, Dr. Lori Katz addresses this subject head-on. She cites the key to peace: “You must disengage from the entire drama of pain.” Seeking…

A lot of big things have happened on this day in history – September 18. Cornerstone is laid for the U.S. Capitol Building (1793) Creation of the phonograph (1877) CBS debuted (1952) Roger Clemens struck out 20 batters (1996) But the most significant September 18 event came in 1964. It was on this day, 58…

The power of forgiveness is well-documented.  Johns Hopkins Medicine conducted studies that conclude that our health is greatly impacted by our willingness to forgive those who have harmed us. Their findings: “Studies have found that the act of forgiveness can reap huge rewards for your health, lowering the risk of heart attack; improving cholesterol levels…

God wants you to experience joy, abundant life, and outrageous blessings. But what does that look like, exactly? Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in an abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). Rick Warren said it so well in The Purpose Driven…

“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will live as one.”       – John Lennon God never intended us to do life alone. This thing called “connection” is magic. You can’t find recovery without it. Isolation is not your friend. Community is…

I recently reconnected with a friend from my first church, whom I had not seen in 25 years. As we enjoyed lunch together, he showed me the words of a country song he is working on. (My friend is no song-writer, but he would have been a terrific philosopher.) I share the words to his…

Jesus is coming again. He said, “You must be ready, because the Son of Man will come in an hour when you do not expect him” (Luke 12:40). Are you ready for Christ’s return? David Jeremiah offers four ways to get ready. Live with passion and patience. Reflect Christ’s example of servanthood. Revere Christ’s honor…

We live in Bradenton, Florida, six miles from the beach. Green water. White sand. Seagulls overhead.  In a word – paradise. So I completely understand why people are flooding into Florida. What I don’t understand is why people move here, within a 15-drive of the ocean, but then never go to the beach. That would…

Noted philosopher Reba McEntire offers this sage observation: “To thrive in life you need three bones – a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone.” Let’s focus on that last one – the funny bone. Laughter is a gift from God. The Bible says a lot about laughter. My favorite laughter verse is Proverbs 17:22,…

It is great to have one significant success story in anyone’s life. But two?  Meet Garrett A. Morgan. The son of former slaves, Morgan conceived and patented the three-signal traffic light in 1923. He had witnessed a tragic automobile accident on a Cleveland street corner, and could not rest until he had done his part…

It happens every year. On July 4, in New York City, hundreds gather for the International Hot Dog Eating Contest. This year, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut retained his championship by eating 63 hot dogs in ten minutes. Let’s break that down. That’s one hot dog every ten seconds. That’s 18,270 calories. It was actually a smart…

Here’s your question for today. Is sexual addiction a result of: Overactive libido Spouse’s sexual disinterest Cultural permissiveness None of the above The answer, of course, is none of the above.  Sexual addiction specialist Todd Frye writes, “Sexual addiction is not about sex. Sexual addiction is more of an intimacy disorder than a sex disorder.”…

Rod Stewart said, “Instead of getting married again, I’m going to find a woman I don’t like and give her a house.” We live in the golden age of divorce. One of the key contributors of marital disharmony is sexual addiction. Psychologist Revel Miller has identified several impacts of infidelity. They include: Shock Anger Shattered…

Twinkies last forever. I know that because I read it on the Internet.  Actually, it’s not true. Twinkies have a shelf life of just 25 days. Shockingly, you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet.  I browsed the Internet for recent news stories. I read about a lady’s funeral. Before the service, she left…

Solitude is a key ingredient to sobriety. If you don’t believe that, let me ask you a question. If you could pick one place to spend a few hours, would you pick: (a) mountain, (b) lake, (c) ocean, or (d) downtown in a large city? If you picked (d), you’re crazy! Jesus embraced solitude. The…

In 1956, five American missionaries headed to the rainforest of the eastern Amazon in Ecuador to make a second visit to the isolated Huaorani tribe. The people had a culture of killing, and studies suggest that 54 percent of the tribe died by homicide. When the missionaries emerged from their plane, they were immediately speared…

On this date in 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Florida coast. Yes, the Florida coast. It was a weak Category 1 hurricane. No big deal by Florida standards. What no one knew at the time was that Katrina was just getting started. Within a few short days, she blew up into a rare…

If you think you can count on tomorrow, consider the story of the 25th president of the United States. President William McKinley was known for wearing a red carnation on his lapel for good luck. On September 6, 1901, while greeting a crowd in Buffalo, New York, the president gave a little girl his lucky…

Jack Handley said, “Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.” I have often found that what we criticize in others, we generally find in ourselves. Oscar Wilde said it like this: “Criticism…

On the eighth day, God created M&Ms.  Okay, that may be a bit of a stretch. But M&Ms are almost too good to have been created by man. Do you know why they are called M&Ms? The creators named their candy after themselves: Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie. Mars was a wealthy businessman who created…

Pablo Casals was considered the greatest cellist who ever lived. When he was 95 years of age, someone asked him why he continued to practice his cello six hours every day. His response? “Because I think I am making progress.” I have a friend who got sober – at the age of 93.  It is…

Things change with time. For example, did you know that the fifth largest city in the United States, 100 years ago, was Cleveland, Ohio? Today, Cleveland ranks as America’s 54th largest city. Cleveland is now smaller than Wichita, Aurora, Tulsa, Omaha, and Mesa.  Everything changes with time. With age, most of us get shorter and…

Never judge your self-worth by your net worth.  Men tend to draw their self-esteem from their jobs, women from their relationships. So this whole net worth thing is mostly (but not totally) a guy problem. It’s okay to have things and it’s okay to enjoy them. But don’t be so tied to what you have…

If you are drinking your milk with a fork, perhaps you missed the date on the side of the carton. It’s called an expiration date. Eggs, milk, most food – they all have expiration dates.  Could there be an expiration date on God’s mercy? God warned, “My people would not listen to me; Israel would…

Offering an example of poor communication, baseball legend Casey Stingel said, “All right everyone, line up alphabetically, according to your height.”  Clear communication is important in any sport – including marriage. The Bible warns us to “avoid irreverent babble” (2 Timothy 2:16). Married sex addicts and their spouses have experienced more than their fair share…

Most of us make too many false assumptions. For example, I bet you thought every state capital has a McDonald’s. All of them do – except one.  Montpelier, Vermont, the nation’s smallest state capital with a population of 7,500, has no McDonald’s. What a travesty!  I hear a lot of false assumptions in my work…

Do you know anyone who wants to be right all the time? Someone who thinks they are smarter than everyone else? That is probably most of us. Isaac Asimov said, “People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.”  One of the most important things in recovery is…

Have you ever been somewhere where you ran into the person who contributed the most to your addiction? You were walking along, and suddenly they were there? I know the feeling. I see the person who contributed the most to my own addiction on a regular basis – every time I look in a mirror. …

On January 12, 1971, All in the Family began a nine-year run, finishing the season as television’s top-rated show for six consecutive years. The show featured the Bunker family, which was both hilarious and dysfunctional. Perhaps the reason so many of us watched was because we came from dysfunctional families, as well.  I love what…

Addicts are universally superior in one way. We are world class liars. Of course, we don’t consider it lying. We stretch things a bit, exaggerate occasionally, and shade the truth a bit. Mark Twain’s words resonate with many of us. “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.”  To all addicts…

President John Tyler held office from 1841 to 1845. Born during the presidency of George Washington, he was a member of the Whig Party. In other words, John Tyler lived a really long time ago. Or did he? Get this – John Tyler’s grandson is still living! How can that be? Tyler’s last child, Lyon…

If you are from the United States, you probably know that Chicago is known as the Windy City. But you may not know why. The nickname doesn’t come from the winds off Lake Michigan. The name “Windy City” was coined by 19th century journalists, in reference to the city’s leaders who were considered “windbags” and…

There is nothing more valuable than hope. Actor Christopher Reeve was right. “Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.” Scripture says, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). Never forget this – in Christ there will always be hope. Charles Spurgeon said it so…

Where would you guess German chocolate cake was invented?  Answer: America. You see, German chocolate cake was not named for the country, but for the man. It is named after Sam German, who in 1852 created the formula for a mild dark baking chocolate bar for Baker’s Chocolate Company. The recipe was not made public…

Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch Christian during World War II. She and her family hid Jews from the Nazis and were eventually sent to death camps, where her sister and father both died. But through that horrible time, she discovered the secret of living with a mind that was at peace. She said it…

Sleep is an important ingredient to recovery.  The Primary Care Collaborative did an extensive study on the effects of sleep on recovery. In their presentation in May, 2019, they summarized, “One of the symptoms of withdrawal is trouble sleeping. As insufficient sleep is correlated with poor self-control, it’s important for recovering addicts to do what…

On a rainy day during the American Revolutionary War, George Washington rode up to a group of soldiers attempting to raise a wooden beam to a high position. After watching their lack of success, Washington asked the corporal why he didn’t join in and help, to which the corporal replied, “Don’t you realize that I…

When I was in college, one of the greatest movies of all time came out – Airplane. There was a particular line in the movie that has stuck with me. “Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.” The audience roared with every corny line of Airplane. But the “sniffing glue” line…

I’ve never heard anyone say, “The key to my recovery was watching more television.”  Groucho Marx said, “I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” Research confirms a direct correlation between excessive television reviewing and lessened commitment within marriage. In his…

After church one Sunday, young Billy came by to see the pastor at the exit door. He handed the preacher a $10 bill, as he said, “This is for you!” The pastor said, “Why, Billy, you don’t need to give me $10. What is this for?” Billy said, “You need it more than I do.…

On April 12, 1861, Confederates fired 40 cannons at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. With that, the Civil War had begun. For the next four years, friends and families were divided by their competing visions and beliefs. Two former army buddies soon found themselves in conflict. Confederate General Braxton Bragg was in command…

Let me give you six words: We pursue relief; God pursues results. That’s how we get into addiction. We value comfort over character, pleasure over peace, and gratification over God. And relief over results. You will never find sobriety until you become okay with not always being happy. Sometimes, life hurts. And some level of…

“The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). That’s a strong statement. Think of all the things we could have put in place of money, in that verse. “_______ is the root of all evil.” Lust Envy Pride Resentment A bad burrito But the Bible says our problem is the…

For those of us living in America, July 22 is a day of wild celebration. July 22 is . . .  National Mango Day National Penuche Fudge Day National Rat Catcher’s Day National Refreshment Day But more importantly, today is National Hammock Day.  The hammock comes from Spanish culture. They invented the hammock, or “stretch…

Some things are hard to predict. Just two generations ago, my grandparents’ world would have never seen any of this coming:  A motorized vehicle replacing the horse and buggy Bicycle repair man inventing an airplane The eradication of polio Man walking on the moon A peanut farmer becoming President of the United States The Miracle…

Viktor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist who was taken to one of the death camps in Nazi Germany. All of his family and friends were gassed and murdered. He writes in his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, about one day when he stood in front of the Gestapo, stark naked. They had taken away the…

President Dwight David Eisenhower was a rare success in American history. He was both a five-star General and a two-term president who presided over amazing peace and unity throughout the land. But his future success was not clear from the beginning. Eisenhower was an average student in school. At the military academy, he spent more…

In 1946, Rebecca was born to a poor family in Tennessee. Her dad was a tobacco farmer. After her birth, her dad paid the doctor’s fee with a bag of oatmeal. Raised with 11 siblings, Rebecca was determined to set out on her own after high school. She pursued a career as an author and…

One night when I was about 13, I went to my school and ran around the track, imagining there were thousands of people in the stands cheering me on. In my mind, I won the race. But the race wasn’t real, and my “time” didn’t matter. It didn’t count.  We achieve a lot of things…

Over 200 years ago, John Wesley’s “Holy Club” asked themselves the same 22 questions every day. I suggest you try this yourself. (I will shorten and paraphrase some of these for the sake of brevity.) Am I living the life of a hypocrite? Am I honest in all my words? Am I a gossip?  Can…

What kind of legacy are you leaving for those coming behind you? In his song, “Small Town Southern Man,” Alan Jackson sang these powerful lyrics: “He was always proud of what he had, He said his greatest contribution Is the ones you leave behind, Raised on the ways and gentle kindness Of a small town…

Okay, baseball fans, here’s a trivia question for you. Who had more career no-hitters? Nolan Ryan Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, Steve Carlton, Grover Alexander, Lefty Grove, Don Sutton, Don Drysdale, and Whitey Ford – combined Answer: 1. Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan tossed a record seven no-hitters over his amazing 27-year career. By comparison,…

Sometimes, God employs a strange battle plan. In Judges 7, we read about Gideon. God told him to take 300 Israelites into battle against 135,000 enemy soldiers. And it gets crazier. God said to bring as his weapons torches, trumpets, and clay pots.  Gideon would put the clay pots over the torches so the light…

In the Spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a baseball game. During the game, Orioles’ third baseman John McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. The fight quickly became a brawl that involved both teams. Soon, the fans in the stands broke out into a massive fight.…

Let’s talk about a bedrock of successful recovery. It’s called self-control. Jim Rohn said, “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.”  Scripture teaches, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). Navy SEAL and leadership expert Brent Glesson writes, in The…

You can only accomplish the impossible when you see the invisible. “It was by faith that Moses left Egypt and was not afraid of the king’s anger. Moses continued strong as if he could see the God that no one can see” (Hebrews 11:27). That’s what makes for elite athletes, chemists, astronauts, and doctors. Like…

The great philosopher George Carlin said, “People who see life as anything more than pure entertainment are missing the point.”  A lot of people miss the point. Consider little Jimmy, for example.  Jimmy walked up to his teacher’s desk, holding a report card with a big red ‘F.’  “If I was you,” said Jimmy, “I…

From the days of your birth Till you ride in the hearse, Things are never so bad That they couldn’t get worse. How’s that for starting your day on a high note? The bad news is, things can always get worse. But the Good News is that things can always get better. And that is…

Your spouse has cheated. Call it an addiction or a disease. Either way, it was a choice. And he cheated. Now you are hearing it from all directions.  “As a Christian, you need to forgive him.” Forgiveness may be the most misunderstood aspect of recovery. Let’s talk about what forgiveness is not. Here are five…

Lou Gehrig was known as the Iron Horse, as he played 2,130 consecutive games. For 14 years, his name was in the lineup every day. And then he came down with ALS. His weakening condition hastened a premature retirement from the game he loved. On July 4, 1939 (83 years ago today), Gehrig addressed a…

A man held up a convenience store. He asked the cashier if he had change for a $50 bill. Then he put his $50 bill on the counter. When the cashier opened the drawer, the robber walked around and pulled a gun on him and said, “Give me all the money in the cash register.” …

If you decide to run 100 yards in a straight line, but are off by just one degree, you will miss your target by five feet. If you head to the moon, but are off by one degree, you will miss your mark by 4,196 miles. If you aim for the sun, but are off…

A man in a restaurant found a fly in his soup and called the waiter over. “What is that fly doing in my soup?” he asked the waiter. Looking into the soup, the waiter said, “I think he’s doing the backstroke.” In life, we often get more than we ordered. James said it like this:…

“Every detail in our lives out of our love for God is worked into something good” (Romans 8:28 The Message).  God is weaving everything that happens to you, in you, and around you – into something great. You are who you are because of five things: Chemistry Connections Circumstances Consciousness Choices The one you control…

The story is told of an Indian brave who discovered an eagle’s egg that had fallen off a cliff. He placed the egg with several prairie chicken eggs. When the prairie chicken eggs hatched alongside the eagle’s egg, the birds all grew up together. The eagle took on the identity of a prairie chicken. One…

If Robert C. Heft was here today, he’d say, “Don’t let anyone else define your future.” Robert should know. In 1958, at the age of 17, he submitted a design for the new American flag, with 50 stars. His teacher gave him a B- for his efforts. Undeterred, Robert sent his design into the White…

When we were considering possible names for our ministry five years ago, we immediately landed on the word “hope.” As survivors of addiction and trauma, Beth and I came to embrace hope as the fundamental key to our future. We have come to believe that, no matter the past, and despite all the pain, always…

As a former Rotarian, I appreciate the ingenuity of the Rotary Club of Huon Valley in Tasmania, Australia. Each year, these Rotarians host The Great Apple Race. Each participant launches his or her apple from the Huonville bridge. The apples then float 300 meters down the Huon River. The person whose apple crosses the finish…

There is no betrayal quite like spousal betrayal. Perhaps you’ve been there. Maybe you’re there now. You know what it is to discover your spouse has been living a double life with double standards. First, trauma knocked on your door. Then it kicked the door down. Now it has taken up residence in your home. …

In 1963, Paul McCartney was living with Jane Asher, his girlfriend at the time, at her family’s home in London. One night, he had a dream of the good times of his youth. When he woke up the next morning, he sat at the piano at the foot of his bed and composed one of…

A Swiss guy asked two Americans for directions. He asked, “Entschuldigung, koennen Sie Deutsch sprechen?”  The Americans responded with helpless stares. The man gave it another try. “Excusez-moi, parlez vous Français?”  Still no reply from the Americans. “Parlare Italiano?” Still, no reply. “Hablan ustedes Espanol?” Still, nothing.  The Swiss guy drove off in frustration. Then…

We are all familiar with the metaphor about life that says we have all been “dealt a deck of cards.” You have to play the deck you’re dealt. You don’t get to play someone else’s hand. In your deck were several jokers and wild cards, of which you had no control: Place of birth Generational…

The marathon at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis was one for the ages. The first-place finisher, Fred Lorz, hitched a ride in a car to the end of the course after he was struck with serious cramping. Thomas Hicks, who finished second, was poisoned before the race, and had to be carried across the…

In the 1975 movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Black Knight (John Clease) lost both arms in the heat of combat. He said to King Arthur (Graham Chapman), “It’s just a flesh wound.”  The Black Knight did what addicts of all stripes have been doing since the Garden. He minimized. We only find…

If you are to be successful, you will need to set goals – for your recovery, spiritual disciplines, exercise, reading, etc. The Bible says it like this: “An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions” (Proverbs 17:24). What is a goal set in F.A.I.T.H.? It is: Focused: It’s…

God uses crooked sticks to draw straight lines.  That’s good news, because we are all crooked sticks. None of us has batted 1.000, thrown only touchdowns, and made every shot. While some of us are more crooked than others, we all are crooked, with a bent toward selfishness and indulgence.  But that’s okay. God is…

We find this intriguing verse buried deep within the pages of the Old Testament: “King Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail – they were wrecked at Ezion Geber” (1 Kings 22:48). The ships never set sail. So sad. That is a commentary on…

On Halloween, 1900, a ten-year-old boy wanted to go trick-or-treating with his older brothers. But when his mother told him he was too young, he flew into a rage. The boy stormed out of his house and punched an apple tree until his knuckles were raw.  His mother sat down with her son that night,…

Allow me to pay tribute to a great man today – on what would have been his 98th birthday.  He went by many titles throughout his life: World War II hero Businessman Entrepreneur Husband Father Patriot But I had another title for him: Dad Dad taught me, more through his actions than his words, the…

The word on the street is that you’ve messed up. You have crossed some lines you never thought you’d cross. You have stumbled, fallen, relapsed, and stumbled again. Welcome to the Second Chance Club. Let me introduce you to some charter members: Abraham: He pretended his wife was his sister because he didn’t have enough…

Mark Twain is purported to have said, “If you ever have to eat a live frog, it’s best to do so the first thing in the morning. That way you can go through the rest of your day knowing that the hardest task is behind you.” Moving from a bad yesterday to a better tomorrow…

You are a snowflake. Let me explain. Think of yourself as one snowflake. Now, a single snowflake can’t make much impact on the world by itself. But when one fragile snowflake sticks with enough other snowflakes, they can stop traffic. No one ever accomplished anything significant on his own. That is especially true of recovery.…

In the Old Testament, we read the story about Jacob wrestling with God (Genesis 32:22-32). At one point, God wounded Jacob’s hip, leaving him with a lingering limp. Jacob was suddenly in a position of helplessness. He would live with that limp for the rest of his life.  I can relate. My addiction is my…

Dr. Catherine Cox did a thorough study of 301 of history’s greatest geniuses. She discovered one common denominator among them. All of them recorded their thoughts, feelings, ideas, and insights.  Today, we call it journaling. Author Kelsee Bailey suggests five reasons to journal. Journaling reduces stress. It improves immune function. It keeps the memory sharp.…

We can’t talk too much about triggers to addiction. From my work with hundreds of addicts, I have created B.L.A.S.T. Most of us tend to be triggered when we are bored, lonely, angry, stressed, or tired. Let me suggest four ways to avoid or mitigate your triggers. Pray. Recognize the temptation and pray for strength…

There are four steps to progress: (a) saying you’ll do it, (b) doing it incorrectly, (c) explaining why you did it incorrectly, and (d) doing it the right way.  Solomon said, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23). Longfellow added, “It takes less time to do a…

Communication is about more than the words we speak. Much more.   According to psychologist Albert Mehrabian, when we measure the credibility of another person’s words, we assign 55 percent of the weight to her body language, 38 percent to her tone, and just seven percent to the actual words.  That’s not to say that words…

Jeanne Calment’s record is still intact, though Kane Tanaka gave it a good ride. On April 19, Tanaka died at the age of 119. She was the world’s oldest person. But Tanaka fell short of Calment’s record of 122 years, making her the only person verified to have eclipsed the age of 120. Calment lived…

“Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32). Jesus is not surprised by your failures. In fact, he sees them coming.  Notice two things in…

You will never come so far that you have nothing left to learn.   Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him.”  I challenge you to learn one thing about recovery this week. There are many ways to do this. Pick one: Go to…

Corrie ten Boom said, “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. What do you do? You do what the woman who survived a Nazi concentration camp did – you sit still and trust the engineer.” We are to trust in God, not…

One night at the dinner table, the wife asked her husband, “Why is it that you always give me the smaller piece of steak now? When we first got married, you always cut me the larger piece of the streak. You don’t love me anymore!” “Not at all,” said her husband.  “Then why do you…

In 1972, two men, John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile, robbed a French bank. They would have gotten away with it – had they gotten away. But caught up in their success, the young men grabbed the cash, then stood around the bank lobby unnecessarily. Because they didn’t leave as soon as they had the loot,…

In 1992, a farmer named Peter Whatling lost a hammer on his farm in England. On asking his friend, a metal detectorist, to help him find the lost hammer, they discovered 14,865 gold, silver, and bronze coins from the late Roman Empire. The entire hoard currently is valued at $4.3 million. The coins, along with…

On March 26, 1913, in Columbus, Ohio, a man was spotted running through town. It was later discovered that he was running because he was late for an appointment. But out of curiosity, a young boy saw him, then ran behind him, to see where he was going. Then others joined in. As a joke,…

Fear is a great instructor. Carl Jung said, “Find out what a person fears most, and that is where he will develop next.” Elizabeth Elliot offered great insight on fear: “Fear arises when we imagine that everything depends on us.” That is especially true of recovery. I see it all the time – a fear…

A woman walked up to a little old man rocking in a chair on his porch. “I couldn’t help noticing how happy you look,” she said. “What’s your secret to a long happy life?” The man replied, “I smoke three packs of cigarettes a day. I also drink a case of whiskey, eat fatty foods,…

Genesis 4:3 reads, “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the Lord.”  That was the first “It came to pass” in the Bible. But not the last. The Bible says it 463 times: “It came to pass.” I have claimed that…

Does a relapse mean you no longer have anything to contribute? Let me answer that with a sports analogy. When Tom Brady throws an interception, they don’t pull him out of the game.  We have this hope: “In him we have redemption, through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of…

What do you know about Adam? He was the first man. He was married to Eve. He had two sons – Cain and Abel. Due to his sin, he was cast from the Garden. He had another son – Seth.  But all of that accounts for just 14 percent of Adam’s life.  The last 800…

A priest was walking down the street when he saw a little boy struggling to reach the doorbell at a nice home. After watching the boy stretch for several minutes, the priest came to the porch and offered to help. He rang the doorbell for the young boy and then asked, “Now what?” The boy…

According to the CDC, 40 percent of Americans are struggling with anxiety or depression.  A Gallup poll indicated that 60 percent of Americans experience significant stress every day. The Bible is against anxiety. “Be anxious for nothing” (Philippians 4:6). One of the problems with anxiety is that it often leads to acting out behaviors that…

You fall into one of three camps: Disqualified Unqualified Qualified For those of us who have messed up, we are often tossed to the curb. We are considered by many to be disqualified from serving God. For others, we never had what it takes in the first place, meaning we are unqualified to serve. Only…

“Love means never having to say you’re sorry” (Ryan O’Neal, Love Story, 1970). That’s true. When you hurt your spouse, you don’t have to say you’re sorry. But it’s a really good idea. Sure, living amends and a change in behavior trump what you say. But learning to express remorse, repentance, and regret is huge.…

There is one condition to a powerful relationship with God. See if you can find it in King David’s charge to his son Solomon. “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every…

Sometimes, overcoming addiction is as simple as learning how to manage temptation. James said, “A person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed” (James 1:14) Greg Laurie identifies five steps to temptation. We think it.  We desire it. We process it. We do it. We regret it.  The…

During his 45-year career as a composer, Ludwig van Beethoven wrote 722 symphonies, sonatas, and concertos. Even more amazing? Many of those compositions were written after Beethoven had lost his hearing. When Beethoven first noticed his hearing loss, he was devastated. Without the ability to hear the music he made, his life felt meaningless. He…

Rob was clearly dejected, so his buddy Ken asked what was wrong. Rob explained, “Three weeks ago, my uncle died and left me $50,000. Two weeks ago, a cousin I never knew died and left me $100,000. And last week, my grandfather died and left me a half a million dollars.” Ken asked, “So why…

For over 30 years, an acoustic ecologist (yes, that’s a thing) named Gordon Hempton has been compiling what he calls “The List of the Last Great Quiet Places.” It consists of places with at least 15 minutes of uninterrupted quiet during daylight hours. At last count there were only 12 quiet places in the entire…

For 35 years, Robert Ballard committed his life to finding the Titanic. On September 1, 1985, he completed his mission.  Since its sinking in 1857, the SS Central America was the object of hundreds of searches, until the shipwreck was finally discovered in 2014, with coins valued over $100 million.  In 1953, Jonas Salk discovered…

Malcolm Muggeridge offered an example of deep reflection when he wrote A Twentieth-Century Testimony. Among his most profound statements: “When I look back on my life nowadays, which I sometimes do, what strikes me most forcibly about it is that what seemed at the time most significant and seductive, seems now most futile and absurd.”…

Not so long ago . . . An application was for employment. A program was a show on TV. A cursor used profanity. A keyboard was a piano. A mouse was a critter. Memory was what you lost with old age. A CD was a bank account. Log on meant adding wood to the fire.…

A Stanford professor, Dr. William Fry, studied kindergarteners and adults. He found two differences.  Children in kindergarten laugh 300 times a day, compared to adults, who laugh just 17 times a day. Children ask 125 questions per day, while adults ask just six.  Jesus asked more questions than he answered. He was asked 183 questions…

When Grandpa Jones celebrated his 100th birthday and 75th wedding anniversary simultaneously, his friends were impressed. “What is the key to your longevity?” they asked him. Grandpa Jones: “Long walks in the outdoors.” His friends asked what led him to spend so much time walking outside. Grandpa Jones: “When we got married 75 years ago,…

It is not uncommon for a therapist to recommend a period of sexual abstinence for a couple, following the addict’s disclosure. Often, the offending spouse responds with outrage. We often hear something like this: “I have come clean and done the hard work of disclosure. Why would we enter a period of abstinence now?” Believe…

A high school dropout struck up a conversation with a genius while sitting on a bench waiting on a bus. The dropout challenged the genius to a game. “We will ask each other questions, and when one guy can’t answer the other guy’s question, he pays him $5.” The genius agreed. Genius: “What is the…

Dustin Hoffman went three days without sleep to prepare for a scene in Marathon Man. Meryl Streep learned Polish and German for Sophie’s Choice. Christian Bale lost 60 pounds to play an emaciated insomniac in The Machinist. Jamie Foxx glued his eyes shut to play Ray Charles. And Leonardo DiCaprio slept in an animal carcass…

Hudson Taylor, a missionary from the 1800s, said this about God doing the impossible in our lives: “There are three stages to every great work of God: first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.” Let me suggest a few things in your life that need to move from impossible to…

On January 23, Tom Brady completed a touchdown pass to Mike Evans in the fourth quarter of his final playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams. Evans proceeded to toss the ball into the stands. I know. I was there. A fan caught that ball from Evans. Security was on the spot to document that…

It’s a real word. You can look it up – beamonesque.  In the 1968 Olympics, American long jumper Bob Beamon won the gold medal. In the process, he obliterated the world record by two feet, with a jump of 29 feet, two and a half inches. His jump was so far ahead of any jump…

Today’s RM is for those of us who wish to see someone close to us get better.  Rather than berating them and reminding them of their shortcomings, encourage them. In the words of Wolfgang von Goethe: “Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can…

Sometimes, it is a good idea to look at our past mistakes, to learn from them, so we can move on. Winston Churchill said, “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.” Paul spoke with an optimistic voice. “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will…

“The human heart,” said John Calvin, “is a perpetual idol factory.” An idol is defined as “an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship.” And we’ve all had them. Some bow to multiple idols every day without even knowing it.  In America, we’ve even made a TV show out of…

Gordon MacKenzie, with Hallmark Cards, did an interesting study. While leading art workshops at elementary schools, he asked first graders, “How many artists are in the room?” Every hand went up. MacKenzie asked the same question to a room full of third graders. Half the hands went up. And when he asked sixth graders, only…

Diana Nyad stared out over the ocean from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when she was nine years old. “Where is Cuba?” she asked her mother. That day, Diana’s fascination with Cuba took root. “One day,” she told herself, “I will swim there.” At the age of 29, Diana attempted to become the first person to swim…

When the prophet Jeremiah observed the potter molding and fixing clay, he noticed something interesting. “Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot” (Jeremiah 18:4, The Message). God…

Recovery is all about the next step. But we also need to live today with the end in mind. In his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey writes, “Begin with the end in mind. All things are created twice.” You create your better future by imagining what it can be, and then…

In 1951, a social psychologist named Solomon Asch did a series of groundbreaking studies on the psychology of conformity. He gave students a vision test, in which they were asked to determine which lines on a sheet of paper were the same length. But before a student was given the opportunity to respond, several actors…

A barber gave a rabbi a haircut, then refused to accept pay. “I don’t charge clergy for haircuts,” he said. The next day, when the barber arrived at work, he found a loaf of Jewish rye bread on his doorstep. The next day, he gave a free haircut to the local priest. One day later,…

Therapist Darlene Lancer suggests seven steps to rebuilding trust with the one you have hurt. Listen to her pain. Empathize with her.  Ask what you can do to gain her trust again. Change your behaviors. Take responsibility for what you have done. Express genuine regret. Embrace open communication.  The Bible is pro-trust. Paul wrote, “Love…

The English language can be confusing. Consider the following evidence. There is no ham in a hamburger or egg in eggplant. English muffins were not invented in England and French fries did not originate in France. Quicksand takes you down slowly. If vegetarians eat vegetables, why don’t humanitarians eat humans? We park on driveways but…

The next time you are tempted to do something stupid, try this – wait one hour before you do it.  If ever there was a man who wished he had put off his disobedience for just one more hour, it was King Saul. The Book of 1 Samuel tells the story. Samuel assured the Israelites…

That great theologian Lucy, of Peanuts fame, once mused, “I can change the world; it’s me I have trouble with.” I can relate. Fixing everyone else is far easier than fixing myself. Francis of Assisi said it well: “Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming…

A hundred years ago, only seven percent of Americans brushed their teeth.  In 1929, a company called Pepsodent set out to change that. Within a few years, more than half of all Americans had become daily brushers. The company’s strategy was not to invent a substance that would clean teeth – that was the easy…

A scientist did a study on frogs. He told a frog, “Jump!” And the frog jumped four feet in the air. The scientist wrote in his journal, “Frog with four feet can jump four feet in the air.” The scientist cut off one of the frog’s legs and said, “Jump!” The frog jumped three feet…

A pastor, priest, and rabbi debated the subject of when life begins. The priest said, “Life begins at conception.” The rabbi argued, “Life begins at birth.” They waited for the pastor’s response. After much thought, he said, “I have five kids. For me, life began when the last of them finally left home.” When our…

Several visitors to the Chicago Museum of Natural History marveled at the site of the dinosaur bones. “How old are those bones?” they asked one of the workers. “This particular dinosaur is three million, seven years, three months, and five days old,” said the worker. The visitors were impressed with the specificity of the man’s…

A college freshman was struggling to keep up with his classwork assignments. When his parents came to visit him, they asked him what the problem was. He said, “The guys in the apartment above me keep their TV up too loud. I can’t concentrate.” His parents asked, “What do you do when they get too…

In the 1980s, I used to go to large water parks for fun. There was a huge water park in Dallas called Wet ‘N Wild, which was one of the largest such parks at the time. One day, as I was walking around with some friends, we saw several other guys at the park who…

I’m typing this from 30,000 feet, on a flight from Baltimore to Minneapolis. It is 9:15 p.m. and I just noticed something amazing. The plane is almost full, but from my seat in the back I can see that not a single reading light is on in front of me. That means that about 120…

I have known and worked with hundreds of sex addicts. And each one shares the same thing in common – a desire to get well. The problem is a disconnect between our will and an actual plan to make it happen.   Benjamin Franklin was determined to avoid that trap. Ben identified 13 virtues that he…

I’m going to try something now. Try to figure out what I’m about to do. Iolwenjjvpoteuoecfrullehis3. Did you figure it out? Answer: I closed my eyes, and then typed. The reason many of us fail in life and in recovery is that we have been blinded to what works – meetings, disclosure, therapy, spiritual disciplines,…

There have been reported UFO sightings forever. They come in waves. For example, after Orson Wells’ radio program, War of the Worlds, in 1939, there was an escalation in UFO reports. The same thing followed the Roswell, New Mexico sighting in 1947. But the greatest spike in UFO sightings in the United States came in…

Colton Harris Moore was born on March 21, 1991, in the sleepy town of Mount Vernon, Washington. Colton was bored. So one day, at the age of 17, he decided to become the Barefoot Bandit. Removing his shoes, Colton broke into hunting and fishing cabins near his home. This escalated to stealing cars and trucks,…

Jesus said you need faith the size of a . . . Bowling ball Mountain Purple people eater Mustard seed If you guessed (d) mustard seed, consider yourself a Bible scholar. Did you know that a mustard seed measures only two millimeters in diameter, yet grows into a nine-foot tree? Thus, the seed grows into…

On the next clear night, look for Antares. It will be the 15th brightest star in the sky. You will find it in the Scorpius constellation. Now, 15th brightest may not sound too bright – until you consider Antares is a whopping 550 light years away. (That means that what you see when you look…

Phil and Joe Niekro were two of the best knuckleball pitchers of all time, amassing a total of 535 wins between them. Joe was one of the Houston Astros’ greatest pitchers ever. I attended many of his games in my high school and college years, in the old Astrodome. But it was what Joe did…

Here’s your library joke for the day. A man walked into a library and the librarian pulled out a gun and shot him dead. The cops rushed in and arrested the librarian on the spot.  “Why am I under arrest?” asked the librarian. “Are you arresting me for shooting that guy?” “No,” said the cops.…

In order to express his love for his young girlfriend, a young man ordered 21 red roses for her 21st birthday. But because he was so kind to the florist, unknown to him, the florist added an additional dozen roses out of sheer kindness. Thus, the 21-year-old lady got 33 roses, along with a card…

In 1947, General Mills introduced its first instant cake mix. They expected overwhelming success, but the cake mix didn’t sell well. The company was confused, because it had reduced a difficult task to a mix that only required adding water. The problem was that the process was made too easy. General Mills hired a marketing…

Writing for Psychology Today, Dr. Lawrence R. Samuel cites seven keys to success: Reject the model of money, power, and fame. Avoid comparisons to others. Take a holistic view of yourself. Celebrate your victories, no matter how small. Accept failures. Prioritize relationships. Leave something behind. Let’s talk about #5. It is important, in any aspect…

A politician was asked for his opinion of whisky. “If you mean that demon drink that poisons the mind, pollutes the body, desecrates family life, and inflames sinners, I’m against it. But if you mean the elixir of Christmas cheer, the shield against winter chill, the taxable potion that puts needed funds into public coffers…

In the sixteenth century, an English playwright named John Haywood died about a decade after William Shakespeare was born. He was less famous than Shakespeare, but perhaps you’ve heard of some of his work. Haywood coined the following phrases: “Many hands make light work,” “Better late than never,” “A rolling stone gathers no moss,” and…

According to the Cleveland Clinic, 80 percent of our thoughts are negative. Willie Nelson was right: “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” Let me help. Here are a few positive thoughts that will shape your future. When you have a few moments alone, perhaps driving in your car…

What you think today, you will do tomorrow, and you will become the day after that. The good news is, you get to choose what thoughts will consume your mind.  Here’s the problem – we tend to remember what we should forget and we forget what we should remember.  The same Bible that says, “Forget…

“Take life one day at a time.” Pretty good advice, right? Well, yes – and no.  Here’s the thing. We must focus on daily goals, but also keep our eye on the prize. Mark Batterson writes, in Do It for a Day, “We overestimate what we can accomplish in a day, but we underestimate what…

We always take the easiest route possible. Not so, with God. As his children were enroute to the Promised Land, we read this: “God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land” (Exodus 13:17). Recovery is the road less…

His name was Kenny Sailors. At 5’7”, he was the shortest player on the basketball team of the University of Wyoming. In 1946, Sailors led his team to the national championship, and he was named the MVP of the tournament. How did he do it? Kenny Sailors became the first jump shooter in college basketball.…

In 1974, Bob Speca was a sophomore at Marple Newton High School in Broomall, Pennsylvania, when he bought his first two boxes of dominoes. He was instantly intrigued by the science of stacking them – by the hundreds – side by side. In an appearance on The Tonight Show, Bob set the world record by…

As a sports lover, I can find something to watch on any day of the year – except two. Over the course of the year, there is at least one game on TV from one of our four major sports (NFL,  MLB, NBA, NHL) every day – except two.  Which two days would those be?…

In 1948, Korczak Ziolkowski was commissioned by Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear to design a mountain carving that would honor the famous Native American hero Crazy Horse. Ziolkowski devoted the next 30 years to carving the statue, which, when completed, will be nine times larger than the carving on Mt. Rushmore. Ziolkowski died in 1982,…

Relapse is a process, not an event. Thomas Kempis said, “Sin is first a simple suggestion, then a strong imagination, then delight, then assent.” The man who grew up with Jesus said, “Each one of us is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it…

You wanna hear something that will blow your mind? The command of rest is just as much a part of the Ten Commandments as the command about murder. Or adultery.  “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest” (Exodus 34:21). …

The warmest temperature ever recorded in the United States was 134 degrees, in Death Valley, California, on July 10, 1913. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. was -80 degrees in Prospect Creek, Alaska, on January 23, 1971.  I’m guessing neither option sounds like your next vacation. We live in a world of extremes.…

The average person spends 145 minutes on social media each day. That is 15 percent of our waking hours. And that is a sign that too many of us spend too much time wasting too many opportunities. There are two kinds of people in the world – those who watch things happen and those who…

Some of us are more comfortable with the problem we know than the solution we don’t. Three guys went fishing, when an angel showed up, offering to heal any physical maladies they might have. The angel healed the first man’s back, then the second man’s poor eyesight. Then the angel approached the third fisherman, who…

Okay, trivia buffs, let’s go. For those of you who live in the USA, can you guess which of our 50 states has the most golf courses per capita? Keep reading for the answer. Here are a few other things you might not already know: You can relapse at any time. If you are 90%…

Noah’s ark took 43,800 days to build. It was the length of one and a half football fields, and designed at a ratio of 30:5:3, which designers use to this day. If the average animal had been a sheep, the ark could house 125,000 animals. Have you visited the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.? You…

From 2010-2015 I served as pastor of First Baptist Church in Conroe, Texas. In looking back over those years, we have much for which we are grateful – membership growth, attendance, baptisms, adding two additional services, record offerings, programs, hiring of new staff, and the renovation of six buildings. But it was something else we…

A man climbed four flights of stairs, made his way to the roof of the building, then jumped off. Predictably, he broke both arms and legs, but fortunately survived. They asked him what went wrong. He said, “The problem was that I landed.” Actually, the problem was that he jumped. And that he climbed those…

If you are trying to design a better future, try this one thing . . . Sow today what you want to see tomorrow. Robert Louis Stevenson said, “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you sow.” And Scripture says, “Whatever one sows, that will he also reap”…