God really is in the healing business. I’ve seen him do amazing, unbelievable things in my life and in the life of those around me. I don’t have a doubt at all that He wants us to be whole. I’m also realizing that I’m the only person standing in the way of myself moving out of a self-inflicted, sad, unfulfilling attitude and into peace, joy, love, calm.

I’m truly overwhelmed because, for so long, I have (to use my good friend Paul’s analogy) ruthlessly expended a lot of energy trying to use my boat engine to hold my position, or to hold things in life steady. What I realize is that I’m only wasting gas and energy when the job of the anchor is to hold me steady. God is that anchor, and He’s right there.

I will be talking in greater detail about this in next weeks podcast episode, and if you haven’t had a chance to catch up on Episode 3 or Episode 4*, click those links and that will get you a bit more context to where I’m going with this.

I’ve never been known to have a busy schedule like many of my friends or family, where you have a hard time scheduling time to do anything with them, but you get older and more involved and you find yourself going, going, going! This weekend, I’m going into a weekend of traveling back to my hometown in order to make a wedding we’re going to a 2-hour trip instead of a 4-hour trip from our house. Normally, I’m frazzled by having to pack and drive 3.5-hours (especially with a two-year-old that doesn’t like to nap in the car) and all the other aspects of a road trip, but I have a new perspective that is allowing me to take an opportunity to make the most of this unique time that I don’t always get. Conversations with my wife, catching up on podcasts, being able to get my thoughts in order, and so on.

I’m thankful that I’ve finally made it to a point where I have a more simplified attitude or outlook. It truly does wonders when you redirect your energy away from negative thoughts or disappointments and point it in such a direction that you are able to maximize a more positive outcome in whatever you’re dealing with at the time.

With that in mind, I hope we can go into the weekend with a smile and realize that we can more greatly control how things turn out that we may realize. Don’t let the unrelenting chaos of the world around you steal your peace and joy or cause you to miss out on what’s beautiful and good and praiseworthy (if you missed that reference, check out Episode 3).

Have a great weekend!

*These links actually take you to Anchor.fm’s website, who is the creator of the podcast tool used to record my podcast. You will be directed to my podcast profile page and there will be links to Apple Podcast, Overcast, Pocket Casts, and now Radio Public.