Happy September!

Be sure to scroll to the end to enter my autumnally awesome giveaway!

I hope you and your family are doing well. It’s hard to believe it’s officially fall, which means 2020 is quickly coming to a close! Hallelujah, right?

I was thinking about the end of the year recently. After seeing meme after meme (such as those below) poking fun at the horrendousness of the past nine months, the thought occurred to me, “What if things don’t improve in 2021?” And this subsequent question, “What if they get worse?”

I realize I wasn’t exactly practicing positive thinking, but hey, sometimes it pays to think practically. I mean, a brand-new 12-month time period doesn’t assure a clean slate. COVID-19 will likely still be around, along with the mask mandates and recommendations, the social distancing, the uncomfortable changes to work and school environments, and probably a vaccine that, not to sound too scientific here, sounds absolutely sketchy in my opinion.

The rioting could continue, and even intensify well after the presidential election. Lawlessness and rebellion may infect many more American cities and stretch across the globe. Distress and discouragement may swell unbelievably as personal struggles threaten to unravel us.

No. A new year will not erase the crises and catastrophes of 2020, nor usher in a blank canvas, waiting to be filled with the bright vivid strokes of harmony and bliss. The physical seasons may change, but the invisible one, that is to say, the spiritual one, can continue for as long as the Creator ordains. We have to prepare ourselves for whatever may be waiting around the bend that is January 1^st, and resolve to live not in fear, but in faith that He who has made the earth His footstool has not and will not forsake us. He is the Good Shepherd who leads His flock faithfully, making it lie down in green pastures, and guiding it to still waters (Psalm 23). He provides bread in the midst of famine. Peace in the midst of war. Water within the wilderness. Slumber inside the storms.

“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.”
 – Oswald Chambers

This past weekend, our gym helped host a business summit for fellow gym owners. One of the speakers, Jennifer Broxterman, is a nutritionist and former CrossFit competitor who battled, and beat, two very aggressive types of ovarian cancer. One of the keys to her inspiring victory was her positive mindset.

“I made a conscious choice two days before surgery,” said Jennifer, “and I wrote down all the words I want to come out of me: joy, love, happiness, positivity. I have been very intentional about how I want to come out of this. I may or may not die of cancer, but I can’t control that. What I can control is how I face it, and I’m going to face it courageously, with positivity.”[1]

One of the exercises Jennifer had us do was draw a coffee cup and fill it with the things we wish to embrace and exude in our daily lives. If and when our metaphorical cup of coffee is accidentally spilled, causing the hot liquid to burn our skin and stain our clothes, would our reaction reflect our choice of words – and I am presuming yours are all positive – or would we react with anger, spite, and impatience?

For Jennifer, her battle with cancer was the biggest coffee spill of her entire life. For me personally, my biggest spill was losing my father unexpectedly when I was 22. I don’t know what your biggest spill was, but I do know that for most of us, 2020 would easily make our Top 10 list.

What’s flowing from your cup right now? What came out of it back in the spring when the lockdowns happened and you and your family were stuck at home? What do you want to come out if the world only grows darker in the days ahead?

Here are a few words I wrote inside my cup:

Patience
Peace
Hope
Selflessness
Flexibility
Fortitude
Faith

No matter what the future holds, I know Who holds the future, and therefore my peace and hope and all the other positive things listed above are rooted in Truth, not mere wishful thinking. The Bible states that “the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8). Everything God has declared, all His prophesies and promises, are true, eternal, and absolutely trustworthy. We can lean on the Bible, and its almighty Author, to provide the strength we need for every single tribulation we endure, be it a marital dispute, a broken friendship, the loss of a loved one, a cancer diagnosis, or the implosion of the “land of the free.”

If you have a few moments, take out a pen and notepad, or open a new note on your computer or phone, then “fill your cup” with the words you wish to walk out in your daily life, no matter the circumstances.

You can even take the exercise a step further by “pouring out” the words you know you need to dispose of, things like resentment, fear, bitterness, cynicism, jealousy, worldliness, and rage. Taking time to observe and assess our kneejerk reactions, deep-seated attitudes, and core values can drastically alter the course of our lives because it forces us to face parts of ourselves that we’ve left buried and ignored for far too long. It opens up a terrific opportunity to make great, invigorating changes that will create a ripple effect on the world around us.

While we can neither predict nor control what 2021 has in store, we can control our response to it, come what may, by taking a proactive approach today.

Peace and contentment have little to do with our external circumstances, but rather stem from strong, unshakable faith and the unyielding conviction that God’s plans are to “prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Whatever battle He sees fit for us to fight. Whatever mountain He allows to rise up and block our path. Whatever giant he grants permission to taunt and vaunt and threaten. Whatever affliction He permits that weakens our flesh and tests our spirits. It is all meant to purify, strengthen, prosper, and prepare us for the blessed day that His glorious kingdom comes.[2] When we view adversity and uncertainty through a lens of gratitude, anticipating what they may teach us, we leap immediately into a position poised for victory.

Fill your cup.
Take a leap.
We are here and we are now for a reason.
And we have work to do.