Struggle to Victory

Some people have the gift of telling good stories. People listen intently to what they say, knowing they will be rewarded. Some of those people also have the gift of writing down their stories in a way that impacts others toward creativity and exploration of their world. Imagination is Your Creation is one example of this kind of storytelling.

Behind the terrific storytelling at Imagination is Your Creation lies a woman who comes from a tragic past but who has chosen to overcome that past. Inge Lindholm has created Imagination is Your Creation for “fellow adventure seeking friends and for those who have aspirations to make a change in their life, have a new experience, or just go after a long-awaited goal!”

Please visit Imagination is Your Creation and read her inspiring and fun stories. Perhaps like me, you’ll also be inspired to write your own stories. Perhaps you’ll want to take the plunge and go on that adventure you’ve been dreaming about.

DISCUSSION: Please share what you liked about Imagination is Your Creation and about the roll of storytelling in your life.

Recently in a group of Christian couples, the discussion turned to the most difficult aspect of faith. For many of the people in that group, the biggest challenge they are facing is living out their faith in a real and practical way. I think this is a struggle that so many Christians have. Fortunately, there are resources like Christian Faith at Work to help find victory in that struggle.

Written especially for Christian business leaders but applicable to anyone desiring to integrate their faith at work, Christian Faith at Work is “about how to run a Christian business. This means running a business with an eternal perspective, making decisions and planning strategically so that people are impacted in a way that points them to God.”

The following are some of my favorite posts at Christian Faith at Work. Please check them out, and let Chris Patton know you support his efforts and goals. Then, return to Struggle to Victory, and let me know what you think about Christian Faith at Work. I know you will be blessed by Chris’ blog!

• What Kind of Man Do You Want to Be? – I have heard the story of Jim Elliot before, but Chris brings a fresh application in this post.
• Don’t Do These 7 Things When You are Angry – This post prompted a discussion between Chris and myself, which lead to Chris inviting me to guest-write a follow-up post titled Anger is Inevitable – Is it Sin? Thank you to Chris for the opportunity to guest post!
• Christian Business: 7 Easy Ways to Integrate Faith and Work – This post speaks directly to business leaders who want to encourage employees to integrate faith and work. I know a local business that employs these suggestions and attributes much of its success to doing so.

Note that Christian Faith at Work also provides Resources and a Reading List that will benefit Christian business leaders and really anyone wanting to integrate their faith at work. Chris’ testimony is pretty powerful too, so be sure to read that History while you are there!

DISCUSSION: Why is integrating faith at work so difficult?

Tentblogger provides solid posts that not only help other bloggers in their trade but that also give great advice for living life in general. I love how the two approaches are mixed together and how John’s passion for blogging, his family and life show through in all he does.

I encourage you to check out Tentblogger today. Here are a few links to get you started:

• Focus on the Few Things You Do Uniquely Well – A post with a great perspective on simplifying life in a way that gets at your unique purpose and plan.
• Learn more about a John and his approach to “blogging for fun and profit.” Be sure to read all the way to the bottom of this about page as it provides a variety of worthwhile links to some of his best posts.
• Want some great advice on making money blogging? Check out the blog series on Tentblogger.

DISCUSSION: Stop by Tentblogger and let him know you were there. Then, come back to Struggle to Victory and tell us about your experiences with Tentblogger.

“Struggle to Victory” is primarily a blog ministry focused on helping Christians “make the most of every opportunity” (Ephesians 5:15-16) given to us by God. There are currently has four postings a week. To read more about this blog, please visit the About page.

On the “Struggle to Victory” blog site, you will find book recommendations on the Bookshelf as well as a Victory! section containing stories, processes and discoveries made through attempts to be deliberate, be determined, pursue simplicity, find balance, be curious, be intentional and age gracefully in every area of life.

“Struggle to Victory” also offers interaction through several social media outlets. The Facebook page not only provides regular posts made on the blog, but it also includes quality articles from other sources. The purpose behind the Facebook page for “Struggle to Victory” is to provide readers with an uplifting and encouraging reading experience from a variety of sources without them having to search all over the internet to find articles.

In addition to Facebook interaction, “Struggle to Victory” also offers interaction through Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Twitter also in an effort to provide my community with information that draws each individual closer to God and helps everyone to “make the most of every opportunity.”

Please join us today. We’d love to hear your comments, ideas, etc.

Podcasts provide a terrific option for individuals who don’t have time or don’t like to read. Download from iTunes and listen while exercising, driving and cleaning. You can also listen to most straight from their web site of origin.

Of course, choosing podcasts with quality content is important since your time is so valuable. To help you, I am recommending the following two sources for podcasts with solid content and reasonable length (generally 15-20 minutes).

• This is Your Life Weekly Podcast by Michael Hyatt dedicated to “intentional leadership.”
• Life of a Steward Podcasts by Loren Pinilis dedicated to “Christian time management.”

Note that each of these podcast sources also produce excellent blog posts that are well-worth your reading time.

Enjoy!

Last Friday, I was given the privilege of writing a guest post titled “Writing Therapy” for Caveman Reflections – A Cyber Bistro. Today, I would like to invite you to visit Caveman Reflections to not only check out my guest post but to peruse the site as well. Caveman Reflections also offers three other blogs worth checking out. There’s something for writers, editors and anyone who enjoys reading stories, anecdotes and interviews about people who have overcome obstacles. Enjoy your visit to this bistro!

The blog A Curious Band of Others offers posts “about the daily struggles to hear and to do—the building on the rock foundation process—to those who dream bigger dreams about being the church, the body of Christ in motion.” While I read the posts weekly and enjoy each one, my most recent favorite is re-blogged below. Please read and enjoy this post, and please stop by A Curious Band of Others to read more posts. I promise you will be blessed!

3 Truths to Remember When Life Gets Unsettling by tnealtarver

I lost 30 pounds last year; found 10 of the lost little buggers this past winter.

I’m the heavy one on the far right. (View original post to see photo.)

I noticed losing the burden of even five pounds made a difference in how I felt. On the court (where it counts), I had an extra step. I oozed energy.

This summer at my lightest.

Carrying extra weight around isn’t limited to your pound of flesh. For me, it usually attaches itself to my thoughts in the form of financial worries. And with the release of Dark Eyes, Deep Eyes, sales thoughts can bury me under worry’s burden.

Is the book any good?

Am I doing enough to promote it?

What if I lose more money than I make on this venture?

Boxes of books, a sight both exciting and terrifying.

You probably haven’t had a novel debut recently (although, if you have, congratulations!), but I would venture to guess that you’ve felt the weight of worry.

What are my kids doing when I’m not there to protect them?

How will my business survive this economy?

What will the next series of elections bring?

What’s the price of gas going to be on my next road trip?

How will I cover the cost of [you fill in the blank here]?

A week ago, I especially felt anxiety’s knot wrapping itself around my gut. I was overwhelmed by the options and the opportunities. I was frustrated by an ongoing problem. I heard messages that told me what to do for my “business,” things I neither was doing nor understanding how to do.

And the weightiness of it all sunk my spirits lower …

… and lower …

… and lower …

… until I turned my mind and heart back to some basic truths.

Today’s events do not determine my future. Whatever happens today, for good or ill, has no bearing on my eternal future. It may mean whether I have a sense of accomplishment or not at the end of the day, but it doesn’t change where I’m going.

God secured my future through the work of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, both in the past and in the present. Book sales will not change that truth.

God remains seated on His throne. For me, this simple fact anchors my faith. God was seated on the throne “… in the year King Uzziah died …” which was a tumultuous time of change for the prophet Isaiah. That vision settled Isaiah’s fears about Israel’s future. It wasn’t determined by a king and his army but by God and His word.

I remain tucked away in Christ. I am, according to Scripture, a child of God. My identity determines my destiny. When I’m uncertain of my today, I can be certain of my future in Him.

I may screw up the book thing, the promotion thing, the husband thing, the daddy thing, the friend thing, and whatever else I am or do in this world. In fact, I know I will screw up, make mistakes, do dumb stuff, and generally mess up.

But I will never, ever be abandoned.

Why?

Because our Father says, “I will neither leave you nor forsake you.”

That truth helps steady my heart in its anxious moments.

I’m curious. When you feel unsettled in life or face a tough situation, what helps calm your soul?

Please visit A Curious Band of Others to comment on this post and to be blessed through reading the other inspiring posts you’ll find there.

Life of a Steward is a terrific site focused on “Christian Time Management.”

The site offers blog posts on topics related to living a balanced life, developing a Biblical worldview and having discipline.

Some of my favorite posts so far are:

• Prioritization: Don’t Forsake the Small
• The Enemy of Prayer Isn’t Busyness
• Busy and Lazy at the Same Time

While reading blogs like Life of a Steward are well worth the time and attention in the busy life of a Christian, there are still those who will say they don’t have time for extra reading. Fortunately for them, Life of a Steward also has podcasts that can be listened to through a computer or downloaded onto a mobile device.

Take a few moments to check out Life of a Steward today. I promised that you will be blessed!

Note: This is an extra post outside the usual routine. If you know any aspiring writers, please forward this post to them. The information provided could be the gamechanger they have been looking for!

After three months of blogging, discouragement has become a recent visitor to my mind. My progress seems slow, and I often find myself wondering what I am doing or not doing that would increase my readership as well as writing gigs. Then along came a post by Jeff Goins at http://goinswriter.com/.

Jeff recently published two e-books that are well worth your time and money for three reasons. (Actually, there are more reasons, but these are my top 3.)

First, they are concise (under 100 pages each) but packed with practical information for finding success in writing. These books, Before Your First Book: 5 Tips to Getting Published Now and Every Writer’s Dream: How to Never Pitch Your Writing Again, provide writers with the essential information in a way that does not overwhelm.

Second, the books are also a terrific value at less than $5 for BOTH books. Follow this link, http://goinswriter.com/get-published/, to find out more.

Third, Jeff writes in a way that emphasizes the content of the books. In other words, he writes about connecting while he is connecting by sharing feelings and experiences that all writers who have made any effort to write have experienced. This probably sold me on the value of the books more than their brevity and bargain-price.

Not only do I enjoy reading Jeff’s blog posts, I thoroughly enjoyed reading these two e-books as well. The tips in them finally have me believing that I can succeed as a writer. They also have me feeling like I am no longer floundering in what to do and what steps to take. I’ve read a lot of other material on how to succeed in writing and learned a lot… but so much of it has just been overwhelming. Jeff’s approach has made the overwhelming feelings subside and left me feeling like I can finally conquer this discouragement. Thanks Jeff!