Where's Your Added Value?!

I was talking with a friend and she said something poignant. It’s a lesson that she tries to teach her kids by demonstrating it in her own life; and I liked the way she put it. She said she was appreciative of the value her friends added to her life and always tells them that the people you surround yourself with should bring added value.

Her words stuck with me longer than our conversation as I began to reflect on the upcoming new year. I’ve seen many posts on Facebook and Twitter talking about getting rid of this or that type of unproductive person in your life. I’ve heard the sermons (particularly towards singles) on getting rid of zeros to make room for heroes. We live in a selfish world that is often taking on that old Janet Jackson adage of ‘what have you done for me lately?’ and rarely the other way around. But today my thoughts were not on the other person. 

Today, I began thinking of 2012 as The Year of Added Value. Put simply, I want to bring added value to the life of anyone I come in contact with. It’s easy to point to the other person and say who isn’t doing enough for us, but what if we are the ones who are short-changing others? Are you sitting on gifts and talents that God has been trying to get you to use? Are you praying when God says pray for someone? Are you forgiving when God says ‘humble yourself’? Do you bring positivity or negativity to every situation you are in? Are you stale seasoning or do you bring that added zest? As much as we want to tell others to hit the road, this is the time to assess for ourselves: If I am not added value, then perhaps I’m the one who needs to make a move.

As you ask yourself those questions, know that, if you fall short, grace abounds and that you too can decide to make 2012 the year of added value. Won’t you join me?

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, 

how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing 

but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men." 

Matthew 5:13

The Curtain Will Go Up!

"Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge." Psalm 19:2

I don't know about you, but 2011 has been a challenging year. I thought 2010 was pretty difficult and was glad to see the new year come in. However, what I didn't expect was that the transition out of the difficult was going to be almost as bad if not simply fully of more questions than answers. I'm not sure if that makes sense to you who are reading. I can only liken it to being in a theater before the show starts. It took a lot of energy to buy the tickets, brave traffic, find parking, wait in lines, locate your seat, have people cross over you and step on your toes to get to theirs and you finally get settled...THAT was 2010. Then what happens? The lights go out just as the show is about to start...THAT has been 2011. In that darkness, you sit anticipating the lights coming up to reveal great things. You are excited about the prospect of being entertained and having an enjoyable experience. But that dark moment can be nerve-wracking if something goes wrong behind the scenes and it is prolonged for any reason. The darkness then becomes a bit daunting and anxiety can even set in. You know something good is coming but that brief extra moment of night is seemingly endless and a bit nerve-wracking.

As we started 2011, the Lord told me that this would be the year of redemption and the year of transition from places of bondage in our lives. I believe that Word to be true and have watched it come to pass in my life and others. But the PROCESS that transition takes has been trying and tiring. Much of the year I have found myself in those moments of darkness before the show and simply wondering (with hope and expectation), what is on the other side of this night season. But what I have found in the darkness has been an unexpected blessing. I have gotten to know myself better. I've gotten to know others better. I have been able to lean on God more fully. I have been challenged with trusting him implicitly.I am reminded that time for God is not as time is for us. And though that moment of darkness has seemed unending at times and nerve-wracking, for God it has been only a momentary lapse in time and the curtains are about to go up.

Today, I want to encourage you with that fact that revelation comes during the darkest of times. Sometimes you'll get it while you're in the dark and sometimes it will come after. But one thing is for sure, the curtain does eventually go up!

Be encouraged and encourage someone else today.