Last night our beloved Ohio State Buckeyes opened with a dominating win over Marshall.  I’ve always been a Buckeye fan but I especially enjoy watching them when they have someone on the team I feel a connection to. 

 Over the past 4 years our family has been rooting and pulling for Brandon Saine, the versatile tailback and captain for the Bucks.  Brandon is a Piqua, Ohio native and graduated with our developmentally disabled son Jordan…one of Jordan’s many claims to fame.

In fact when Coach Tressel visited Piqua High School a few years ago, Jordan came home with a picture of him and Coach Tressel as well as a an OSU coffee mug autographed by the Coach…amazing what Jordan can get done without saying a word. 

Last night Brandon ran for over 100 yards on just 8 carries and had a couple of runs over 40 yards as well as 2 touchdowns.  Needless to say the Meyer household was all pumped up for Brandon as well as the Buckeyes.

The announcers, when describing Brandon’s running style, said he was a patient runner and followed his blockers quite effectively and when a hole would open up he was great at seeing the opening and in-turn utilizing his God-given (my words) gift of speed.

The greatest running backs are not only patient, fast, and have great vision, but they cannot run effectively without blockers.

Metaphorically speaking, a life run on self will without utilizing the “Divine Blocker” is often difficult and sometimes downright disastrous.

Although God will not run the ball for us or prevent us from slipping or being tackled; he will open our eyes to new “openings” and provide us with virtues we once thought were unattainable.   Paul reminds of this in Galatians 5:22, “but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” 

The virtues above are the Fruits received through the acceptance of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit which then lives in us.  By accepting Jesus, we have the “Divine Blocker” living inside of us.  

Utilizing the Divine Blocker will not guarantee us success in all we do but, just like a great running back, we exhibit the “Fruits” and maintain patience, peace and self-control, while the world is reaching out and trying to tackle us, and we begin to see holes (opportunities) our self-will blinded us to. 

Choose to start your day by asking the Divine Blocker to lead the way and all of a sudden running the ball (i.e. living life) becomes much more enjoyable. 

Go Brandon!  Go Buckeyes!  Go God!

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch.com

Many years ago my wife and I were participating in a Bible study at a summer church camp.  I was probably 3 years sober at the time and still very “green” when it came to controlling my tongue…a character defect I’ve worked hard to correct over my 23 years of sobriety.  A lady in the class raised her hand and in a very whimpy, mousy way said “pastor why do bad things happen to good people.?”

Well I proceeded to answer the question for the pastor and said “I grow tired of people moaning about why bad things happen to good people.  Bad things can happen to anybody, none of us are immune from it and if Jesus (God’s son i.e. God in human form) could experience an awful, unfair, tortuous, painful, unsightly, beating and death; what makes you think “good people” should be immune from bad things happening?  I still have the bruises on my shin from my wife kicking me under the table that day.  

Over the last 6 weeks my world, and more recently the little village I live in has been rocked with bad things happening to good people.  All tolled I’ve witnessed the tragic death of 5 good people beginning July the 8th and if I go back to the suicide of my buddy Joe back on April 14 of last year I’ve witnessed 11 good people die way before their time…8 of them from my little village with a population of 2500.

I texted my daughter yesterday as she was grieving the most recent loss of Staci and Corey, a 29 year old and 21 year old whom my kids grew up with and the town was extremely fond of.  My text message went something like this, “this is a time where your faith must be a light to others because when stuff like this happens people either run to the Lord or away from the Lord and we need to be there for them no matter which way they are headed and share with them the good news about life after death, i.e. eternal life through Jesus.

Some of the ways I am coping with these tragic losses:

…I believe that I am going to die no matter if I am good or bad, young or old.  

…As a Jesus follower I believe there is a much better life after death and the only way to get there is through death, so in essence death means an even better life. 

…I believe if God would allow His son to die the most horrible death possible in order that we may have eternal life; then God must view death differently than the world does. 

…I believe God has infinite wisdom that my finite wisdom is simply unable to grasp and understand and the only way to accept bad things happening to good people is thru faith (i.e. faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see…Hebrews 11:1). 

…I believe it all comes down to faith in what Jesus said to his disciples on the night prior to his “unfair” death…”You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” John 13:7  (I turned to that scripture yesterday after questioning why God would let such bad things happen to Corey and Staci.) 

…I’m trying my best to trust and have faith in that verse in the book of John above, and looking forward to the day I will be in His presence and be able to understand. 

…Although I’m sad and disappointed God didn’t perform a miracle on these two beautiful, young, “good” people I truly believe God knows what he is doing and the best thing I can do is let God be God and try my best to be a witness and disciple.

P.S. Over the years I will occassionally be challenged about this “Jesus thing.”  People will say “what if you are wrong Jay?”  I simply tell them if I am wrong I am out nothing and then I turn the question back to them and ask them “what if you are wrong?” 

Saying yes to Jesus will allow you to someday ask the question and get an answer to “why do bad things happen?”

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch.com

The other day I was talking with a group of Christians and shared with them the fact that accepting Jesus would indeed save their souls but it would not save them from “stupid.”  I got a mixed response from that statement and I could tell I had provoked some thought and reflection.

How many Christians do you know that still do stupid things?  I don’t have to look too far to answer that question…as the guy typing this blog has done some unbelievably stupid things while professing to be a Christian.

I’m not saying Christians will be perfect as we will always have a “stupid” moment here and there, but as followers of Christ we have a responsibility to love God and to love others in all we do and that is impossible for me unless I am letting Christ run the show for me.

As Christians the fruit we receive from the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control-Galatians 5:22) is not for us to keep but it is for us to give to others in representation of what a life run by Christ looks like.  There is a tremendous amount of freedom gained and stupidity lost once we decide to die to ourselves and have Christ live through us.

Dieing to self and allowing Christ to live through us is a step by step process that does not happen overnight.  It takes daily prayer and scripture reading which is best done first thing in the morning…the days I put it off until noon are days I play “stupid” for the first 3 or 4 hours of my day.  It takes interaction with other people who are trying to do the same thing.  It takes boundaries to stay away from the old spaces, faces and places that take us back to “stupid.”  For many people it takes the 12 Steps to clear away the wreckage of the past in order to make room and replace “stupid” with Christ.  NONE OF THIS IS ONE AND DONE…it is a daily walk.

Who is living inside you today and what kind of fruit are you producing?  Is the fruit attractive or is it “stupid?”  

“Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many.  I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.  When you walk your steps will not be hampered; when you run you will not stumble.” (Proverbs 4:10-12 NIV).

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch.com

 

“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4 (NIV)

About twenty years ago a very good friend of mine gave me some advice that I’ve never forgotten.  At the time my oldest was seven, my middle child was four and my youngest was two.  He said, “Jay, don’t ever forget you’ve only got one shot at raising your kids.”

I never forgot that and I’ve passed that piece of advice on to countless numbers of other parents over the years.  His statement was not only profoud but absolutely true.  In many situations in life there are second, third and fourth chances and for some of us who struggled with making bad decisions there are sometimes even more…if we survive.  But we’ve only got one shot at raising our kids.

The thought for this blog crossed my mind after my workout yesterday morning.  Our excercise room (once my oldest son’s bedroom) is right next to my daughter’s bedroom.  After my morning workout I walked into my daughter’s room only to find an empty room with holes in the walls, a few clothes and some old trophies from the past.  I had just spent the previous 30 hours moving her into her new place in Washington D.C.  She was officially on her own. 

I looked around the room and said “22 years…it’s over…unbelievable” and I got a tear in my eye and walked away.

Being the introspective type I found myself reflecting on whether or not my wife and I had made the most of the “one shot” we had at raising our kids.  I think we did.  

They are independent, they understand the importance of rest, exercise and nutrition, they know what “family” means, they try to treat others right, they help others when they can, they try to stay away from gossip and criticism, they are not racists or bigots, they are bold yet humble, they work hard, they love to laugh and have fun, they enjoy learning, they view challenges as steps toward growth, they know they can’t control others,  they know they can only control their attitude and effort, they know the world does not revolve around their butts, they know life is not fair, and most importantly they know the Lord. 

My wife and I tried real hard to be representative of all of these attributes for our kids over the years and of course she did a much better job than I did.  It is definitely monkey see, monkey do with kids.

Are they perfect?  Heck No!  Did they turn out ok?  I think so.

If you are a parent don’t forget you’ve only got one chance and if you want your kids to turn out ok…it all starts with your walk.

I leave you with a poem my wife wrote 8 years ago when our oldest left for college.

“EMPTY ROOM” 

When closing the door of a room full of memories,

Pause briefly.

Search the distant corners,

Visit with the once-familiar faces in the worn photos.

Dance to the distant laughter and footsteps,

Feel the embraces.

As you pull the door towards you 

Cry softly.

Above all,

Leave the door ajar.

P.E.A.C.E

jay@eaglelaunch.com

Today’s Proverb jumped out at me as I just celebrated my 23rd anniversary of sobriety on August the 9th. 

I always tell people that nothing great in life happens by doing it alone.  I also know first hand that conquering the disease of addiction and alcoholism a day at a time will not happen by doing it alone.

Back on August 9, 1987 I finally started to listen to others and since that time nothing has been the same.  I don’t care what you are trying to accomplish, overcome, deal with or conquer; assuming that you are praying and reading the word, seeking wise counsel for guidance is the next most important step.  “The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.”  Proverbs 12:15 (NIV)

“When I was younger, so much younger than today, I never needed anybody’s help in any way, but now those days are gone and I’m not so self-assured, now I find I’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors.”  The Beatles “Help”

If you are beating your head against the wall and not making any progress…(Can you say insanity?)…try reaching out for help and when you reach for help seek help from those who’ve conquered whatever it is you are trying to conquer and has what you want to have in life.

P.E.A.C.E

jay@eaglelaunch.com

I love the Motel 6 slogan, “We’ll leave the light on.”  What a great way to say to travelers “we will always be there for you.”

A couple of days ago I was talking with a Christian friend about the importance of having our “light” shine no matter what the circumstance.  Good bosses, bad bosses, good days, bad days, good jobs, bad jobs, sickness, health, mean people, nice people, in-laws, out-laws, good spouses, bad spouses, good kids, challenging kids…through all of this we are called as Christians to keep our light shining.  Yep, I know, easier said than done.

Christianity as a whole is getting a bad rap these days because many of us operate our light with a dimmer switch and even worse some of our lights take on the appearance of a strobe which make non-Christians dizzy .  We pick and choose when we want to act like Christians and the non-Christians view this as hypocrisy…understandably so.

I can remember years ago when I was a “dimmer switch Christian.”  I used God when I needed him.

As Christians it is not about using God it is about God using us and he can’t use us if His light is not shining through us. 

Have you ever thought about the opportunities you let pass you by because your light wasn’t on and God couldn’t use you?  I try very hard to not let that happen today.

“Our” light is really Christ’s light shining through us.  The key to having “our” light on is to choose to follow Jesus daily so He can light our path.  “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.”  John 1:4 (NIV).  “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12 (NIV).  In John 1:4, John is talking about Jesus.  In John 8:12, Jesus is talking about himself.

So what is your light looking like these days?  Do you have a dimmer switch or does it look like something out of a 70′s disco club?

There is only a couple of things you need to do on a daily basis to have your light shine as consistently as Motel 6′s.  First you need to flip your switch on first thing in the morning by surrendering all you do to Him so your light is actually His light.  Then poor some fuel on the fire by reading the word.  “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”  Psalm 119:105 (NIV) 

And last but not least…keep the switch turned on all day long so God can use you no matter what the circumstance.

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch.com

Throughout my career as a businessman and also as an athlete I often found myself using the phrase “gut check” when things were getting a little difficult.  Gut check means taking a quick moment to step back and see if there is still enough in the tank (mentally and physically) in order to continue to fight for a victory.  Whether or not there is enough left depends on how much time and energy was spent preparing the gut for the day of battle.   

Many years ago I was given the definition of “luck” by one of my basketball coaches and he said “luck is when peparation meets opportunity.”  Webster’s defines luck “to prosper or succeed esp. through chance or good fortune.  In essence we have the ability to to determine whether or not we experience luck because it is based on how much time we spend preparing for whatever it is we are doing.  John Wooden always said “the harder I work, the luckier I get.”

Although I never seemed to have a problem working hard and developing my own “luck” in my athletic career, it took me some time to have “luck” and prosper and succeed with life and having luck with life simply means being able to handle life on life’s terms.  For many years I tried to make life adapt to my terms…can you say frustration?

Handling life on life’s terms means handling the demands of reality without compromising our integrity. It means we do not need to manipulate ourselves or others in order to handle life.  In essence, as Christians we succeed and prosper with life (i.e. have luck) when we are able to have peace and joy no matter what the circumstance.   

Luke  12:14 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.”  (NIV)

Just like preparing for an athletic event, preparation for handling life on life’s terms and experiencing luck, i.e. peace and joy no matter what the circumstance, involves daily work and the work needs to be focused on our heart as we can deduce from the scriptures above.  

Preparing our heart means we need to surrender our will to God early and often throughout the day and ask Him to enter our heart so that our thoughts, words and deeds will be His.  This is done through prayer.  We need to couple prayer with the action of studying and reading His word on a daily basis and allowing it to penetrate our hearts and in turn permeate into our actions.  The scripture in Hebrews at the start of this message tells us scripture is living and active and penetrates through all parts of our body right to the heart. 

Prayer is great and is powerful and much needed but God’s word is living and maximized in our lives ONLY if we read and study it.  And if we don’t…when trying to handle life on life’s terms our “heart check” will create a response based on our treasures (i.e. what is most important to us) and having luck (i.e. joy and peace) will, most likely, continue to escape us.    

Do a “heart check” and ask yourself whether or not you are spending enough time receiving God’s guidance through conversing with Him in his word.  If your daily frustrations with the world exceeds your daily joy…then you need to work a little harder on your heart.  Or let me put it another way; if your peace and joy is dependent upon the world (other people, places and things) doing what you need it to do…then you need to work a little harder on your heart.

P.E.A.C.E.

Philippians 4:12-13 “…I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” (NIV)

Jay@EagleLaunch.com   My new website should go live sometime this week.

As far as I can remember, I’ve always had to have eggs for breakfast and if meat and potatoes were thrown in, I had what I considered a great breakfast.  I believe this is just a part of my German heritage.

A couple of days ago during a family trip we were staying at a hotel owned by my favorite chain.  I’ve been staying at this particular brand of hotels ever since I started traveling in business 15 years ago.  The reason I pick this particular chain is because…you guessed it…they serve eggs with their free breakfast.  But this past Tuesday morning there were no eggs and I was distraught and quickly told my wife I was heading out to find a place that had eggs and I would be back shortly.

It did not take me long to find a restaurant that served breakfast and as I was standing in line I noticed the gentleman in front of me asked for a cup of ice water and when the waitress asked if he needed to be seated he told her, “no I am homeless and all I want is a cup of ice water.”  He was given the ice water and he turned to head out the door and I looked at him and said “hey come with me, it looks as though you could use some breakfast.”  You would have thought I had just offered him a million dollars as his eyes lit up and he followed me to our booth.

Over my years of working with and helping others I have a couple of questions I always ask that helps me figure out what is going on in someone’s life pretty quickly, and one of the first questions I always ask is whether or not they believe in God.  When I asked my knew friend this question he proceeded to tell me he was not into organized religion but he believed in Jesus and his teachings.  Then I asked him why he was homeless and he proceeded to tell me that he had arrived at Fort Collins in hopes of having work to do and things didn’t work out as planned and he had run out of money, had no work and had spent the last 10 days sleeping behind and eating out of dumpsters while trying to find a way back home to Tampa.

He shared with me that he had stopped by at least a half dozen churches and each one of them told him they could not help him.  After hearing all of this I asked him if he was angry at God because the churches had not come through for him.  He looked at me and said “no” and then he saw I had my Bible with me (I was planning on doing my morning devotion while eating breakfast) and he asked me if he could look at it.

He quickly leafed through some pages and turned to the passage above in Philippians and read it to me.  He proceeded to tell me that if he was really walking the Christian walk it meant that he had to be content WHATEVER the circumstance.  He also said that he has been praying without ceasing and trusted that God would take care of him during this most difficult time.  But then he also said to me that he was getting dazed and confused because he kept running into dead ends but continued to believe “he could do everything through Jesus who gives him his strength.”  His knowledge of the Bible totally blew me away. 

This of course opened the door for me to talk openly about my faith and we talked for a good 45 minutes.  When the waitress came to give me the bill she told me the restaurant would pay for my friend’s portion of the bill and they also filled a box of food up for him…it was like he was just handed another million dollars.

As we were getting ready to leave he thanked me for taking the time to feed him and talk with him.  I told him that he had given me so much more than I had given him and I told him to jump in my car and I would take him to the bus station and get him a bus ticket to go home to Tampa…it was like he was just handed another million dollars.

My journal entry for Tuesday July 20th, 2010 has no scripture or personal reflection noted.  The only thing I wrote down for that day was my friend’s name and “No Eggs.”  I am so grateful my hotel did not have eggs that morning because it allowed me to have my faith strengthened and renewed by someone who had absolutely nothing but faith and a content heart.

How are you with your faith and contentment these days?  After my experience this past Tuesday morning I know I still have some work to do.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch.com

P.S.  After explaining to the family what had happened, when I arrived back to the hotel an hour later than promised, my father-in-law laughed and told me it had to have been a God thing because five minutes after I left the hotel they brought out a big pan of scrambled eggs.

This past Thursday the young man who was working with me on my first book was tragically murdered by his step father. 

Throughout my life God has blessed my presence with many interesting and talented people.  I can say that Brandon (pictued above with my daughter at a church youth camp) was one of THEE most interesting and talented individuals I’ve ever been associated with…and he was only 22 years old!  But beyond that, Brandon lived life the way Jesus tells us to live. 

Although he left this earth at the age of 22, Brandon spent almost a third of his life teaching Sunday school at our church.  Others speak about Brandon being a great role model for his siblings and a great son to his parents. What I loved about Brandon was his creative side as I’ve been so pumped in anticipation of where he would take my skills as a writer.  Brandon was also close with my wife as they worked with the creative designer at our church on various projects.  It was Brandon who motivated my wife to get serious about her painting talents and that she has done.  She always said Brandon was an “old soul in a young person’s body.”

And then in a blink of an eye he is gone.

As I was mourning the loss of Brandon yesterday, I got word from one of my teammates from my college basketball playing days that a former teammate of ours dropped dead of a heart attack that morning.  The numb feeling from the loss of Brandon turned to a dead feeling as I shook my head in disbelief upon hearing this second piece of difficult news in less than 24 hours.

I’ve lived long enough to know that shit is gonna happen and tragedy has been amongst us since the beginning of time.  It is when it hits close to home that people begin saying Why God?  This weekend our pastor will be preaching about this topic at our church because our entire church community has been rocked and is grieving the tragic loss of one of it’s greatest servants.

My question is not “Why God?” in the sense of “why do you let things like this happen God?”  But “Why God?” in the sense of “why should we live a life fueled by God when he lets such awful things happen?

Like I’ve said many times and the Bible will confirm, we are born into sin and at our core is evil, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5 (NIV). 

As a sinner I know I need God’s help in order for me to attempt to overcome my sin and my worldly tendencies, and in-turn live for Him instead of me…and this is a daily walk.  All of us have the ability to commit murder just as much as we have the ability to live as a servant of God.  The difference is all about WHO we are living for and Jesus tells us very clearly in Revelations what happens when we live for self and what happens when we live for God:

“Behold, I am coming soon!  My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. 

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.  Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderes, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”  This is Jesus speaking in Revelation 22:12-15.

So why choose God over ourselves and the world?  It is simple to me, in my flesh all alone, I am a “dog” who will live outside the gates of heaven.  With God I have a shot at eternal life and yes I believe there is an eternal life where Brandon recently walked through the gates of. 

Only an awesome being like our God can have such a powerful plan that we can be murdered on earth but yet gain a bigger and better life in eternity…all within a blink of an eye.  Choosing God over the world like our friend Brandon did is a choice worth making.

Brandon–your rewards in heaven are many, I can only hope mine will be a tenth of yours…and some how, some way, I hope God allows you the freedom to set up a Facebook website account in heaven. 

P.E.A.C.E.

jay@eaglelaunch.com

The great philosopher, Pogo, of the cartoon section in the newspaper once said, “We have found the enemy and it is us.” I thought of this last night as I listened to a friend give a very powerful testimony at our recovery service at Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City, Ohio.  She sought relationship “cures,” chemical ”cures” as well as geographical “cures” for her problems, but the problem continued to follow her until one day she named the problem and the problem was her.

I learned a long time ago that a problem remains a problem as long as we stay in it.  It always amazes me how quickly the problem disappears when we begin to live in the solution.  Those of us in the recovery community who have found recovery and are living a new life, realized at some point that until we named our problem, which was us, there was never going to be a solution.

In essence, a life full of problems is a life fueled by self instead of God.  Some great indicators of a life fueled by self include being in constant turmoil, arguments, confrontations, worry, regret, fear, revenge and envy; to name a few.  I know some people who are always at war with something…can you relate?

A couple of weeks ago I found that a former employee of mine’s husband was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and had only weeks to months to live.  He had been diagnosed with the cancer three years ago and it looked as though his treatments were working until this latest report. 

The family has kept us all abreast with his valiant fight against the cancer through a website via the internet.  The family is deeply grounded in their Christian faith and from the very first post they made on their website it was easy to tell they were choosing to live in The Solution and not the problem as they referred to “God’s will” early and often. 

We are talking about a young couple with two little boys and many hopes and dreams for the future.  It would seem to me that they would have every reason in the world to complain about their problems. 

In her most recent post, the wife tells us that her husband says to her more than once, on the long car ride home from the hospitial, “I’m going to get to see God soon.”  She closes her web post with the powerful words from Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9; “But he (the Lord) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 

What awesome witnesses for The Solution!

Challenge yourself to get out of self and into The Solution and like it says in the opening scripture from Philippians above, you will receive a peace which you will not be able to understand, the same peace my friends are experiencing during this most challenging time in their lives.

Please lift Jason and Jennie as well as their 2 boys, Luke and Matthew up in prayer every chance you get.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch.com