Greetings from England! I hope you had a good week celebrating failure. I sure did as my wife and I celebrated by moving into a brand new house! It's a lovely home and we are just thrilled to be there. It has everything we want and need, in part of town we like, overlooking a valley with lots of trees and hills. It has a full basement, from which we will run our PurposeQuest business. It's new construction and everything is, well, it's so new. What a blessing that home has already been
What the home represents makes it all the more special, for it truly represents a journey that included a lot of failures and heartache. Those failures only served to enhance our appreciation this week as we moved. When we moved out of our last house in 2005, it felt like the Bataan Death March. The trip to our new home this week could best be described by Psalm 126:
When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion,
we were like men who dreamed.Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
"The Lord has done great things for them."The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like streams in the Negev.Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy.He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him.
THE JOURNEY
When I started PurposeQuest in 2001, it represented a failure of sorts. I had failed to start it earlier in life and had lost many opportunities. I was afraid, however, and put it off too long. When I left my church work to start the business, the people I had been with for many years were not happy and were unable to bless my departure. I found myself with no money, four books I had written, a purpose message and no place to go at 50 years of age.
Starting over proved to be a struggle. Before long, we found ourselves in debt, and I was traveling long distances to pursue business opportunities, often staying away from home longer than I wanted to stay. God was always faithful and we never lacked, but the pressure finally got to us in 2005. We decided to do what we had to do to downsize, pay off our debts and save some money to buy another home. I wish I could tell you that all my business decisions since 2001 have been good ones, but they have not. Yet I learned along the way and also found and sharpened my "voice" -- my message and how to deliver it.
All week I have been humming, listening to and singing Barry Manilow's song, I Made It Through the Rain. I won't include the lyrics, but you can watch and listen to that song here along with a moving purpose tribute from Barry to his grandfather (or listen only to the song in its entirety here). Perhaps then you will understand some of what I felt this past week and maybe it will encourage you along the way.
If that doesn't do it for you as we put the topic of failure to bed, then I know this last passage will. It's found in the short letter of Jude, verses 24 and 25, right before the book of Revelation. The verses are actually a prayer, and I hope you can hear me praying this for you as I sit and write this Monday Memo as a Failure P.S., celebrating the goodness of God while I do here in England what I love to do:
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Amen and amen. Now go do something great for Him!
Feel free to write a comment to this entry on the site where it is posted.
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EMAIL ME YOUR QUESTIONS FOR RADIO!
Since the beginning of the year, I have heard in my heart, "Broadcast! Set My people free!" I am convinced that I need to get the purpose message out to as many people as possible by whatever means possible. In other words, I need to cast the message broadly. That is why I accepted an invitation to broadcast a weekly show on the talk Internet station Voice America. My first show is on Wednesday, May 21, and will be rebroadcast twelve hours later on the same station. You don't need any special software to listen; just go to the Voice America website and listen. What's more, you will be able to call and ask questions!
If you would like me to discuss any topic on the show and can't call, then email me your questions and I will make sure I include them in the broadcast.
The show will air live at 9 AM Eastern Standard Time, which is 8 AM in Dallas, 6 AM on the West Coast, 2 PM in England, 3 PM in Zimbabwe, 4 PM in Kenya, and 9 PM in Singapore
If you would like to be a sponsor for the show or would like to contribute to the production costs, you can go to my website and make a contribution through PayPal or send a check to the address given on the website. What's more, I should have a new and revised website up and running by then.
CALL FOR TESTIMONIES!
Speaking of new website, I am in the process of assembling a new PurposeQuest website and I need some testimonies. I am looking for some stories in two or three sentences max about: 1) How the purpose message has impacted you life. 2) How the former website helped you. 3) How hearing me speak has helped you in your PurposeQuest. 4) How a one-on-one or coaching session has helped as well; 5) How the Monday Memo has assisted you in your PurposeQuest.
If you could also send a high resolution picture of yourself with the testimony, I will include that on the site, along with your name, city and country where you live. The picture should be high resolution, at least 300 dbi in jpeg or tiff format. This is your chance to be famous and to encourage others around the world to pursue their purpose. The deadline is yesterday, so please write as soon as possible, with a picture if you have a good one. Thanks in advance for your help.
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