OUR TIME CAPSULE = GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Before my father passed away, he made sure that we all understood many things that would give us the wisdom and inspiration we would need for life. As I take time today, December 31, 2011, I am quietly able to meditate on a few of them that bring such solace to my soul.

1. HOPE – My father always said, “Hope is the EARNEST expectation that something GREAT is about to happen.” I have lived with HOPE and expectation my entire life and that is why, I believe, I have been so blessed to speak, sing and share valuable time with so many notable leaders, Presidents and world changers. It is also the key to my joy in the midst of life’s most challenging storms.

2. ONLY BELIEVE – Perhaps the greatest gift my father passed on to me was the gift of FAITH. (Luke 8:50) What a blessing to believe in the impossible, trust God through the improbable and stand for even the most unlovable. This is the value of the belief he taught me in saying, “With God, all things are possible!” There is ALWAYS a way of escape and an opportunity for a dynamic turnaround.

3. NEVER GIVE UP – Possibly the most important value he engrained into my heart during my adolescence was to “never give up”!   I was small, skinny, and to most, looked like a poster child for “Feed The Children”. But despite my frail physique, I was determined to be an all star basketball player.  My Dad never said, “You are too small, or you’re not built for the job.” Instead, he encouraged me to practice ten times as hard as the other girls and said, “No matter what happens, you can do this if you work at it hard enough, practice, and NEVER GIVE UP!” He was right and that principle guided me throughout so many other adventures in life.

Tonight, at 11:30 p.m., we will open our “time capsule”, a small box in which we wrote out our “BELIEVE LIST” for 2011 to see all the wonderful things God did for us this past year. We will then exercise our HOPE by writing out our list for 2012, put it in the capsule and enter 2012 with great expectations for what God will do this next year!!!

Mark 11:22 –“And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.”

Happy New Year….I am BELIEVING God’s absolute BEST for you in 2012!