bradglenn79

There are two ways to look at that statement. There are those that agree and those that are wrong. I know it is a bold statement to make, to say that no matter who is reading this that they are broken, but I believe I would have an easier time proving it true than you will to refute it.

This life as I have said before is HARD. That statement is never going to stop being true never going to stop being painful and as long as you have life in you, you will have struggles. These struggles are meant for us to grow, to change, to learn to adapt. Through these struggles we are broken and realize the severity of the break. We see that some pieces are no longer there, that we would’ve sworn they were there just a second ago. We realize how much our brokenness affects those around us and changes how we deal with people. We also see how is tints our lenses we look at the world through. This brokenness is common in everyone, the amount, the severity and the effects may differ.

When we see the brokenness we see our flaws, we see our struggles, we see our shortcomings, and we see where we have been let down. What we need to realize is there is so much goodness in the broken. There is so much strength that we can use to help others. We can find so much beauty in everyday that we can share with those around us. We find so much love when we are broken that we are so happy to be able to share with those we hold dear. We also find grace, hope, and God’s Love. We find that we couldn’t get through it alone and owe all of the Glory to him.

Like all of his other gifts they are not meant for us. He holds us together so that we can share all that he has given us to others so they may get to know him, so they will know that unconditional love, so they will find peace and strength in the broken.

I love you.

Some of you may never like me. That’s a hard realization for the child inside who wanted to be friends with everyone. I may not like everyone of you. How does that feel? When we grow up and grow into our selves it’s doesn’t affect us as much.

There is going to come a time in your life when people aren’t going to like you. They will have their reasons, maybe something you said, maybe something you done, sometimes it’s something you didn’t do they wanted you to. No matter the reason and on occasion lack thereof it makes no difference. You will not be liked by everyone. Jesus was put on this Earth to exhibit God’s love for us in flesh and he was hated and murdered by the ones he was here to save. So at least we are in good company.

One of the most important things to remember when you find yourself in a situation where you are not liked is that you are loved. We are called to love everyone, no matter race, religion, language, country of origin, job title, neighborhood affiliation or any of the ways we choose to classify people this day and age. We are taught to forgive because we are forgiven, and to help everyone “because what you do for the least of these, you do for me.” What I found when reading this is no where does it say you have to like them.

For followers of Jesus I have a question. When Jesus walked this Earth did he do all things in love? I would be comfortable saying yes. He showed love in all situations to all people. Now let me ask, do you think he liked all of those people? When he was flipping the tables in the temple, throwing out all of the money changers and the ones who sold doves, when he said “it is written that my house shall be called the house of prayer, yet you have made it a den of thieves” do you think he liked them? I would venture to say no but he still loved them. In that situation I bet they didn’t like him much either but it was ok.

We are all different, different backgrounds, different looks, different paths, to different futures. Some of us will be picked on. Some of us will be mocked. Some of us will be hated. Never let that change you. Never stop being the person you were created to be. Never stop living the life you were blessed with. Even when people don’t like you, and me. God loves us for exactly who we are.

Even when they don’t like you always be yourself, everyone else is taken. I love you.

In this blog I write a lot about my life experiences. Trials, pain, suffering, happiness, and joy. Most of all this blog is what I have learned and what I hope to share. I have quoted Maya Angelou before, but I must again. She said “I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.” I think this is true for all of us.

When I was in school I wasn’t a good student. It wasn’t because I couldn’t be, it was because I chose not to be. I didn’t want to be a “nerd” I didn’t want to be in that group. Tests carried me through school. I didn’t do homework, I goofed off in class, but I done very well on tests. When I made it to high school I got involved with the FFA. I know I know not the coolest club to be a part of but I learned a lot. I learned about plants, animals, woodworking, and welding. I learned the importance of doing what you said you were going to do, because other people were depending on you. One of the first things I learned was the motto and it has held a place in my heart ever since. “Learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live, living to serve.” I took this attitude from high school into the real world and in to my trade. It has served me well over the years and allowed me to learn so much.

As I recited that motto, learned it, and lived it I didn’t know how much I really had to learn. You have to learn a lot when you start a new job in a new industry, and in this industry I still learn everyday. You learn a lot when you get into relationships and get married. You learn even more when you have kids to take care of. All of this though is simply the tip of the iceberg.

You learn the most when you learn about yourself. The lessons that are hard learned are the ones that stick with us most, and if you’re anything like me the lessons learned about yourself are the hardest ones you will ever learn. These lessons are learned through pain, through heartbreak, through struggles. You learn what your limits are, you learn how much you can take, and you learn how to avoid the pain as much as possible. The amazing thing about these lessons is that you grow, you mature, and you come out on the other side stronger than you ever thought possible.

When you run up on an insurmountable obstacle and the devil is in your ear telling you “you can’t get through this” just know you are stronger facing this challenge than you were facing the last one and when you make it through this one you will be stronger still. You have yet to overcome this obstacle, because you have yet to face it. You will make it through this and you will learn more about the amazing person you are. Get out there and learn something new today.

I love you.

“R E S P E C T find out what it means to me” said Aretha Franklin. Wise words from an amazing voice. Respect is one of the easiest things in the world to give, nearly as easy to lose, and probably more important to you and I than we even realize.

I am part of a few small groups at my church. My men’s group Monday, my inspiration group on Tuesday, and a relationship group on Sunday. During discussion on Sunday we were asked the question “What is a characteristic of a good relationship?” There were so many good answers, but as I started to think about my answers and the answers of others I came to the realization that all of them circled back around to respect.

In this life we respect people we consider to be a leader or an authority figure. Sometimes because their position commands it, other times because they have earned it, and more frequently I think we respect them hoping to get respect from them. When respect is freely given it is the best. Because when you respect someone you allow them more grace more leeway in your eyes. They can say something to you that you can take two ways and you will always take it the best way. We are slower to anger and to judgement of the ones we respect.

Now losing respect is almost as easy. Ten years ago I had a supervisor who was hired on at the company I had been with for seven years. This guy was a piece of work. A real hard nosed guy who thought his way was the only right way. He came to me one day to complain about something I had done, trust me I don’t need help pointing out when I fall short I am my own worst critic. He explained his point of view and I had shared my side at the end I said “we will just have to be ok disagreeing on this” to which he replied “You will do it my way and more importantly you will respect me.” I had not been disrespectful at all at that time but with that one statement I had lost all respect for him.

We lose respect for people in so many ways and they may lose respect for us for the same or different reasons. When someone lies, when someone steals from you, or when someone disrespects you, you tend to lose respect. It may not be all at once, respect may be eroded a little at the time like the water does to land. One of the quickest ways to lose respect is by not respecting the feelings of the other person.

With respect being a precious commodity, with unimaginable value, that we have a never ending supply of why do we not give it out more freely. Let’s get out today and respect your fellow man. The respect that you show them might not change their world, might not change their day, it might not even change their mind about you, but it will change how you feel about yourself. It will change your mind about how you see yourself, and it will change your heart.

We can’t change the world, without changing our mind. I love you.

As most everyone knows I do HVAC service for a living. As I stand here next to this unit while it’s not running I marvel in the silence. There is no clicking, not whirring, literally no sound at all. There is silence because the unit isn’t working like it is supposed to. I start to think about life in general and how similar it is.

The silence when things aren’t working properly is not regular silence. It can be heavy, ominous, full of dread. But never is the silence empty, it is always filled with answers.

In everyday life think about that silence. When someone who loves you is silent it feels terrible. When someone you’re used to talking to a lot cuts off communication it causes you to ask questions but the silence always answers them. Whether the answer is right or wrong it is the answer you have, the one the silence has given you, and the one you take for the truth since that’s all you have to go on.

What if while bad things are happening, your life is collapsing around you, and the church is silent? When someone who claims to love you is silent, the silence tells you they don’t love you anymore. Is it any different for the church? When the church is silent does that mean that God doesn’t love you anymore? When someone who told you they loved you more is silent, the silence says the love was never real. When the church is silent does that mean God never loved us?

We as a people, as a church are called to love one another, as we love ourselves. We are called to be the hands and feet of God on this planet. We are not given the option to be silent when bad things happen. We are not allowed to sit back and watch things unfold while others struggle. We are to go out comfort, help, heal, and let them know that in their darkest times God has not forsaken them and neither have we. The Bible says to “be still and know that I am God” but it doesn’t say to be quiet.

Get out there and love someone because God loves you. I love you.

In this life there are hard times. There will be mountains you must climb. There is going to be an obstacle that you see no way around. Just keep pushing forward. “You only fail if you stop trying”. I have seen that quote a lot over the years attributed to different people, and it has never stopped being true.

I have been through times in my life where I have had to struggle, I have gone into tomorrow not knowing how I would make it through another day. I wanted to give up so many times. God I’m not strong enough. God I’m not smart enough. God I’m the wrong person for this job. God you picked the wrong one. As long as I lived in that place of doubt I was exactly right. Henry Ford said “if you think you can, or if you think you can’t, you’re right”.

That doubt I was in was merely fear. Fear has prevented good people from doing amazing things. Fear has started wars, caused hatred to spread, and prevented happiness in so many situations. Fear has been the catalyst for genocide, homicide, and suicide many times over throughout civilization. Most importantly fear is a liar.

Fear says you can’t, God says you can. Fear says you won’t, God says you will. Fear says forgotten, God says forgiven. Fear says you’ll never be good enough, God says you have always been. Fear says you’ll never win, God says you’ve already won.

No matter what fear says don’t stop pushing forward, don’t stop trying, don’t stop looking for happiness, and don’t stop loving people. Whether you are a glass half full or a glass half empty person, never forget God will allow blessings to overflow your glass as long as you Don’t Stop.

I love you.

I have been afforded so many opportunities in my life. I have had the opportunity to love and be loved. I have had the opportunity to learn and to teach. I have had the opportunity to give and to receive.

I have also had opportunities arise that I squandered, that I wasted, that I allowed to fall by the wayside without a second thought. What if these were the greatest opportunities of my life? What if these were meant to propel me into my calling? What if these opportunities were wasted gifts that I couldn’t see for trying to be of this world?

We as Christians are a part of this world. We have to live in this world and abide by worldly rules. We also have to remain apart from this world. We have to keep the evil out of us while allowing our light to shine into the abyss. A quote I read said “a boat doesn’t sink because of the water on the outside, it sinks because of the water allowed in” this is true of us as people. Our opportunities are not limited by the world outside, but by the world we choose to allow into our soul. If we fill our soul with things of this world are we not limiting our room for blessings? If we spend our life consumed with social media likes, money, cars, immorality, lust, and sin we have limited the room for opportunities to show the world God because when people look at us they will only see the world.

Opportunities are one of God’s gifts to us. He affords is these opportunities to grow in our faith, in our love. He allows us to use them to better our lives. He allows us the opportunity to love, live, learn, give, and help because these are the things our souls desire that this world can not give us. These are the opportunities that end up leaving us full of joy, happiness, and peace. So if opportunity is God’s gift to us, then what we do with this opportunity is our gift to God. We have been given so many opportunities in this life. Are you wasting your opportunities? Are we doing what we can to grow into who we can become? Are we simply staying where we are because it’s less scary than tackling new opportunities? Let’s look at the opportunities we are given, imagine how great it could be, step out in faith, and change the world.

I love you.

In this life we are given so much, we are allowed so much, we are entrusted with so much. We hurt so much, cry so much, and lose so much. At times we do not see what we are given, because of how much we hurt. We overlook what we are allowed, focusing on the tears we cry. We pay no attention to what we are entrusted with lost in what we lose.

I was given more than I know what to do with in this life. I was given a family that is better and more loving than I deserve. I was given enough intelligence and ability to learn and do what I needed to, to be able to provide. I was given grace beyond measure when I didn’t deserve it. I was given forgiveness for sins that I committed knowing they were wrong. Most importantly I was given life by the creator of the universe.

I was also given pain unimaginable when I wasn’t prepared for it. I have always had a great relationship with my grandparents. When I was little I can remember sitting on Poppy’s knee to drive his truck, him at the end of the house teaching me how to shoot a B.B. gun, and the smile on his face the first time he let me drive the riding lawnmower. He was a special man. At times I thought he loved me more than anyone on the planet ever would. He would teach me to do things he thought I should know, he would teach me how he thought I should act. We celebrated his birthday on the 22nd of December in 1987 and of course Christmas a few days later. I was so excited to see him in just a week where we would celebrate my birthday. My mama got a phone call on the evening of the 28th from my daddy letting her know Poppy had had a heart attack, on the next day they pronounced him dead. I never got to say goodbye, I never got to hug his neck, I never got to tell him I love him, and I never got to make him proud.

I decided that God didn’t care about me because how would he let a nine year old boy have a birthday without his Poppy. It didn’t seem fair it didn’t seem right and it hurt more than I was prepared for. I grew up without him. I couldn’t see him smile when I done something right. I couldn’t hear him tell me how much he loved me. I couldn’t ride down the road in that old Ford pick up truck and sing Conway Twitty with him ever again.

I was lost in what I had lost. I was overlooking all I was given focusing on what was taken away. I changed that day. Not for the better but I definitely changed. For years I pushed it down. I refused to deal with it. I let that pain get lost in the clutter of my mind and pretend like it didn’t bother me. Then my life changed. I started focusing on what I was given, on what God entrusted me with, and on what I was supposed to do with it. I had to deal with the pain, cry, yell, hurt, and be angry so that I could move past it and truly love without the fear of loss.

If you haven’t lost, you will. If you haven’t hurt, it’s coming. If you focus on the loss, you will suffer in it. If you focus on what we are given, you will rise above the pain, above the loss, and you will truly find peace in what you have because you have God. I love you so much, and I hope I have made you proud.

We live in a Right Now society. We want change, when do we want it? Right Now. We want things, when do we want them? Right Now. We want gratification, when do we want it? Right Now. What if we are letting our right now get in the way of our “Right”.

I am probably the worlds worst to talk about this but I feel like I have to. Maybe it’s not for anyone but me, but it needs to be said. If I decide I want something I want it now. I don’t often care about the cost or repercussions. I get up and I go get it. If I can’t have it right now then I pout, whine, and complain until I do get it. In most of these situations I got what I wanted, even if it didn’t end up being what I wanted. I tend to rush into things without knowing the full cost or the full effect.

When we rush into things we forget the most important piece. It has taken me a long time to realize I’m not on my timeline I’m on his. Just because I want something right now doesn’t mean it is my time. I have had doors slammed in my face that looked like the best opportunity I would ever have only to watch it crumble from the outside and realize that I was watching it from the outside because God was looking out for me.

I’m not saying don’t go after what you want. I am saying go into the situation with as much knowledge as you can gather, with as many answers as you can find, and with all of the God you can fit into your soul. Because running into a situation and leaving God on the sidelines never works the way you think it should.

Get out there today and allow God to order your steps and let him lead you down the right path. To begin your journey you have to Move! I love you.

No matter how yesterday went, birds always start a new day with a song. Saw this quote earlier and it really hits home tonight. What if you can’t? What if you have no song in your heart? What if your heart is so full of pain and sadness that you’re sure it will never sing again? What if you have lost your reason for singing?

Life puts so much on us, so many trials and tribulations. Sometimes it seems as though we are cast from one storm directly into another one. We tend to then ask God “where are you? Why is this happening to me?” Well as painful as it is we are not to know all of the answers. There are questions in this life that we will never know the answer to, and we will never be ok with it. How can God place a child in the arms of loving parents just to have them ripped away much to soon? How can God allow any harm to come to a child? How can God allow us to suffer so? As I watch the news I am often reminded of these questions and often ask them.

God knows us all by name. He knows our hearts, knows our gifts, has numbered the hairs on our heads, and the days of our lives. God also places us here on this Earth for a purpose. Nothing comes as a surprise to God. He knew the trouble you were going to have today before you got out of bed this morning. God allows us to go through pain, hurt, and discomfort to force us to grow. No one grows when they are comfortable, no one changes because everything is going right.

Sometimes the change is uncomfortable. Sometimes the cause of the change is sadness. Sometimes the catalyst for change is the most heart wrenching, stomach turning pain you have felt in your entire life, but out of that pain comes growth. We grow in our faith, we lean on the people God has placed in our lives, and we cling fast to God who will comfort us.

When life gets hard, when you have gone through more than you believed possible, when you have more piled on you than you can stand, kneel, and know that God loves you. He has allowed you to get wrapped up in the storm so you can find strength that you never knew you existed. As we question how a beautiful life can get cut so short, remember tomorrow wake up, start the day with a song, and love somebody because God loves you.

I love you.