We had the model home, fully furnished, with 6 inch base boards and a home theater room. We had three cars, one of which was a Porsche. We had a large income…which also happened to equal lots of expenses, and lots of stress.

But that’s what it was about, right? Having the nice home and the fancy cars? That’s what made you a success. Feeling stressed about paying all those bills, that was just a part of it.

While expecting our fourth child, we jetted off for a last minute second honeymoon to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, never suspecting how it would forever change the rest of our lives.

Leaving Our Little Corner of the Earth

It was your typical tourist vacation – the all-inclusive hotel and tourist packages – except for one chance encounter of immersion in the local culture.

The incident was nothing special – except that we wandered off the tourist path and saw a glimpse of  the real Mexico. At first it was scary – the graffiti, the unfinished buildings, the poor houses with dirt floors.

We attended a local religious meeting, and I sat surrounded by the Mexican people – submerged in their language and their way of life – and something happened to me. I saw them as human beings, as people, just like me, but different.

Right then, I knew we needed to have these experiences as a family. We needed to learn another language, experience a foreign way of living, and remove the prejudices that come as a byproduct of limited boundaries.

Returning home after our week-long getaway, immediate plans were made for our move abroad.

We rented out our model home, sold our model furniture, and liquidated some other real estate. Within 8 months, in April of 2007, we loaded up our four children (our oldest 4 and our newest only 3 months old) in our fancy SUV to embark on a border crossing, reality-expanding adventure driving from the U.S. to Costa Rica, where we planned to make a new home.

On that trip we crossed not only political borders, but psychological ones as well.

Before leaving, we’d faced tremendous fear and uncertainty – Would we get robbed? plundered? murdered? Would we be able to buy diapers? Is there even a road that goes all the way to Costa Rica? – our world-view was so limited.

Along the way we learned that third-world countries actually had stores – normal ones like I was used to – and that not everyone living south of the border wanted to come to America. Most of them loved their country and enjoyed living there.

Five years after undertaking that voyage, as I sit in my rented home in Guatemala – a pit stop along our current expedition driving from Alaska to Argentina (now with five kids), I think about the two people who had those conversations so many years ago, and they seem like strangers to me.

Now we walk at night through the local neighborhoods to do our shopping at the local stores and markets and visit friends. There’s no fear of murder or plundering. Only greetings of Buena noche.

But it’s been a long road to get us from that prejudiced, bigoted, and narrow-minded view of men and things, to the broad, wholesome, charitable views we hold today – views that continue to expand. And they didn’t come by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all our lives.

Two Roads Diverge

We made it to Costa Rica, but we brought America with us. We kept up with the Jones’ (the other expats), shopped at the local HyperMas (owned by Walmart), and lived in a 6500 sq. ft. mansion.

The best of both worlds was available to us – the daily fascination of foreign living and exposure to a new language and culture, and the luxurious lifestyle. But it didn’t last.

With the economic collapse of 2007-2008, we lost our income. We held out as long as we could – we moved in with friends to save rent, we loathed the idea of going back. But ultimately, when the money ran out, we sold what belongings we had to return to the United States for a job – the only solution we could come up with at the time.

We went back. We rented a “lowly” 1100 sq. ft. apartment. We felt like failures and still believed that in order to be successful, we needed to earn lots of money and live in luxury. Travel plans were still on some future horizon, but travel was something that happened with the extra money you had after you paid all your living expenses, right?

So we looked at buying one of the dozens of newly built homes that sat vacant after the market collapse. My husband was offered a career making six figures. The idea was to follow the formula until we were back to making lots of money, and then we would be able to travel again.

However, when we thought about actually committing to those things, we realized they were moving us further away from travel instead of closer to it. And those things in and of themselves didn’t seem as appealing as they once were. The lure of discovery, exploration, and reality expansion through travel and foreign living was becoming more and more attractive

We didn’t have the freedom and income anymore to have the luxury and the travel – we had to make a choice.

Do we take the career, buy the house, and chase the American Dream once again? Or do we pursue a lifestyle of family travel, despite having no current income to fund it?

The logical choice was to take the career. We were a family of six. We needed to be responsible, to provide a stable home and income for our young children.

But doing what was logical wasn’t what was in our hearts. Instead we were dreaming of the illogical and unreasonable – the impossible – traveling the world with our children; learning together from personal experiences; studying languages and cultures; encountering history and customs first-hand.

Why couldn’t we explore jungles, discover beaches, observe wildlife, learn other tongues, try new foods, examine ruins, and traverse continents? Why couldn’t that be the dream we pursue, the plan for raising and educating our kids (not to mention ourselves)?

Scraping together what funds we could, selling any other belongings of value (including my wedding ring), we chose the less traversed road.

We packed twelve suitcases, bought five one way tickets to the Dominican Republic (a place we’d never been before), and arrived site unseen to find a house to live.

Travel and the Soul

We spent six incredible months learning a new way of life – simplifying, living with less and living without.

We washed our clothes by hand, did without hot water, and all slept in the same bedroom/loft of our 800 sq. ft. coconut-grove-nestled beach house. We had no phone, no internet, and had to walk to town to buy water and groceries.

We read lots of books, ate lots of coconut, and spent each sunset walking along the shore exploring tide pools. We called it our Walden. It was one of the best and most memorable times of our life.

Soon the money ran out, and we hadn’t yet figured out the location independent income. We went back to the States for employment once again.

But travel had taught us new skills, new thought patterns, new approaches to life in general. It had also become a part of who we were, a positive addiction, and we couldn’t imagine our lives without it.

Really, it wasn’t about the travel. Travel was the tool, the method to the outcome. The real addiction was to the personal transformation that travel extracts from your mind and your soul.

It causes you to be uncomfortable, to step out of the familiar and into the unknown. It compels you to see with new eyes and to consider things you had never been aware of.

Travel, like a surgeon, opens you up – mind, heart, and soul – and removes preconceptions, biases, and small-mindedness. In its place it leaves a love for the world and all people; it also entrusts you with a larger understanding of our common humanity and the quandaries we share as a planet.

Travel is less about seeing sights than it is about searching your soul.

So on our second return to the States, traveling again wasn’t even a question. Every decision was made with the long term goal in mind – How will this help us be able to travel more? How will this give us more freedom to explore?

Asking these questions led us to India for five months, then back to the U.S., across it and Canada to Alaska (on the discovery that we were expecting our fifth child) and eventually to our current life experiment – slow traveling from Alaska to Argentina with our five kids.

It also helped us to design our financial lifestyle with freedom in mind. No, taking that career position isn’t going to work for us. Starting that location independent business isn’t either. We focused on building income streams that gave us options.

To us, travel has nothing to do with cruises and vacations. It’s not about staying at fancy hotels or taking a two-week holiday.

Travel is a way of life. It’s how we learn, develop ourselves, educate our children, expand our minds, and work on solving the world’s problems.  Traveling is as much a part of our makeup as the books we read and the food we eat. To suggest that we’ll stop traveling is like suggesting that we’ll stop eating, reading, or learning.

Travel is life, and life is travel. They’ve become intertwined, as inseparable as the branch and the root.

Some people think that travel is not for everybody, but the essence of travel is experiential expansion. Instead of repeating the same life experience every year for ten, twenty, or fifty years, travel can give us fifty life-changing encounters in one year.

The result is that instead of reading only one page out of the world book, we’re given the opportunity of perusing a greater proportion of it, and exercising our human-ness, rather than suffering from soul atrophy.

Travel can and will transform your life, anyone’s life, if you let it.

Rachel Denning is a mom, education mentor, writer and photographer.  Her website www.discovershareinspire.com is an amazing account of her family’s inspiring journey as real-life Lifeonaires and world travelers defying the American Dream to truly live life to the fullest.

This is an event you don’t want to miss!

~Steve

Click Here to Learn More and Register!

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Nana & Papa,

We just got into Texas and I’m writing this letter from Aunt Val’s & Uncle Rick’s house. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow! I’ve missed you so much. I miss our nights of playing Domino’s and pool, but I’m happy knowing your move to Texas was for the best.

It all seemed to happen so fast, and I would do anything to go back and spend more time with you. I’ve always heard the saying “Live each day like it’s your last” but I’ve honestly never really taken it to heart. I’ve lived my whole life worried about the future and have rarely taken the time to enjoy the present. I’ve realized that I am really struggling with this. When I think of whose life I would most like my life to be like, I think of you. From as far back as I can remember, until now, there are two things I admire most about you:

1) Your desire to always want to spend time with family at every chance you can get. Most people say this is the most important thing to them, but few people actually live it.

2) You had the vision to live your life so that work or “other things” would not interfere with family. Most people use the excuse that they wish they had more time with family, but they are “too busy” with work and other things. Sadly I am one of those people…and I want to change before my life passes me by.

I’ve never talked to you much about what your life was like before I was born. I’ve mainly heard stories from others. Did you ever have similar struggles of worrying so much about the future that it took time away from enjoying the present?

I literally have only known two people my entire life who think similarly about money. They are you two and my friend Mo, whom I don’t think you have met. I quickly learned at a young age that probably 99% of people do not think like me about money. The reason I am the way I am about money is because of my experiences as a child with Mom and Dad fighting about child support. This affected me deeply. I told myself as a child that I would never be without money because I never wanted to experience those feelings ever again. After college my goal was to obtain the most inexpensive but reasonable home and car both free and clear, and to be debt free before I was 30 years old. Everyone told me I was out of my mind and that was impossible. I accomplished this goal at 26 years old. My next goal was to obtain enough free and clear income producing assets to cover my essential needs while remaining debt free so that if I lost my job then everything would still be okay. I accomplished this at 28 years old.

It’s amazing what you can accomplish out of fear… After each accomplishment the fear lessened, but I could never figure out why I still felt empty. Yes, I feel proud of my accomplishments, but they do not make me feel happy. Within the past month, it finally hit me like a ton of bricks why my accomplishments never made me happy:

How can I expect to find happiness in accomplishments that are driven based on fear instead of joy?

It was so easy for me to tell you what my goals were with money. But sadly, I have no idea what my goals are for my life.

When my last day does come, I will not look back on my life and find any happiness in memories of making money. I will find it in memories of relationships and time spent with my family and friends. I have so many wonderful memories with you as far back as I can remember. These are the things in my life that bring me the most joy.

Do you remember the prayer you used to say to us when you tucked us into bed when we were little? “Now I lay me down to sleep, to pray the Lord our soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. God bless Mom, God bless Dad, God bless…” I have so many memories of watching cartoons in the basement of your Flagstone house, fishing with Papa when I was little with him always telling me “You’re my little buddy,” riding the “saucer” behind your boat, Papa teaching me how to play golf, Papa beating me in golf with only a putter, car rides to your house with you both singing “Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream,” swimming in the Callaway lake, riding in the trailer behind the riding lawnmower, walking the creek looking for geodes, making “that face” when Nana had her hair in curlers, our vacations to Florida & Tivoli, Papa doing a front flip off the diving board, playing games on road trips, roller skating in the basement of the house on Berry, playing pool and ping pong, family get-togethers, always calling me to tell me you love me, always wanting to spend time with me, always believing in me, always being there at graduations, birthday parties, etc…. These are the memories that bring me the most joy. These are the memories that I will cherish forever.

This paragraph is for you, Papa. What were your Mom and Dad like? I’ve never talked to you much about this before. I’ve mainly heard stories from others. I remember Great Grandma a little bit, but I was too young to remember Chucklebee (a.k.a. Great Grandpa). I heard Chucklebee was easy-going, funny, owned a gas station, loved his family, and that everyone in Salem loved and highly respected him. I also heard that times were tough when you were a child and you grew up poor in a home with a dirt floor. However, when I think of my life, I would much rather live it the way Chucklebee did instead of the way I am living it now. There’s a saying…“Every man dies, but not every man really lives.” He may not have had a lot of money, but it seems like his life was more abundant than most men, with or without money.

I believe money cannot buy happiness and that happiness does not require money. Anyone who wants to live debt free and live off of free and clear income producing assets can do so in a short time. Those who disagree are probably those who live on credit and buy houses and cars based on what lenders will approve for them. I am not judging anyone. I believe happiness is what matters most, but I question if their debt is the very thing that is hindering their happiness.

More money only enhances a person’s existing relationship with money. Most people have a difficult time comprehending this. If a person has chosen to finance now, then with more money they will finance more. If a person mismanages the money they have now, then they will mismanage more money. Pro ball players who choose to finance large homes and lottery winners who go bankrupt shortly after winning millions are examples of this.

My point, Papa, is that you would have achieved your lifestyle with or without obtaining the inheritance you received. Maybe it wouldn’t have been as quickly, but it certainly wouldn’t have taken that much longer. What I respect most about you is that you did not allow your relationship with money to interfere with spending time with your family and enjoying your life in the present. Did you ever struggle with your relationship between money and spending time with family/enjoying life in the present? This is what I am struggling with now in my life. How did you overcome this? What are the things in life that bring you the most joy? What are your life goals?

This paragraph is for Nana. What were your Mom & Dad like? I never talked to you much about this before. I’ve mainly heard stories from others. I think I heard your Mom was a school teacher and I heard that your Dad was very wealthy and had several rental properties, owned a grocery store and had maids for your house. What was your childhood like? What are the things in life that bring you the most joy? What I have always admired most about you is how you enjoy life and always want to spend time with family every chance you get. I don’t think I have ever seen you in a bad mood. You always have a smile on your face that lifts the spirits of everyone around you. You always said to me, “I love all of my grandchildren equally with all my heart, but there’s something special about your first grandchild and you will always have a special place in my heart.” I can’t explain it, but I can feel it, Nana. Do you know that feeling when a loved one looks at you and you can feel the love in their eyes? When you look at me, I can feel the love in your eyes stronger than from anyone else.  You will also always have a special place in my heart.

I love you both dearly and admire your lives more than anyone I have ever known. I can’t wait for our time together over the next couple of days & look forward to many more times to come.

With Love,

Your Grandson

There are few who just outright reject the message.  They oftentimes can’t even put together a coherent argument as to why, and sometimes just resort to name calling or dismissing us altogether while attempting to get others to do the same.  This doesn’t happen too often, but it does happen.  Then there are those who hear the message, get very excited about what they hear, but eventually decide to move on from it.

Why?  Why would someone listen to something, recognize that there is power in the message and then dismiss it?

The Lifeonaire message reveals truth about life to us.  That truth is often a mirror that reflects back to us that the life we are living is a lie.  Rather than embrace the message- which is an admission that we’ve been living for a lie- many ignore it or repress it.  It’s too much for the recipient of the message to handle.  They would rather ignore what they just learned and continue to live their lives on the same path and not rock the boat.

The Lifeonaire message is a threat to the way we think.  I, of all people, clearly understand and recognize that we are all individuals and that God has a different plan for each and every one of our lives.  But I would suggest that there is a right path and a wrong path for us all to take.  If we are on the wrong path and we come face to face with that, first we must admit that we’ve made mistakes, which is difficult for a prideful person to do.  And second, we must begin to take the steps to get from the wrong path to the right path. That could involve hardships, something else that is difficult for people to willingly pursue.

It takes courage and boldness to admit that we’ve been living the wrong way. If in fact we have been living the wrong way, it takes even more courage to begin to live differently and go against what everyone else is doing.

It is my hope that all would embrace the Lifeonaire message, and that they would courageously pursue it.  Our biggest obstacle is ourselves; when we recognize this and humble ourselves we open up to do GREAT things.

Blessings,

Steve Cook

Landing in the Lap of Luxury by Rachel Dennings

“The dictionary defines luxury as:

‘The state of great comfort and extravagant living; an inessential, desirable item that is expensive or difficult to obtain.’

There was a time in my life when I yearned for a life of luxury. I drove a $50,000 Armada; my husband drove a Nissan Titan and a Porsche; we lived in a $400,000 furnished model home complete with a home theater; our monthly expenses were in the neighborhood of $15,000 (now we could live for more than a year on what we spent in one month)…” [read more]

I’m writing about this because of a recent discussion that I had with a student, and subsequent follow-up discussion on one of our Mastermind calls.  It was a great call that many of us learned some great things on, and we got a much clearer insight into the idea of being able to manifest things into existence.

One of my students who came to an event that I hosted last year struggled to write out his vision.  He was so busy with the drudgery of life that he couldn’t get through the clutter and around to thinking about what he wanted his life to look like.  Just about the only thing that he could convey in a written vision was to get his work week of five 11 hour days to 3 days.  He felt if he could work only 3 days a week, then he would be able to think more about living life.

His profession is a lucrative one, but stressful and requiring him to stay on his toes at all times.  The thought of doing it only three days per week and not taking a major cut in pay seemed like a big challenge.  But this student left with a vision: Get my work week down to 3 days per week.  That’s it!

Ten months later, the student was pleased to say that they were able to accomplish this major step.  Not only did they get the number of days per week down from 5 to 3, they were able to cut their commute down from 1 hour each way to 20 minutes each way. And the best part of all was that their compensation would not be affected at all.

“It’s amazing at how writing it down caused my vision to manifest into existence,” was the student’s feedback to me.  This was a major accomplishment by my student and I’m so proud of him because he’s going to achieve pretty amazing things with his free time.  First and foremost, I hope he dedicates a large portion of the 100 hours per month that he gained to his family.  It’s going to be great.  But at the same time I have a concern.  Assuming that we have the ability to “manifest things into existence” is in my mind giving ourselves a power that we do not have.  It is also setting ourselves up for a major letdown.  If we are not able to “manifest” something into existence, then the problem lies within ourselves.

Instead, what this student experienced was an awareness.  Writing down that he wanted to work only 3 days per week versus 5 days per week was the beginning of realizing that just maybe this could happen.  The reason he worked 5 days per week is because he thought that it was the way things are supposed to be.  He was conditioned to believe that you work Monday through Friday.  Many Americans suffer from this conditioning.

Instead, this simple little written vision opened up the student’s eyes to the fact that this just might be possible.  When he discovered that another person who is in the same profession but was making 2-3 times as much in 2-3 days per week, he wanted to know more.  He learned that there were others in the country also pursuing working less time and building their businesses in such a way to be more efficient and not hinder their income.  Through his research, he discovered that there was another professional in his area who was also pursuing this path.  After approaching the other professional, he was able to work out a job for himself which fulfilled his vision for working 3 days per week instead of 5 days.

The opportunity was always there.  It’s not something that he manifested as a result of writing it down.  Writing it down helped him to recognize the opportunity that was always there.  There wasn’t anything magical about it. He simply became aware.  His vision is simply what made him notice that there were others already doing what he had hoped could be done, but didn’t believe could be done.  His vision was empowering in the sense that it helped him to see beyond his current circumstances, and gave him the courage to move beyond them.

This same principle applies to all things.  We don’t manifest $1,000,000 into our bank accounts because we think about it.  The $1,000,000 already exists, and it’s there for anyone who is willing to take the necessary actions to move it from one place to their checking account.  If you don’t believe that the money could be yours, you will never take the necessary actions to make it yours.  However, if you believe in it, if you write it down as your vision, you will recognize and see the opportunities that are all around you which will help to make your vision a reality.

Don’t leave success and life up to some magical chance. Instead, recognize that you have it within yourself to accomplish great things when you are simply aware of what it is that you are trying to accomplish.

Blessings,
Steve

~Shaun

5 Ways to Think Like a Champion

by Jon Gordon

“I meet and learn from Champions every day. Not just in locker rooms but in classrooms, hospitals, homeless shelters, homes and office buildings. I’ve learned that to be a champion you must Think like a Champion. Champions think differently than everyone else. They approach their life and work with a different mindset and belief system that separates them from the pack.

1. Champions Expect to Win – When they walk on the court, on the field, into a meeting or in a classroom they expect to win. In fact they are surprised when they don’t win. They expect success and their positive beliefs often lead to positive actions and outcomes. They win in their mind first and then they win in the hearts and minds of their customers, students or fans.

2. Champions Celebrate the Small Wins – By celebrating the small wins champions gain the confidence to go after the big wins. Big wins and big success happen through the accumulation of many small victories. This doesn’t mean champions become complacent. Rather, with the right kind of celebration and reinforcement, champions work harder, practice more and believe they can do greater things.

3. Champions Don’t Make Excuses When They Don’t Win – They don’t focus on the faults of others. They focus on what they can do better. They see their mistakes and defeats as opportunities for growth. As a result they become stronger, wiser and better.

4. Champions Focus on What They Get To Do, Not What They Have To Do – They see their life and work as a gift not an obligation. They know that if they want to achieve a certain outcome they must commit to and appreciate the process. They may not love every minute of their journey but their attitude and will helps them develop their skill.

5. Champions Believe They Will Experience More Wins in the Future – Their faith is greater than their fear. Their positive energy is greater than the chorus of negativity. Their certainty is greater than all the doubt. Their passion and purpose are greater than their challenges. In spite of their situation champions believe their best days are ahead of them, not behind them.

If you don’t think you have what it takes to be a champion, think again. Champions aren’t born. They are shaped and molded. And as iron sharpens iron you can develop your mindset and the mindset of your team with the right thinking, beliefs and expectations that lead to powerful actions.”

As I earnestly sought the Truth, I made the decision to go to the source found in the Judeo-Christian Bible.  Because of loving, caring, concerned Believers in Jesus Christ, I was patiently led through the basic, foundational Scriptures.  I learned about faith, sin, repentance, forgiveness, grace, receiving the free gift of Salvation and being baptized in the Holy Spirit.  Once I became a member of the Body of Christ, the Holy Spirit began to open up the Truth found in the Scriptures and the road became narrower.  As my old nature was being shed daily, I noticed that there was an increase of peace and joy in my life.

I had to learn the definition of words as defined in Scripture and incorporate them into my lifestyle. Words like all, surrender, victory, trust, endurance, growing, earnestly seeking, trials, worry, agape, forgiveness and one of the biggest: needs.  I did many topical studies, one of the most important found in 2Peter 1:4-9 on how to be a spiritual success, increasing and bearing fruit.  During most of this time, I and the family prospered in every area of our lives.  God answered more prayers than room here allows me to list.

When financial trials entered our lives, thank God that we were prepared by the Holy Spirit to handle the test.  Instead of destroying the family, the financial storm has made us focus on Jesus Christ, increasing our faith and our trust in Him.  We have received a deeper revelation into many Scriptures and have re-focused our life on things that have eternal value.  We are under less pressure, have more inner peace, joy and knowledge of true success.

As our family continues to seek God first, love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, forgiving and and loving our neighbor as ourselves, we eagerly look forward to that day when we hear Matthew 25:21.  Success can be defined in many ways, but my prayer is that more people will hear the call to be spiritually successful first and trust God to take care of the rest.

Proverbs 23:4-5…” Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.”

Proverbs 27:24…”For riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.”

Matthew 6:19…”“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.”

1Timothy 6:17 …”Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”

Jeff Piery is an inquirer and a seeker of the Truth. If you have any comments or questions, you can contact Jeff by email at jeffback2basics (at) gmail (dot) com.

We would then share as much as we could about all the answered prayer and blessings that we had received in our marriage.  We would talk about all the good things that had been going on in our lives, from children to cars, from work to vacations and the tremendous middle class life that we had lived up until this latest economic recession.  We would share about a loving heavenly Father bestowing many blessings and forgiveness on us.

Much of God’s love was explained to us in Scripture.  The Holy Spirit would compare our unconditional love for our children with God’s love for us.  But God’s love is way more intense and patient with us.   Our Heavenly Father’s love and instruction had come through His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, taught to us by the Holy Spirit.  The revelation of who God is has become clearer during this economic trial.  And our desire to be in His perfect will has increased.  His plan for us to follow Jesus Christ in His footsteps has been brought home with a deeper understanding.  The reminder to “Keep your eyes upon Jesus” has become a very important concept in our lives.

I cannot hear or think about keeping my eyes on Jesus without thinking about the Scriptures where Jesus is walking on the water with the winds causing many waves.  Peter sees Him and steps out of the boat in faith and starts to walk toward Jesus.  Only one problem follows; Peter takes his eyes off of Jesus, starts focusing on the winds and the waves, resulting in an increase in doubting, a lack of faith and Peter sinking in fear.  But even in Peter’s weakness, the love of the Father was there and Jesus reached out and saved him.

For my wife and I, this economic testing has been truly a faith purification process, a time to deal with fear, doubt and examine where or who do we put our trust in?  Do we keep our eyes on a sinful, decaying world full of lies trying to destroy our hope and steal our faith?  Or do we accept the love of the Father, the forgiveness found in Jesus Christ and make a choice to get out of the boat and follow the Holy Spirit in faith, remembering all the time to keep our eyes on Jesus?

Jeff Piery is an inquirer and a seeker of the Truth. If you have any comments or questions, you can contact Jeff by email at jeffback2basics (at) gmail (dot) com.