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Mark Eastman

God’s Patience with Us Has a Limit

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I Would Recommend Not Pushing It

Pastor Lisa shared with us that her husband Brian is very patient, however, he has a word that he uses when he has reached his limit. When this word comes out of his mouth, people are caught off guard and are a little surprised.

This word is…are you ready for it…ALRIGHT.

ALRIGHT, that will be enough.

God’s very patient with us as well, but He also has an ALRIGHT.

We can see this throughout the Old Testament of the Bible. The people would continually lose their way and start following the worldly ways of the people around them. God would give reminder after reminder until He would reach an ALRIGHT.

God reached one of His ALRIGHTS when His chosen people were conquered, their temple destroyed, and they were taken to Babylon. Later Persia conquered Babylon and they found themselves under Persia’s authority.

Then some years later, King Cyrus of Persia’s heart was moved to send the Jewish people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. God stirred the hearts of the priests, Levites, and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1-6).

We’ve all felt these kinds of nudging’s that we were supposed to do something. We may not be sure exactly what it is. We might feel that we’re not qualified to do that thing. We might think that thing is too hard or will take too long.

This kind of prodding is “HOLY DISCONTENT”.

This is what King Cyrus and the people going to Jerusalem felt. It was not an easy task. It was a long journey. When they got there, everything was in ruins, people had taken over what was left, and these people didn’t want to give it back.

There is a process for dealing with HOLY DISCONTENT.

  1. Wait on God – Everything in God’s time
  2. Trust in God – He won’t lead you on the wrong path
  3. Embrace the journey – This is where God has called you to
  4. Expect opposition – There will be push back from the naysayers
  5. Expect support – The support you need will be there when you need it
  6. Watch the plan unfold – This is the part that makes the journey worth it

Too often we ignore the HOLY DISCONTENTS in our lives. If we ignore them too long, God’s patience will wear thin, and we will get an ALRIGHT. Don’t push it because we are all given a limited time. As long as we are still alive, God will continue to give us HOLY DISCONTENTS, but there’s a limited time. Don’t wait!

What are the Three Ways Heat Moves?

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It’s Important to Know This Because Your Money Can Move with It

It’s that time of the year again; temperatures on the thermometer are creeping near the 100-degree mark. This raises the issue of keeping the heat outside and the cool air inside.

This issue is even more relevant if you live in a home that is 40 years old or older.

A home built before the mid-seventies is more likely affected by outside temperatures. Not enough insulation, single-pane windows, and air infiltration are all issues that may need attention.

Understanding how heat moves in and out of your home can help you determine what projects to consider undertaking to minimize the heat. It can also help determine which projects are most important.

There is a difference between heat and hot air.

A basic misunderstanding is that heat flows upward. This is not the case. Although, hot air rises because it is less dense than cool air.

Heat is unaffected by gravity and flows in all directions.

For example, if you apply a heat source to the center of a metal block, the bottom will get just as hot as the top and sides. Heat spreads in all directions and at the same rate.

Hot air is different. When the air in an attic or fireplace gets hot, the air begins to rise. This creates a draft or natural up flow. This is why vented ridges on roofs work so well.

Heat moves through your home in three different ways. Each needs to be considered and will require different methods or products to control this heat transfer:

  • First, conduction is like the metal block example above or the handle of a cast iron skillet on your stove. This is how heat moves through the walls, ceilings, and floors in your home. The temperature difference on either side of a wall determines how fast and which direction the heat will flow through it. The higher the R-value of insulation in that wall, the slower the heat transfer.
  • Second, convection transfer is like conduction, but occurs in fluids and gases. When a cold wind is blowing outside, this increases the loss of heat through the wall more than if the air was still. This is the “wind chill” factor. Convection ovens use this form of heat transfer to cook by moving hot air. This is why they cook faster than conventional ovens.
  • The last type of heat transfer is radiation, which is probably the most difficult of the three to understand. Radiation does not need a transfer material to move heat. This is how the sun warms the earth over millions of miles of empty space or how the top of a steak gets seared in the broiler. Radiant heat transfer is generally more of an issue in the summer but shouldn’t be ignored during the winter. Radiant heat is not blocked by standard insulation, but rather by reflectivity. An example of this would be the way dark colors of roofing, siding, etc. absorb heat and light colors reflect it.

All three of these are to blame for heat entering your home in the summer and leaving it in the winter.

Adequate wall and ceiling insulation, high-quality windows and doors would be a good place to begin. These can be expensive but will give you the biggest return on your investment.

There are several small ways to make improvements, including new weather stripping, filling voids in foundations with spray foam, sealing around electrical and plumbing openings, etc.

Also wind breaks (i.e. evergreen trees or privacy fences) can help.

NOW would be a good time to give some consideration to these issues before it gets even hotter.

Investing in these kinds of home improvements can help keep you cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. They also provide an economic payback with lower utility bills.

Do what you can to keep the money in your home and minimize it being transferred with the heat.

What Would We Do Without Dads?

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Nothing…Because We Wouldn’t Even Be Here

That’s right. We wouldn’t have been born without a father. But just being a father doesn’t mean we’re good at it.

Being a good father is a big job.

This past Sunday was Father’s Day, so it only makes sense that this was the focus of Pastor Lisa’s message.

So, what does it mean to be a father?

While it might seem obvious what “dad” means– a male parent– it’s often hard to define the role of a dad.

Dad can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. So, what do children need? After all, the definition is a male parent.

Children need many things from their parents, but let’s break it down into the main pieces. They need:

  • Necessities of life
  • Human interaction
  • Care and comfort
  • Warmth and love
  • Guidance and protection
  • To be important to someone

These relate to the different roles that dads (and moms) play.

Human parents are not perfect…some are quite bad at it. We’ve all known people who have bad fathers or don’t even know who their father was.

This is where mentoring comes in. Young men need good role models. These role models can come in the form of coaches, camp counselors, dads of friends, teachers, etc.

We all need people to look up to and try to be like. We should all try to be those people.

This is where my friend Shep’s book, Step into Your Legacy, can be helpful. His book is a guide for men, helping them strive to be people who inspire others through actions and words. Whether it’s the way we treat our families, the kindness we show to others, or the dedication at our workplace, every moment is an opportunity to make an impact.

Being a good dad requires knowing what it means to be a good dad and being intentional about doing it.

As Pastor Lisa has been taking us through the Old Testament, we have seen the kings go back and forth from good and following God to bad and not. This human condition is just that: human.

This is why we need to be aware and understand ourselves and our humanness. Then it’s up to us to be intentional in our actions and learn how to be better.

Often, we get into routines and habits and don’t realize what we’re doing. A good example of how this happens and what we can do about it is in 2 Chronicles 34:14-15; 29-33. In the Scripture, Hilkiah discovers the Book of the Law in the Temple. It is then shared with King Josiah who makes changes and promises to do what’s right.

The best example of how to be a good dad (or mom) is our Heavenly Father and we learn this by reading His Word.

Regardless of what our father here on earth is like, God is our Heavenly Dad. Sure, we wouldn’t have been born without an earthly father. But, the same is true for our Heavenly Father.

I hope you had a great Father’s Day. Going forward, I hope you strive to be more like our Heavenly Father.

How Deep Can a Rut Get?

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Pretty Deep When the Bottom is Mud

It’s been a few months since Tony pulled his stunt leaving Gene high and dry without any notice. Gene moved on…what else could he do?

Gene replaced Tony with Darin. Darin is less experienced, but at least he has shown up so far. Of course, this may be because Darin doesn’t have anything to drive, so Gene picks him up and takes him home every day.

Gene has been very busy. He’s had a lot of construction projects to do, not to mention trying to keep up with the paperwork. Things seem to be getting busier and busier. Maybe things are going to turn around for his business.

As Gene was on his way to pick Darin up this morning, the truck began to make a grinding noise and it was hard to shift the truck into second gear. It didn’t get any better after picking Darin up and going to the job site.

Then it happened…the transmission went out.

When Gene got to the job site, he couldn’t get the truck out of second gear.

This wasn’t part of Gene’s plan. After getting Darin started framing the walls for the garage addition, Gene went to check out the truck. After messing with it for a while it became clear that it was going to need to go to the shop.

Gene calls for a tow truck and has the truck taken to the mechanic.

Gene goes to work getting the walls of the garage stood. This needs to be done if the garage project is going to be ready for the trusses tomorrow as scheduled.

Midway through the afternoon, Gene gets a call from the mechanic. The transmission needs to be replaced. This is going to cost $3,800, and Gene doesn’t have enough for that.

Now Gene needs to figure out how to pay for the transmission. This means he’s not going to be able to set trusses tomorrow.

Gene calls his wife to see if he could get a ride home. So much for things turning around.

While Gene’s wife is taking him home, he explains the situation. He informs her that he needs to use her car so that he can go to the bank tomorrow. He needs to see if he can borrow the money to fix the truck.

The next day, after Gene drops his wife off at work, he goes to see the banker.

Gene’s credit score isn’t great. After a little pleading with the banker, he gets approved for a loan to get the truck fixed. Gene calls the mechanic from the bank and gives him the go ahead to get the transmission ordered.

The mechanic says it will take a couple of days to get the transmission and then a couple more to get it changed. This means Gene needs to find a vehicle, preferably a pickup, so he can continue working on the garage project.

Gene calls his dad to see if there would be a chance to use his pickup for a few days. His dad lets him borrow the pickup so he can go ahead and work on getting the garage project finished.

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It’s been a couple of weeks. Gene got his truck back and the garage project is finished. He’s on his way to meet with the customer and collect the final payment…and he needs this payment. Maybe now things will turn around.

As Gene gives the final invoice to the customer, he can tell that something’s wrong.

“What’s the matter?” Gene asks.

The customer looks up and says, “This is more than I expected. Based on the bid you gave me and what I’ve already paid you. The balance should be $7,500. Why is this bill $9,100?”

“The bid didn’t include windows,” replies Gene. “But after we got started, you told me that you wanted a window on each side wall of the garage. The additional $1,600 is for installing those two new windows.”

“Yes, but I had no idea two windows would be that much,” says the customer. “The price I saw for windows at Lowes was $100. I was expecting to pay an extra $250 or maybe $300 for those two windows, not $1,600.”

“Those $100 windows are nowhere near the quality of the ones I installed,” Gene says. “It cost me more than $300 for each window.”

After discussing this situation at length…the customer agrees to pay $600 for the windows if Gene wants a check today. Otherwise, the customer would let his attorney handle it.

Gene feels like the customer knows that with the truck transmission situation, Gene would settle for what he offered. Gene could take the $8,100 today or get nothing today and fight for the full $9,100.

Gene takes the $1,000 hit and leaves.

When it rains it pours and now the bottom of the rut is muddy.

VBS – What a Great Place to Share the Message of Salvation

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Salvation, What Does That Mean?

VBS is a common acronym used for Vacation Bible School. Many of us grew up going to VBS and have good memories from it.

Vacation Bible School can be traced back to Hopedale, Illinois in 1894. Sunday School teacher D. T. Miles was a public-school teacher. She felt limited by time constraints in teaching the Bible to children. So, she started a daily Bible school that taught children during the summer. The first Bible school enrolled 40 students and lasted four weeks. A local school was used for classes, while an adjoining park was used for recess.

While not under the title of Vacation Bible School, Dr. Abraham L. Latham, of the Third Presbyterian Church in Chester, Pennsylvania, initiated a five-week, four-hour day summer Bible school in 1912. While at its peak, it had 650–700 students. This was claimed to be the world’s first summer Bible school.

Today, many churches run their own Vacation Bible School programs. Some churches use themed curriculum programs from their respective denominations. Others use independent publishing houses which provide easy preparation and include marketing tools.

Our church had VBS last week. Thanks to everyone who made this possible.

What a great place to share the message of salvation.

So, what is salvation? Salvation is the act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction, etc. It is a source, cause, or means of being saved or protected from harm, risk, etc. Deliverance from the power and penalty of sin; redemption.

In Romans 10:1-13, it says, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.’ Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’.”

Salvation comes at a cost, but the price has already been paid.

“Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:6-8)

It’s up to us to believe and accept this gift.

Sharing the message of salvation in VBS is great, but it shouldn’t stop there. All of us who believe need to be bold and share this message beyond VBS.

Choosing to believe is a decision that you have the power to make or not…it’s up to you.

The Hits Just Keep on Coming

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And the Rut Just Keeps Getting Deeper

It’s Sunday afternoon and after getting home from church, Gene is back at his desk (the dining table) working on the third construction bid. He would rather be watching the NASCAR race, but there’s just not enough time for both.

Some people would say that getting three of the four bids done is pretty good. There are a lot of people in construction that wouldn’t sweat this, but it bothers Gene to not follow through on what he said he would do.

It’s getting late and the family has already gone to bed as he starts the next bid.

At 1:15 AM Monday morning, Gene decides to go to bed even though the bid isn’t done yet. He needs to get up in a few hours and do some actual construction work.

It’s Monday morning and Gene is on his way to one of the two projects that he has going. It’s 7:00 AM and he’s supposed to meet Tony at the first project at 7:30.

Tony works for Gene. He’s been working for him now for almost a year. He does good work and knows construction. This allows Gene the flexibility to split up and work on more projects.

Gene starts unloading the tools and getting the things ready that Tony’s going to need. This project is setting some new interior doors.

It’s 8:00 AM and Tony hasn’t shown up yet…Gene calls him, but there’s no answer. Where is he?

This job needs to be done this week.

Tony was supposed to pick up the new doors on his way to the job this morning. Gene calls the lumber yard, and they haven’t seen anything of Tony yet. Gene goes to work, removing the first door that’s going to be replaced, as he waits on Tony.

Still, no Tony, and Gene has three doors out. He calls the lumber yard and it’s going to be a couple of hours before they will be able to get them delivered. He doesn’t want to take out any more until the new ones are installed in these openings. It looks like Gene needs to go get some doors.

Gene heads to the lumber yard to go get the doors.

Gene’s hurrying down the highway in route to the lumber yard when he hears a siren. He looks in his mirror and right behind him are flashing red and blue lights. He looks down at the speedometer and wouldn’t you know it….70 in a 55.

He pulls over and starts getting his driver’s license and insurance information ready. The Highway Patrol Officer comes up and says, “Do you know why I pulled you over?”

“Yes officer, I was in a hurry to get to the lumber yard and get some doors for a job,” Gene replies.

The officer takes the license and insurance card back to his car and Gene waits. While he’s waiting, he tries to call Tony again…still no answer.

The officer comes back and gives Gene a speeding ticket for $150.00.

The day is not getting any better.

Gene makes his way to the lumber yard, gets the doors, goes back to the job site, and gets to work setting doors.

It’s lunch time, still no Tony and he’s still not answering his phone. He must be sick, Gene thinks. It looks like Gene is going to need to stay and work on this job today. He’s already called the customer of the second job to let them know that he’s not going to make it today.

It’s 6:00 PM and Gene got four of the seven doors changed. He’s loading up tools and picking up the job site. He never heard back from Tony, so he’s going to drive by his house on the way home.

As Gene pulls up, he sees Tony’s truck in his drive, so he must be home. He goes up and knocks on the door. As the door opens, Tony is standing there and he doesn’t look sick at all. He does look a little guilty though.

“So, what happened today?” Gene asks, “You were supposed to work on setting doors today.”

Tony looks down at the ground and says, “Ya, I know. I should have called you and let you know I wasn’t going to be there.”

“What happened? Why didn’t you show up or at least call me?” Gene asked.

“Well,” Tony said, “You know that big construction company that’s doing that big project out on the edge of town? I saw the production manager at the hardware store on Saturday and he offered me a job making two dollars an hour more than you’re paying me…and I started today.”

Gene looked him in the eye and said, “So, you took it and started today without even letting me know! I can’t believe you would do that. You knew I was depending on you.”

And the rut just keeps getting deeper and deeper.

Be Who God Made You To Be

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Don’t Be Afraid to Witness Boldly

God made each and every one of us exactly how He wanted us to be. We are unique and different and have skills that are specific to us. 

It’s up to us to be willing to use our skills the way they were intended. 

As a Christian, it can be scary to talk about our faith. We may not know what others believe and don’t want to impose our beliefs on them. This “kid glove” viewpoint seems to be more and more common.  

A recent article in The Washington Stand, written by Sara Holliday pointed out that 40% of British Christians prefer not to share their faith. According to a recent survey, British Christians seem to be going through a bit of a “self-confidence crisis”, as phrased by the researcher. 

“Authorized by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) and steered by Whitestone Insight, the survey, “Britain’s attitudes to faith in public life,” received responses from 2,064 U.K. adults between May 1 and 2 of 2024. Author Dr. Jake Scott emphasized, “Data were weighted to be representative of all U.K. adults.” Among several key findings, perhaps the most eye-opening was that roughly 40% of the Christian respondents prefer to keep their faith to themselves and out of “the workplace and politics.” 

Some other statistics include “49% of religious respondents” who were opposed to seeing more religion in the media, and 27% felt religion was not necessarily “a force for good in society.” This isn’t exactly encouraging news.”  

This doesn’t sound very bold. 

“However, there were two positives — maybe even encouraging — aspects to these results worth recognizing. 

First, there was a distinction between “exclusivist” Christians and “cultural” Christians — the former being “those who believe their religion is the only true faith,” and the latter being “those who were baptized but attend church infrequently and do not strongly identify with the Christian faith.”  

The exclusivists were far more willing to share their faith, as they are called to in Scripture. And we can’t be too surprised the cultural Christians, who don’t appear to take their faith seriously, don’t take intentionally sharing their faith seriously. 

The second encouraging point was the influence faith seems to have on younger generations such as Gen Z. As reported, “69% of respondents within the 18-24 year old bracket believe their faith significantly impacts their lives,” 72% “find faith helps them find purpose in life,” 78% “feel their faith has shaped their moral values,” and 53% “believe their faith to be the only true religion.” 

Reading about Christians intentionally keeping their faith to themselves and not having an optimistic view of their faith should motivate us to offer some encouragement. Moving forward, let’s not focus on these statistics.  

Scripture calls us to be bold, not timid. It calls us to share our faith, not purposefully keep it to ourselves. 

In Acts 4:1-13, Peter and John are arrested and taken before the rulers, elders, and teachers of the law because they healed a crippled man. Peter told them that the power that healed the man was Jesus, the man they killed.  

The members of the council were amazed at the boldness of Peter and John because they were just ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. But they were with Jesus. 

Being bold doesn’t mean we shout from a mountain top or get up in someone’s face. We can be bold by living our daily lives the way God made us. 

We are all ordinary. Made just the way God wanted us. It’s up to us to witness boldly the way He made us. 

A Blueprint for Building a Better Business

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You Need a Plan if You’re Going to Build a Successful Business.

STUCK IN A RUT 

It was late on a Saturday night and Gene was sitting at his desk in his home office (otherwise known as a dining table). This was the office of his construction company.  

He was working to get at least one more construction proposal done before going to bed. He had promised four different customers proposals this week. If all goes well, he’ll have this second one finished before midnight. As Gene crunched numbers, he worried that he might have forgotten something. This had happened before.  

He asked himself, “Why am I doing this? I could make more money and work less hours working for someone else. Heck, I’d be better off flipping burgers. This sure isn’t how I pictured my construction business five years ago when I started.” 

“I had no idea that running my own business would be this hard!” 

Gene rubbed his eyes and stretched his back and thought, “I must be doing something wrong.”   

It’s Saturday, and Gene was working like crazy all week, trying to keep up. With production crews not showing up, materials not delivered on time, cost overruns… There’s not enough time to do everything. This means not enough time to get the proposals done. Even if he works tomorrow, he’s not going to get all these proposals done in time. This means he’s going to disappoint at least one of the customers waiting on a proposal. 

This is not a very good way to run a business! “How am I ever going to turn things around?” 

When Gene finishes the second proposal and looks at the clock, it’s 12:40. It’s already Sunday and he still needs to proofread it, print it, and sign it.  

Something has got to change!  

“I’ve been leaving home early and getting home late all week. I’ve hardly spoken with my wife or kids for days. I can’t keep going like this!”  

“I’m tired of trudging back and forth in this rut with no clear way out.” 

Dedication is a Lot More Than Just a Word

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It Requires Action and Commitment

The past several weeks, we’ve discussed prayer and some of the different reasons to pray. There have been examples of prayer from Scripture and examples of people praying. 

Prayer is how we communicate with God. 

The first week, we discussed Hannah and her remembrance to thank God for her answered prayer. Second, David’s recognition that God knows our thoughts and prayer is our realization of this. Third, David repented for his mistakes. Forth, Solomon asked for wisdom. Fifth, Elijah called Ahab out for his mistakes in leading the people to do the wrong thing and their acceptance and changing. Sixth, Hezekiah took situations to God in prayer and we should do the same. And finally, last week Jabez’s prayer was an example of how simple prayer can and should be. We often make prayer too complicated. 

This week is about Solomon’s dedication of the new temple and a physical location to connect with God. Like in the beginning of this series on prayer, we talked about the stacking of stones as a good physical reminder. The same was true for the temple. 

So, what is dedication?  

Dedication is the act of devoting something to a divine being for sacred use then setting it aside for a particular purpose. Dedication goes back to the 14th century. Back then, it referred to the solemn act of dedicating something–such as a calendar day or a church–to a deity or for a sacred use. Centuries later, it was used for the act of devoting time and energy to a particular purpose. Nowadays, dedication commonly indicates loyalty or commitment to a cause, ideal, or purpose. 

After the completion of the temple in Jerusalem, Solomon’s prayer of dedication included praise, guidance, and requests. This temple was a physical reminder of how big and special God is. 

There were seven requests to God in this prayer: 

  1. Discernment to judge fairly between people when someone wrongs someone else. 
  1. Forgiveness when we start living like the world and turn back. 
  1. Teaching us to follow the right path. 
  1. Giving Your people what they deserve based on how they act. 
  1. That all people everywhere will know who You are. 
  1. Help with fighting life’s battles and enemies. 
  1. Sending us reminders that we can’t do this on our own and we need to seek You in all things. 

We need to remember that the temple is not God. We need to remember that rules are not God. We need to remember that pomp and circumstance are not God.  

God is not a building or some physical statue. God is alive! 

In this fallen world, we are going to mess up. This does not mean that we can’t be forgiven. However, forgiveness is not a pass for messing up either.  

We need to dedicate ourselves to God through our actions and commitment.

Why Is Change So Hard?

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This Seems Especially True for Construction

Change is the biggest issue that the construction industry faces. Why are people in construction so bullheaded? They are some of the most stubborn and headstrong people. 

This starts at a young age. As children, we have fewer external experiences to draw from. This restricted resource limits our view. This is why young people think they already know everything. 

This narrow perspective then becomes our standard and we see no reason to change. 

I think this is why resistance to change is so prevalent in construction.  

We’re like little kids that started out working for someone. We learned how they did things by watching them. This is why when we start our own construction business, we think we already know everything. 

I was a dreamer at an early age. I had big ideas and plans for my life. A part of this dream was to have a big, successful construction company. I was going to build great things. 

So, I worked for a few different self-employed contractors and then started my own construction company… 

Because I already knew everything.  

As I grew up and those dreams weren’t happening as I had envisioned…I became disillusioned. I gave up on those dreams and accepted that they were just that…dreams. This is when the grind of life sets in. It was disappointing to accept that this is all there is.  

It was frustrating, just plodding along day after day feeling stuck with no way out. 

Then, one day I was smacked upside the head and had a life changing wake-up call.

In December of 2012, I was literally hit upside the head with a board among other things. We were installing wafer board boxing on the wall of a second-floor addition. I was standing on a plank approximately 8’ above the ground when…it broke. 

Fortunately, I don’t remember any of this ordeal from the time I was measuring until I woke up in the hospital three days later.  

Based on what I was told by the guys that were there when I fell, I hit my head on one of the ladders, then on the concrete slab, and then the board hit me on the head. It sure is good that I have a hard head. Seriously, I was fortunate that I came away from this accident with only a concussion. 

The point of telling you this is that it caused me to reevaluate what I was doing and how I was doing it. 

This incident made me aware that something was wrong and if things were going to change…I needed to change it. As I was looking to understand what was going on, I began to read. The more information I gathered, the more I learned about what needed to change. 

One of the first books I read was The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews. This book teaches seven fundamental decisions for creating a successful life. It gives you a front-row seat for a man’s journey that changes his life.  

In the book, David Ponder lost his job and his will to live. He supernaturally travels throughout time visiting historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, King Solomon, Anne Frank, and more.  

Each visit yields a Decision for Success that will change his life if he implements them. 

This book showed me that I, like David Ponder, had a choice.  

Was I going to keep doing things the way I had been…or was I going to do something different? 

I decided to change and do something different.  

When we’re young we think we have all the time we need. There’s no need to think about the future…we’ll get around to that someday. Then, one day we wake up and realize life has flown by and we haven’t done the things we wanted to.  

You don’t have to wait until you’re smacked in the head to make changes. 

I made changes to my life and my business. People who knew me before and after can see the improvement.  

Change is a choice, and you can choose to change. 

If you’re in construction and would like to learn more about some of the changes I made and how you can make those same changes, check out solutions for building a better construction business. You can also check out our business building tools and trainings or schedule a free 30-minute construction company consultation to learn more.