Do you know where you are? Do you know where you need to be? God knows. I needed to learn that truth.
It simply amazes me at how willing, and even insistent, other people are regarding telling you what you need to do in life as well as where, when, and how. Try sharing your plans with family, well-meaning friends, or on social media, and see how much negative feedback you get. You will not have to wait very long.
There are prolific numbers of professionals with their impressive degrees and resumes dedicated to the purpose of telling you what to do with your life. Even more prevalent are the numerous talk show guests speaking as experts on the subject, with complete disregard to contradictory opinions expressed in their fourth or fifth or twenty-fifth try at nutrition, cosmetics, politics, or marriage.
I wanted to be an astronaut, soaring into space with John Glenn or leaping around the moon’s surface with Neil Armstrong. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
I was fully qualified except for my poor vision, even poorer vertigo, the poorest grades in physics, and my inability to fly a plane. So, I settled for preparing my younger brother to be The Right Stuff.
He was five years-old at the time, desperate for big-brother attention, and the perfect guinea pig for me and my eleven-year-old buddy.
We used the school playground as a virtual reality simulator for his Star Trek preparation. “Space…the final frontier.” Centrifugal force training at Warp speeds on the merry-go-round was quickly followed by testing for equilibrium, which was hilarious. There were attempts to set new swing-set altitude records. “Beam me up, Scotty.”
Endurance exercises on the monkey bars were challenging; but the greater ability was to stay focused while being pelted with various objects like footballs, dirt, and ice cream.
Long runs and multiple push-ups satisfied the supervisors’ thirst for torture. When the young rookie dared to question why this was part of the training, I had a ready answer. “What if you and Captain Kirk get kidnapped by the Klingon Empire? You need to be prepared for the brutal mistreatment. Tell them only your name and Wheaties’ cereal number.”
In today’s world, my version of space conditioning would be considered cruel and abusive treatment. All one needs to go into space is to buy a ticket. Apparently, there is no need to be the Right Stuff if you can pay fifty million dollars. Someday soon, economy sections with crowded seating and limited viewing might sell on the internet discount travel sites for $250,000. I have started a Go Fund Me page.
However, my little brother grew up in another time and space. Buried in the pole vault sand pit and dragged around the football field were regular requirements for toughness training. The worst part of the training for him occurred in the final event of every weekly challenge.
It was the “prepare for launch” scenario where the young astronaut trainee was forced to succumb to extra forces of gravity pushing him to the ground. The assignment was simple: make a touchdown from the one-yard line. The rules required him to run between the two kneeling defenders ready to squash him. “One small step for a little boy.”
The best part for us were his facial expressions during the final ten seconds of the countdown to launch as he deliberated between the bodily punishment of the gravitational force or the additional concerns from Mission Control over a five-yard delay of game penalty. “Houston, we have a problem.”
Tough decisions. Life Lessons.
The young astronaut trainee made the right decisions. He never waited for the Double-Dog-Dare-You challenge. He gritted his teeth, put his head down, and plunged toward the goal line, only to be buried in an avalanche of grade school muscle. His trainers required him to go for it on all four downs. He never made it to the goal line. It was so much fun for us. To his credit, he never cried and never told Dad. Mom always called him, “Cool Breeze.”
Little brother grew up to be a highly successful Hall of Fame football coach. Today, “Cool Breeze” makes pressure packed decisions without blinking an eye. Whenever he risks it all to go for it on fourth down or puts everything on the line with one of his play calls, I smile. I secretly believe that his early Right Stuff training prepared him for these moments.
The young trainee loved his big brother, and it was my pleasure to highly recommend him to the Air Force Academy’s Space Program. His willingness to endure hardship was off the charts; however, his decision to trust his torture trainers might have been cause for the Academy to question his intelligence.
Only kidding on the smart stuff. Mom pushed us all toward academic challenges. Once, when younger brother was a quarterback in college, some rowdy fans continued to offer negative comments over his performance. They were seated a few rows above our family. Mom held down Dad’s pumping knee to prevent him from ending the hecklers’ ongoing commentary.
The pressure in the stands grew greater than on the playing surface. “Throw it you dummy!” was the breaking point, not for dad, but for mom. She scrambled up the three rows and shook her finger in the face of those frightened men. “I will have you know I am the quarterback’s mother, and my son is no dummy. He has a 3.8 GPA majoring in Biology. So, shut your mouths!”
No quarterback has ever been better protected.
Make no mistake about it. Our parents were made of the Right Stuff.
Mom was relentless about her three sons getting a full and well-balanced education, always pushing us to learn more. One conversation or lecture-time, she told me I needed to take a certain class to further my education. I questioned why. Mom said the subject matter would benefit me in the future and I countered with, “Never. I do not plan to be a chemist or teach Shakespeare.”
Argument over. Not with my declaration, but with Mom’s response. “Ok, if you do not think you need to learn new things, then you will stop all sports and work on your grandfather’s farm.” There was nothing to gain by debating the little homestead was not really a farm. Apparently, it just needed a new farmhand.
I have great respect for farmers and the vital importance of their profession; I just wanted to be an astronaut.
I worked one summer as a coal miner in a shaft mine that was as far down as the Empire State Building was up. It is the one dark place I have been where literally I could not see my hand in front of my face without the assistance of the headlamp. My dreams had plummeted from the infinite heights of outer space to the depths of total darkness. Mom kept pushing for more education.
My first job out of college placed me on the staff of a United States Senator. I enjoyed the political arena and false sense of importance. Thousands of other post-graduates swarmed the Capitol area with their briefcases full of snacks and video games. Each member of every political staff was intent on writing some new rule or regulation to justify his/her position and salary.
Small business owners and people on little town Main Street wonder and complain about all the government red tape in business and life. Here is the simple answer. Someone who had nothing else to do in Washington, D.C. designed a new form with as many complicated instructions as possible; then he/she sent it home for mother to stick on the refrigerator.
Cynical? Absolutely not! Eventually, I resigned my Senate staff position to go to Law school so I could become a bigger and better politician with numerous young staffers writing policy papers for other younger assistants to file. In some future millennium, historical government researchers will discover our buried regulatory goulash on an outdated computer and rewrite them in a lengthier version of more confusing hogwash. We need more Red Tape on Aisle Three!
Yes, Virginia, there are politicians who exist to frustrate people.
Law school prepared me well to dispense legal counsel to friends, debate foes, complain about politicians, and express my unrequested opinion regarding television legal shows. One semester of law school classes on civil procedures, contracts, and torts sufficiently qualified me as an expert on all legal matters.
Just ask me about real estate, criminal reform, or how Judge Judy should rule on the case. You do not even need to ask me. My opinions are free and unrequested. They are also not cause for disbarment since I never became a lawyer, judge, or mafia representative.
Thankfully, to the many people already suffering from the injustices of this world, I left law school for something better than running in circles chasing the wind. I sensed God’s call to invest my life in helping young people avoid drifting spiritually through life without the most important thing. Then, some person called me out of the blue to inquire about my interest in teaching their church youth group.
Soon, I was out of the limelight, poorly paid, but extremely happy. I remember the first teaching session on How and Why to Spend Time in the #1 Textbook. It is the only thing that can change your heart, direct your steps, and empower your purpose to love first and love most.
I loved God and I loved those middle school, high school, and college-age young people with all my heart. It was a recipe for purpose and enjoyment. Lifelong friendships were created. Those young people have used their platform of influence to help others. They have rocked this world for good.
Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, whether on a farm or an international space station, in a coal mine, classroom, political office, or courtroom, please enjoy it.
How does that happen? What if you want to be somewhere else? Doing something else?
I do offer an answer to those questions from how God taught me.
(Note: There is nothing wrong or unspiritual about sending out one’s resume. We live in a world where resumes and networks are necessary for most professional occupations. It does not mean the person is not trusting God to direct steps and open doors. This story is about my personal journey of faith as it relates to wanting to be somewhere else or do something else. God opened an invitation to the Senate staff and later to the youth ministry without my initiative. I decided to keep it that way through life. No resume for me, unless requested.)
This is how God taught me a vital truth about life. The answer for wanting to be somewhere else or doing something else did not come from the world of astronauts, athletes, politicians, or lawyers. Look to God and His #1 Textbook.
God had moved me into an unfamiliar work at a new place with people I did not know. I was happy beyond imagination…until my imagination visited the world of NOT.
As time passed, I watched colleagues advance to larger places of influence and higher salaries, both in Washington, D.C. and in church careers. My friends encouraged me to get my resume into circulation, but that was just not right for me.
Neither was my attitude. Comparison can dissipate happiness as the mind wanders into the imaginary world of NOT. I fought resentment and depression as I felt stuck in a small place working with a small group of young people. I complained to God.
Comparison poisons the soul and becomes “the thief of joy” (Theodore Roosevelt). We all need to heed that warning statement as we live in the prevalence and popularity of cultural contact where every thought can be expressed and every action recorded.
A world of social media chameleons damages more people than it helps. Carefully crafted stories and highly edited selfies create false versions of reality which foster jealousy, inferiority, discontent, and depression in others. One dislike or even failure to check like can crash one’s party for days and months. Sometimes people never fully recover.
I fell into the same trap, only I tried to hide it from others. I doubted my resolution regarding resumes. I was fifth string again with no hope of acknowledgement or opportunity.
Surprisingly, something changed, not with me, but in me. God was teaching me a life lesson. With no action of my own except necessary cries and unnecessary complaints to God, four opportunities for new employment came out of nowhere in a two-day whirlwind.
I received unsolicited invitations to:
(1) work with the largest youth group in the metroplex,
(2) be the lead staffer for college ministries in the largest church in the state,
(3) rejoin the U.S. Senate staff as the top administrative assistant,
(4) become campaign manager for the next governor.
I simply could not believe it! How did all these opportunities appear so suddenly? Each endeavor offered much higher salary and much larger fields of influence. My heart was excited, and my mind was racing. What would be my best option?
At least, I knew enough to thank and ask God. There is no lasting happiness anywhere, with anything, or anyone without God. I prayed and searched the #1 Textbook for guidance. “What am I supposed to do?”
Then I had one of those moments when I heard God’s response. This time it sounded more like the voice of my dad-coach.
“I do not want you to go anywhere else. I just wanted you to know I can get you anywhere I want, whenever I want. Just be faithful and happy where you are now.”
That was life-changing then and for the rest of my life. It remains my advice to every young person and those not as young.
God always knows where you are,
where you need to be,
how to get you there,
and when to get you there;
so, be faithful and happy where you are now.
God knows and God controls. Whether you are Adam or Solomon. Star or fifth string. Senator or stagehand. Senior partner or rookie errand runner. Leader of the pack or dust-eater at the back. God knows where you are and how to get you where you need to be.
God wants you to know His presence and His purpose. “God’s Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path…It will take unending ages for God to show you the immeasurable greatness of His grace in kindness to you” (#1 Textbook).
- God always has a bigger and better plan for you than you have. In fact, your plan for your life would be God’s plan if you knew what God knows.
- Preparation years are never wasted years, even if it is not God’s plan for you to be prime time right now.
- You do not have to go into space to have the Right Stuff. Love people where you are.
- God is always with you and for you. Stay side by side with Him. Be faithful and happy.
- Always remember the most important thing in life wherever you are and with whomever you are.
LOVE FIRST. LOVE MOST. LOVE THE PEOPLE YOU ARE WITH NOW.
Never whine and don’t complain
No excuses and don’t explain
Never blame or throw a fit
Do your best and never quit
Why should you trust God to take care of you?
Because you can get spiritually disoriented in tough times. (next session)
Love Anchor 1: Remember the most important thing in life. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength; and love others as yourself.
Love Anchor 2: Love First. Love Most. God lives inside of you to lead you to others He intends to love through you.
Love Anchor 3: #1 Textbook. Love for God and love for others lasts forever. The instructions and directions are in the book.
Love Anchor 4: Right Direction. Life is about right direction, not perfection. Course corrections take just one step.
Love Anchor 5: Stay side by side. The only way to love God and love others is side by side.
Love Anchor 6: Be faithful and happy where you are now. God always knows where you are, where you need to be, how to get you there, and when to get you there.
LOVE FIRST...LOVE MOST 
. Love Anchor #6 solid advice.
Great wisdom Rex.
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