7 Milestones You Should Celebrate

 

It was 7 years ago today....Monday, September 11, 2017, that I walked through the front door at First Baptist Burleson to start my new (GOD) sized adventure. It was God sized because its not every day you wait 365 days for God to move in your life. That's exactly why I chose the new start date when offered the new position. Of course when looking back on that year long sabbatical, God was moving all around me teaching me, molding me, changing me, and strategically placing people in my path that would lead me to where I came on this day 7 years ago. (GOD)

That year long sabbatical came to a close with a phone call, out of the blue, from someone I did not know or had ever met. Christopher Cass was the Executive Pastor at First Baptist Burleson who called me at home one Thursday morning telling me that my name was given to him by three different people to call about a position at his church. (GOD). The following Sunday Becky and I attended worship services at the church which was 4 hours from where we were living. Everything about our visit was confirming this was the place God had picked out for us. (GOD).  I was offered the position and within a week or so I was in my new office with a window overlooking Burleson, Texas. Seven years later I am now known as the fastest hire ever made there. (GOD). Within weeks we found an amazing home of our dreams that we both fell in love with and moved in a couple months later. (GOD) There was a white silk glove laying on my office desk that day I started and when I slipped it on, it fit perfectly. (GOD) 

This will give you goosbumps! Prior to the phone call I had asked Becky if we could move anywhere, where would she want to be. She responded with the Fort Worth area. At the time all three of our adult children were within an hour of Fort Worth. When I asked Christopher on the phone call that day where his church was located, he responded Burleson, Texas just a few minutes south of....Fort Worth. (GOD)

Another milestone was created in my life that needs to be and has been celebrated ever since. Today, September 11, 2024  marks that milestone for me at First Baptist Burleson. I'm a firm believer in celebrations so, allow me to share mine.

Birthdays - I celebrate my birthday all month long each year. This year is my lucky number 7 as I slide into 70 years 

Wedding Anniversaries - this December I get to celebrate 48 years with the same wife. She is  amazing!

Children - I am blessed and get to celebrate three adult children that are amazing and fill my life with fun and great childhood memories as they grew up.

NGD - that's when I get to buy a new guitar. I am bless to have a wife that encourages my addition to playing, buying, and selling guitars. Last count - 16

Friends for Life - I got to graduate from high school with the same people I went to elementary school with. This October I get to celebrate my birthday with my best friend since 5th grade.

Faith - I get to celebrate, every day, the day I placed my faith in Christ in 1981 in the living room of my home along with Becky at the same time.

Work - I get to celebrate every year where God places me to serve Him. 

"Always celebrate when you can, and celebrate for as long as you can". Rick Cadden

 

What about you? What do you celebrate? Comments?

DREAM BIG

 

The first day of the new year is the perfect day to dream big. I’m not talking about New Year resolutions that most people don’t follow through with anyway. Ask yourself this question; what do I need to change, add, or delete in my life? If you’re like me, you could probably come up with a list of things, but as you make your list, be on the lookout for one that’s BIG. 

 

Which one stands out the most to you? Which one have you always wanted to do but haven’t? Which one would be awesome, but seems way too big for you? That’s the big dream!

Big dreams are the ones that seem so big they are impossible to accomplish. They are bigger than you and even your friends and family would roll their eyes if you told them your dream. 

The movie A Million Miles Away portrays the true story of Jose Hernandez who as a kid dreamed of being an astronaut. He was the son of a migrant who worked in California and didn’t learn to speak English until he was 12. Long story short he studied long and hard and became an engineer and then applied to NASA 11 times before he was accepted and joined the crew on the STS 28 NASA flight to space. 

 

To dream big goes beyond contentment. You may look at your list and be content with just making a few changes in your life. Or you may be thinking I'm too old to dream big now. 

 

Colonel Harland Sanders was 63 years old when he franchised his secret recipe for fried chicken becoming known as Kentucky Fried Chicken 

However, contentment doesn’t build big dreams! Don’t hear me say that contentment is a bad thing. It’s not! Think about people who are always complaining about what they don’t have or what they can’t do but never make a change. If they were just content with what they did have or can do, they would be much better off. Right? I’m just saying that dreaming big is, well, something you may be missing out on. 

 

There is non-contentment, contentment, and dreamers. It’s interesting to me that the first one is being unsatisfied, the second one is being satisfied, and the third one is being unsatisfied again!

Back to your list… you're going to make one, aren’t you? Start with something new and different. What would you change, add, or delete in your life that will make it better to improve your life? If there is a big dream in there somewhere then go for it. Write your list down, take action, and get started!

 

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It's Not About the Turkey

Thanksgiving Day is not about the turkey. It's not about cooking pies, smoking a turkey, being off from work, or sleeping late. It is all about being thankful, more than your everyday thankfulness. It's a day we set aside back in the 1800's to stop and reflect what we have been blessed with turning the time of reflection into being  seriously thankful. I don't know about you but when when I am having a rough time in life, i stop and look around. More than likely, if you just look around, you will see what you have that is a blessing. 

On Thanksgiving Day, with all its hustle and bustle and family and friends...try taking time to slow down and look around you. See the things you may be taking advantage of and not being thankful for. Stop and reflect with your heart and soul and mind what you are blessed with, and then be thankful! 

Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks. Have you thanked your spouse for putting up with you? Have you thanked your kids for always loving you no matter what? Have you thanked your boss for giving you the job? Have you thanked your friends for always being there for you? Have you thanked your neighbors for helping you when you were in a jam? Have you thanked God for his blessings? 

TAKE THE CHALLENGE

This thanksgiving as you sit around the feast table, try staying seated for 1 hour and not just eating and leaving. Take this time to share thankfulness with each other. Go around the table and give one thing you are thankful for. Share stories of how you have been blessed. Take the time to give thanks to God for your home and for those things that we don't deserve but have been given. You can do it!

Back in the Saddle Again (part 5) Celebrating 5 Years

I have served full-time in ministry for 27 years and have zero regrets even though the road got rocky along the way. Its been a roller coaster ride with fast turns, highs with dramatic falls, and sometimes seemingly out of control at times. But God had a plan as he always does in my life and depicted by the picture on the left you can see where I ended up. 

Today September 11, 2022 I am celebrating 5 years on staff at First Baptist Burleson. My first day was like yesterday to me, so vivid but very anxious. In an instant I was welcomed and valued as a team player. I have to admit I was so nervous staring a new position after a year sabbatical. Can I still perform? Are my skills still sharp and honed? Will I fit in? 

Never in my wildest dreams did I see this coming but should have known God would do this. He placed me in the perfect position, at the perfect time, in the perfect location, and with the perfect staff. What you can't see in that picture is that God chose each person on that staff one-by-one to mentor me. Each one has a certain attribute that I needed to be around and to learn from. That's what made it the perfect staff for me. Now look a little closer...that picture was taken at the pastors house while he was out of town. We were at an all staff lunch outing and decided to stop by and snap this fun picture in his living room then we sent it to him. He was petrified! Not really. 

What has happened over the past 5 years are these people have made me a better man, encouraged me, loved me, cared for me, loved my wife and family, prayed for me, supported me, accepted me as is, respected me, taught me, mentored me, and became my dear friend. It's called a healthy culture and it works. Our staff are people who can't wait to get to work every day and be around each other and do ministry. We have a stated and working mission, vision, strategy, and core values that give us Gods plan to carry out. It's been pure joy to serve here for the past 5 years.

So, I am not just celebrating my 5 year anniversary, I am celebrating God's plan, friendships for life, the fun times, the journey getting to this place, and getting to meet these people. I always say that for each church I have served it has been a blessing getting to meet new people. Here's to another 5 years...

Rick

No Regrets Here

Some work the same job for 30 years and retire. Some pastors preach at the same church for 30 years and retire. There is nothing wrong at all with that and to me would be awesome. However, that was not God’s plan for me. I started my first job in a family-owned business in 1970 at the age of 16 and made a career in selling auto parts for the next 25 years with my dad. Little did I know back then God had a different plan. I started my first full-time ministry position in 1995 and have been serving for 26 years. In my 51 years of work, I have been terminated 2 times; both were churches with young pastors in their first pastorate. There is a pattern there I believe.There were never any accusations other than standing for what I believe is right. After the last termination, I debated in my mind and heart if I should stay in the ministry. Maybe I should have stayed selling auto parts. Is God through with me? However, that was not God’s plan.

In my 26 years of ministry and the five churches I served, lifelong relationships were made with people I am still friends with today. Each church was different but the relationship building was the same. If you look through all my Facebook friends today, you will find friends from each church. Some more than others. I thank God almighty for each opportunity to serve him and make friends along the way. God had a plan for me my entire life. Even though I had to endure two terminations in my ministry, I regret nothing. Had God not placed me in any of those churches, I would never have met so many incredible people. I hate to think what I would have missed in making friends for life at those churches.

Five years ago, God provided a year-long sabbatical for me to heal and for him to teach me his infinite love. In that time I met the most amazing church staff who wrapped their arms around Becky and I and loved us like no other. I was privileged to serve on staff there for a short time with amazing people. Had I not been on that sabbatical I would have never met them. I hate to think I would have missed that. My dream my whole life is that I would end well and during my ministry years that I would end well for Jesus, especially as I got older and on the tail end of life. It looked dim and dark at times. However, God had a plan for me.

Today I celebrate another 4 years of ministry that boosted me to the 26 years. Four years ago today, out of nowhere, in just the right moment in time, a total stranger made a phone call to me. Calling with references from 3 of my friends, (see there!), he was looking for his next staff member. The rest of the story is about pure joy serving on one of the best staff I could ever imagine. God has placed me in just the right church at just the right time, again. Should I have stayed selling auto parts my whole life? Heck no! Should I have quit the ministry after 2 terminations? Heck no! No Regrets here.

 Comments?

Who Spikes the Ball

If you have ever played volleyball you know the best part is playing the net and spiking the ball for a point. Oh, the thrill when your team sets the ball up to you and then you spike the ball high and fast over the net and make a point and the crowd goes crazy! 

Did you catch that? ...when the team sets up the ball for the spike. The spike may be the most exciting part but it took a team to get it there. A successful volleyball team receives the ball, then quickly volleys it around to finally get the ball set up to the person on the net for a spike. BAM! The most important player in a successful team, is the team. Let's say your a back field player and you get the ball, you don't spike it from the back do you?. You volley it forward to the next team player. That person looks around and volleys the ball strategically to the next team player who can then volley to the net for a spike. 

It would be real easy to be a back field player and think why did the net person get to spike the ball that I received. You may ask yourself why does the net person always get to spike? Whoever receives the ball from the opponent should just spike it and make the point, right? That would not be team work and volleyball is meant to be a team sport. Otherwise there would just be a net person playing all the time. 

Team work is just that...working as a team. Some receive the volley, some volley it up front, and some spike the ball. The goal is to make points as a team and win. Now apply it to your team at work. Maybe you create an idea, its gets volleyed around, and the boss spikes it for a win. Should you complain that is was your idea in the first place so you should have the spike, or do you compliment the team for the win and high five the player that spiked the ball? Successful and healthy teams always do the later. 

Comments?

Get to Know People Now

 

I assume by now almost every human being has a social media profile somewhere. More than likely you have a hundred friends or more and some of you have a thousand friends. It is not a contest! With the likes of Facebook, we have been allowed to know more people and to connect with them, however, and whenever we like. We all get invites to be friends from people we don’t even really know. A friend of a friend maybe! The bottom line is we have tons of people that we are connected to. Do you know them?

Paul was a close friend of mine for 20+ years and although we lived far apart we talked often by phone. We had a lot of friends in common and saw each other in person at friend gatherings. In the last years of Paul's life, he was battling cancer. I spoke at a conference every February in his home town and we would meet for dinner each year and get caught up with life. There was a lot to talk about being friends for so long and with so many common friends. Cancer took his life and at his funeral, I realized something about Paul. Did I know him? Paul was married and although separated for many years up to his death, I realized I had never met his wife. Then there was Grace, his daughter. Never met her either.   

At one church during my minister, I served there for 9 years. I was sitting in the sanctuary attending a funeral of a long-standing member of our church. Reading the memorial tribute with his picture and life accomplishments, I suddenly realized I did not know him. I thought I did know him. We spoke and shook hands every Sunday at church and stopped in the halls a few times to just visit. I knew Jim and he knew me. After hearing more during the funeral about who Jim was and what he did during his life, I felt strange. He was a great leader in our community and church and why did I not know him well. Why did it take his death for me to know Jim?

I see myself as a people person and love to meet and network with people. That’s one of the main reasons I am on any type of social media today. Every time I post on Facebook I am taking a chance. I am opening up and being vulnerable and transparent with the world at large. It is one of the best ways I can get to know people as well. I spend time on social media to share my life and to allow them to know me for who I am. I don’t want people to show up at my funeral and be shocked at how I am or what oi have done in life. Please, get to know me while I am alive for heaven's sake! Why did I not know about Paul's wife and daughter and get to know them while he was alive? Why did I not know Jim was a great leader and professor and get to know him before he died? Get to know people while they are alive. Spend time with them. Hang out with them. I had lunch the other day with a friend I have known for 3 years and did know what he did for a living. Turns out he is in sales. That is what I did for 25 years before ministry.  We had a great lunch laughing and reminiscing old sales stories. Get to people now; do not wait until you hear about it at their funeral.

Comments? Suggestions?