Dear friends, I would like to thank you for reading Soul Man and commenting in the past year. The Holy Spirit has been convicting me about my blogging inconsistency over the last couple months.  So I want to I simply and humbly apologize and ask your forgiveness for my negligence.

Over the last several months The Williams Tribe has been transitioning to my new position and new community at Trinity Church. This time has been a time of laughter, grief (leaving Tabernacle), excitement, adventure, opportunities, change and sometimes fear of that change. We weren’t expecting God to “move our cheese,” but he did and each day we are excited to sniff out the new “Cheese Station” and opportunities that he has provided us. I will be blogging soon about the lessons God is already teaching me and my family. But, I wanted to take time today to offer this apology for my delinquency and to let you know that, like vanilla extract, I’m back in the mix.

In what area of your life – family, friendships, community, or finances – have you been delinquent and need to be more consistent? To what commitment do you need to say, “I’m back?”

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Early Monday morning Grand Rapids was hit by a terrible storm. My family told me that, at one point, the storm was so intense that thunder shook the house. “Why did your family have to tell you this?” I hear someone asking. Well, they had to tell me this because I slept through the whole thing. I sleep so hard that, when my oldest was about two or three years old, my wife had him sit on my head and bounce up and down to try and wake me. I never woke up. I don’t want to even imagine the other things she’s done and does to me while I sleep. Lol!  My name is Marvin, and I am a hard sleeper. I would imagine if you are anything like me, there are times you feel like Jesus is a hard sleeper, too. I mean: 

Storms shake the house  
Waves overwhelm us 
We’re alone in the middle of the lake,
We’re groping through the darkest point of the night,
We’re straining as we attempt to make appreciable progress. 
There feels like great distance between us and Jesus 
Even if he does come, it looks like he’s blessing everyone else, and it feels like he’s going to pass by us.  

And we call on Jesus and call on Jesus and call on Jesus, and there is no answer. Like the disciples in Luke 8:22-25, sometimes we feel like Jesus is a hard sleeper, totally unaware of the relational, financial, emotional, and spiritual terrorists that stalk and terrorize our lives. 

I want to assure you that he is not a hard sleeper. He is fully aware and fully present. He sees us when we don’t see him, He comes to us when we can’t get to him, and he speaks to us when we can’t speak to him. This is what he says to us:

Take courage!

It is I.

Don’t be afraid.

When have you felt like Jesus was a hard sleeper and was unaware of your storms? How did you respond? What was the hardest part about trusting him in the middle of the storm?

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Sometimes, in life and relationships, we have to GO THROUGH this:

And ENDURE this: 

And CLIMB and BATTLE this:

In order to ENJOY the view of this:

And be OVERWHELMED by the beauty and power of this:

And EXPERIENCE the refreshment of this:

What “This” have you had to go through, endure, battle and climb, in order to get to the “This” of breath-taking scenery and refreshing natural pools? Remember, this is still “sponsor me” week. So, leave a comment.

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I was at a luncheon on yesterday, where Don Cousins, author of LeaderShift, was speaking to a group of pastors. I was sitting next to a distinguished gentleman, who is a very prominent leader in the black community and an associate minister at the host church. While we listened to the talk (It really was a great talk), he made it pretty obvious that he did not want to be there. He seemed to grow more and more impatient with each passing minute. He checked his watch at least 10-15 times and held his head down almost the entire talk, fiddling with his PDA.

Minutes before Cousins finished his talk, the man got up to leave, but his pastor asked him to stay until Cousins was completely done. He complied. Afterwards, he told his pastor that during the talk he was convinced that his church was not the place for him and that he was leaving. Then he said, “But, in the last three minutes of the talk, the Lord spoke to me, telling me there is work to be done. I’m staying.” Now, Cousins’ talk lasted almost an hour (Every leader and pastor should have heard it), but it was the last three minutes that impacted this man and changed his mind.

This brief exchange taught me a few lessons:

• 180 seconds in more than enough time for God to speak and change a mind and a life.
• If I bail out of a message or prayer or a conversation too soon, I could be missing what God wants to say to me, to disturb me, encourage me, challenge me, bless me, empower me, sustain me, and even rearrange my values to align with his. The last three minutes of my quiet time with God, listening to message, or having a conversation with a mentor or a friend, might be the most important minutes of the entire time. 
• I need to dial in, be fully present, and listen carefully.

How have you experienced God speaking to you in a short period of time? How did you respond to his voice?

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This morning I woke up with this weighing heavy on my heart. Have you ever cried out: “God, Enough!”

Enough pain

Enough hospital visits and surgeries

Enough medication

Enough tragedy

Enough depression

Enough stress

Enough directionless living

Enough family crises

Enough lay-offs and being let go

Enough of not having enough

Enough ridicule

Enough loneliness and isolation

Enough suffering in silence

Enough visits to probation officers

Enough arguing and fighting

Enough unfaithfulness in my marriage

Enough separation and divorce

Enough non-commitment

Enough complaining about what’s not right

Enough being invisible

God, Enough already! I’ve had Enough!

I hear Him saying to us during these times: “My grace is Enough for you. My power works best in your weakness.” (2 Cor.12:9) Read those words again and let them wash over your heart like a fresh rainfall.

About what else have you cried, “God, I’ve had Enough!?” How have you experienced his grace being Enough lately?

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Have you ever felt like you were walking, but you weren't making any progress? You know, paying bills, but the balance seems to stand still? Helping people, but they don't seem to get better? It's like walking in circles, right. I have been there more times than I care to remember. Maybe you feel like you are walking in circles right now and you're wondering if you will ever make progress again. If you feel like you are walking in circles, I want to share a few thoughts that have helped me make it through my own crop circle seasons.

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Once two frogs fell into a pot of cream and they could not get out. So they swam around and around in the cream. "Oh, this is the end of my life," said one of the frogs. It gave up, stopped swimming, and drowned in the white liquid. The second frog, not liking the fate of the first frog, swam and swam, thrashed and thrashed, and beat the cream with its little feet. The cream became a ball of butter, and the frog jumped on the ball of butter and got out of the pot. What persistence! 

You started this year with high hopes to be persistent in reaching your goals. But, life happened, schedules have filled up and you have found yourself being inconsistent. If you are anything like me, you feel frustration over those days of inconsistency and failure. You probably feel like that first frog, ready to stop swimming and give up. I penned this post to encourage you and me to be like the second frog. Let's keep swimming, thrashing, and beating the cream with our little feet until our persistence makes butter, providing footing for our survival and success. Here are a few suggestions on how we can keep beating the cream and become more persistent this year:

Push through quitting points

Keep your goal(s) in sight

Be persistent even when doing small tasks

Learn your "quitting triggers"

Be flexible 

Give yourself grace 

How persistent are you in achieving your goals? What are some triggers that make you feel like giving up? What do you think you need to do to be more persistent? What are some other techniques that have helped you remain persistent in the past? Tell me what you think.

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