4forFRIDAY with Chuck Allen

Week fifteen of 2023 is almost in the books, and it has been a great week, including a full day of fly-fishing. I trust that yours has been tremendous and that YOUR WEEKEND AHEAD WILL BE AWESOME! I’d like to share a prayer from Anne Lamott – “Here are the two best prayers I know: ‘Help me, help me, help me’ and ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Four Lessons That I Learned This Week.

1. Remember that Everyone is Going Through Something. This is an absolute truth. Everyone I meet is going through something. Our goal is to recognize and empathize.

2. Embrace Imperfection. You are imperfect as much or more than that person you see imperfection in. The goal isn’t perfect. It’s practice. Consistent instigation of better.

3. You are Loved. Remember that God loves you, and you cannot do anything to make Him not love you!

4. Enlisting Help is a Sign of Strength, Not Weakness. Far too often, we do not seek help in an effort to “soldier on.” Trusting that you need help and asking for it is a superior strength, not a point of weakness.

This Week’s 4forFRIDAY

A Band that I Am LOVING! Trombone Shorty.

A Book that IS SOOOOOOO GOOD! A Curious Faith: The Questions God Asks, We Ask, and We Wish Someone Would Ask Us by Lore Ferguson Wilbert.

A Really Good Article from Alan Stein, Jr.: THE 3 MANTRAS OF HIGH PERFORMING LEADERS

A Powerful Slideshow from Crosswalk: 10 Churches You Might Want to Avoid

A Quote from Lore Ferguson Wilbert:

“I need a God who doesn’t just give me what I want when I want it but who shows up in the middle spaces – who reminds me of his nearness, goodness, faithfulness, and presence. And if I don’t sense those aspects of God today. I need to keep asking for it and not just some temporary relief of my most pressing desires today.”