On the journey of life.....

Life throws you a curve ball

Mike Smoltz — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:58:46 +0000

Being Responsible

Mike Smoltz — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:34:57 +0000

“Let’s not let our generation or our upbringing determine if we do anything at all”.

This is a similar phrase mentioned yesterday by my pastor and boy did it touch my heart . I took the translation as being “Don’t miss the opportunities that God puts in your path to serve others”. We need to be responsible with the gifts he has provided us and we need to share them with others. For some of us it will be serving or cooking for those in need. When others can provided their talents in song or making a financial commitment through the year. The bottom line is we all need to manage the time God has provided us for the good of others. This has been drilled in me over the last year when I was called to be part of a Non Profit Ministry serving others in need. This was not the best financial or emotional time for me, but I am so glad I listened to God’s calling. I am so honored to be partner with a wonderful couple that has the same desires.

Let me be very clear and say “I didn’t know how to assist the people in need”. Then I thought I couldn’t make their life anymore crazier then it already was. So I continued to pray and ask God for his direction and the purpose of my life going forward. I knew the path was not about me but I was looking for the path he wanted the non-profit to travel. A lot of things have happened over the year and I will tell you that I am a better person for it and I thank God for every situation he has put me in. I want to make sure that everyone knows that the journey has not been easy, but he has received all the glory.

This blog was intended to be real and to let you know that we all have concerns with the direction God wants us to go and sometime we are resistant. Let me be a voice of reason and tell you that if you are not acting responsible you are missing out of future blessings.

As a child of God I am continuing to pursue to be the Man he has called me to be, the Father I am called to be and the Husband my wife has hoped for. None of this would be possible without God putting several people into my life. Even though I didn’t understand or embrace the process, I have become a more responsible person to God’s calling.

What are you not being responsible for?

When are you planning on be responsible for God’s plan for you?

Thank you for allowing me to be authentic and real with you. Just know that I am a work in progress but I am so happy with the path God has me on. I finally know what the gifts God has blessed me with and I am not afraid to share them with others. Please don’t waste you gifts, there is someone out there that you can assist.

A Follow of Jesus Christ and PROUD OF IT

This was sent by my iPhone. my computer died this morning.

Filtering through life’s challenges

Mike Smoltz — Wed, 18 May 2011 03:03:21 +0000

It is 2:10am and I have been wrestling with some career decisions I get to make. When I try to make them by myself it seems to be emotional and sticky, but when I give it up to God directly it goes much smoother. It is funny how we pray about things to happen for us, then we try taking it over and completing the wish (prayer). The corrected method of action is to believe God will faithfully work everything out and, all you need to do is enjoy watching the process.

I have recently took a big leap of faith in selling my luxury avalanche truck without an alternate plan for transportation. I figured that God will workout those details. So the journey continues. I felt convicted that I was feeding homelessness people and showing up in a very nice vehicle and I felt like a hypocrite. So on my drive home I was wrestling with why I really needed it. With my family gone on spring break I got home and headed straight to bed. Last night wasn’t my best night of sleep and I actually received around 2 hours, and I tossed and turn about selling the truck. Well, the clouds broke in the morning and I called a friend in the car business and he helped me to get the truck advertised. Many temptations came by my way from people wanting to be strategic in buying this vehicle and I chalked that up to Satan trying to make his mark. Well after 2 weeks of questionable buyers the Lord brought the perfect buyer into my path and we sold him the truck and I feel great about the decision to sell. Now I am without a vehicle without any concerns of what I will get next, but one thing is clear it will be cheap. All I need today is something that will bring me from destination to destination verses look at me in my fancy truck. This has been an Incredible experience for me and my family. The best part is I had a good friend lend me his vehicle until I find a replacement. I had so many blessing during this journey that it is so hard to count them, but I can visually remember a lot of them.

The lesson is to rest and listen and then act on God’s results for that situation.

Willing to receive someones (blessing) gift

Mike Smoltz — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 05:38:42 +0000

I have recently been humbled by a good friend (Richie) when he tried to give me a gift and I refused to take it. At the time I thought nothing of it and I said that I appreciated the offer but their is someone else out there that needs this more then me. I was not prepared for the response he gave me when I denied his gift. He said by denying him from providing me with a gift, I have robbed him of future blessings. WOW, this was a heavy statement to digest and I was taken back by the implication. My initial thought was that I was being nice and passing of his kindness to someone else and that’s not the way it came across. Secondly, he was blessing me for the things I am doing for others and he knew I would never ask for any assistance even if I needed it.

Praise the Lord for that lesson and your kindness that day Richie.

Well, since that experience I have able to except gifts and donations from other people in my life and I have been able to share this theology to others. This has become very handy since starting a non profit that provides food and items for the needy. If I never went through that experience with my friend I wouldn’t be able to allow people to donate to our organization. Life is filled with a lot of lessons and hopefully we learn from them or we are going to miss out on a lot of things that world and God has for us.

One of the may things I have realized is we need to be good givers and receivers.
“You can’t have one without the other.”

God Bless you…

Homelessness Facelift

Mike Smoltz — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 05:06:56 +0000

Helping you to change your image about them…..

I am here to give you an inside view of the life in the homeless community. I have had the honor of getting to know hundreds to thousands of new friends over the last year. Their is one thing that is common and they are so appreciative of everything I have done for them. Whether I was just spending minutes sitting down to talk or it was giving them my ear to listen. Others were just glad to see me on a regular basis and that I not only remembered them but I knew their name as well.

I have had some incredible conversations that I will never forget for as long as I live and they have changed my life forever. One of the biggest things I have taken out of each conversation is that these people really want to get off the streets and want a fresh new start. They wished people didn’t treat them like a criminal or a circus freak. The biggest problem is that most of the media and public believe that these people have created their own problems and they don’t want to change. I believe the worlds view of homelessness is not even close to what I have seen since investing my time with them over the last year. A lot of people believe that these people are trying to beat the system. Well, I will be honest with you to say that I am very confused with this one minded view. What system are they trying to beat? It’s not like they are getting money, food stamps or anything.

Let me get REAL with you. Maybe in the past people figured out that they could live off the government food stamps or section 8 vouchers but these days are almost over. Today their isn’t a typical view of a homeless person anymore. Their is a difference between people that choose to live on the streets verse the people that have become homeless. We are in a economy that doesn’t show any signs of getting better anytime soon, so your next door neighbor could be the next person I could be feeding. Unless this economy changes I could be the next family living on the streets just like anyone of the people I feed every week. So I will give you a moment to get your composure back.

Before I starting investing time and feeding the homeless community I wasn’t clear on why people stayed on the streets. Well, I have realized a couple of things and one of them was they wanted to get off the streets but they didn’t have the means to do it. Secondly, I realized that these people our God’s children and my brothers and sisters in Christ. I have been able to be part of 60+ people giving their lives to Christ and getting baptized at Buckhead Community Church. I am also part of a morning devotion where I get to hang with these brothers through their growth with our heavenly father.

The reason I have created this post is to give you the ability to explore my findings for yourself. I am not saying that everyone is going to be friendly or open to you assisting them, but don’t let that stop you. If you are interesting in investing time hanging with the homeless community then I would be happy to hook you up with an organization were you could serve.

We are not only investing in just the male gender. We are also investing time with battered feeding women and abused children. We are investing time and feeding them on a regular basis as well. The next group of people are going to be imprisoned youth. If these kids don’t figure it out about life they will be part of our homeless community in the near future.

I am trying to be obedient to where God is wanting us to go next. I am so blessed that God has orchestrated the creation of Hals Drive Thru so that we can make a small investment in so many different going though so many circumstances.

If you are wanting to get involved with the organization I am involved in, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me either through our website or contact me via email at smoltzy@me.com

Stay tuned to updated information on what is going on next in my journey.

Website: http://www.halsdrivethru.org

Blog: http://halsdrivethru.wordpress.com

Ungrateful

Mike Smoltz — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:47:35 +0000

I want to share todays message with you. I want to challenge you today to express what you are feeling with others, for it will make the difference in your relationship. People feel things but they don’t express it. Here are some of the nuggets I have learned:

Unexpressed gratitude has the same effect as rejection.

If it isn’t expressed then it is dimissed

Gratitude closes the loop in our relationships with God and others

A returner is someone who is willing to go back to those who enable them to move forward.

Today I learn a lot of things that are so basic but we forget about the basics.