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Be All You Can Be

By Leslie Vernick

I heard her before I saw her. She cheerily greeted each weary passenger while we waited for our turn to use the women's restroom in the Charlotte, NC airport. She was the bathroom attendant and she took great pride in her work.

Immediately after a woman exited her stall, this attendant went in and wiped it down, humming Amazing Grace as she worked. Each stall freshly cleaned for the next woman to use. She wiped the sinks, emptied the trash, made sure there were towels, personal hygiene items, and even set out a dish of peppermint candies for those of us who needed our breath freshened after a long trip. Person after person, hour after hour, day after day she served others simply by wiping toilets, sinks, and floors but she did it with amazing grace.

Dr. Martin Luther King Junior told a group of junior high students in Philadelphia…

When you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it. Don’t just set out to do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn’t do it any better. If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. If you can’t be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley. But be the best little shrub on the side of the hill. Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.

This bathroom attendant practiced Dr. King’s words. While I was in that restroom I overhead woman after woman compliment her on how clean she kept it, her cheerful attitude, and her extra mile service. I’m sure the Lord himself smiled as he watched her practice Paul’s words, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” (Colossians 3:23).

She will never know it, but that day she inspired me to press on. It’s easy to get crabby or weary and do our work with an edge of resentment or attitude of entitlement. That’s not who I want to be or what I want to do. I want to be the best possible me and do the best possible job for God’s glory.

How about you? Are you living fully or just existing, getting through each day but not very well? Are you doing your work the best you know how or do you settle for mediocrity?

Let’s learn a lesson this simple bathroom attendant and commit to do whatever God calls to do with excellence, with joy, with gratitude and with creative gusto.

People notice even the small things when they are done with great love.

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He Calls You Beautiful: Hearing the Voice of Jesus in the Song of Songs

By Dee Brestin

In He Calls You Beautiful, Bible teacher Dee Brestin explores this love song from God to reveal transformative truths for each of us, whether married, single, or widowed. With rich contemporary illustrations and insight from biblical scholars, Dee shows how God uses poetry and exquisite images to illuminate the intimacy that Jesus longs to have with you.

If you would like to enter to win, you can click here to provide name and email address.

The winners of Ordinary Graces by Lucinda Secrest McDowell are Susan J. and Holly K.

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Upcoming Events


April 14, 2018
Gilbert, Arizona

April 21st, 2018
General Conference
Indianapolis, Indiana
For more information please click here


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I’m In A New Relationship But I’m Reacting The Same Old Ways

Question: I have been out of a 15-year destructive marriage for more than 15-years, yet I find patterns from the past still greatly affecting my new marriage. My new husband and I dated for 10-years and last year got married. But I still see my new husband with the old lenses and have some of the same habits I had in my destructive marriage. For example, I fear my new husband’s anger or am always wondering when the ax is going to fall. I know he’s supposed to be allowed to get angry but I just crave peace and want things to go smoothly all the time. I know that’s not realistic yet I feel stuck. We both grew up in alcoholic homes and also have a hard time resolving conflict without causing each other pain. We probably both need some work but how do I change and learn how to deal with people differently?

Answer: This is a great question because it shows that even after you leave a destructive marriage, you are safe, but you still may not be fully sane or healthy. Some of us have had hurts and dysfunctional patterns from childhood that continue to impact how we “see” things, how we deal with our emotions, or how we interact with other people in our present lives. Many of these are outside our conscious awareness and therefore impossible to change until we can see and acknowledge them.

What Are People Saying About the Introduction to Core Strength Class?

“Thank you Leslie for your time and wisdom. I really appreciated that Leslie is a Godly woman who speaks the truth with love. She is very knowledgeable about the Bible and gives Biblical, Godly, practical advice that can be implemented in my life. Leslie clearly helped me to see God’s heart and how my feelings are meant to help inform me, not control me. I am getting out of the destructive rut I was in and working towards being responsible for my own happiness and not being a victim. Praise God for Leslie and her heart for women in destructive relationships.”

— Group Participant

LESLIE WELCOMES YOUR QUESTIONS

Leslie wants to help you grow in your personal and relational effectiveness. Please submit your questions by clicking here.

Then, visit Leslie's Blog as she posts her responses to one question per week.

Note: Due to the volume of questions that Leslie receives, she is unable to respond to every question.

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Leslie Vernick PO Box 5312 Sun City West, Arizona 85376 United States