The Letterman's Jacket

It was a chilly afternoon in February, 1990. I was busy cleaning out my locker, just the day before I had finished off my freshman year of wrestling. I had a solid season I went 38-6 with 29 pins, I was very excited as the next day we had our Annual Wrestling banquet where I was going to officially be awarded a Varsity Letter in Wrestling.

Now you have to understand back then being a varsity Letterman and wearing that Letterman's jacket meant that you had arrived, other guys would be jealous, girls would fall over themselves to hang out with you, it literally meant that you were "in". Any Sophomore, Junior and Senior would have given just about anything to win a letter and sport that jacket.

However; I was a Freshman and not yet attending the high school, our high schools back in those days ran grades 10-12, I was still in Junior high one year away from attending. So you see where I am going with this, right?

I was literally about to become an icon, a man among boys, a legend. No Freshman prior to this had ever lettered in a varsity sport in my school. I had been picturing it in my mind all season long, had dreamed about and talked about, I visited the sporting goods store numerous times to make sure they had my size, "oh boy was this going to be great".

Then, it happened! As as I placing my headgear into my bag, Coach Mortan walked by and asked if he could see me in his office, I followed him to his office and sat down. What happened next was pretty much a blur and all of these many years later most of the conversation still escapes me except the following words..." You had a great freshman year and bright future in front of you however; I will not be giving you a letter at Tomorrow night's award banquet, we don't award Varsity letters to Freshman",

At that point, I went numb, I reminded the coach that I had 50 letter points based on wins, pins, tournament placing etc. and to qualify all I needed was 40 points. He said it didn't matter, awarding a varsity letter to me would demean the program and all of the upperclassman who had been with the program for several years who still had not earned their varsity letters.  He apologize and told me to keep my head up and there was always next season.

I was devastated, I ran all the way home, slammed my door and just started crying. I laid there for the next several hours on my waterbed (they were very popular back then) and finally fell asleep. I woke up about 3 AM still devastated and quite bitter. All I could think about was everyone was expecting me to walk into school Monday with that Letterman's jacket- what a loser I was!

Then literally no more than a few seconds later I had this flashback to when I was in the church the previous week. I had this remembrance of a saying that I had heard my mom say thousands of times about how Jesus loves us and wants a personal relationship with us. But this past Sunday she said that God is a gentleman and will never force himself upon someone or into any situation but that he stands at the door and waits for us to invite him in.

I was 15 years old, I had grown up going to church but at this point in my life, we went because we had to, plus my Mother was the Senior Pastor and we lived in the church Parsonage which was right next door to the church so was it wasn't open for debate. LOL.

I grew up in Sunday School and knew all of the Bible stories but didn't really care, I was too busy having fun and screwing around with my friends.

At this point, it was about 4am and I was desperate, so I decided that I was going to pray and here was my exact prayer..."Lord, I always hear my mother talk about how wonderful you are and how you desire to have a relationship with us and that care even about the smallest details of our lives, so I am asking that if you do exist, I am want to make you a deal tonight... "If you give me my Varsity Wrestling Letter tomorrow night I will spend the rest of my life serving you and telling everybody about how great you are".


Immediately after uttering that prayer, I called myself an "idiot" and cried myself back to sleep. The next day was the worst day of my life up to that point. I dreaded the banquet that night and just felt sad and like such a loser.

When the banquet time arrived I was filled with butterflies, and just knew I wasn't getting my letter, I sat there for the next two hours while stories and special moments from the season were shared, video clips were being played and I just sat there literally biting my lip so I would not cry, I was devastated.

After all the awards and letters were handed out the coach took to the microphone and said..." I have only more thing to give out and I would like to award freshman _____ _________ with his Varsity letter! Wait-What??? I looked up and couldn't believe it! Did he just say it? He motioned for me to come up there and get it- I slowly walked up there in somewhat of a daze- did this really just happen? Coach looked at me shrugged his should and said..."I woke up at 4 in the morning and couldn't sleep, wrestling with this decision, congratulations!".

As I sat in the car on the way home still numb, I kept replaying these events in my head... No way I got that letter- this coach never goes back on anything he says, ever! Then it hit me, It wasn't coach-It was Jesus! He woke up at 4am , the exact time I made my deal with the lord, I immediately told my mom the whole story and what exactly happened. She told me that God had a specific plan and purpose for my life that one day he would reveal it to me but in the meantime, I needed to thank him.

Upon arriving home I sat my letter on my desk and began to thank the lord for answering my prayer and giving me my letter. As I was doing that I had a very strong impression/feeling that God was going to hold me to our deal, as a matter of fact, that is exactly what I heard in a strange sort of way-not an audible voice per say but a strange inner knowing from deep within side of me.

Less than a few months later at Summer camp, I invited Jesus into my heart and became a Christian and its crazy but literally during my confession and praying the sinner's prayer, I had a vision of exactly what happened that night that I made the deal with the lord about my varsity letter and I was reminded that I promised God that I would spend the rest of my life serving him and telling others about him.

That was over 25 years years ago and every so often that same night and deal that I made with God comes up when I am praying. After all this time, I am still amazed, that the same God who created the Heavens and the Earth, The same God who parted the Red Sea, The same God who delivered Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the the Fiery Furnace is the same God who hears and answers our small, insignificant prayers. WOW.

But don't you see? To a God who loves us and desires a personal relationship with us, our prayers are not insignificant. The Bible says in Job 22.27 "Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him and he shall hear thee". God promises us in his word that he will hear our prayers.

I am amazed as I travel throughout this country and speak with sales and business leaders who look at me crazy when I ask them if they pray over their sales, businesses and employees. "Why would I do that?" is the question that I am often asked. My reply is always..."Why wouldn't you?".

This is where we miss it- God wants to be invited into every area of our lives...our marriages, homes, finances, businesses, sales transactions, etc.

When we invite God in, we invite his blessing, favor, wisdom and protection. Why would we not want those things in every area of our lives?

I want to challenge all of you this week to personally invite God into a new area of your life where you have not invited him before-finances, marriage, other relationships, business, sales, any area. Or maybe you have an area that you have not invited God in for some time that has been on your heart.

In my 20 years in the business world I have seen God move mightily in my business, I have seen God change hearts, increase sales, reduce cancels, drive EBIDTA margins into 200% flow through on additional Revenue, calm storms from arrogant CEO's, and so much more. God has been free to move because everyday I invite him into my business and everyday just like that night over 25 years ago with my varsity letter He doesn't know how to be anything but faithful. I love Jesus!

I am attaching a photo of the Varsity Letter that I received that night for your enjoyment.

"For the Eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole Earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are perfect toward him".

The best tasting Pretzels ever!

It was April, 1996 and I was standing in an airplane bathroom on a NWA flight from Minneapolis, MN to New
York City on my way to Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic, when we hit some crazy turbulence that literally created a mini panic on board and forced me to rush back to my seat.

While rushing back to my seat and trying to squeeze myself in I caught the back of the armbar of the seat in front of me and it caused a deep, lacerating gash about 2 inches long in my side, ripping right through my shirt.

I love to fly but I also hate to fly. Here is why... I very much enjoy people watching and traveling to different places and being on the go, but the thing I dread most is the tiny little coach seat. The good lord did not seem fit to give me the fastest metabolism in the world- a slight understatement.

I have a 22 inch neck and wear a 56R Suit Jacket! I like to think of myself as big boned or husky- but never fat. Actually I am just  big guy- I played Football and wrestled in College- so there!

Needless to say, in a coach seat, I get very uncomfortable, break out into a sweat and it is just a miserable experience for me and not to mention the poor soul unlucky enough to the seat next door. Now I fit in the seat and can put the arm rest down and buckle up- but that leaves me zero room to breathe and if the person in the row in front of my puts down their seat I'm really screwed. This particular trip I was with a group of folks from our church in North Dakota going on a mission trip. Keep in mind this was the DR before the DR became a world class tourist destination.

When you live in North Dakota, you have one flight option, fly out of Fargo to Minneapolis and to your destination, this trip was about 5 hours each way- a complete nightmare when your crammed in your seat, bleeding with a gash in the your side trying to find a happy place in your mind to prevent yourself from flipping out. I mean after all, this was a mission trip, I was here for the Gory of God to be a support and blessing to impoverished people in a remote jungle village, how christian would it be to flip out on a plane? LOL. That flight was brutal!

Well, we finally made it to the DR and I feel sick with a 102 fever the second I got off the plane, The flight and two hour bus ride through jungle literally made me sick for the first two days I was there. On day three I was feeling much better and we got to the business at hand which was scouting the area to find people hungry to show the "Jesus Movie". We were very blessed and led by the lord to find a small tiny village in the middle of the jungle that had a place where we could show the film.

Shortly after we watched the film, we met a very very young man, his wife and infant child. The man's name was Pastor Mao and he came from a nearby village when word traveled the "Gringos" were showing a movie. After spending some time with Mao he invited us to his home a short 3 mile walk in the jungle away :).

Upon arriving at Mao's home, I soon discovered it was an old, vacant building with only half of a roof and a door that did not close all of the way. We asked how he got here and he told us the story on how he believed that God sent him to this remote village and wanted him to start a church in this jungle community, We asked if he had any money and what were his plans, his response was that God was going to send "gringos" to him from a far away place to help build his church. Interesting, huh?

We were the first and only "Gringos" that were coming. After a time of prayer and deliberation, our pastor decided that we would help Mao build his church, so we made plans to return on a future date.

Shortly before we left, Mao asked if he could pray for us, while we were praying I felt an incredibly strong urge to give him some money out of my own pocket, I decided to give him $50 which in DR pesos was big coin, but I kept having this sense that I should give more "everything you have in your pocket" was what I was sensing. That would be crazy all the money I had left for the trip??? We still had two days left, plus $250 was a lot of money. What would I do with no money? It would be in poor taste to borrow, right? The sense that I should give him everything I had came again and I recognized it as a leading from God-so i did it, I gave him every last cent I had all $250.

At this time in my life I was fairly new in my walk in the lord and was just learning how to hear his still, small voice, so it took him getting my attention a few times.

Fast forward 24 hours later and we had one day left on the island before we flew home and all I could think about was the dreaded flight home and how miserable I was going to be. Literally I was up all night worrying about it. So I prayed and asked the lord to intervene for me.

The day of fight home arrived and I was walking up the steps to the plane, as I was headed back to the coach section, I handed my ticket to the flight attendant (back them you gave them your ticket on the plane) she grabbed me by the arm and asked me where I was going? I told her to my seat and she said your ticket has been upgraded you are in row 10-D. This is a first class ticket, sir! I couldn't believe it, all of the uneasiness that I was sure that I was destined for over the next 5 hours had me so rattled I never even bothered to look at the ticket until that exact moment!!! I looked down at my ticket and it said 10-D, I was the only person in our group to be upgraded to first class, I had no status, no frequent flyer miles, nothing.

As I sat down in my seat, I suddenly had that same feeling and urge that came over me only a few days before when praying with Mao that asked me to give him all of the money I had left and this time, A simple sentence come up from the inside of my inner being and here is what I heard...

"You can't out-give the lord, I know how to take care of my own!". WOW! God set me up, he wanted to bless Mao and used me to do it, this first class upgrade was his way of saying that he loved me, he heard the cry of my heart and despair that I felt about flying in the coach seat on the way home and like any good father, he wanted to bless me. He heard and answered my prayer.

One of my favorite versus in all of the Bible says..."The eyes of the lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of those who hearts are perfect towards him".

God desires to show himself strong on your behalf, he wants to be invited into your marriage, your business deals, your sales meetings he stands at the door and wants patiently, looking for that invitation that can only come from you. What are you waiting for? Invite God into every area of your life-I promise you will never regret it! I don't!

Five minutes after I sat down in my first class seat, the stewardess came by and handed me a bag of pretzels, they were the best tasting Pretzels that I ever had. As a matter of fact, I kept that pretzel bag and that day placed it in my Bible where it has been sitting for the last 20 years, as a reminder of the faithfulness of  God. I have pulled that bag out often over the years as a fresh reminder that Jesus Rocks! You can see the picture of it on this blog.

Jesus is the man!

He totally answered my prayer!

I am month two into a new promotion. I am a National Sales Director in my company. We are currently in the middle of a large merger with a competitor, so things in the company are crazy and there is an incredible amount of pressure to hit our 2016 EBIDTA target (nothing new in business right?, LOL). However; this year we are really struggling in our sales efforts, so much in fact we are several million dollars down in how we track sales.

My new sales team has averaged a sales rep turnover rate of over 300% a year for the last 3 years. Out of the 75 Sales Managers on our team over 30 have been in their current position less than 18 months and only 12 have been sales managers for 3 years or longer.

Needless to say we have missed our weekly sales numbers every week since I have been in the role. Now, most people in sales and business understand that you cannot use a new, inexperienced sales team as a reason or excuse for missing your numbers, not if you want to be taken serious or keep your job very long. It doesn't matter if it is true or not. This is the corporate world with a highly demanding Private Equity Firm ownership that wants a return on their investment and will not accept anything that interferes with that.

 The pressure that I have felt in missing these sales numbers over the last two months has been immense to say the least. I get the regular emails and comments like" When are we going to hit a sales number" and things like "your whole division is sinking the company". Last week I was dressed down on a conference call by an executive in front of my peers for giving our sales team the Fourth of July Saturday off to spend with their families. This gentleman is actually a pretty solid guy and I like him, he is just under a high amount of pressure to deliver a big number so I don't take it personally.You cant in sales or business-if you take it personally the "Jungle" out there will destroy you.

 Our sales team has worked 6 days a week and almost every Saturday in 2016 and has averaged at 40 working Saturdays a year over the last 3 years. They deserved the time off and we gave it to them.

The calls and emails had been coming with more and more regularity (almost daily now) and the pressure continues to heat up. It reached a boiling point this past week when I was asked to submit yet another email asking why we aren't making up any sales ground and helping to sink the company's sales number. I truly feel like I went from the penthouse where I was performing very well, over budget in every category and trending for a potential six figure bonus at the end of the year to the outhouse where I couldn't hit a sales number to save my life.

How could this have happened? Where did I go wrong? How could I have been foolish enough to accept this position? I had it so good, working 15 miles from home, a solid team, well respected in my field, etc.  As a Christian, I believe promotion comes from the lord, why would God allow me to walk away from a position of comfort and success to one of constant stress and pressure? The answer is simple..."To drive me closer to him". God knows the stress and pressure (circumstances) would drive me to my knees in prayer to seek his guidance and support. 

None of us like going through trial by fire, but it is in the midst of those refining flames that God molds and chips away our selfishness, arrogance, worldliness and it forces us to our knees where we find the end of our own strength so we can come to the beginning of his!

Yes, friends this refining takes place as much in the business world and marketplace as it does in personal financial matters, health and relationships. Our God knows exactly how to grad our attention!

It worked, this past week as I sat in the Airport awaiting my flight home, all I could think about after a long week was the Friday conference call that would have me report out my weekly sales results that were horrible. This was the same call just a week earlier I was called out on the carpet for giving my sales team Saturday off. I asked the lord for grace and strength to get through the rest of this week and his favor and blessing over my company, my boss, my sales reps and our sales performance. Shortly after I boarded my two hour flight for home.

The next day around 10AM, I received an email notifying me that our weekly sales call had been cancelled due to a conflict with another call. Bam!!!! God heard my prayer from the day before and answered it! I literally jumped out of desk and did the fist pump in the air and was very excited and immediately thanked him for his favor and goodness.

Now some people would say, this is pure coincidence or happen stance-That would have happened if you prayed or not. ABSOLUTELY WRONG! This was God answering my prayer out of his goodness and confirming his word that says..."All things are possible to him who believes" and "Victory rests with the lord"! When you are a Christian and I have been for 26 years-nothing just happens-everything in our lives as Christians is father filtered and happens for a reason both good and bad.

I am so glad I serve a loving God who longs for and stands ready to have a personal relationship with me daily. A God who cares about the minute details of my life(even if it is as insignificant as a sales conference call), the God who loved us so much he sent his only son to die on a cross for ours sins. Amazing! Over the last 26 years of serving God I have seen many miracles and answers to prayer in both my personal life as well as my business life.

That is exactly what this blog is about- sharing the good news of a God who desires to show himself strong on behalf of his people and to encourage those who need to hear a story like this while they remain steadfast and wait for their miracle or answer to prayer!

I hope you have been encouraged by this post. My goal is to post every week. Thanks.