Outwit, Outplay, Outlast

The reality TV show genre has been around for a long time. Most of them feel scripted and are so over the top and dramatic. But there is one that has consistently been a social experiment unlike any other, the CBS classic Survivor.  

On Survivor, strangers are marooned on an island together with the challenge of being the last one standing by voting other competitors out of the game. The twist is the winner is voted on by the people that were voted off, every decision has a lasting impact.

The slogan of Survivor is to Outwit, Outplay and Outlast and the tension of the show is all about who is your ally and who is your enemy in disguise?

While I cannot say that I’ve watched all 48 seasons across the 25 years, I can say that I’ve reflected on the slogan over the last 25 years of my life by asking the question: in my faith, am I preparing to “outwit, outplay and outlast?”

 

Outwit.

There is constant tension on Survivor of who is on your side, who can you trust and who might just be really good at lying and what advantages might they have? That tension is always controlled in one way; the ability to discern the truth.

In our Christian walk, our enemy is incredibly deceitful, sowing discord and confusion just waiting to snuff out our torch. And we, like the players in Survivor, have to know how to discern the Truth.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

-         1 Peter 5:8-9

How do we stay firm in our faith and Outwit the devil? James 4:7-8 tells us that we must draw near to God. As we draw closer to God, the devil will flee from us.

As we study the Word of God, we learn how to discern the Truth from lies. Then, our confidence and identity are in the Lord and we can Outwit the devil and all his schemes.

Outplay.

Survivor is not won by the static, and likewise, we cannot sit idly and expect to outplay the devil. As 1 Peter tells us, “Satan is on the prowl, seeking to devour.”

The most common phrase from contestants across all the seasons of Survivor must be “I came here to play.” The players that have won the show did not do so passively, but they battled every day, digging deep in adversity and by building relationships with like-minded people to further advance toward the goal.

When Satan looks at our lives, does he see someone who came here to play?

Ephesians 6 implores us to “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Our enemy is holding nothing back, he is fighting to destroy our eternal soul. How are we preparing to return that vigor and foil all the attacks of Satan?

When Satan looks at our spiritual lives and the battle for our soul, he should know that “we came here to play,” and he should see that we don’t play alone!

Players on Survivor who have good people around them, make it to the end proving that good alliances are critical for success.

Through the salvation we have through Jesus Christ, we live, and we must build one another up. Are you surrounding yourself with those who want your success and growth in life or people who are just looking to get ahead by any means necessary? (1 Thessalonians, Proverbs, 1 Corinthians)

Outlast.

Unlike Survivor, we already have the script for the finale – Jesus is going to outlast the enemy! And, according to Romans 5, we have also obtained access to that coming glory! Amen!

We will outlast the devil, but this does not encourage passivity. Like Survivor, every decision we make has an impact and we must outwit (study God’s Word and Truth) and outplay (practice spiritual discipline and godly company) every day and at every turn.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

-         Hebrews 10:23-25

As I watch Survivor, know that I am praying for the saints and for the Church. I pray that together we may encourage each other in our faith so that the devil knows that we came here to play and we’re going to outwit, outplay and outlast with the help of Jesus Christ!

Stay in the Stay: Relying on God in Uncertain Times

I had the opportunity to record a devotional video for my church, below is the recording as well as the prepared text version of the same message:

In case you didn’t realize it yet, we are living in crazy times!

Hopefully you’ve found your groove, you’ve been able to get your remote learning for school, the office setup from home and you’re learning how to spend even MORE time together as a family then you ever thought you could.

I know that my dogs are absolutely loving me being home all the time and are in for some severe feelings of rejection when I eventually go back to work!

Our household also added one to the count on the census this year with the birth of our new son in the family, so it’s been wonderful to be home with my wife and our one-month-old, Shepherd, to be a support and encouragement to them!

Hopefully you have found some people in your life that can be an encouragement to you through these times, wither that be the family in your own home, extended family or a life-group or group of friends that you can connect with in some fashion.

I saw some of my neighbors sitting around a fire last weekend waaaay far apart from each other, only close to their spouses. What a creative way to come together in a unique way and still find that community and familiarity in a whole new way.

And hopefully you can BE an encouragement to others around you and in your communities. My wife informed me that we HAD to support a small business in the area that sells cupcakes. It was our obligation to go and get cupcakes as soon as possible! I’m not really sure where the ones that we bought ended up….

Find someone this week that you can love on, be it a family member who might be feeling lonely or a small business who is unsure how they are going to make it month to month in these uncertain times.

Uncertain Times

That’s really a good way to describe what’s going on right now. Our reality is that the normal schedules and lives that we had grown to trust in day to day have been flipped upside down had any sort of familiarity removed from them. My dad has a saying that I’ve heard a lot from him. He reminds me to “stay in the stay”

This is referencing Psalm 18.

Psalm 18 is written by David on the day that he was finally delivered from his enemies and from Saul. I would encourage you to read though the story of David in the Bible starting 1 Samuel.

David shows his character in this poem and gives us some great exhortation or encouragement for our lives that I think can apply today.

David trusted God when he was waiting for better things to come, he was going to be king but was being hunted because he was going to be king. You could say that the shepherd life, or the life of David serving as Saul’s General in the army was flipped upside down and had any sort of familiarity removed from it. In the account of David’s life, we see multiple opportunities arise where David has the ability to take control, but he doesn’t.

David waits and trusts in the Lord.

The reference that my dad is making is to Psalm 18:17-18

It says this in the NASB:

   He delivered me from my strong enemy,
   And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
   They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
   But the Lord was my stay.

Other versions say the Lord was my support, or the Lord supported me.

For David, when things were at its worst, upside down and hopeless. He chose to stay in the stay. To stay in the protection and confidence of the Lord through it all.

So what am I getting at?

Let’s take some encouragement from David’s chaotic life. Let’s recognize that our lives may not look the way that we want them to. We may not be able to do the things we want or go the places that we want to, but we have a support. We have an AMAZING support that we can put our trust into, we can stay in the stay through these times and lean on the most high God who delivered David from utter chaos and ushered him into the plans that the Lord already knew. Read through David’s life with someone else, dive into the Psalms that he writes during his challenges and be encouraged in our abnormal times that we have an amazing and bright future ahead of us.

Please, find the people who are feeling the chaos around them. People who are feeling that everything going around them feels so overwhelming that they need some sort of deliverance. Let’s share this good news with them, as we have open hearts to the Lord and open hearts to who He might want us to encourage. 

Stay in the Stay and be blessed!

Service With A Smile

Today’s world moves faster than it ever has before. We have devices that can send photos of our kids to distant family in an instant or can pull up a video from twenty years ago on the internet. A Google search for “orange shoes” pulls up 1,570,000,000 results in 0.83 seconds. We have modes of transportation that can move us across the world in less than a day or across the city during the intermission of a sports game. In the craziness that comes with this pace of life we often forget to slow down and appreciate the moments that we are in and to appreciate those around us.

Not only is technology moving at an insane pace, but often our relationships are hard to keep up with!

My wife and I had five different Christmas gatherings over the holidays. Coordinating what gifts go to which location, what we need to wear and of course which gathering has the best dessert to save room for at the others. Reflecting back on the last month, I’ve noticed that I can unintentionally put my family, and friends, on the back burner of appreciation even though they are often the people that I am spending a significant amount of time with. 

I fail to recognize the blessing that they are in my life when I have an extra hard week of work, getting ready to be a first-time parent (there is so much to learn) or planning the game night with friends. Over the last two months, it’s safe to say that my life was pretty hectic! I stopped checking in with some of my closest friends, but they are gracious to understand crazy schedules and poor planning and have been willing to pick up right where we left off when I finally make some time to reconnect.

All of these people are important to me and while I know I do not tell them enough, I know that I do express that gratitude that I have for them in my life. 

Can you relate?

Among our busy lives there is a forgotten people group that is in the most need for our appreciation and gratitude. In fact, I have come to be intentionally thankful for this particular group of men and women that are essential in allowing us to keep our fast pace of life.

This group of people can be hard to define, but not difficult to find. They are regularly mistreated and often taken advantage of as obligation and not seen for the value that they provide. While these people don’t have a particular classification, I dub them as the “provision sustainers.”

These people are the men and women who ring you out at the grocery store in the fifteenth full isle, the people who miss the Big Game because they’re busy making your hot pizza for half time, the people that clean up the sticky lunch tables at sports bars and the people that have filthy hands from changing your oil in between your busy, scheduled events. These sustainers are around us every single day, they provide us with services or products that have become essential to our pace of life providing things that seem so basic and every day.

These people are often in thankless positions, only receiving feedback from an angry customer or a sassy comment about their attitude or speed. It’s not often that they are praised for their work in a genuine way that shows the value that they are bringing. Not that they are worthy of false praise, but so often they are denied a simple “thank you” for the time that they saved you.

Having worked at a large, blue, electronics retail store in college doing customer service, I have experienced this first hand. And from my experience, I decided to operate a little differently:

I have made a habit of thanking the people who work at drive-throughs for the meal that they and their team have prepared. Not just a mindless thank you, but I make eye contact and say “thank you for preparing my dinner. It really saves me a lot of time tonight.” It’s amazing to see how the wait staff perks up a bit as they turn around, an acknowledgement that their working hard has indeed made my day better and they have value in the work that they are doing.

I am a regular at the Von Hanson’s to buy their beef jerky. A great snack when playing disc golf with friends, the staff will now inquire weekly as to where I am going and remind me how crazy I am for playing in thewinter. Recently, we had extra doughnuts from Hangtime (a time for families to connect) between services at Friendship Church. Instead of bringing them home to get stale on the counter, I decided to bring them to this Von Hanson’s as a thank you for their service and friendship. In a turn of events, they were quite surprised to be the one to receive treats and their joy and appreciation only encourages me to continue to think who else I can bless with surprise snacks.

I’ve spent the last 6 years working in corporate IT. Looking for ways to shine the light of Christ can sometimes be hard, but I found a really practical way in an office setting. Acknowledge and verbally thank the person who works nights cleaning the office and bathrooms that everyone else tends to ignore. I learned their names and thanked them for their hard work every time I saw them in the hallway. It became a great way to start conversations with more coworkers and bring life to their jobs in a new and fresh way.

The day after Christmas my wife and I went out to eat at a local food chain. The place was packed and the wait was out the door. Apparently, people hadn’t eaten enough carbs, ourselves included, over Christmas gatherings. Our server took a little longer than I would have preferred. I took this as an opportunity to have a real conversation with Micki about her day and not just the weather or traffic. Turns out she was on her ninth hour of a likely thirteen-hour shift on her feet, serving upwards of ten parties at once and was quite aware that things weren’t moving at the speed that everyone wanted. This gave Micki a chance to let her guard down and connect on a human level, instead of constantly being in service mode. It was a refreshing time to connect with a stranger over the chaos of a busy restaurant and to acknowledge that she was working her hardest to assist everyone the very best that she could.

So what?

I’ve come to look for opportunities to encourage and love on those provision sustainers who are enabling me to eat, shop or get my hair cut; seeing people walk a little taller in the work they are doing, being engaged in an authentic conversation or feeling valued as a human before a worker. I believe that this is how Christ would operate in today’s word.

I’ve challenged myself to look at how I can show Christ’s love in more practical ways. More than telling myself that I’m “practicing patience” when I’m stuck behind the world’s slowest driver, but by being truly impactful to those I am interacting with.

How can we, together, be intentional to look for these opportunities to show Christ-like love to the people in our daily routines?

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18 (NIV)

When our lives continue to accelerate from zero to sixty ever faster, how can we slow down to love those around us with the supernatural love of Christ?

Let’s begin to change the way we operate when we start to feel entitled or impatient. Let’s create the reason for people to provide us a service with a smile!

Knowing Your Surroundings

Growing up, getting together was always a small event. My family of five, with the occasional addition, but not much more than that. I've seen that other some families do it similar and some do it quite differently. 

For holidays, Marissa will often have three family gatherings across two days with each gathering being larger than my entire immediate family. These past two years have been a lot of Marissa and I "finding our new normal" as we combine our family gatherings and holidays.

All of the family that I married into has been overwhelmingly welcoming and have made me feel wanted and loved. They are warm and inviting and I could not ask for more!

Family is wonderful, but so are friends! 

If you know me at all, you know that I love getting together with people. As I continue to move through life, this has become increasingly true. When friends or family come to visit, my wife and I try to take care of all the needs our guests may have. We even have a "soda menu" that we have created to showcase the options that we have. 

We get excited when soda is on sale so we can get
the different favorites of our friends! 

There is something about gathering with those who care about you bringing laughter, joy and life!

As warm and tingly as a friend or family can make us feel the reality is that most of us are not surrounded by love and joy on the average day.

Working in a corporate environment teaches you about the good, bad and ugly of people and interpersonal communication. Managing a team of 15 people, I've learned that everyone communicates just different enough that you need to be constantly thinking about what you might be saying without saying it.

I have worked hard to build an all star team that communicates well and I have tried to build a good relationship with my employees to ensure we're understanding each other as clearly as possible. Clarity, it seems, is something that you have to work for. And sometimes no matter how hard you try, you will never understand people clearly regardless of the depth of relationship you build.

At work everyone has an agenda, but not necessarily in a bad way. Each person has a business to run with certain objectives and key-performance goals to meet. Many times meetings are compromises of those different objectives, figuring out how to partner with another business to both meet your goals without losing too much efficiency in the process. 

I recall a work meeting a year ago that had a major communication break down causing me to have an very upsetting and emotional day. I was so shaken up after this meeting that my manager had to pull me aside to be sure I was actually going to make it through the rest of the day. Through his patience and understanding, I was able to finish the day and set myself up to avoid "break downs" with this particular person in the future.

It wasn't until several days later that I realized I needed to always be taking an inventory of my surroundings, specifically at work.

So why does having friends over make me feel one way while work meetings bring out completely different set emotions?

An obvious observation, but hear me out.

Anyone in Minnesota can tell you that your physical surroundings make a vast difference on your attitude. The weather can make your day or make it feel like it the day is going to drag on forever. But what it truly comes down to is the people that we are surrounded with. 

Friends and family don't have agendas. They're not looking to push their business goals or meet some sort of friend quota for the month. Hopefully, they are with me because they enjoy what I have to bring and I enjoy their uniqueness as well. Getting along is easy because everyone is enjoying everyone else in a positive, life-giving way.

Obviously, not everyone we interact with is life giving. People who we clash with are draining and can ruin your day way more than a cloudy day. It could have completely destroyed a business relationship that I rely on in my role. 

This is why it is so important to know who in your life is going to be an encouragement and lift you up in love:

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 

Hebrews 10

Are we being intentional with who we have around us on a daily basis? Do you have people at work or at home that are encouraging you, not falsely building some false confidence by agreeing with everything you say, but someone who cares about your well being as a person? Do you know someone who will listen when you need it but will also provide some tough love when you need to be corrected.

This is NOT an excuse to only surround yourself with people are are exactly like you.

I have a good friend who wrote it this way on his Facebook:

If you do not feel challenged, intellectually or emotionally by your friends, you are probably hanging around people a lot like you. While comfortable, this does not allow you to challenge or expand what you know and makes you vulnerable to rule 1 by making you think that "because everyone you know believes X" it must be true. It is up to you to decide on your council of friends, make the right choices.

He articulates well that we should be looking to push ourselves and often times that is going to take some conflict. But do you have someone in your life that is an encouragement to you? I don't think that everyone is lucky enough to have it. 

These are the people that help you process a rough interaction, or help you reflect on that poor business meeting to make sure you still have a job the next day. 

Take the time to thank those people in your life who give you uplifting encouragement. Do you know if that person understands your appreciation for them and the way they support you? 

Have you told them recently?

Don't be afraid of conflict and hard conversations, it helps you grow drastically. But be sure to find people in your life to balance out the muk of agendas and high emotions.

Find people who you like to be around and who like to be around you. Find reason to laugh during your day and don't let other people's actions or words ruin the goodness that you carry yourself with. They don't have power over you, don't give it to them. 

Know your surroundings to keep yourself on track, but know them all the more to help other navigate through their hard day. Be a good friend, challenge each other to be better in loving ways that live in a spirit of growth and fellowship. 

Long Overdue Update: Picture Edition

Holy cow! I cannot believe that it's been so long since I've updated. I'll be posting less lengthy posts more frequently, but I think I need to get you caught up...

So much has happened since June where do I even begin?

It's probably best to do with pictures around the events; this might hold your attention better.

Playing FootGolf with Devin and Kyle! 

My first time playing Blue Ribbon Pines in East Bethel.

Teaching the coworkers all about disc golf.

Being outside brings me so much joy and June weather is the absolute best! Over the summer I went FootGolfing for the first time. Precisely what it sounds like, you bring a soccer ball onto a golf course and you kick it around counting your "strokes" until you get close to the pin that is unique for the FootGolf players. 

Putting is actually the hardest part of FootGolf.

This sport is awesome. It's a great way to be outside, get some great exercise. Part of being an official FootGolf course is being on an official PGA golf course, which is getting young people into clubs and courses which should really help those establishments. I'll be going frequently this spring and summer, I cannot wait! 

As expected, much disc golf and mini golf was played. It would seem that I'm really into golf, except that I don't play real golf — so I'm not sure what's up with that.

On June 10th, I started officially dating the beautiful Marissa Schrader! I finally mustered up the gusto to ask her out after being setup by some mutual friends of ours. 

One of our first dates as "an item" at a movie in the park! 

I also went camping for the first time in my adult life over the summer. While hanging out in a tent in the back yard is exciting, it's nothing like the real thing. I moved into a house with some friends from high school whom are all very outdoorsy. Needless to say, I've now been camping correctly.

For my first camping trip, some friends and I went to Gooseberry Falls up North. We stayed at a state campground and hiked a good portion of the falls. So much fun to be in a new place, enjoying God's beautiful creation! 

It was also the first time that I've been to Duluth and we were able to visit the pier for the 4th of July!  

Marissa making me look good on the pier, at Lake Superior.

The second camping trip of the year was with those outdoorsy men that I live with. We drove out to Glacier National Park and stayed there (Avalanche Park) around a week. What an adventure! I've never been in the middle of such beauty before. I felt small and insignificant at times, and unique and wonderfully made at others. I felt God's protection was over us as the fire that destroyed 4,000-acres of forest could have swallowed us up had the wind been the other direction! Needless to say, I absolutely loved the trip and adventures and will remember it the rest of my life. No question about it!

The "seven ill-prepared young people" that were hiking to the falls!

A view of the fire just starting, very close to our trail.

In August, I turned 25 and had a fabulous cake made in my honor.

I have an obsession with pugs, it's a real thing.

And I loved going to the zoo with some of my very best friends!

Myself with Stephen and Courtney at the Minnesota Zoo.

Marissa and me with Nate and Haley, good friends from NWC.

I think this speaks for itself.

The fun that I had changed drastically during the winter. I don't like being cold, and I had a bad experience on some snow skis, so I don't enjoy doing that by any means. But I cannot stop having fun, where's the excitement in that?

I love hosting board game nights! 

Giant "snoctopus" near our church in New Brighton by the Bartz

All bundled up for sledding in the cold!

At the Michael W Smith and Amy Grant Christmas Concert

And I cannot get away from the golfing. There is an indoor minigolf course near my house that I have been a frequent customer at during these cold months. 

     

I am a huge advocate for having fun, and work is no exception. Why would I want to hate going to the same place day after day if I can make it something that is enjoyable?

Our team recently got approval for a RAM upgrade.

As if I wasn't having enough excitement in my life by this time...

I decided to surprise Marissa by bringing her to the Ice Castles in Eden Prairie. She loves forts and castles, and loves when adventures happen. 

Stopping a movie halfway through, something that I don't do, I told her to get her boots on and that "we were going to be late." I absolutely surprised her with the trip and we walked around in an icy, LED lit, ice fortress! 

Thinking that wasn't good enough, I wanted needed to do more...

Trying to find a cool part of the ice castles, I found a random banner that looked like it advertised the Frozen heroines (logically taking advantage of the "Frozen" arena that we were in) and wanted to know more. Having Marissa read it to me, I realized the situation I had put myself in.

You see, a couple months earlier, I had a "friend in the diamond business" give me some help. While Marissa was reading this sign, which I had legitimate interest in, her back was turned to me. I saw this as an ample opportunity to lighten the immense weight that was burning in my pocket.

The weight was completely lifted and turned into a euphoria of sorts after a simple question.

SHE SAID YES!

And now I'm an engaged man, who calls the most stunning woman alive his fiancée. Marissa is beautiful inside and out. She loves God passionately, and serves Him with her many talents. She is an incredibly hard worker but loves to have fun and loves to do it with me. Her positive attitude and bubbly personality are a constant source of joy in my life and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with her! I pray that I can bring her the same exhilaration that she brings me. 

While these details and images are just a glimpse of the past year, I think that gets caught up with the major details and life events! 

If you made it this far, you are a true champion and I appreciate your time. 

Thanks for being interested in my life, it's never short of adventure.

Here's to so much more!