Faith

Sitting together over lunch one day, Zig Ziglar told me, “You will always have something to give if you have a word of encouragement.” Just like my dear friend, Zig, my DNA is loving to see others encouraged.

I wrote a small book titled, “B12…Doses of Encouragement.” Today I want to share a chapter from the book in the hope of giving you a boost. I am also providing a link to receive a free weekly “B12” shot for you to receive as you run your life race. http://www.gailmcwilliams.com/forms/b12form.html

This race is designed to be more than a rat race or stuck on a treadmill going nowhere while exhausted in the attempt. Life’s race has a winner’s circle with your name etched on a trophy awaiting you.

This race is not only about enduring, but also conquering. Each terrain of the journey has value and each season essential.  You just need faith—faith in the One Who designed you and who knows your potential, desires and purpose; faith in yourself as you confidently reach for more; faith in others who have been strategically placed along the sidelines of this incredible race; and faith to see beyond.

You can do it!

Day 12—FAITH

Faith is visionary and advances forward, even when things look impossible. In fact, with faith nothing is impossible. Faith fuels hope and makes evident the things you cannot see. Faith unlocks doors and reveals hidden treasures, and its discoveries are unending. Faith comforts, compels, catapults and causes you to be strengthened for every new day. Faith believes.

1 John 5:4

And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Question

What keeps you from believing?

May your faith grow stronger.

Receive a weekly “dose of encouragement” at: http://www.gailmcwilliams.com/forms/b12form.html. A corresponding audio accompanies each "B12" encouragement. McEnjoy!

Feeling Depleted?

Do you struggle with any deficiencies? I designed an event that is made available around the nation called a “B12 Event” filled with doses of encouragement.  Most ask, “Is this some vitamin emphasis?” No! A “B12 Event” is simply the challenge to: Be-one-too. It is amazing what can be squeezed out of one letter and two numbers.

In looking at the subject of B12 deficiencies I see that there are many correlations to life. Consider the physical side and how it relates to how we live. Some B-12 vitamin deficiencies consist of: weariness, fatigue, confusion, numbness, lack of balance and loss of memory. Life can result in all of these symptoms, too. Weariness and fatigue can symbolize worrying, while confusion depicts a loss of focus. Numbness is a way to survive when there has been unresolved conflict and pain. Living out of balance is everyone’s challenge as they juggle an overbooked life. Loss of memory is key to what depletes us the most—when we forget Whose we are and the purpose of our life.

Many live their lives with undiagnosed deficiencies, thinking this is the standard for their lives. What if there was more? What if you were encouraged to get back into the race of life to win? Try beginning your day with a dose of encouragement. It is refillable and your 31-day supply can be reused over and over. It is permissible to share it with others. Begin today to take your dose of encouragement and become energized once more.

You can find out more about a “B12 Event” at: www.b12event.com. I also wrote a daily boost of encouragement called, “B12…Doses Of Encouragement” from which I will periodically refer to in my blogs. Living was designed for more than mere survival and existence. Whatever is depleting you today does not have to be fatal. I love what my dear friend Zig Ziglar once told me over lunch. “You will always have something to offer when you have a word of encouragement.” He is the icon of all encouragers and I decided to “Be-One-too!” What about you?

Imagine that Voice

Thanks to a radio network manager who suggested, and a friend who provided the tickets, that we pursue going to the NRB (National Religious Broadcasters) Convention held in Nashville. It was an incredible time with loads of strategic connections and divine appointments. We met new friends and renewed old friendships. It was perfect for me since my eyesight is impaired, but I knew those radio voices!

One afternoon Tony and I sat in a coffee shop waiting for our next business appointment. The man behind me had a familiar voice but I could not place it. Finally, we met each other. He said, “I hope you are not disappointed in how I look since you might have imagined something different from the radio.” I laughed and said, “I am your new best friend. You look like you have lost weight and are very buff. Your hair looks great and that color is awesome on you.” He began to laugh too when he realized I was visually impaired. He said,  “We were meant to meet each other.”

Isn’t it true about radio personalities when you meet them in person? I often want to close my eyes and say, “I liked what I had imagined.” Someday I want to write a book entitled, “Is That What You Really Look Like?”

Unfortunately, we judge others by what they look like and hardly hear what they have to say. I think it is just as disappointing to meet a beauty queen and then hear her shrill voice. Remember the gal on the movie “Singing In The Rain?” What about the muscle guy with the high-pitched voice and the short coach with the roaring yell? Sometimes I think it is a gift not to see.

I tell people that I am not moved by how you look; what you drive; the jewelry you have on or don’t; you’re clothing or the status you wear. I am moved by two things only—your attitude and your smell. Sometimes both of those stink!

Good news! Both can be improved.

A "Jump-Start"

Have you ever needed a helping hand or a lift to get from one place to another? A few months ago my husband and I heard about a cool way to help others get a jump-start on some projects they were hoping to begin. We loved the idea. People from all around the world participate just because they love the idea of helping someone reach their goal and complete their project. We adopted the same idea with a project of our own that will in time, hopefully, impact the world with encouragement, hope and vision.  The project? --a new daily radio feature that will be aired from coast to coast. We posted it at: http://www.gailmcwilliams.com/jumpstart

A great jump-start to the new venture is having 140 stations already on board before full production even begins. We do have 16 sample shows on my website at http://www.gailmcwilliams.com/radio that let others know the direction and format we are designing, but the favor that came before any recording is indeed a jump-start of the divine kind.

When I think about anyone’s dream or project it always seems helpful to get a jump-start on the projects in life. Recently I helped our son get his room in order. Two hands do make light work. Today our daughter helped her dad trim the bushes. One hour later it was pouring rain and they had a good sense of accomplishment that together they tackled a job and got it done quickly. My grandson needed a jump-start the other day getting his puzzle started, and his mother needed her early morning coffee to get hers. A friend came over today to give me a jump-start to a new diet and lifestyle. The benefits of all the above may be varied, but the principle is the same. Any project can seem daunting and too hard until you get a jump-start. My good friend Zig Ziglar says, “You can have anything you want if you will help others get what they want.”

Facebook and other news...

Daniel warned about the busyness of life and the increasing expansion of
technology--but he never said anything about Facebook and twittering, let
alone the new iPhone! What is a 50 something to do?

I am fairly computer savvy, considering I am not visual. I have learned
sophisticated software for the visually impaired. Most of the world has to
find an icon and click, but I have had to learn the hot keys and computer
language. Pretty good--or so I thought untill now.

Lydia has been away on a mission's trip to Asia. On her trip the only way to
keep up with the reports and pictures was Facebook. Hey! I thought that was
only for the "young" social network! Plus, who has time to follow everyone
you once knew? I want new horizons and additional friends, thank you.
However, my passion has changed this week. I just want to see what is going
on with my daughter in a communist nation! So, now I am on Facebook.

The really strange thing was when I signed up, immediately it linked me to
my contact list where many of my "fifty something" friends were waiting for
me. "Why didn't you tell me that I would need it to follow my fifteen-year-old
daughter to the ends of the earth?!"

So, now what about twitter? Who has the time to read the texts, follow the
twitters,and Facebook everyone in your past, present and future with this
crazed social network? I am still e-mailing! Is that out of date already?

Ah, the phone is amazing--when our children answer it. Games, internet, GPS
instead of our atlas, restaurant guides, weather, traffic (no radio is
needed except for talk radio) and the news. Recipes, books, files, pictures
and more all within the touch of a lighted screen. What will be next?

My husband loves his new claim to fame as a techy. He has a blue tooth. It
looks to me like a man who is preparing to wear a hearing aid and is caught
talking to himself. And he wonders why I don't wear mine?! I am too
young--why then do I feel so out of it!?

I like to call my children--but they text. I like to meet new friends--in
person--and not by staying in my room Facebooking. I don't have the time to
see everyone's twitter of each moment of someone else's day. Who cares
really! I am busy. YES! Busy learning how to successfully find you on Facebook
as I learn how to twitter, while I work hard to earn enough money for
me to have an iPhone!

Daniel, did you even know about the computer when you wrote those words at:
www.daniel12:4.NKJV?

"Children are like arrows in the hands of a mighty warrior."

It is difficult to comprehend their swiftness, strength, potential and
range. They may be in need of learning and training to become sharp and to
the point, while being carved and stretched to focus with speed for each
life target and assignment. With the fletching set so they don't fly in
circles wandering aimlessly, the Great Archer pulls back the bow of destiny
and purpose through the tension of life's challenges, hitting the mark each
time. Battles in life are predictable and the details diverse, but His
victories are beyond our dreams or imagination.

My heart sees the vastness of His arrows in use this week. Lydia, 15, is in
Viet Nam serving orphans and being changed for life. Connor Mac, 13, is no
longer our little boy but his man-size hands, height and muscles foretell of
a leader being groomed, as he spends the days with friends from church.
Holly, full of gifts, talents and straight thinking, has launched a new
photography business. Lindey and Ryan are celebrating Lindey's
accomplishment and joyful end of school "daze" in cosmetology. Their
businesses only serve to fund their passion--music . the famous trio ,
Holly, Lindey and Ryan, join together for two weeks to lead worship at a
youth camp in Houston. As the three prepare to leave, Anna is on a plane
back to Dallas to celebrate a new direction and interest in her life. Will
there be more around our McTable?

Pint- size arrows fill in the gaps of the expanding quiver. Our little E
has been with us this weekend and the joy is beyond words or comprehension.
When his little voice calls us by name, Poppa and Nona" , as he hides behind
the wall and then peeps around the corner to say, "Boo!" and giggles, our
hearts are the target, and His love registers a bull's eye every time!!

Foreign lands or foreign places never have felt more comfortable as we trust
our arrows to His hand. It is on His wings that our arrows take flight for
His purposes and delight.

McTrusting the Great Archer

^Check out Holly's web site at:www.hollymacphotodesign.com

A First...

Hello world—I decided to blog!

The world of blogging is appealing to me for it seems random at times,
casual in style, unpredictable, with no deadlines or expectations. In many
ways, it seems like my own personal column like “Dear Abby” or something
similar.

My children seem so techno savvy with their increasing computer activity,
texting, twittering, face book and more. I, on the other hand, prefer the
phone and E-mail—until now. I have decided to jump into the blogging world
and see where it takes me. Can it really be that hard? Is it rewarding? Who
has the time to read my random thoughts and topics anyway? Is everyone else
busy texting and face booking to even remember the blogging daze?!

I am told that grammar and punctuation is not important and English rules
taboo—just write! So I am wondering…is it like a journal for the world to
read? Does it have merit to the lonely and downhearted who had their texting
taken away? Is it for the computer junkie who has engaged in this
increasing social network? What does blog even mean?

Recently, I was speaking in Atlanta, Georgia. A man seated at our table
challenged me to begin to blog. I asked him if he had been talking to my
children! He laughed and said, “No. I want to know what you have to say.”
Amazing, since we had just met and he had not yet heard me speak.

He went on to tell me that he and a few college buddies started an
E-commerce business three years ago—on a whim. 20 million dollars later, he
was sitting at our table challenging me to have a larger presence on the
internet.

Well, I don’t know that blogging will suddenly thrust me into wealth and
millions, but I do have something to say. It will be random at times and
always full of life because each day and memory is valuable. Since
contemplating my blogging journey, I already have a list of things I want to
write about. If the millions come, then so be it. Based on our spiraling
economy, it would make sense that inflation has taken over and no more will
a “penny for your thoughts” work in this culture. No doubt, the journey will
be rich! Stay tune for my next deposit.
McCashing-N
www.gailmcwilliams.com