Faith Family Freedom

 God

With God all things are possible. When we start with this premise we are filled with the Holy Spirit and can do great things. We have to remember that we are made in the image of God. When we live from our divine selves we focus on the important things like love, kindness, family, service, charity, and compassion.  We distance ourselves from the material world that drives consumption and selfishness.

We are consumed by God's love.  We must remember that we create our own reality.  When we tune into the negative news and fill ourselves with low energy we pollute our minds, bodies, and spirits and feel the immediate effects of low performance.  We know when we are connected to God and filled with the Holy Spirit life seems to glide along effortlessly.  When we are disconnected we seem to struggle.  We can choose to live from our higher selves. We must remember that every moment, every day, every breath is a blessing from God and live from that knowing.  There is a better way and it all starts with God and our faith. 

Family

We have seen the continued dissolution of the great American family.  We as humans are inherently selfish and part of that is innate where we are driven by self preservation. And while the days of running from the dinosaurs are over, human selfishness persists. Selfishness like any other human trait has some benefits.  We can be selfish for love, health, goodness, and even our time.  But when we make the conscious choice to bring another life into the world, when we Choose to have children, our selfishness must be subdued.  Our favorite song especially men, must go from "Me, Me, Me" to "Thee, Thee, Thee." 

A very difficult concept and transition to make especially for younger parents.  We must realize that we are responsible for this new life, our new divine creation. This blessed child needs our utmost commitment, love, and support, it is our honor and duty to love and nurture the child. Everything else is secondary.  That is the beauty of the family.  The Mother and the Father working together to create a loving, nurturing, supportive environment that lets the children, the parents, and the family grow and thrive.  There is no tradeoff in our well being versus the child although that may appear to be the case when changing diapers, dealing with crankiness, or paying college tuitions.  

As a parent, there is nothing more satisfying in life that helping raise loving, kind, self sufficient, productive, faithful children.  You can posses every material goodie the world has to offer but if you family falls and your children struggle what have you gained.  If you love them and care for them when they are very young, they will be loving and caring as they grow and become parents themselves.  We lead by example.  And for the most part, the apple does not fall far from the tree. 

And yes, we know that parenting is not easy at times, but time passes quickly and before you know it they will be grown and out of the house and you will long for the days when you could just hold them in your arms.  We don't have to be perfect parents but we do have to teach them well, be a good example, and mostly just be there for them. Being a Mom or Dad is the toughest and best job you will ever LOVE. 

We need to move away from the broken family.  Dad's not happy, Mom's not happy.  Dad and Mom are not in love anymore and the family dissolves.  Fiddlesticks!!! Your happiness has nothing to do with it! You chose to bring children into the world so you have a higher commitment than your happiness! Let that sink in.  I'm happy one day unhappy the next.  I'm in love today out of love tomorrow.  That's called disfunction and really a disconnect from the Holy Spirit.  We are too much in the material world and singing the Me song. Marriage and parenting are hard work.  Work at it overcome the challenges there is gold at the end of the rainbow.  

We are deluding ourselves if we think that we can raise wonderful children with broken families.  Yes, some children will thrive but we know that children flourish in a two parent family.  And that means Mom and Dad figure it out and work together.  Breaking up the family has become too easy too convenient.  There is no government program or social intervention that can fill the void of fatherless, motherless, or broken families.  We must meet the challenge by changing course.  Do the right thing stay together and raise your family.  Keep your EGO in check and adopt a Service mentality.  EGO stands for Edge God Out.  Pray and ask God for guidance and adopt the simple philosophy of how may I serve today. 

Freedom

America was founded on the basis of freedom and liberty.  The early settlers left England to pursue spiritual freedom in America.  America has become history's greatest nation in the short time period of ~250 years.  Think about the incredible accomplishments our nation has produced.  We have lifted more people around the world out of poverty, we have protected the world from despots and tyrants.  We have created a system of self government that has given us the freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness on our own terms. 

Has the country stumbled in the past, of course.  That is called the Human Condition.  If humans are involved, there are going to be mistakes and yes big mistakes.  But we pick ourselves up, make improvements, and move on.  Think of what the nation has survived in it's short life span, The American Revolution, The Civil War, World Wars I and II,  and Civil Rights.  We have seen many great upheavals in the birthing of a nation, but throughout the challenges we persevere, we overcome, and moved forward to greater accomplishment. 

America's tremendous accomplishment and success is no accident.  Founded as One Nation under God and from Thomas Jefferson's transcendent Declaration of Independence, "We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights among them Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  Our Declaration of Independence announces our right to self government, and severing our formal ties with King George of England, references God on numerous occasions.  The Declaration ends with these words:

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Hence, our nation the great experiment America was born right here in the Cradle of Liberty Philadelphia. Philadelphia one of the seven ancient churches  of the bible from modern day Turkey.  And a Greek word meaning Brotherly Love. 

While we have had many missteps along the way, our good far outweighs the bad.  And we must honor the sacrifices of the Patriots that have gone before us.  When we look around us in today's modern world you can see the faces and spirits of the men and women that left their farms and families and froze to death at Valley Forge. And the 18 year old boys that are buried throughout Europe and on the beaches of Normandy to preserve Freedom. And the Civil War when families fought one another and died in the fields of Gettysburg to confirm that all men are created equal, to hold together the nation, and to continue with this wonderful, blessed, experiment in Freedom and Liberty called America. 

We have a duty to Teach Our Children well and preserve the legacy of our great nation. Every generation is called to service called to sacrifice.  Perhaps ours is the renewal of our Faith, the great American family and our way of life starting with Freedom and Liberty. 

Let Freedom Ring! God Bless America. 

Faith. Family. Freedom.

With Love,

Coach K