Life has a way of sneaking up on you and smacking you in the face. Sometimes that is good, but a lot of times it wakes you to something more serious. We see it coming at times, and other times it blindsides us like a linebacker. You have intentions of staying focused, then a freight train hammers you sending shock waves to every part of your body.

It's hard to know which way to go. We are pulled in many different directions and have so many people and things trying to influence us. It gets overwhelming and most people, myself included, just stop and say it's easier to stand still than to exert effort only to find out it was the wrong way.

Have you ever thought about your life? I mean really thought about where you are, what you are doing, and who you have become. When you do, what do you feel is the reason why you are where you are? I can guarantee that most of the decisions in your life can be boiled down to one thing, love or the lack of it.

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. - Ezekiel 36:26

On the way to work this morning, I heard a song I have heard many times before and I knew I liked it, but it hit me differently this morning. The song is Ghost Story by My Epic. It is a song about human nature. About fear and longing, hope and light.

If you had told me 10 years ago, I would go through some of the things I have gone through, I wouldn't have believed you. I would have argued with you and told you that it would never happen to me. How naïve I was. Not only did I go through it, but it also hurt like hell.

Life is always uncertain. We are not guaranteed tomorrow and not knowing what tomorrow brings, can bring fear. The people of Israel experienced this firsthand in the book of Exodus. They were slaves in Egypt and cried out to God to save them.

Have you ever experienced losing something so important to you that you will stop everything just to find it? No matter what it is, it is so important that it consumes your thoughts and actions until you find it.

I want you to think about your mind and the way you see things. I want you to concentrate on the way you feel, the emotions you have, and your thoughts in general as you go about your life every day. Do you feel, overall, that your thoughts are positive or negative?

If you think about your past, I can guarantee you something comes to mind that was painful. Whether it was a person, circumstance, or an experience, everyone has something that has left a scar on their life.

There is a battle raging. From the moment man fell in the garden, that battle has left the human race in the middle trying to decide which side to fight for.

It seems like, especially in the last few years, that society is going through this weird time where people feel they are in control of everything. They determine how others act, react, and behave.

Growing up, I looked up to my dad. He was my hero and I admired him. That's not to say, I didn't get upset with him or he with me, we did and we did often. Even at our worst together, I still had a sense of respect and admiration for this man who raised me and helped make me who I am today.

I have been learning a lot lately, it's not always things I want to learn, but things I am learning regardless. I would say that this knowledge I am slowly acquiring is something that I should have had a long time ago.

There is a mindset in our modern-day culture that what you want is owed to you, that it belongs to you, or that you are entitled to it.

I want life to be lived as if we have an adjustable opening. Just like the aperture of a camera, we need to be flexible at letting more light into our lives.

I want to address the men who may be reading this. When you think about it, what does being a man mean to you?

Your life is your own, yes, but your life does not only affect you. Every action has the potential to change someone around you.

I have had a pretty easy life, compared to others. My parents are still together, I grew up in church and I always had food on the table.