DannyHesterly

Weigh the Cost...

Every so often, God reminds me about keeping the important things in my life important. That's easier to say than to accomplish becasue, I don't know about you, but my life can get pretty busy with all kinds of things that seem to be important. The reality is...I wear all kinds of hats and it's hard to juggle life at times. I'm a husband, dad, brother, uncle, friend, generational ministries pastor, student pastor, mentor, graphic designer (a not very good one), website updater guy, blogger, athlete, learner, when buzz lightyear's helmet comes off fixer person, etc. Where do I give most of my time to? How can you create balance when things are often lop-sided? To me, all these areas are important  and they're important to those I help, counsel, play with and give my life to.

My wife, Erin, has always been a great voice of reality in my life. Where I think, I can always come to some compromise and make everyone happy...she voices it's not possible and it's not healthy to try to be that kind of person (sounds a lot like my dad...love ya man!). Another voice that God uses to speak things in my life has been my students @ NUNATION. Sometimes it's what they say in reponse to a message, but a lot of times it's when we're just hanging out talking about life and then they surprise me by something they say or something they did. And it makes me think, "Hey, that was pretty awesome. There's a lot of wisdom in what they just said, or spiritual maturity in what they just did." I had a student come tell me recently that he's decided to not play a sport this spring. It's not that he doen't like the sport any more. It's just not his focus. To me, to make a decision like that shows maturity. I'm quite certain that this decision was hard and took time to make. What my student was doing was weighing the cost. He took a moment to examine his life and saw areas that needed focus and saw things he could do without. Made the call and his life became a little more lighter.

Keeping the important things in life important is a daily choice to keep your priorites in check. I'm sure I'll have days when my priorities will gets out of whack, but it's my heart's desire to see my relationshp with my family, friends and students stay at the top and in balance. It's about weighing the cost...understanding where I put my focus helps me to know where and what I'm willing to sacrifice in order to achieve what's most important in my life.

(For those wondering where God is...he's in everything I do. The driving force in seeing my relationships grow. God is not a priority...he's at the very center of who I am.)

12 Days of Fast: Day 1

The other day in my quiet time, I was challenged by what I read in Matthew 6...where Jesus tells his disciples to seek after the Kingdom over everything else. That's why I'm challenging myself and you to FAST at least one meal every second Monday this year. I believe God is wanting to do amazing things in our lives this year. We have to be willing to do our part. Here's my guideline that I'm going to follow...you don't have to do it exactly the way I do it, but I think it will be good to start with it till you develop your own style.

 -Pick what meal I'm going to FAST

-Get alone somewhere where there is little to no distraction

-Silence my cell phone

-Get my Bible out and turn to the scripture verse

-Ask God to speak to my heart and mind

-Pause and let what was just read soak in

-Read over my thoughts

-Pause and just sit still for a moment and think about what God might be saying to me

-Share what's been going on in my life with God

Jan 10- Psalm 119:10-16 "I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O Lord; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your Word."

This morning as you just spend some time with God, listen to what the writer of Psalm 119 is saying...Developing a habit in reading the Bible is key to sustaining and seeing your relationship grow with God. Many times we look for God to speak to us in mysterious ways, but the reality is when we open up the Bible and read it...God speaks to us instantly because the words we are reading our His words to us.

Shorts I only wear to bed...

The summer going into my 8th grade year at Fairfield Junior High, me and my friend Ryan Best went to Lou Henson's Fighting Illini Basketball Camp. We had a great time and later on in the B-ball season, for the first time in many years, we went to state and place 3rd. Well...during that camp I had bought an awesome pair of short and when I would put them on I felt like one of the NBA greats. Over the years, I got taller, put on some muscle and weight and wearing the shorts out on the court was just say...not really stylish and appropriate. As you can tell from the picture I still have the shorts after 18 years...and still wear them occasionally...(only to bed of course)!

I had them on the other night and this thought came to my mind...

• Is my leadership like this pair of shorts? Ineffective and outdated. Is it leaving the people I encounter each day just "blah" and colorless?
• Or is my leadership encouraging, helping them pursue their passions and see them grow in their relationship with God?
• I think many leaders, if not careful, can fall into this trap where they let their leadership get real comfy and overtime, like these shorts, lose it's appeal and effectiveness of what it/they were designed for. 
• Your leadership should always be evaluated for effectiveness and challenged to grow. The question you should be asking is...what am I doing to develop my personal leadership?
• Take some time to think about it. Are you spending any time developing your leadership, or have you let this part in your life get comfy and you now see yourself always relying on an influence that seems to get no where and has become blah to the people around you.
• It becomes your responsibility to see yourself grow. Read Blogs/magazines/books on your particular are of interest. Draw a picture or write a couple of sentences of how you want others to view your leadership. Be bold and ask someone you trust if they see your leadership as being effective. Rediscover your main reason/purpose for doing whatever it is you're doing (sometimes it just takes a little focus to reignite the God passions). Have fun. Learn. Go do it! 

I feel a little naked...

 

Okay...since 1998, I've been wearing ankle bracelets on my right ankle. That's TWELVE years. Now I know what your thinking..."Dang Danny, I didn't know you were a little girly man."  They weren't the silver/gold with charms hanging from them, but were the really cool braided kind that people made me. A few days ago, the last one on my ankle finally fell off...this is when the Hallelujah Chorus went off in my wife's head...she never really liked them. She says they were probably filled with all kinds of diseases since I NEVER took them off. They were a part of my life. I scored my first college touchdown wearing a gold/maroon one, trekked through the tundra of Alaska wearing one, was married wearing one, was in the delivery room while my son, Micah, was born. And now, this is my 1st blog post without wearing a super hip/cool ankle bracelet.

 I feel a little naked...