The tale of the shrub and the eagle

So a friend of mine posted a thought on Facebook this week. It said that if we were feeling low then we needed to remember that ‘growth happens in the valley, not above the treeline.’

I guess that’s true if you feel that God’s destiny is for you to be a shrub! But what if God’s plans for you are to be an eagle? Then you are definitely going to be at your best when soaring high in the sky even above the clouds.

So many Christians feel that obedience equals suffering and difficulty and it shows – some of the most depressing people I have ever met are Christians. I have also found that this attitude has permeated church life, our service to God and our relationships with others.

But why can’t Christians believe they should strive to be the best? Like be the best husband you can be, or become everything God desires for you?

The best thing I have ever done has been to join with a group of people who decided that second-best was not goo = d enough! Who decided that Christians could produce better work than the rest of the world! Who purposed to bring glory to God by being professional and challenging the accepted status quo!

The result – the world’s first multi-hybrid online Bible engagement game for kids www.yahero.com No-one else has launched a multi-platform game like this, not Christians but more importantly not any secular organization either.

It sure feels good to be an online eagle. Join the eagle movement and stop shrubbering around!

Giving birth to a hedgehog

So what’s the toughest thing I have ever done?

It wasn’t swimming in the piranha-infested waters of the Amazon river in 1985.
It wasn’t fighting in a war in Africa. A war I didn’t believe in.
It also wasn’t burying my parents after watching them suffer through terrible pain and debilitating illnesses.
Nor was it getting a phone call on a cold, wet day in London telling me my best friend had just been killed by a runaway truck.

The toughest thing, has been part of a team that had a biiiiiig vision to launch a product that could change an entire generation. Someday’s it felt like we were trying to give birth to a hedgehog – man was it painful! But when we launched it on Thursday March 4, 2010 boy oh boy what a sense of fulfillment, achievement and success.

The lesson for me? Big dreams need big sacrifices. And sometimes pain, with maybe long days and short nights.
What a humbling privilege it is to be asked by God to use the gifts he has given me to do something that can change culture, communities and kids.
Tough things show us that with God all things are possible.

The toughest 2 years of my life. Sure! But also the most fulfilling.

My next mission – to birth hedgehog triplets! Haven’t told the wife yet though …

PS – Please go and check out my hedgehog on http://www.yahero.com