bradhumphrey

[bradhumphrey]

[bradhumphrey]

It's #GoodFriday because what HE did was GOOD when everything I deserve is BAD. That was supposed to be me & you! That was our punishment, our consequence, our justice..."But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, that while we were still sinners Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) 🙌🏾👏🏾

[bradhumphrey]

Yikes!!! Diggin' the new @andymineo album...nice work!!! #uncomfortable #instantclassic #alldayplay #itrides #hiphop #goodmusic #runningoutofhashtags

[bradhumphrey]

Are you ready?

Well, are you? Are you prepared for the next phase of life? Are you equipped to move from one chapter of your life’s book to the next? To some, this could be a haunting question. I imagine that those personality types that want ever so much for things to be in order & in place struggle with the question the most, while those with daring, spontaneous personalities may at times jump over this question. Regardless of where we fall on the personality spectrum, this question is neither one to run from or skip over.

The answer to this question for me has not been answered before the big change but often times during and even after. Life has a way of preparing you when you’re not even aware of it. How did you know you were ready for high school? How did you get prepared to deal with the transition to college? What steps did you take to ready yourself for the real world? For marriage? For a child? For children? For a career? For retirement? As I sit, awaiting the birth of our second child, I ask myself…am I ready? I would be able to answer if I only knew what ready looked like. I’ve prepared some things, to the best of my ability, but I have a feeling that my readiness will come as I learn & grow along the way. I’ll make some mistakes & learn from them. I’ll have some successes that I can share as well. I’ll be ready because I know I’m not. I’ll be ready because I realize that I am not in control. I’ll be ready because I’m open to the journey!

Readiness comes as we embrace life’s most overlooked learning tool…the journey. Sometimes we focus so much on the next phase or the next step that we forget that it’s in the journey that we are prepared, that our skills are honed & we are shaped to be exactly who we need to be. Life’s journey will teach us the lessons that prepare us for the tests. That’s right, life can throw some challenging tests our way. You may be reading this and are in one right now. You are faced with a challenge that seems as tall as the great mountains. Well, how do you scale a mountain? One careful step at a time. The answer is not in moving the mountain, it’s in taking every step on your way to the top. Nothing is impossible! No feat is to great!

So, here’s what we’ll do. We'll take faith along with us on this journey. We'll pack patience & perseverance in our life’s bag. We'll be observant, engaged & courageous!!! We'll Be Ready!!!

[bradhumphrey]

The Problem with New Year's Resolutions and Why I Stopped Making Them

It’s the same thing every year, the proverbial New Year greeting followed by “The Question.” That’s right, that question that unassumingly peers into our deepest wishes and desires for the new year and somehow places us in the awkwardness of staring into an uncertain future, having absolutely no clue what the new year holds. “So, what’s your New Year's Resolution?”

Entering the New Year is an exciting time! It’s full of retrospective thoughts of the year past and the hopeful innuendos of the year to come. For some it may be a bitter sweet moment, having to leave a happy or successful year and start at it again. For others, the new year is a refreshing wind that blows away the pain of a tough year and brings scents of fresh hope and the will to move forward. But what about this resolution? Am I really expected to make a resolution of what I intend to accomplish in a year that could potentially be as unpredictable as the last? All this unnecessary pressure to prove what? To prove that I’m not aimlessly entering into a new year? To show that I am ambitious and powerful enough to control my destiny? I would hope that there could be more to it than that.

What’s in a resolution anyway? It’s a firm decision to do or not to do something. It’s an intention, decision, or aim. Inherent to the definition is the problem. A resolution is simply a decision that is made as an act of your will. But it can simply be undone by deciding to no longer follow through. This is where many people find themselves at the end of January as their will to resolve wanes and their unfortunate reality begins to outshine. The greatest problem with resolutions is that there is too often no plan attached to it. There is no thoughtful strategy coupled with it. I’m going to lose weight! What’s your plan? I’m going to spend more time with family! What’s your strategy? I’m going to start this I'm going to stop that! Well, what is the plan of attack? When these questions remain unanswered, our resolutions and subsequently, our lives, remain unfulfilled.

So, here’s the challenge. Instead of making empty resolutions, let’s set some thoughtful goals for ourselves with steps that lead to successfully accomplishing them this year. Accept this challenge and you’ll be more fulfilled than ever and you can experience the greatest year of your life…2015!!!

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For ONE

Someone once said that "the power of a blog is akin to the power of a canvas." In it is no real intrinsic value, but what is placed on it can make it transcendent. It's the conduit of personal expression that can be shared with the world...a powerful yet scary thought. But I'll admit, as a "sometimey cynic" I have traditionally felt the appropriate response was simply, "so what." Who would ever want to hear what I have to say or read what I have to write? There is a world full of information, tips, advice, and meaningless life clutter to occupy our time. But then I remembered the ONE; the one person who may read something or see something on this internet canvas and be challenged or inspired to transform their God-given potential into their providential reality. And for that, I will use this canvas to paint the most beautiful picture of my reality to share with you...the ONE. Enjoy.