We are on the way back from Alaska and it has been a great trip. We stopped at several ports, the last being Ketchikan. Somewhat unrelated but we had a weird experience on the ship.. I heard some guy on our ship kept whistling really loud trying to get our attention – I guess that’s what some people do for fun. 🙂

We got very close to the glacier and we got some fantastic pictures of that, Alaska is one of the most beautiful places on earth and it’s also peaceful.

Alaska reminds me that life is not always what you think of it. Society tells you what is important, dress a certain way, look a certain way and act a certain way. Instagram has people making content that is popular. But if you stuck in the middle of a Alaskan forest – none of those things would mean anything, and it wouldn’t help you in the slightest. That is what I mean – perception of what is important vs what is actually important.

So then what is actually important? I think the first thing we need to do is forget about what other people think – their opinion of us. I’m not talking in terms of personal accountability (which is important). I’m talking about if other people think we are cool, altogether, beautiful or handsome, ugly or overweight, smart or stupid. It doesn’t matter what they think our potential is… even if you are not very smart or any of the above, none of that matters at all, not even a little bit and I’ll tell you why right now.

What is important is exactly how much you follow God’s will for your life. That is the only thing that matters. You can fail on every other metric known to man but if you do God’s will – no matter what anyone says or what your disadvantage is – you are a child of the King and no weapon formed against you shall prosper.

At a personal level, I have been greatly underestimated – I’ve been told in no uncertain terms that I’m useless, that I won’t achieve anything or amount to anything. I’ve been told in the past that I was incapable of doing what I do for a living right now. If I listened to every person that ever put me down or underestimated me – I’d never have accomplished anything in my life.

As far as I’m concerned, every voice that speaks out against you (just to put you down… as opposed to correcting you in regards to sin) is directly or indirectly from Satan. And that is a voice that you can ignore. That isn’t the voice of the shepherd – Jesus did speak negativity to some people but those people were well aware of the sin that they were in – they just didn’t want to hear it.

Christians are called to build people up from an emotional perspective. But I’ve been guilty of not doing that – and that is an aspect that over the years I’ve worked hard at changing.

My job gives me the opportunity to really help people and for that I’m very grateful. I do my best at my job – not to prove myself, rather when I can help others, that is a way to contribute and be a force for good. A good heart produces good works and an evil heart produces bad works – I want to always have a good heart.

Every day God gives us, is a chance for us to use it for his Glory. I hope that this post reminds you (and me) to use today for good.

Jason